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A SURVEY conducted by the Agoda travel application titled ‘Travel in 2021’ states that Indonesian tourists prioritize experience as part of a hotel stay or staycation package.
According to Agoda Indonesia’s Senior Country Director, Gede Gunawan, the experience that customers want is in the form of activities inside and outside the inn location. For those inside the hotel, for example, cooking classes, yoga classes, and so on.
“Or if the accommodation is located near a forest or rice field, the intended experience, for example, is that tourists can enjoy the morning or evening atmosphere on foot to explore destinations close to the hotel,” he said.
He explained that customers expect hotels that already provide attractive packages with unusual experience offers. To get around this, the hotel can work with other suppliers so that they can maximize the opportunities that exist.
“Agoda survey shows 27% of Indonesians treat accommodation as a destination and not just a place to rest. In other words, more and more tourists are now starting to consider hotels as new tourist destinations, especially during the pandemic,” said Gede Gunawan.
He added that in addition to prioritizing experience, the benefits of food and beverages as well as the convenience of early check-in or late check-out are in second and third positions in the list of things that must be owned in a package offered by accommodation in Indonesia. During this pandemic, customers expect packages that are included with the room price so they can get a better price.
The facilities for early check-in and late check-out, he continued, seemed trivial but were actually very important based on the consideration of short and last-minute travel trends. With early check-in and late check-out, customers can get hotel service longer, and this can increase hotel revenue because it provides the best service to consumers.
Gunawan elaborated the survey results conducted by Agoda could help the hotel business to map the challenges that must be faced. One of the products that Agoda offers to answer this challenge is the Agoda Special Offers (ASO). Agoda Special Offers are designed to meet customer needs and at the same time help hotel providers increase their profits.
“From the customer side, Indonesian tourists now have access to exclusive and non-exclusive packages as well as value-added benefits when they search for accommodation on Agoda. Customers can look for various offers that best suit their needs, ranging from food and beverage benefits, experiences in the accommodation area or outside the hotel, early check-in or late check-out, to special room upgrades at attractive prices,” he noted.
He remarked, customers do not have to bother looking for accommodation on other search engines. In one platform at Agoda, customers can explore existing ASO packages. Meanwhile, from the hotel side, ASO is a valuable opportunity for hotels because it will get greater marketing exposure so that hotels can get new customers.
“In this time of adversity, we believe there will always be opportunities and opportunities. And we have proven that opportunity through surveys that currently tourists tend to think of hotels as destinations,” Gunawan concluded. [traveltext.id]
