Oracle Hospitality is taking its time to integrate the latest advancements of AI into its hotel tech products.
26.06.2024 - 19:55 / skift.com / Justin Dawes / Shane Oflaherty
Xbox could teach the travel industry a few things about the customer experience.
That’s why Microsoft, which owns Xbox, is applying strategies from the gaming industry into next-generation tech products for travel clients.
Shane O’Flaherty, Microsoft’s global director of travel, transportation, and hospitality, shared the company’s thinking during a presentation at the HITEC hospitality tech event this week.
“[Xbox is] probably at the tip of the spear around digital engagement with the consumer,” O’Flaherty said. “The idea is they track every player’s movement on the planet, and they’re constantly presenting them with content to make their journey a better journey.”
It’s all about driving emotional engagement with consumers instead of focusing only on transactions like upsells. The former elevates the overall experience and creates memories, he said — more likely to drive repeat business.
That approach could work for specialized events, for example.
In gaming: If Marshmello, the DJ, joins the video game Fortnite as the host of a virtual event for 20 minutes, the number of players on Fornite explodes. (Besides the fighting game, Fortnite is a metaverse with multiple places where players can meet and attend events.)
How that translates to travel: If a hotel knows that 40 of its guests love whisky, the hotel could create an impromptu tasting event and send a note about it to those specific guests. “And all of the sudden, 12 people come down, and you’re creating this emotional connection with your brand and creating a community in your hotel,” he said.
Progression unlock — in other words, completing tasks and getting rewards — is another gaming tactic that travel companies could apply.
It could be as simple as prompting a guest to take a selfie on a hotel balcony and post it on social media in exchange for a certain number of points.
“As we rethink what we’re doing around customer journey, the focus in the future is all around content and community,” he said.
For hotels, access to very specific guest data is key before that level of personalization is possible.
That’s where Microsoft and others are helping travel companies create easily-accessible robust digital profiles for guests.
It’s a similar model to the customer app that Starbucks has built. If a customer orders or pays for an item through the app, data from that sale is stored to the user’s profile, and then Starbucks can make relevant offers in the future.
“This is low hanging fruit in our industry,” he said.
Microsoft spent $50 billion on research last year, all focused on AI, O’Flaherty said, and the company will likely spend that much or more again this year. Microsoft has invested billions in OpenAI since 2019, which it where it
Oracle Hospitality is taking its time to integrate the latest advancements of AI into its hotel tech products.
I've lived in Los Angeles for five years, so I'm about 30 minutes inland from Santa Monica. It's a beautiful, classic Southern California destination with a beach, a pier, and an abundance of classy shopping and dining spots.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, June 27, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
IHG Hotels & Resorts was a bit too aggressive during the early days of developing its tech.
The Four Seasons Hotel New York, which has been closed since the start of the pandemic, will reopen this September.
The Association of Retail Travel Agents (ARTA) has largely stayed out of the headlines in recent years, but the 60-year-old organization said that it has never stopped advocating for its travel advisor members, mostly when they have a supplier dispute.
Registration for Travel Weekly's 2024 CruiseWorld is now open.
Presented by Capital One
Start your engines—summer has arrived, and with it, all sorts of new hotel options to explore. There’s a major renovation of a Cape Cod classic with an unbeatable beachfront location. Near Yellowstone, design-forward cabins come with their own private wood-fired hot tub. And on the banks of the Kiawah River in South Carolina, a new Auberge Resort offers some serious Lowcountry R&R just minutes from downtown Charleston, yet worlds away from the hustle and bustle. This summer’s most exciting openings aren’t merely places to rest your head—they really help you disconnect from your home life in order to savor the great outdoors. And isn’t that what summer is all about?
Barcelona plans to end short-term rentals after complaints that tourism has priced locals out of the housing market.
Come July 1, U.S. hotels will need to comply with a California state law that requires upfront disclosure of the total cost — including all mandatory fees — of hotel rooms, among other travel services like short-term rentals and cruises.
All California hotels must disclose surprise junk fees starting July 1 thanks to two new state laws, including one specifically targeting hotel resorts and cleaning fees.