Op-ed: The shape of things to come

Among all this talk of returning to pre-pandemic tourism levels, there’s one less discussed but equally important piece of the puzzle that we should put the spotlight on. Our level of positivity as an industry.

I believe, from talking to our many partners, that we are heading into 2023 with a positive mindset. This time last year, with interstate borders reopened, there was optimism, no doubt, but it wavered under the stress test of many new and unfamiliar challenges.

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We had a lot of tourist towns experiencing their first COVID cases, staff isolation issues and ultimate staff shortages across the board. Skip forward 12 months, we finished the year feeling more confident in the industry’s ability to rebuild. We have established normalcy – even if that “new normal” has taken a different shape to the business as usual we knew pre-pandemic.

So, as we head into 2023, there are a few key trends that emerged last year that I believe will continue to play an imperative role in travel success this year. Importantly, with the application of our pre-pandemic levels of optimism – trends that will push us into recovery sooner:

1 – A greater focus on the full pre-through-post-trip guest experience

Experience doesn’t start and stop at the time spent at a destination.

Rather, it’s an all-encompassing journey that begins at the research phase and ends well after the traveller has unpacked at home.

So, while staff shortages will continue to influence decision-making this year, technology’s role in helping to cover shortfalls in hospitality will remain steadfast – and even rise in many areas.

Technology helps travellers feel informed, valued, and safe right across their journey. So too will flexibility, which has proved to be a mainstay of traveller values.

In fact, our most recent Traveller Value Index found that Australians (61 percent) place a higher-than-average importance (50 percent) on flexible policies that allow them to make changes without fees or penalties – which ranked in the top four traveller values. Industry professionals also rank refunds and flexible policies highly but perceive consumers’ desire for flexibility to be waning with the pandemic, and only 63 percent said they would continue offering all or most of these offerings moving forward.

Based on this, we can assume that tourism operators keeping up flexibility practices are more likely to capture demand.

Communication nurtures personalisation, which helps hoteliers anticipate needs in advance and customise the guest’s stay to exceed their expectations and can be greatly enhanced through digital avenues.

Communicating digitally also helps tourism operators counter the smaller (and less frequently reported) annoyances that impact overall experience. 

Providing a messaging platform to identify minor concerns is invaluable to protecting a hotel’s online reputation, it can also provide important management information such as tracking response times and promote return patronage.

In fact, millions of conversations through our Expedia Group guest communication platform suggest that engaged guests are 40 percent more likely to return to a property. 

Reviews matter for revenue. Our research suggests that travellers are 72 percent more likely to pay more for a hotel with higher guest ratings.

After the trip, travellers want to relive their experiences by posting on social media and leaving reviews. Actively managing reviews helps hotels to enhance their reputation and capture more business.

As such, there’s a growing need for hoteliers to adopt digital tools that provide the capability to send automatic reminders that encourage guests to comment, but also assist in acknowledging feedback and analyse reviews to quickly identify areas that may need attention.

2 – Making wholesale the hero

Running operations and agreements for a wide variety of channels can be time-intensive for tourism providers like hotels, so using wholesalers to reach thousands of demand partners in one fell swoop will continue to be more essential to build and convert demand.

Last year saw a shift in wholesalers working with traditional and online travel agencies. This was largely driven by application programming interface (API) technology, which enables a software interface to offer a service to other pieces of software. Ultimately, API makes it much easier for an airline, for example, to sell a hotel room via its own website.

Because of this, wholesale inventory is being consumed by a wider variety of b2b segments. So as this continues to grow, hotels need to adapt in how they work to reach customers that live within the “walled garden” of other non-traditional ecosystems – making it more essential than optional.

As demand channels become more sophisticated, it is vital that hoteliers keep pace, which is where a real-time marketplace is becoming increasingly imperative.

For hoteliers to truly benefit from b2b distribution, they can no longer be reliant on the static pricing and upfront bulk buying of yesteryear. For hoteliers to get their inventory in the hands of the right demand channels, at the right price, at the right time, they will need better visibility and control over inventory.

One model that will continue to rise as a result is our Optimised Distribution program, which gives hotels increased control of what will be sold across the wholesale distribution landscape by creating a single pipeline.

The aim of the model is to reduce the complexity of maintaining disparate channels, by allowing hotels to adjust and manage inventory and rates through one single source of demand and supply. It ensures consistency of content, so customers are not seeing the same property or room presented in ten different ways. It saves hoteliers the time and effort of trying to figure out who has access to their inventory.

3 – An ever-increasing era of inclusivity

Travel is a force for good, helping to broaden our horizons and improve our understanding of different cultures and identities – something the world needs today like never before.

Inclusiveness is, at the heart of the hospitality industry and hoteliers are uniquely placed to foster an environment that is welcoming to all traveller demographics and make travel accessible and enjoyable to all.

And off the back of the pandemic, we saw growing expectations from consumers, and therefore a focus from the industry on inclusivity. I’m pleased that this all-inclusive focus is set to flourish this year.

Take the LGBTQ+ community for example, whose high disposable income and love of travel over indexes compared to a lot of other demographics.

However, a 2021 survey from Orbitz revealed that travelling is one of the top situations in which LGBTQ+ respondents feel the need to downplay their identity.

One-fifth “always” research a destination to see if it is LGBTQ+ friendly before planning a trip.

It’s predicted there will be 180 million LGBTQ+ travellers by 2030 and let’s not forget the opportunity Sydney WorldPride 2023 is promising for Australia to make its way onto the global stage for the community.

We need to prioritise how we make all travellers feel informed and confident in travel choices. With a growing number of filtering tools being made available to help travellers make informed decisions, there are several steps hoteliers can take to make sure they stand out as welcoming and inclusive destinations. Likewise, there has been a significant wake-up in the way we communicate accessibility.

Those who are enabling and proactively accepting of all individuals – regardless of race, ethnicity, ability, gender identity, to experience different cultures, perspectives, and opportunities – will continue to outshine the competition.

Wear support of your inclusive and accessible practices with pride.

Take a firm stance on any discriminatory behaviour and have a zero-tolerance policy on anything that does not align with your inclusive values.

Consider dedicated information sections and filter options across your own website and OTA page listings. Additionally, ensure that team members are trained with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to support an all-inclusive environment. It can be understanding local attractions that enhance the traveller’s greater experience beyond the hotel itself. Travel teaches us new things and broadens our horizons.

It strengthens connections that create lasting memories and provides opportunities and helps strive toward greater equality.

We, in the business of hospitality, have the opportunity to set the benchmark for inclusivity, and I see 2023 as our year to do so.

After all, it’s our positive mindset that will spur our success – whether that be how we embrace technology to compliment the guest experience, communicate to foster improved individualisation and increase the level of inclusivity for every traveller.

There’s much to do, and through our positive mindset not only will it benefit guests, but the greater industry at large.

Jamie Griego is Expedia Group’s Director Market Management (Australia).

Jamie Griego

Jamie Griego is Director, Market Management, Australia for Expedia Group.