Most tourists (90 per cent) prefer having little to no interaction with hotel staff, according to a recent research study by Kasa Living, Inc., a nationwide tech-powered, flexible accommodations brand and operator.
The research also shows that the need for traditional hotel services and amenities is declining and that regular travelers, business travelers, and younger generations are leading the charge for the self-directed experiences that tech-enabled lodgings allow.
“This data supports what we have seen from Kasa guests for the past several years: Flexibility comes first,” said Roman Pedan, CEO of Kasa. “Especially in a remote and hybrid world, travelers are taking control of how and where they work and play, and the industry must adapt to meet those needs.”
Additional significant findings include:
Travelers prefer flexible and versatile places with fewer formalities.
The best lodgings for today’s tourists can satisfy various requirements, from families on vacation to business people remote working.
Fifty-seven per cent of respondents strongly agreed with this statement, while 98 per cent of respondents agreed.
In-person check-in is taking a toll, leading younger travelers to devalue the process.
Seventy-three per cent of respondents recalled negative encounters with in-person check-in, including lengthy procedures (44 per cent), inaccurate information (32 per cent), and unwelcoming (31 per cent) or nonexistent (22 per cent) employees.
Forty-seven per cent of Millennials rated front-desk check-in and room service as low priority, compared to 34 per cent of Gen X and 22 per cent of Baby Boomers.
Visitors favor cutting-edge technological travel experiences.
Virtual trip planning is popular with travelers of all ages for its convenience and flexibility, with younger travelers exhibiting a particular interest.
Ninety-seven per cent of respondents said they preferred to do at least some of their travel preparation online or to use an app.
Gen Z and Millennials are around two times as likely as Gen X or Baby Boomers to prefer virtual check-in via an app or website.
Those who travel frequently prefer digital.
Ninety-nine per cent of passengers who planned five or more trips in the upcoming year indicated they preferred to replace in-person interactions with virtual ones.
In-person encounters with personnel are less important than a self-directed experience, especially for younger visitors.
The majority of respondents, including 62 per cent of both Gen Z and Millennials, stated they preferred a flexible, hands-off approach to customer service over one that necessitates in-person engagement.
As hotels fall short of meeting essential needs, standard amenities are underused.
Conventional services like room service, concierges, bellhops, and building amenities like gyms and swimming pools are becoming outdated for travelers.
According to 61 per cent of prospective business or “bleisure” travelers, these services have minimal appeal, while 34 per cent of all travelers concurred.
Fundamental concerns like privacy and quiet are ignored, while guests pay no attention to unwanted extras.
Fifty-six per cent of respondents reported using only some of the available amenities, including 17 per cent, who typically used just a few or none at all.
Of the 81 per cent of travelers who had encountered disruptive hotel guests, 70 per cent took action. But younger guests indicated reluctance to complain: only 47 per cent of Gen Z and 59 per cent of Millennials took action, compared to 70 per cent of Baby Boomers.
Research Methodology
Between June 23 and June 28, 2022, Wakefield Research conducted the Kasa Survey among 1,000 Americans who planned to travel overnight for work or pleasure during that time. An email invitation was sent to participants who responded to an online survey. To guarantee fair representation of US passengers, this survey was weighted.
Any sample’s results are susceptible to sampling error. The quantity of interviews and the degree of the percentages used to express the results impact how much the variation varies.
The probability that a survey result for the interviews conducted for this study does not deviate, plus or minus, by more than 3.1 percentage points from the result that would have been obtained if interviews had been conducted with every person in the universe represented by the sample is 95 out of 100.
About Kasa
In 2016, Roman Pedan founded Kasa Living, Inc., a tech-driven, flexible accommodations brand and operator. The business collaborates with property owners to turn multifamily and hospitality facilities’ apartments into professionally managed lodgings called Kasas. Kasa manages these rooms and provides trustworthy, excellent, independent experiences to visitors of all types through technology and extensive industry expertise, including experts who previously drove growth at companies like Airbnb, KKR, and Apollo.
SOURCE Living Kasa
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