Radisson Tests Customized Biz Rooms Internationally
<I>Minneapolis</I> - Business-class pioneer Radisson Hospitality Worldwide will begin a large-scale multinational test this fall of the next generation of business rooms, offering amenities customized to each guest.
The chainwide beta test--with several key-account corporations at 225 properties in 19 countries--will offer business-class guests a choice between such amenities as a free movie, second free breakfast (for a spouse or client) or bonus airline miles.
While Radisson will debut the industry's first customized business class, Inter-Continental currently offers a choice of amenities through its Global Business Options. Separate from its business- class rooms, Inter-Continental's program is not available with negotiated or standard corporate rates, while Radisson's will still charge a premium of about $20 above a corporate rate for the new and improved business-room offering.
For Radisson, customized business class represents a shift in strategy from mass marketing to one-on-one marketing.
"We're shifting from focusing on the product to figuring out what each person needs," said vice president of marketing Maureen O'Hanlon, adding that a guest may even want to bundle different business-class amenities for each trip.
"In 1950, it cost as much to manage one customer as it costs to manage all of a hotel's customers today," O'Hanlon said. "We will now be able to communicate directly with consumers individually, instead of shouting at them in groups."
The customized business class, along with a new loyalty program, will take off by 1999, when the chain unveils its fully integrated property management system.
Radisson's four-year-old Business Class rooms currently include a larger, well-lit desk, dataport, in-room coffee, breakfast, daily newspaper, surcharge-free calls and faxes, express checkin and checkout and in-room movie (a standard feature that will become an option under the new customized program.)
The customized business class program the chain is preparing to test was patterned after one begun two years ago at the Toronto­Markham Radisson. To gauge the optional amenities guests may want, the chain will round up a group of key accounts--representing 25,000 of 50,000 business-class customers--to test the concept this fall.
"Levi's now makes custom-fit jeans," O'Hanlon noted. "They will measure you and deliver your jeans in seven to 10 days. They now manufacture 10,000 different sizes of jeans--in lot sizes of one. If Levi's can do this, why can't we?"
A second group of about 100,000 guests, gleaned from the chain's airline mileage program, will beta test the new VIP loyalty program--already under way at the seven Radisson Moriah hotels in Israel-- early next year.
"Our miles program drives the business travelers, so we're using those transactions to learn more about the guest," O'Hanlon said.
Radisson dropped its original loyalty program seven years ago upon discovering that 90 percent of members were staying at only one hotel, according to O'Hanlon. "Traditional frequency programs are very expensive," she said. "Instead, we'll do a select group with guest-history profiles, special offers and amenities."
The new VIP program will include an exclusive checkin desk, upgrades and special luggage tags.
Meanwhile, the hotel company's airline mileage program, Partner Miles, has recently added an automated system to record and reward miles. Guests swipe frequent flyer cards from any of 20 airlines through the machine, which trims the process from 54 days to five and cuts down on errors.
The new mileage system, which collects information on Radisson's most frequent business travelers, will gather members for the upcoming VIP program. "We want to make it inconvenient for our cutomers to do business with our competitors," O'Hanlon said.
Inter-Continental's amenities program, which was launched four years ago to 190 hotels worldwide, offers an automatic upgrade, free breakfast or bonus miles (depending on the airline, usually doubling the standard 500 miles per night to 1,000 miles per night).
Individual hotels sometimes come up with their own additional options as well, such as a Cadillac rental, free parking, food and beverage credit or an adjoining guest room for half price in off-season Miami. Guests also may choose to pay for a second option, a spokeswoman said.