Hotel room categories are largely standardized today. However, guests are increasingly demanding personalized, emotional hotel experiences. In response to this, the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO, together with partners from the “FutureHotel Innovation Network”, has developed an innovative model for experience-based booking and selling, the so-called Experience Based Booking and Selling (EBBS) model. This concept goes far beyond the previous Attribute Based Booking (ABB) model and enables hotels to create personalized room products that are individually tailored to a guest's preferences.
Personalization as key to increase revenues
“At the point of sale, when the most important product of the hotel - the room - is sold, we do not want to be forced to sell goods that differ only in price. We want to sell experiences,” explains Markus Müller, CEO of GauVendi, a provider of an ABB solution. The starting point for the FutureHotel study is a use case of FutureHotel network partner Meili Selection Hotels and the start-up GauVendi. Today, ABB is already aiming to move away from the previous standardization and sell unique experiences instead of price categories. “EBBS, the experience-oriented booking and selling system, takes ABB one step further,” says Dr. Constanze Heydkamp from Fraunhofer IAO and research coordinator of the FutureHotel innovation network. “Modern data analysis and generative AI will enable a highly personalized and emotional experience for guests in the future.” By combining room attributes and personal preferences, the system creates personalized offers that are optimally tailored to the needs and wishes of the guest. Klaus Kohlmayr, Chief Evangelist and Head of Strategy at IDeaS, a leading provider of revenue management systems that support hoteliers in the event of changes in demand or in optimizing prices, emphasizes the importance of this development: “As the hotel industry seeks ways to increase revenue and profitability, merchandising and personalization strategies are a high priority.” The study on experience-based booking and selling is particularly exciting because it could open up new distribution channels for hoteliers worldwide. EBBS enables hotels to stand out from the competition with individually tailored offers. It opens up new opportunities for the hotel industry to increase revenue and remain competitive in a dynamic market.
Data at the center of the analysis
The EBBS model ensures that guests receive offers that precisely match their individual needs and preferences. An example from the study illustrates the approach: an environmentally conscious young woman who travels a lot for work, tries out food trends and has a cat receives different personalized offers as a combination of a hotel room with very specific attributes, cancellation policies, hotel offers and offers from cooperation partners:
- PAWS UP! Bring your Cat and Relax the Weekend Away: A pet-friendly room with a large bed, balcony and morning sun, including a spa treatment and food delivery.
- Yummie Hidden Treasures: Local snacks in the minibar, daily breakfast in different neighborhood cafes, a ticket to an art exhibition about food and some time off at a nearby animal shelter.
Based on the data of a hotel guest, AI can be used to create an almost infinite number of attribute combinations for personalized experiences. To exploit the full potential of the EBBS model, it is essential to operate in the hotel ecosystem. Ulrich Pillau, CEO of Apaleo GmbH and FutureHotel network partner, emphasizes the necessity of flexible technical structures to seamlessly implement such personalized experiences: “The challenge is to use open interfaces between the property management platform and external hotel apps and websites.” These open interfaces make it possible to integrate a wide range of applications, further increasing flexibility and personalization.
Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO