Hotel Intelligence
Your innkeeper knows more about you than you think.
The information your hotel collects about you is usually
inconsequential: your favorite newspaper, your husband's
birthday, your preference for an ocean-side room.
But put it all together, and the data creates a powerful guest
profile that allows the hotel to anticipate your needs.
"Guest-history systems are an integral component of almost
every property management system," says Andrew P.G. Mace,
principal hospitality consultant and vice president of Talus
Solutions Inc., a revenue management service provider in
Atlanta.
Recently, however, travelers have expressed concern with the
scope and depth of the information requested by hotel staff
members. According to Mace, guest dossiers can contain data
that's quite personal. What's more, properties are sharing
the information within chains.
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Frequent travelers are worried that personal decisions, such as
which pay-per-view film they watch, might end up in the wrong
hands. On Command, a leading provider of in-room video
entertainment and information services, is also troubled by that
possibility. It doesn't enable its hotel properties to access
movie-buying habits of the guests who use On Command's
services.
Is that going to stop hotels from gathering information? Not
likely. For properties, the information is a goldmine of
possibilities they aren't about to give up. So don't be
surprised if you check into a hotel only to find a gift basket with
your favorite candy in it. Remember: It's probably no
coincidence.
Christopher Elliott is a writer in Annapolis, Maryland.
Contact him at http://www.elliott.org.
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