For most professionals, Big Data means exactly what it states: managing large sets of data. But with the term reaching near ubiquity, in many ways, the word has already lost its meaning.
Although collecting and managing a tidal wave of data is one thing, making it easy to consume, understand and actionable is a completely different story.
Converting data from any source into a simple “one-button” like system with all of the answers has become very important for the hotel sector. Fortunately, hoteliers now have the capability to capture any type of data on their guests, as well as information regarding their business processes and vendor activity.
The key to success in this emerging frontier is being able to access the data – no matter where it resides – and turn it into simple solutions for driving business results. For the C-suite, this means simple dashboards and interfaces that can provide high-level information on how a property is performing, what services are most popular, how guests prefer to book their stays and much more.
IT professionals at hotels need to develop the right systems and architectures for delivering this solution to their internal clients, which is ultimately the C-suite itself. While it is always “easier said than done” when it comes to developing these types of systems, effective solutions and partners exist to help advance these types of efforts.
For example, one major hotelier implemented a comprehensive system for tracking the performance of their advertising agencies based on click-through responses and conversion rates to the individualized campaigns spread throughout the globe.
Prior to developing the system, with the help of an outsourced IT provider, all of this was done manually through spreadsheets that every ad agency provided to the hoteliers. Gaining the performance insights needed was highly time-consuming and cumbersome.
The new system now integrates all of the advertising agency data directly into the current marketing analytics dashboard. The hotelier can actually see which agencies are the high performers in near real-time. Based on these insights, a hotelier can terminate its relationships with the lower performing agencies, which translates into tremendous cost savings.
This is merely one example of how hoteliers can embrace Big Data analytics in ways that instantly transforms business performance and provides true competitive advantage.
We believe that the sources of data for hoteliers will only continue to grow over time. As such, now is the time to determine how to harness this data for business growth.