The hospitality industry is constantly exposed to new demands from business travelers, particularly as tech-savvy Millennials have grown up into that customer segment. New technologies – like artificial intelligence and IoT – are revolutionizing hotel guest experience permanently. This brings us to a question many hoteliers are pondering: how have business travelers needs changed and how to update the hotel for them to maximize guest experience? To help you do this, we’ve compiled some of the most relevant needs and ways to satisfy them:
1. Streamline the check-in process
Upon arrival business travelers value a fast and efficient check-in.
✅ Implement self check-in machines or a mobile check-in app so business travelers can avoid lines and minimize the hassle.
✅ Offer keyless entry to a room via your guests’ smartphones so they can enter the room flexibly.
2. Make your rooms as functional as possible
It’s not a big surprise that the most important hotel feature for business travelers is wifi access that works without restrictions throughout the hotel. Today, wifi is regarded as a basic commodity; that’s why you should not charge for it. Besides wifi, rooms should also be customizable and cozy in order to provide the best possible circumstances for working.
✅ Besides a room having an ergonomic and spacious workstation, the perfect hotel room for business travelers includes easily accessible power outlets and USB ports.
✅ When it comes to lighting, business travelers usually work long hours and even sometimes pull an all-nighter. In addition to spotlights making reading more comfortable, adjustable smart lights also help business travelers wake up feeling revitalized.
✅ After a long flight or a conference day the last thing a business traveler wants to do is grocery shopping. A minibar filled with complimentary healthy snacks and refreshments helps them to save time and settle into their surroundings.
3. Make their business trip safe of bed bugs
Encountering bed bugs in hotels has become one of the biggest concerns for travelers. According to American Entomologist, 34 % of hotel guests are so terrified of bed bugs that they do manual bed bug inspections when arriving to a hotel. A single report of bed bugs in recent traveler reviews reduces the one-night value of a hotel room by $38 for business travelers.
✅ Bed bugs are gnarly parasites that can tag along travelers all the way from airports to taxis and make their way to hotel rooms. Erase the stress of your guests encountering bed bugs by making your hotels safe of them with an autonomous bed bug prevention system.
4. Offer the best possible environment for getting rest
For business travelers, it’s especially important to sleep well so that the hours in the location are used as efficiently as possible. Now that the lighting has been adjusted and the stay protected of bed bugs, a wide bed with a quality bedding ensures a good night’s sleep.
✅ Make sure all your rooms are soundproof: nothing is more irritating than waking up to a baby crying next door.
✅ Get an adjustable thermostat that can be controlled directly from a smartphone: some people love falling asleep in a cold room, some waking up in a warm bed. It’s all about customization!
