Calling down to the hotel ’ s front desk for extra towels may soon be obsolete . Messaging technology is gaining traction with several hotel companies seeking to improve communication with guests .

Last year , Hyatt Hotels Corp . began testing private messaging through Facebook ’ s Business on Messenger . “ We view our 24 / 7 social care efforts as a natural extension of our purpose , which is to care for people so they can be their best , and that means we want to engage with our guests on their terms , through their preferred channels ,” says Dan Moriarty , director of social strategy and activation at Hyatt . “ Now , Messenger is just one of the many channels

where our guests can reach us to get help with their reservations , ask for recommendations or make in-room requests .”

“ I expect that by the end of the year , we will have one or two major hotel chains playing well on Messenger ,” adds Lee McCabe , global head of travel strategy for Facebook , who says the company is in conversation with several major hotel companies . “ More and more people are turning to Messenger , especially millennials who use Messenger three times more often than they do email .”

Marriott International ’ s Mobile Request , available through its app , features a two-way chat feature called " Anything Else " that enables guests to communicate with hotels before , during and after their stays . uests can

request services and amenities in English , Spanish , Chinese , French and German . “ I think that if hotel companies and hoteliers don ’ t start to get ready for this today , they might find themselves in six months ' time or 12 months ' time looking around and asking themselves , ‘ How did we let this happen to us again ?’” says Tim Peter , founder and president of Tim Peter & Associates , Long Valley , New Jersey .

The Three C ’ s According to Facebook ’ s McCabe , connection , convenience and context are growing increasingly important to travelers .

“ The consumer wants to connect with a company on whatever devices that they are using all of the time ,”

he says . “ They don ’ t want to be forced to connect in a different or awkward manner . They also want the business to make their lives easiest as possible so that every interaction should be easy , efficient and effective . Every part of the communication should also be personalized .”

Hyatt ’ s Moriarty has made similar observations . “ We continue to see our guests valuing the real-time , human connection with us through social

In February 2016 , 1 billion people worldwide – nearly 1 in 7 – were using WhatsApp Messenger .

channels ,” he says . “ Consistently , we find guests with a millennial mindset , no matter their true age , value messaging and social care the most . We continue to see our guests valuing the real-time , human connection with us through social channels . And we ’ re also seeing more people use messaging to save time on simple transactional items , like making a booking .”

In addition to younger guests , business travelers are a prospective audience . “ This is certainly a millennial trend with one huge caveat : business travel ,” Peter says . “ We are seeing younger companies with younger employees begin to use things like Messenger and WeChat , What ’ s App and Slack to manage internal communi-

12 hotelsmag . com June 2016