There is no doubt that transforming guest stays into unique and transcendental positive experiences is currently the best differentiation tool in the Hotel Industry.
I think that, in hotels, what really makes guest experience design a win-win tool is its holistic nature. That is what makes the guest feel that they are living a pleasant experience in every corner of the Hotel. If we talk about a hotel as a large system that is made up of small subsystems, as for its different departments, they must be considered as small subsystems as well.
When designing holistic experiences, systems thinking must be considered in its cross-cutting relationships. This can only be established by considering each subsystem (sector or department) as an open system. Open systems are those that have interactions with the external environment that surrounds them.
These interactions can be carried out as an exchange of information, energy or material from the inside to the outside of the system or vice versa. Unfortunately, it is a fact that in many hotels internal policies and operational flows tend to turn their sectors into closed systems. In this way, the exchange of information, processes and energies with the external environment, especially with other sectors, is not favored.
They become, therefore, closed systems, to the detriment of intersectoral relationships and the final result of the services offered, easily perceived by clients. What can we do to open the system in a hotel? Here are some suggestions:
1-Exchange information about guest preferences in each specific sector.
2-Allow interaction between workers in each sector.
3-Allow access of all Hotel workers to all sectors of the hotel.
4-Allow all employees to know what products and services are offered in all sectors of the Hotel.
5-Allow the exchange of products between sectors in a planned manner to avoid delays in delivery.
I am convinced that the time has come to open the systems to achieve the integrality of the guest experience in every moment and space of the hotel, considering that it is the only way that exists to leave an indelible memory in the guest’s mind.
By Osvaldo Torres special for