July 7, 2020, New York City – Coyle Hospitality and Intersection CX announced Part I of their research series called Traveler Listening Post which examines emerging hospitality trends in a post-COVID world.
In late March, as the travel industry was being systematically and immediately shut down, Jim Coyle of Coyle Hospitality and Matt Valenti of Intersection CX discussed how COVID-19 joined 9/11 and the Great Recession as the third major travel disruption in the last 20 years. While disruption demands change, the type of change takes time to unfold.
“COVID-19 is certainly unprecedented, however, market crashes in travel are not,” said Coyle, President of Coyle Hospitality. “Right after 9/11, travelers were stating with absolute conviction they would never travel again. During the Great Recession, it was Skype that was going to replace business travel and meetings,” remarked Coyle.
“As we compared and contrasted the three crises and reflected on our collective experience helping the hospitality industry navigate through those changes,” added Valenti, Principal of Intersection CX, “we saw an opportunity to glean insights from savvy travelers over time, with focus and depth.”
Coyle Hospitality tapped its global network of professional travelers to create a post COVID-19 panel. The Traveler Listening Post series will follow this cohort through the unfolding hospitality landscape to not only pulse travel sentiment, but also help hotels anticipate changing guest expectations.
“One of my favorite things about the hospitality industry is that operators inherently understand the importance of listening to guest feedback and engaging their employees to act on that feedback,” said Valenti. “The hotels that did this well after 9/11 and during the Great Recession built stronger loyalty and commanded greater market share. The Traveler Listening Post series is designed to help hoteliers and restauranteurs become more active listeners in a rapidly changing environment.”
Coyle added, “Unlike the last two disruptions, COVID-19’s impact on travel is compounded by regional and political factors (e.g., local outbreaks, laws, and phases of re-opening). We created the Traveler Listening Post series to help understand these unique challenges. Our clients know that there are no quick fixes, and that patience, with an eye to the long-term, is needed.”
Three key insights from Part I of the series:
- Respondents (n=308) stated that restaurant buffet, fitness center and check in are the top three anticipated changes to the hotel experience.
- Rental cars ranked number one for traveler comfort when a middle leg of travel is required.
- 27% of respondents would be willing to pay more for a hotel room with an additional cleanliness certification.
To follow the series and key findings, click here.
Part II of the Traveler Listening Post will be deployed in July.
About Coyle Hospitality
Founded in 1996, Coyle Hospitality Group is a market leader in designing and implementing mystery shopping, quality benchmarking, brand compliance and market research programs globally. In the current post-COVID era, Coyle has integrated social distancing ambassadors, cleanliness and sanitation compliance and subjective feeling-state questionnaires into their suite of offerings. Coyle services any and all industries, with a strong expertise in hospitality.
About Intersection CX
Matt Valenti founded Intersection CX to provide a unique blend of Market Research and Industrial/Organizational Psychology to align customer and employee feedback for understandable, data-driven actions. With expertise in holistic redesign of feedback programs, cross-functional linkage to financial performance, and operational performance management, Matt has helped some of the most recognized brands in the travel industry enhance their service culture.
