Hospitality and Web3 : Fad or true innovation for the guest experience?
Synopsis
In this article, former Global Head of digital at Rosewood Hotel Group explores the potential of Web3 technologies in the hospitality industry. The article suggests that embracing such technology, including Metaverse activations, AI, and NFT collections, can offer unique solutions to the sector's inherent complexity and provide revenue-generating opportunities. These technologies can attract a younger demographic, enable virtual representations of properties for cost-effective global sales, transform marketing and customer service, and revolutionize membership systems through token-based memberships. The article further highlights the potential of Web3 for better compliance with data regulations. The author encourages professionals to test and understand these emerging technologies to adapt to the rapid technological evolution and remain competitive.
Why would a Metaverse activation be useful to boost your revenue? Why would you use AI in your hotel? Why are hotels or private clubs launching NFT collections?
Many questions that if being asked to 10 different people will very likely lead to 10 different answers… and it’s ok, but you can’t just stand on the sideline much longer before you form a strong opinion and a clear strategy.
But as always, the key question we need to ask ourselves is: is there anything in the Web3 technology or trends that can benefit my customers, my guests, my B2B partners, and even maybe can it help me build my brands?
We all know that on the scale of digitalization of industries, hospitality has been, and remains at the bottom of the list. Not due to the lack of investment or willingness but mostly because of the complexity of dealing with scattered places around the world, owners havening their own agendas, and cost inequalities around the world. In my opinion, this is exactly why we can foresee more and more activations related to Web3 technology in the future as legacy technology have little impact on getting started, the costs of these activations are very limited, and on the contrary, it can become a direct revenue generating channel underused right now and it can put your brand, club, hotel into the innovative club of the future and really appeal to Gen Z and Gen A future customers!!
So many hotel brands and hotel programs are actually running very successfully without the need for technology or with an existing technology that took years/decades to build and master but in an industry where we talk about creating communities, empowering guests and employees to explore, experience and share value Web3 is a natural fit if you know where to look.
Hotels, Real estate companies will double down on Metaverse activations as building a digital twin of a hotel or a building prior to even building it at a fraction of the cost it is today. It will help them run a better global sales pipeline, limit travel costs and increase the presale of apartments, hotel rooms, and more.
On the marketing side, it should already be on the horizon but if you think ahead a few years from now our employees will be able to build themselves full immersive digital content or tours
of the hotels, clubs, or events without having to work with very expensive production companies. The function of Butler will be revolutionized by things like AI and personalization which is also a key technology part of Web3 and the next iteration of our digital lives.
Not far from now, guests will be able to login to your website not only with an email but very likely with a digital wallet where their membership will be in the form of tokens and you will be able to invite them to experiences based on what they own and what they are willing to share with you.
In the luxury space, we have seen all the luxury brands already entering the NFT space with limited edition collections, and numerous hotels have already launched their own NFT programs like Le Bristol in Paris. I recently also met a Capsule hotel company founder in Indonesia about to introduce token rewards and NFTs to his 2000 hardcore fan community that he created on Discord a few months back.
There is no shortage of applications of what these tokens can do from helping sell more, engaging more, and offering value but the risks are also high of course like in any new technology.
Private clubs and loyalty programs will realize how easy it will be to create token-gated experiences, perks and benefits instead of pushing customers to provide their emails, personal details, and phone number that we don’t want to give away anymore. You can already look at what the Mandala Club is doing in Singapore for example or Club3 recently launched in Los Angeles.
Beyond the fact all these will improve the customer experience drastically, the future of Web3 is also tightly tied to compliance with client data, GDPR, and other future regulatory requirements from all around the globe and let’s be honest… Most companies have no idea if they are truly compliant with all the required laws in their home country, another area where Web3 will come to provide value thanks to decentralized and anonymous data protocols that will guarantee compliance and also respect from the customers with data management.
The future is hard to predict, but what won’t be there in the future is easier to guess. Do you think we will still use cash ten years from now? Do you think Visual computing shown by Apple will be a thing? Do you think our phones will be more powerful and private? Do you think we’ll still print papers at a check-in counter? Will all guests still have emails?
Even if unanswered, these questions show the paradigm shift of what Web3 is bringing to the table. The next two years are of crucial importance for all of us professionals in the Experience Economy to test, understand, and also push the boundaries of what we are used to because the technology leapfrogging that Web3 allows will definitely bring new players in the industry and the old ones need to pay attention.