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THE TALK
FIGHT THE ‘ AUTHENTICITY ’ TRAP
hotelsm . ag / TrueAuthentic Today ’ s buzzword for customer experience enterprises is authenticity , and all brands , big and small , seek it . But what is it , and when does authenticity achieve its true power ? HOTELS contributor David Richey breaks it down into three elements , but it ’ s really the third piece that ’ s the most crucial ( and the most difficult ). That part is all about the customer and how they feel . It means allowing the customer to remain within their true self ; allowing the customer to fulfill their vision of self-identity . And , in turn , letting go of some of the control for which the hotel industry is notorious .
THE BUG ’ S LIFE
LET ’ S TALK ABOUT COCKROACHES
hotelsm . ag / RoachRight For HOTELS blogger Guy Rigby , it ’ s not just about having cockroaches , it ’ s how you deal with them as a hotel that counts . After spotting the bugs in his New York hotel room recently , Rigby was disappointed by the lackadaisical way his complaint was registered , as well as the lack of meaningful follow-up . “ This is where a hotel can differentiate itself ,” he writes . “ Cockroaches are a fact of life in hotels and restaurants , but people hate them and will avoid your establishment like the plague if they know the place is infested … A follow-up email or call from the GM should have been received assuring me that this serious issue was being dealt with immediately .”
THE DISRUPTOR
ALIBABA ’ S HOTEL STRATEGY
hotelsm . ag / AlibabaHotels Never fear hotels , writes contributor Charlie Liu : Chinese e-commerce , retail and tech giant Alibaba is not the barbarian storming the gates to take away your market share . A year ago , Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial , which owns Alipay , pivoted the strategy from fintech to techfin , signaling a shift from disrupting the banks to empowering the evolution and sustainable success of banks . Similarly , Alibaba and Alitrip ’ s mission is to empower a new hotel experience . Maybe sooner than expected , we can expect the value chain of tourism to be connected all the way down to big data infrastructure .
4 hotelsmag . com March 2019