At this year’s ITB Berlin conference, the team from Visiting Media was excited to immerse ourselves in the dynamic discussions surrounding the future of hospitality. With key insights and thought-provoking conversations, this year’s takeaways on the future of travel have wide-ranging impacts on the future of sales in hospitality.

Embrace Technology, Focus on Service

Technology continues to revolutionize the hospitality industry, but its role is not to replace human interaction. Instead, it serves as a powerful tool to enhance service delivery. The emphasis remains on providing exceptional guest experiences while maintaining a high level of service. Innovations such as AI should bring human service to the forefront instead of eliminating human interaction. Personalization should be taken to the next level! It should empower service professionals to do what they do best with a unified guest view and data insights at their fingertips. The post-COVID hospitality employee is setting a new standard in the tech they need to provide quality service to the new consumer.

Challenges in Luxury Hospitality

Luxury hotels face unique challenges in today’s landscape. From integrating with local communities to catering to younger consumer preferences, there’s a delicate balance between exclusivity and accessibility. The digital-first consumer can seem paradoxical, but in reality their desires are quite clear. Consumers want accessibility in the digital space, with exclusivity in the physical space. They want the ability to choose when and how to immerse digitally. Understanding how and when to use immersion to inspire their next destination, provide insight into their stay, and assist decision-making is critical to a comprehensive digital strategy. Luxury hospitality must redefine itself on an almost constant basis. The segment partners with tech providers to advise on solutions that can provide intimacy and put the power in the hands of the buyer.

Speed and Visibility is Key for MICE

Events are back and busier than ever, but in a whole new way. Major tech players universally agree that speed and transparency are paramount in the meetings and events industry. Winning event business is becoming more competitive by the day. Tech makes the buying experience more seamless, fast, and accessible. Consumers expect visualization, immersion, and critical data such as price and availability within 60 minutes of the first inquiry. They will choose the venue that shares key details with them in that first hour over 70% of the time. We wonder how much longer the lengthy multi-day process of requesting and replying to proposals will exist in hospitality. Immediate public visibility is becoming the new norm as meeting and event methods catch up with faster buying patterns and instant gratification available in the consumer space.

Sales Evolution in Hospitality

The conference sparked intriguing discussions about the evolving role of sales in hospitality. Traditional methods are being questioned, prompting a shift towards prioritizing marketing and distribution channels. Bridging the gap between sales and marketing will always be critical for any business. Although marketing automation is making strides, intimacy, and personalization will always define next-level sales. Sales teams should consider sales as a key part of the funnel, not separate from the marketing and distribution ecosystem. Understanding consumer behavior and embracing digitalization are essential components of successful sales strategies. Sales Enablement has been a successful component in other industries outside hospitality to keep sales relevant and dynamic. We foresee the sector as ripe for innovation in order to maintain digital relevance in sales.

Consumer Demand Around Visual Immersion

In an era where digital immersion is paramount, consumer preferences are again leading the way. Studies reveal that 74% of consumers desire an immersive walkthrough of hotels, most notably guestrooms, before booking. While these same studies indicate that in-room smart innovations like voice command are less desired, digital immersion is crucial for building trust and aiding decision-making. A complete immersive digital strategy through all facets of the business — from marketing to distribution to MICE and more — is where the consumer is leading the industry. Hotels recognize that modern travelers want to immerse themselves in local communities, with hotels being a part of that experiential travel. The immersive way a hotel markets themsleves in the context of a region is the supreme way of marketing this experiential context.

At Visiting Media, our commitment is to stay at the forefront of these trends. We ensure that our solutions empower hospitality businesses to thrive in this ever-changing landscape. ITB Berlin 2024 was a testament to the exciting possibilities ahead, and we’re eager to continue innovating and collaborating with industry leaders to shape the future of travel.

Connect with our team to consult on an immersive selling strategy that can be easily deployed across your business in a way that drives revenue for your unique property.

Watch ITB Berlin Session at their Youtube Channel.