Mumbai, March 17, 2019: Sabre Hospitality is developing technology enabling hotels to promote experiences and other ancillary services within their websites as well as more widely across the web according to phocuswire.com
The company says the Intelligent Retailing platform, which will be ready later this year, enables hotels to offer rooms in a more flexible way based on attributes as well as bundled services.
It says the technology is the “next evolution” of the central reservation system with the thinking that going forward the CRS will become the “brain of the organization” with more and more capabilities coming from it.
The technology will only be available via direct channels including the Sabre property management system, hotel call-centre and the hotel’s own website.
Hotels not using the Sabre PMS can access some but not all of the functionality but the company says it is talking to PMS providers.
Consumers can come into the purchase funnel from any point. e.g. from an Instagram post about an experience or the hotel’s website.
Sabre Hospitality director of strategy and innovation Olaf Slater says machine learning analyzes interactions in the background using what is already known about the consumer and incorporating every new interaction including elements such as dwelling time.
He likens the development to services such as Spotify which enable consumers to experience music “bundled and curated in a very personal way.”
He says research shows that customers are willing to pay more for brands they love as well as stay loyal to those brands for longer.
The development is a departure from the traditional selling a room for a night approach and allows consumers to pick and choose ancillaries and services, such as late checkout, as they plan a hotel stay.
It also suggests additional services such as airport transfers that hotels could provide based on what their competitors might be offering.
Sabre says the technology is 90% there with 10% still being developed.
The retailing system is being piloted by Langham Hotels. A fulfilment engine and partnerships with providers for the tours and experiences service are also in the pipeline.
