What Benefits Should the Chatbot Achieve for Guests and the Hotel?

The utility of a chatbot should always be viewed from two perspectives: the guest's perspective and the hotel's perspective. At the core of the hospitality industry is good service and the relationship with the guest, with communication and interaction being key components. It's crucial to meet the high digital expectations of guests. If answering a question takes too long or if a guest can't easily find specific information, offers, and links, it can quickly lead to a missed booking opportunity.

The chatbot, as a virtual employee, is an ideal complement to the hotel team. It helps reach potential guests where there is already initial interest—such as on Google or when website visitors are researching hotel information. The chatbot can autonomously answer frequent questions via Google Chat or website chat, arouse interest in a stay, and facilitate bookings. Where traditional forms or call-to-actions are increasingly failing, chatbots provide a new, interactive touchpoint with guests. They generate leads around the clock, reduce bounce rates, and increase dwell time on the website. A chatbot is a perfect addition to traditional customer service and the online marketing mix, enhancing the user experience on the hotel's website.

A significant advantage for the hotel in using a chatbot is the substantial relief it provides to employees from simple, but time-consuming, standard queries. The time saved can be used for more important tasks, such as personally handling individual and complex customer concerns.

Relieving Staff and Being Always Available

Approximately 80% of guest inquiries are repetitive, meaning staff are regularly confronted with the same questions and continuously provide the same answers. This is time-consuming. Here, the innovative use of the latest Artificial Intelligence—Large Language Models (LLMs)—comes into play to support the team in addressing these recurring questions. LLMs represent a new evolution of AI. This technology underpins the famous chatbot ChatGPT. It enables natural, fluid, and human-like interaction with the chatbot. For example, if a guest asks for a restaurant recommendation, the chatbot recognizes the request and promptly provides the appropriate answer in the chat. Due to AI's continuous learning capability, the chatbot can cover a broad range of questions. Guests particularly appreciate that they can resolve their concerns much faster with chatbots than through traditional communication channels like telephone, email, or at the reception.

"Always available, quick, and straightforward—this leads to time savings for guests and thus to more direct bookings!"

Chatbots are available around the clock, even outside normal reception and office hours. Users consistently receive the simple and straightforward handling of inquiries via chatbots positively. They appreciate the ability to address their concerns anytime and anywhere using the bot. Always available, quick, and straightforward—this leads to time savings for guests and thus to more direct bookings!

Effective Service Along the Entire Guest Journey

Hotels can offer their guests uncomplicated and efficient communication not only in the chat on the hotel website but along the entire guest journey—from Google search to check-out. Digital assistants can be utilized in WhatsApp, Facebook, in guest directories, guest apps, and even in Google Maps and Google search, making the hotel accessible anytime and anywhere. Low-threshold communication is highly valued by guests and improves customer satisfaction.

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