Nice to see you here! First of all, welcome to the very first post in this series related to tourism and hospitality. Will I surprise you by saying that it’s one of the most affected by COVID-19 industries? Definitely not. But I might surprise you with the variety of creative approaches business owners took to tackle this truly «stalemate» situation (this is a hint on what to expect in the next posts)!
As for now, let’s start with some facts. As you can expect, they are shocking and might give you a false feeling that hope is lost.
- The tourism industry lost an estimated $1.3 trillion in export revenue in 2020.
On the map below, you can see the difference in the number of international tourist arrivals between the years 2019 and 2020.
- In Switzerland, urban tourism is suffering most, with a drop in sales of up to 60%.
- A full recovery of the tourism sector is not expected until 2024.
- However, the Federal Statistical Office reported a 15.6% increase in the number of overnight stays by domestic visitors in 2020, compared to last year. This mitigated the big loss of international guests.
Yes, I warned you before – the statistics are frustrating. But every drastic time gives a chance for a new start. Interestingly, the word “crisis” in Chinese is composed of two characters—one representing danger, the other opportunity.
I believe, that entrepreneurs still have a chance to turn things around by brainstorming with their teams, gathering fresh innovative ideas and implementing them in a business. For it to be successful, they should be well updated about the latest trends and new benchmarks that are set for hospitality enterprises.
So what are the top trends of 2021 in the tourism sector?
1. Staycations
Numerous restrictions have facilitated the rise of staycation. However, some travellers may also choose to stay in their home country for environmental or budgeting reasons.
2. Digitalized guest experiences & Contactless Technology
To stay ahead of the curve, business owners might consider creating an app to manage the service they provide or set up a loyalty program. Plus, customer-facing services are now being given an overhaul: more and more common become mobile check-ins, contactless payments and the use of biometrics, such as facial recognition.
3. Personalization
Guests expect to be treated as individuals. Huge amounts of data are being processed to enable hotels to tailor their offers and easily provide similar services to those during previous stays. Moreover, tools such as Mailchimp and Zoho have made personalized e-mail marketing more accessible, ensuring target audience-specific communications.
4. Sustainability
Serious environmental considerations are shaping decisions made at the hospitality management level these days. More attention is now paid to simple eco-friendly switches as choosing bed sheets made from organic materials, reducing energy consumption with special bulbs, including vegetarian and vegan options o the restaurant menu.
5. Virtual & augmented reality
People have generally become more oriented towards visually appealing content, so hotels are starting to invest in features such as virtual tours, providing 360-degree views of an ambience of a property. The content should be accessible on a variety of devices (without the need for a VR headset). If enough effort is put into the implementation, it is definitely a hotels’ chance to stand out.
Now you are aware of the current state and trends in the industry. But it is better to learn from the real examples and experience of those, who do their best to follow these trends. Let us start the journey of learning about unique business approaches in the hospitality sector. As a bonus, you might discover some enticing places for your future trips!
See you in the next post!
Sources
- UNWTO (2020). Covid-19 and Tourism. Accessed 28.03.2021. https://www.unwto.org/covid-19-and-tourism-2020
- World Economic Forum (2020). Tourism industry experts fear the long road to recovery. Accessed 29.03.2021. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/02/tourism-industry-covid19-recovery-government-response/
- EHL Insights (2020) 2021 Top Hospitality Industry Trends.
Accessed 27.03.2021. https://hospitalityinsights.ehl.edu/hospitality-industry-trends
Love your content. I can’t wait to see what’s coming up next!
Thank you Megan! In the next posts I will be writing about real-businesses and their solutions for this difficult time 👌😊 Hopefully you will discover some unusual places to stay/visit ☺️
Great post Sofia, I was not aware of some of the trends! Looking forward for your next post.
Thank you! 🙏 yeah, hospitality is changing with a fast speed.. Curious to see how it will change in the next few years!
Very Interesting Sophia! 👏 The statistics and numbers are tragic but this surely does create lots of space for innovation and creativity. I’m looking forward to hearing more about this topic!
True! Thank you Lea 🙂 I will do my best to make them interesting for you and that we all learn something from experience of entrepreneurs!
Hi Sofia!
This post was so interesting. It’s great to learn about the responses the hospitality industry has had to this extraordinary situation.
I was particularly interested in the sustainability and virtual/augmented reality trends. Do you know of any hotels that are already using virtual or augmented reality features?
I look forward to learning more about the hospitality sector! 🙂
Nina, thanks for your comment and an interesting question! There are not so many properties that have incorporated VR/AR features yet, but there are a few examples already and the demand for it is growing. For example, Hub by Premier Inn hotel in London is considered to be one of the most tech. advanced hotels in Europe: each guestroom incorporates a wall map of the London area. Travelers can use an app and point their smartphone at the wall to view information about local points of interest! Also, AR there enables contactless check-in and keyless entry to rooms (‘virtual key’ to guests is sent in advance). Premium hotel – Hôtel des Arts Saigon in Vietnam has launched an AR-powered mobile app, which enhances guest experience both inside the hotel and when they’re remote from (360° virtual tour of the property). Transportation is another chief sector of hospitality that develops such technologies: f.ex. Swiss International Air Lines launched AR Experience. Their campaign guides users through four hotspots that showcase the benefits of SWISS Business cabin services. More here: https://arpost.co/2019/05/28/swiss-international-air-lines-jet-setting-ar-experience-ad-campaign/. Such an interesting topic, I will do my best to search for swiss examples!
Dear Sofia, wonderful and important topic. Keep me posted! By the way: Grand Resort Bad Ragaz uses augmented reality and virtual reality – but as far as I know mainly for Reha. Interestingly, Hotelplan stopped using virtual reality glasses 2019. Apparently, It didn’t pay off.
Talking about contactless services, you should definitely check out the company Jeeves as well as the Neuro Campus Hotel in Vitznau/LU. Looking forward to your upcoming posts!
wow, here are some great recommendations from the expert in the field! Thank you, Desiree! It would be interesting to find out why Hotelplan stopped using VR tech. and to research the other hotels you have mentioned 🙂
Thank you for the post Sofia! I didn’t know about all these changes in tourism industry!
Thank you for keeping us updated!
Looking forward to your next posts! 🙂 🙂
Virtual & Augmented reality sometimes scares me haha. I am curious to see how all of these things will evolve in the future.
True haha! But some hotels adopted the technology already and it is a nice addition to their services, I will write about it!
Hello Sofia! Yes, COVID-19 has a major impact on the global tourism industry. Many countries enforced lockdown which is a double blow to the tourism sector. It is nice to see people taking this as an opportunity to come out with ideas. Thanks for sharing them! 🙂
Thank you for your comment Nicole! Yes, some hotel managers did not simply give up in this situation! I am glad you found the post interesting!
Striking statistics indeed! Looking at the bright side, there are a lot of creativity forced by the current circumstances. Thanks for your post Sofia!
Hi Sofia!
This post was so interesting.
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