Creating seamless and tailored guest experiences.
ATLANTA – IHG Hotels & Resorts announce the launch of a reimagined digital booking experience for its guests. Leveraging the power of cloud-based platforms, IHG is transforming the hospitality industry by providing a smarter, easier and faster way for guests to book and personalize their stays.
The enhanced booking experience empowers guests to select individual room attributes such as a higher floor or a room with a view. Guests can also personalize their stays with various enhancements including IHG One Rewards elite-qualifying bonus points, Food & Beverage credits, lounge access, special in-room welcome amenities or pre-paid parking – all as part of the redesigned booking flow. To date, more than 5,000 hotels have the ability for guests to choose the room attributes that matter most to them and over 100 will have stay enhancements live by the end of 2023.
“The innovative technology that powers this level of customization for IHG’s guests has allowed us to fully reimagine the booking experience, adding greater choice through the convenience of the platform,” said George Turner, Chief Commercial & Technology Officer at IHG Hotels & Resorts. “By leveraging the company’s next-gen cloud solutions, we are setting a new standard in the industry, ensuring guests have the power to curate their perfect stay with ease.”
To achieve this breakthrough, IHG undertook an extensive process, beginning with a comprehensive inventory of every room across its global portfolio of hotels and resorts. This inventory included details such as higher floor rooms, ocean or city views and additional amenities that guests seek when booking. Simplifying available rates across all locations worldwide ensured that guests could effortlessly find their ideal room. Combined with the launch of stay enhancements, this is another example of how IHG is putting guests in more control of their experience in an easy and intuitive way.
And guests aren’t the only ones seeing value from stay customization. On average, when a guest purchases an attribute for their stay, hotels see additional revenue of $22 per night for that booking, with Luxury & Lifestyle brands seeing up to $41 of additional per night revenue for upsell bookings.
IHG’s partnership with Amadeus, the world’s leading travel technology provider, has been instrumental in establishing IHG as a leader in next-gen cloud solutions. IHG has also invested in rebuilding each hotel’s website, recognizing that 40% of website traffic originates from these platforms. With over 80% of IHG hotels already boasting a new website, IHG continues its commitment to fully showcase the diverse offerings available to guests across its 19 brands. Further investment included standardizing the definition of room types globally; for example, a Holiday Inn brand premium room type is always 15% larger than a standard room type.
The result of these initiatives is a modernized booking flow that seamlessly integrates guest preferences. Through extensive customer testing, IHG has created an intuitive booking experience that allows guests to personalize their stay before arrival. Interested, for example, in a suite on a high floor with a breathtaking view and a spa treatment at the InterContinental Bahrain? IHG now makes it easy for guests to get just that.
George Turner added, “This game-changing solution demonstrates IHG’s dedication to staying at the forefront of the hospitality industry. We are committed to continually developing and refining offerings to enhance the customer journey and elevate the booking experience like never before.”
Looking ahead, IHG will continue its journey of innovation, constantly refining its technology and adding new functionality into the booking flow. This includes improvements to the IHG One Rewards mobile app, a newly relaunched app which is IHG’s fastest growing revenue channel.
With guests from numerous countries visiting IHG’s digital channels more than half a billion times each year, the impact of these cloud-based solutions on the hospitality industry is substantial. IHG Hotels & Resorts remains customer-centric, striving to create a booking experience that surpasses expectations and sets new industry standards.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
