Chatbot as a Digital Concierge

Hoteliers are scrambling to meet 24/7 guest demands. With fewer staff, chatbots are shifting from luxury to necessity. The percentage of hoteliers offering chatbots on their websites is expected to rise to 29.2 percent before the end of 2022, up from only 14.5 percent in 2019, according to the Stayntouch/NYU Tisch Center of Hospitality Report.

Think of the chatbot as a digital concierge, bringing the concierge desk to the palm of guests’ hands. This means a 24/7 ability to engage users, answer their questions and fulfill their requests. Marriott International’s Aloft Hotels created ChatBotlr, allowing guests to make requests from their smartphones, from toiletry deliveries to morning wake-up calls.

Hospitality companies might implement guest messaging applications via guests’ own smartphones, such as Knowcross, Runtriz, Zingle, Guestware or Beekeeper. They could also install voice assistants like Volara or Intelity in the room.

Programmed chatbots are more or less similar to IVR (Interactive Voice Response). They have a specific set of questions and answers configured. Hence, they cannot provide solutions to queries that are out of their database.

So, they capture details of the visitors which further generates prospects. The concerned department connects with them and addresses their queries.

On the other hand, AI-powered chatbots are way more sophisticated and smart. NLP (Natural Language Processing) and machine learning keep them up to date.

In simple terms, it analyses previous conversations to understand human behaviour and responds accordingly. Because of this, the chat feels like a live conversation with a human.

Chatbots for hotels

Hotel chatbots are virtual assistants to guests in this digital epoch. They are efficient as any hotel’s front desk staff and provide guests with a high-end user experience during the booking process.

If guests visit your website, they might have certain questions. Here the chatbot would attend to their inquiries.

If they are satisfied with the answers, they might book a room at your hotel.

Your hotel’s staff does the same task. Chatbots just make this easier.

Where are chatbots used in hotels?

Facebook chatbots

The message conveys general information about the hotel with a link to its website. The page visitors can ask their queries to the chatbot and it will provide them with appropriate answers. 

Because these ones are programmed, they have a limited set of memory and functions. However, they do have multiple advantages. 

For example, they will register each guest profile in your database for every unique message sent. Further, you can use this data for your hotel promotions.

Website chatbots

Website chatbots are commonly used. But, it’s essential to have one that works efficiently. 

AI-powered is better  because of Increased conversion rate.

Most of the chatbots are AI-driven. The hoteliers using them claimed an increase in their revenue.

So, chatbots on websites are quite necessary, as they are the first point of contact for guests. For any queries, chatbots can come to their rescue instantly.

WhatsApp chatbots

WhatsApp chatbots also fall into the category of programmed ones. Yet, they are able to perform various complex tasks. 

A WhatsApp chatbot looks like a regular chat. It sends  personalised messages about the bookings guests have made or abandoned. 

Since they are programmed, the responses are quite generic such as:

  • Reply with ‘Yes’ to confirm your mobile number.
  • Reply with an appropriate option to proceed: Confirm your booking, cancel your booking, or request a callback from our team.

These chatbots are trending because WhatsApp has become a convenient mode of communication.

How does using a chatbot benefit hoteliers?

Before investing in any hotel technology, It’s important to know about its benefits. Here are five compelling reasons to have hotel chatbots for your property.

Boosts customer engagement at every stage

The primary task of chatbots in the hospitality industry is guest engagement. A chatbot being available 24*7 for guests, efficiently achieves this. 

But, there’s more to it than meets the eye. They work as a personal assistant for guests during various stages of their stay.

Here are some activities hospitality chatbots perform at each stage:

Pre-arrival:

  • Sending booking confirmation.

  • Sharing details about nearby places to visit and activities to be done.

  • Informing guests about their pick up details.

 

During stay:

  • Guiding guests through hotel facilities they can avail.

  • Send alerts about events or activities happening in the hotel for rejuvenation.

 

Post-departure:

  • Share feedback links with guests to collect reviews.

  • Notifying guests about ongoing offers and deals, to retain them.

Thus, use of chatbots in hotels ensures that none of your guests are left unattended.

Increased conversion rate with maximum lead generation

The chatbots communicate with guests and resolve their queries. The evolving technology has made them quite agile.

Now, they can guide guests to make a direct booking successfully in your absence. The AI-powered chatbots act as a catalyst in their decision making. 

They record the details of lost opportunities for you to act on later.

Increased promotional follow up with guests

Guest retention costs lower than acquiring new ones. Chatbots assist in this as well.

Post guests’ departure, chatbots keep them up to date with hotel offers. They keep the guests engaged with such follow-ups.

This results in increased guest retention.

Higher staff efficiency

Because chatbots are initial contacts for guests, they filter the window shoppers. This saves your staff’s time and efforts.

Apart from this, many hotel bots provide a detailed report of prospects generated, converted and missed. These aids hotels to keep a track of their performance.

Vafion Services

We help our customers to deliver optimized and personalized guest experiences through IIoT, Machine/Deep Learning and AI. We enable our hospitality customers to develop indoor mapping and mobile wayfinding solutions for hotels and conferences. We help to deliver chatbot services for Hotel industries in order to make their business Success.

We are well-known for our innovative and quick API integration services to the global vacation rental and hotel industry. With the experience and maturity that we have gained over the years, while developing world class products and solutions, we can help you in all phases of your application development – be it Solution Definition, Application Development, Quality Engineering or Usability. We can take care of it for you while you focus on your core business.

Conclusion

Chatbots are quite important in this digital era. They are a new trend in hotel marketing. Websites, social media, or any platform providing hotel information to guests should have a chatbot on it. 

Being technologically upgraded is the only way to survive in this competitive world. If you don’t have a chatbot, it’s time to install one now. 

For more details contact info@vafion.com

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