We are living in a digital age where consumers and business partners demand immediacy and companies must respond by investing in the technology that facilitates this instant engagement, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The hotel and travel industry is no exception, and hospitality providers must keep pace with ever-changing customer demands and global technology trends if they are to survive in this highly-competitive marketplace.

At Rotana we have adopted technology that internally, streamlines our processes across all departments to drive company efficiencies and externally, creatively taps into the most-effective methods for enhancing our customer experience, whether through online distribution channels or social media outlets.

We do not invest in technology for technology’s sake, but instead, we carefully research, monitor and perhaps most importantly, anticipate our customers’ needs and expectations.

To stay one step ahead, I am a firm believer in Rotana taking on board the latest market research, because it is essential to know how our current and potential guests prefer to book their hotels and travel.

For example, I was interested to learn the internet is now the top source for trip planning by leisure, business and affluent travellers in the UAE and KSA, according to a recent independent study conducted by IPSOS. It is used by 50 per cent of all business travellers and 39 per cent of leisure travellers surveyed in the UAE and 48 per cent and 38 per cent respectively in KSA. When using the web to research their travel, 69 per cent said they had used mobile devices - smartphones or tablets - to do so in the past year. Interestingly, very few actually used these devices to make bookings, although we at Rotana anticipate they soon will.

With this in mind we recently launched a user-friendly mobile App that allows our customers to book our hotels in real time and at the best available rates as it interfaces with our new Central Reservation System (CRS). Our guests can also search information on hotel facilities, book concierge services, view their hotel bill, make pre-arrival arrangements, or research destination credentials. The App also flags up the latest Rotana offers and promotions and links to our very own social media channel, rotanatimes.com

Developing effective social media strategies and online e-commerce capabilities has been a top priority for Rotana over the past three years. Our marketing and communications teams are actively involved in managing these channels on a daily basis, interacting with customers and followers through a variety of media, including Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and here on rotanatimes.com

Through social media we answer customer questions, gather vital feedback and provide information on promotions and upcoming events across all of our properties. Social networking allows us the privilege of one-to-one customer engagement and I believe that if we use it correctly and creatively, we will generate a community of life-long Rotana friends.

Rotana’s technologically-advanced website remains the primary source of information for most of our guests and is proving increasingly popular as a booking platform, in line with global trends which dictate that travel bookings are shifting to online channels at a rapid rate.

Rotana.com is now available in six languages, reaching out to customers in our key source markets, while mobile users are now automatically redirected to our mobile site, launched in 2011, which is fully bookable thanks to our XML interface capabilities.

To make sure no stone is left unturned, we are also investing in growth markets accessed via the IDS (Internet Distribution Systems), Web Offline, GDS (Global Distribution Systems), Voice Call Centres.

I believe technology and the internet will eventually replace conventional booking, communication and engagement methods and Rotana plans to be at the forefront of this evolution as a global hospitality brand that first and foremost prides itself on providing the ultimate customer experience.

But I would like to know what you, our valued customers and followers think. Is it one step too far to shift all travel and hotel research and bookings online? After all, travel is experiential, aspirational and often, emotional. If we replace the personal element with the high-tech, could we alienate some of our customers? Please let me know your thoughts; I value them.

Omer

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This is a regular column written by Omer Kaddouri, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer for Rotana, which aims at presenting the latest promotions and news across all Rotana properties.  For any comments on this column or if you wish to discuss any of the topics related to this column please send us an email to sales.marketing@rotana.com