Think Tank Hospitality

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THE FUTURE OF TOURISM

In the past years, Portugal has strengthened its position as the world's best destination when it comes to Tourism. The Tourism sector represented more than 8% of the GDP in 2019, placing Portugal in the top 5 European countries where Tourism contributes more to the economy. With the immense growth of the sector in recent years, Tourism operators have increased, there is more demand, more supply, more investment, and more tourists. Even though the Tourism sector has grown quite rapidly, its growth is not equally felt in the rural areas of Portugal, where rural Tourism and nature experiences are just now taking a step towards new developing opportunities.

The digital transformation of Tourism is crucial in a phase all stakeholders have been highly affected. The pandemic situation left this sector in a struggling position, contributing to the end of some small and medium businesses. Therefore, this is the right time to make the right adjustments and decisions towards a new Tourism cycle to start soon.

sector growing disruptively but sustainably. The result of this effort is the entrepreneurial community we can now find in Portugal, united to face the adversities and conquer new markets and business models.

More and more initiatives have been organized in recent years with a national effort to bring new and innovative approaches to the traditional Tourism we used to know. From identifying challenges and creating startups to helping the startups to grow, many contributions have been made in order to keep the

With the increase of tourism startups comes the necessity to create a match between the needs of the market and the startups’ products and services. Hence, this necessity urges us to create platforms and build bridges that can identify the needs of the market, before and after the pandemic, and make sure the entrepreneurial ecosystem is aligned with the real pains of their customers.

WHAT TO EXPECT

W H Y A R E

WHY ARE WE HERE?

NEST – Tourism Innovation Center of Portugal created a diagnostic cycle of Think Tanks aiming to study the Portuguese Tourism market and identify main challenges, needs, and opportunities within the Tourism innovation processes.

Four main vertical areas of the Tourism sector were identified in order to conduct the exercise, namely: Gastronomy & Restaurants, Hospitality, Tourism Activities, and Points of Interest.

Each cycle was divided into 3 steps, firstly a survey, secondly a Think Tank, and thirdly a report.

On the first step, a survey was conducted and distributed through a selected group of specialists who are decision-makers, responsible for defining strategies, and ensuring operational processes within each of the vertical areas. Throughout the survey, we have collected information regarding the main challenges in the sector, the impact of the pandemic situation, and the future opportunities regarding innovation, digitalization, and sustainability.

For the Think Tank, we have invited a selected group of people, including decision-makers and operational workforce with proven experience in the sector, to participate in a dynamic workshop. The Think Tank was conducted to identify specific internal and external struggles in the sector in order to generate a set of potential opportunities for new products, services, and businesses.

For this edition, the focus of this report is on the Gastronomy and Restaurants sector. For each Think Tank organized a dedicated report will be produced, identifying new opportunities for the sector.

Following these 4 steps, NEST intends to open a call for national and international startups to develop innovative solutions for the identified opportunities of each sector.

VERTICAL AREAS

GASTRONOMY AND RESTAURANTS

Considered as a cultural patrimony, gastronomy is proven to be one of the main factors when choosing a touristic destination.

How is the sector adjusting to the online channels?

Are restaurants taking advantage of the new technologies?

How to engage with their communities?

TOURISM ACTIVITIES

The range of new activities in Portugal is widely growing in the urban cities. The key to succed is how to differentiate your solution and target it.

What is the future customer journey?

How to become more sustainable?

How to add value and create an unforgettable and repeatable experience?

HOSPITALITY

Breaking records in the occupancy rate in 2019, the hospitality sector has grown rapidly, at the point of attracting international investment in Portugal.

What has changed in the hospitality sector?

How to leverage new technology?

What are the new trends and customer behaviors?

POINTS OF INTEREST

The patrimony of Portugal is equally spread through its territory, whether we are talking about museums, palaces or nature. Mobility is the key to ensure a seamless experience for the tourist.

How to analyze the fluxes of tourists?

How to guarantee an easy and sustainable mobility of tourists?

How to leverage tech solutions?

HOSPITALITY

Portugal is recognized worldwide as a privileged destination and Hospitality is one of the key sectors of Tourism. Travelers, when choosing Portugal as their destination, increasingly expect to have a unique and personalized experience in the accommodation they choose.

The hospitality sector frequently tries to offer a personalized experience, of extreme, quality for its customers reflecting the high standards expected in Portugal.

How to create innovative concepts applied to the Hospitality sector, in a successful strategy for a new customer journey?

How to enhance the personalized experience through the Hotel Industry?

How to guarantee excellent service with a focus on quality and sustainability standards?

ROSÁRIO SANTOS

The Hospitality Sector will become more humane and peoplecentered. The future will highlight our customers, the focal point of the industry, but also our team, a proven success factor for our activity. I hope that we can achieve the ideal balance between technologies and the people of the future.

W H A T A R E T H E

______CHALLENGES

THE SURVEY

The survey was sent and answered by a group of 41 targeted people to make a curated and realistic diagnostic regarding the current situation of the Hospitality sector.

Among the group of people, there were decision-makers in the Hospitality sector, Hotel owners, tourism specialists, operational staff as well as Directors. The diversity of the group was crucial to identify the key challenges across the value chain of the sector.

Most of our invited experts were Portuguese (83%) and 63% were working in Lisbon Region. 51% of our participants are managing or working at 4 or 5 stars Hotels, while others (24%) are suppliers for the Hospitality or working on this sector businesses. The goal of this survey was not to be statistically valid but to have a qualitative approach to the challenges and opportunities of the sector.

The following pages represent the main results of the survey, by pointing out the main challenges, problems, and opportunities.

PROFILE

Most of our experts are working in a small-medium sized company

MAIN CHALLENGES

These clusters were built after an open question in the survey regarding the main challenges the sector will face in the near future. These answers were crucial to defining the Think Tank challenges.

In the short term, our experts expect the following challenges for the sector

TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS

FINANCIAL CONSTRAINT

INNOVATION

HEALTH & HYGIENE

SUSTAINABILITY

CUSTOMER TRUST

DIGITALIZATION

CUSTOMER’S PURCHASE POWER

SECTOR’S LACKING STRATEGY

SPECIFIC CHALLENGES

Participants were asked to pick 3 specific challenges from a giving list. The numbers presented in the chart represent the percentage of participants which picked a specific challenge. This representation method was adopted throughout similar questions of the survey analyzed in the following pages.

From a list of specific challenges, these are the most felt

DEVELOP ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

IMPROVE AND AUTOMATE OPERATIONS

IMPLEMENT DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY

IMPROVE QUALIFICATION OF HUMAN RESOURCES

DIVERSIFY THE SERVICE OFFER

OBTAIN AND MAINTAIN QUALITY OF SERVICE PARAMETERS

IMPROVE COMMUNICATION WITH CUSTOMERS

ENSURE OPERATIONAL MAINTENANCE

IMPROVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

REINVENT THE CONCEPT OF F&B

IMPROVE BOOKING MANAGEMENT

IMPROVE CHECK IN EXPERIENCE OTHER

PANDEMIC IMPACT

How much has the sector been affected during the pandemic in terms of revenues?

Most people identify the decrease of clients as the most important factor for their struggles…

DECREASE

COMPLEMENTARY SERVICES OPTIMIZATION

ENSURE F&B SERVICES’ DELIVERY QUALITY

ENSURE SUPPLIERS’ MANAGEMENT

PANDEMIC SUPPORT

The two most efficient support to the sector were considered to be the non-refundable treasury support and Lay-Off

What were the main operational struggles?

NEW BEHAVIOURS

How much have customers changed their demand behaviour?

Evaluate how the customers’ high standards will be, after the pandemic?

What will customers value the most, after the pandemic?

3. SOMEWHAT CHANGED

3. MODERATE STANDARDS

MAGDA VARÃO

The Hotel Industry is moving towards being more digital, more technological, more professional and, above all, more strategic.

CUSTOMER DIGITALIZATION

How is the digitalization of the customer perceived, 6 months prior to the survey and in the following 6 months.

SECTOR DIGITALIZATION

In which areas?

How digitalized was the sector before the pandemic?

How important will the digitalization be, after the pandemic?

In which areas?

0. NOT IMPORTANT AT ALL

3. SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT

5. EXTREMELY IMPORTANT

RESOURCES & TECHNOLOGY

Select from the list, the most important technologies to adopt right now

Evaluate how developed are the technical skills of the staff to implement this digitalization?

ROSÁRIO PINTO CORREIA

We are all moving towards personalized service, being able to offer people what they want but they still don’t know yet.

OPPORTUNITIES

The most relevant opportunities for the sector are very well distributed between the given options

TECHNOLOGY

There is no doubt that technology is a source of improvement for the sector

What are the most relevant technological solutions for the sector?

What about sharing and circular economy? Which strategies are more important to adopt?

T H I N K I N G

______THE SECTOR

THINK TANK RESULTS

CONCEPT

The Think Tank was an online session with the presence of a group of experts in the field of hospitality, coming together to think about the main struggles of the sector and explore future opportunities to solve them.

A group of 20 people was invited to participate in a dynamic workshop regarding the future of the sector. The dynamic was conducted by Fábrica de Startups using a design thinking approach to identify challenges, find main struggles and detect possible solutions. Prior to the Think Tank, Fábrica de Startups selected the main 4 challenges the sector is facing at the moment, based on the results of the survey. These challenges represent the foundation of the exercise where each team is assigned a specific challenge. Subsequently, each team has chosen a specific customer segment and went through the customer journey to find the key frustrations. After identifying the main pains for the customer segment, participants were invited to evaluate and select only one problem to which they, later, found possible solutions.

During the think tank the following metrics were taking into consideration:

Customer segments. Different contexts.

Problems and pains.

Opportunities/solutions

On the next pages, we will show you the process that each team went through and the main conclusions. The outcome is specific enough to be more than just a theorical exercise but broad enough to allow different approaches to the identified problems and opportunities.

FOUR CHALLENGES

Prior to the Think Tank and taking in consideration the results of the survey, Fábrica de Startups selected the main 4 challenges the sector is facing at the moment. These were the challenges that shaped the Think Tank focused on the Hospitality sector.

DIVERSIFY THE OFFER

How to optimize internal resources?

How to attract new markets?

How to adjust to a new customer behavior?

DEVELOP A SUSTAINABLE STRATEGY

How to adopt circular economy procedures?

How to guarantee energetic efficiency?

How to optimize internal resources?

ENSURE QUALITY EXPERIENCES TO THE CUSTOMER

How to guarantee a safe experience?

How to ensure a personalized service?

How to maintain a trustworthy relationship with customers?

IMPROVE COMMUNICATION & MARKETING STRATEGY

How to manage a multi-channel strategy?

How to gain the trust of the customers?

How to communicate to new markets?

DIVERSIFY THE OFFER: OPPORTUNITY #1

CHECK-IN

This is the step where customers arrive at the Hotel. This is the moment when they meet the Hotel staff for the first time in person, deal with bureaucratic matters and have a first experience in the Hotel unit.

FAMILIES (UPPER-CLASS)

MAIN PROBLEM:

For the Upper-class families, upon arrival at the Hotel, at the time of Check-in, they are sometimes faced with a slow, bureaucratic and unintuitive process. Thus, the problem is the availability of Human Resources in terms of knowledge of software solutions and training of IT tools that can offer a better customer experience.

SECONDARY PROBLEM:

Hygiene and safety rules adapted for customers in the Covid-19 situation.

MAIN OPPORTUNITY:

Invest in training by simplifying procedures, creating processes and checklists, making the tasks easy to understand in order to improve the experience of the customers at the moment of the check-in process. In Hospitality, this technological development, software, and training of the team should be celebrated, encouraged, and recognized by the management team, colleagues, and, consequently, by the client.

DIVERSIFY THE OFFER: OPPORTUNITY #2

CHALLENGE #1

INSIDE THE HOTEL

This context deals with the areas of the hotel, interior or exterior that are not the restaurant or the reception at the check-in. Depending on the hotel, the size and function of these areas may differ (e.g. leisure areas).

REVENUE MANAGEMENT

MAIN PROBLEM:

The Revenue Manager needs to have a proactive and versatile team with a mindset focused on understanding their clients' needs, thus enabling the diversification of the hotel offer, maximizing the use of different hotel areas.

SECONDARY PROBLEM:

Management of customer expectations in the hotel’s offer.

MAIN OPPORTUNITY:

Develop team spirit to optimize human resources by the creation and development of synergies in the various departments of the Hotel. Encourage communication by the various departments (Restaurant, Health space, Cleaning team, Animation team, etc.) that in the end will lead to a more integrated, personalized, and diversified experience for the customer.

DIVERSIFY THE OFFER: OPPORTUNITY #3

CHALLENGE #1

INSIDE THE HOTEL

This context deals with the areas of the hotel, interior or exterior that are not the restaurant or the reception at the check-in. Depending on the hotel, the size and function of these areas may differ (e.g. leisure areas).

COUPLES WITH NO CHILDREN (UPPER-CLASS)

MAIN PROBLEM: How to meet the expectations of the customer regarding the diversity of the hotel's offer. Customer frustration regarding the cost of the room given its size, product quality, and concerning the services provided by the hospitality unit.

SECONDARY PROBLEM:

Lack of hygiene standard inside the hotel and in the spa services.

MAIN OPPORTUNITY:

Identify and measure customer satisfaction and understand their stress points during the say. The analysis of the low levels of customer satisfaction will allow the identification of solutions and address the hotel’s weaknesses. Apply independent compensatory actions to the problem (a problem in the room can be compensated with a visit to the Spa per instance) that presents the diversity of the Hotel's offer and quality. Apply a compensatory action related to a possible problem, showing the immediate resolution and quality of the service.

DIVERSIFY THE OFFER: OPPORTUNITY #4

CHALLENGE #1

CHECK-IN

This is the step where the couple arrives to the hotel, there is a presentation of services and logistics of the say in.

COUPLES WITH NO CHILDREN (UPPER-CLASS)

MAIN PROBLEM: How to ensure quality customer service at the time of check-in avoiding unnecessary delays?

e.g. The situation of customers who are minutes waiting for a first service when they arrive at the hotel.

SECONDARY PROBLEM: Response capacity and quality in service.

MAIN OPPORTUNITY:

Develop the capacity of more effective service and team. To compensate de unnecessary delay, Hotel can offer more personalized service and an experience with the Hotel Manager. Opportunity to offer services provided by the hotel, for example, a 2-hour city tour.

ADÉLIA CARVALHO

Readaptation: betting on human quality. The challenge will be to have operational people working, after an atypical year, to return to our path and give strength to the creativity of the Hospitality sector.

DEVELOP A SUSTAINABLE STRATEGY: OPPORTUNITY #1

CHALLENGE #2

INSIDE THE HOTEL

This context deals with the areas of the hotel, interior or exterior that are not the restaurant or the reception at the check-in. Depending on the hotel, the size and function of these areas may differ (e.g. leisure areas).

ENGINEER

MAIN PROBLEM:

How to train the team in the search for solutions to be applied in sustainable development. Benefit the knowledge and experience of the teams that are in the field, enabling them to evaluate several key sustainability points, such as energy efficiency, maintenance, a mong others, finding agile ways to solve them.

SECONDARY PROBLEM:

How to have an efficient cost control?

MAIN OPPORTUNITY:

Enable the team to understand where there is the greatest waste within the departments and ask each element to make an analysis of where there is a greater incidence. Analyse the data provided, meet with Engineering and understand where you can start using the resources. The solution can go through the effectiveness of communication on social networks and website.

DEVELOP A SUSTAINABLE STRATEGY: OPPORTUNITY #2

CHALLENGE #2

PRE-ARRIVAL

This is the step before arriving at the hotel. After booking and before customers are at the hotel unit.

COUPLES WITH NO CHILDREN (MIDDLE-LOWER CLASS)

MAIN PROBLEM: How to reduce the carbon footprint? Concern with the reduction of the Hotel’s carbon footprint in relation to food and maintenance of spaces.

MAIN OPPORTUNITY:

Privileging the choice of local producers, certified in good practices, which allow having fresh and quality products, addressing the F&B sector. In the case of maintaining hotel space, the choice of local providers has two main advantages: promptness in solving problems and reducing the price.

SECONDARY PROBLEM: Concern with the use of ecological cleaning products.

DAVID SAAD

Trust and security: both share the same path. Without trust there is no security, and vice versa. We have to create this security and trust in our end customers, and intermediate customers, so we are moving towards a prosperous future.

ENSURE QUALITY EXPERIENCES TO THE CUSTOMER: OPPORTUNITY #1

CHALLENGE #3

OUTSIDE THE HOTEL

This is the step that you take after the customer is installed in the hotel and you can go out and enjoy the surroundings.

DIGITAL NATIVES

MAIN PROBLEM: How does the client knows which are the best leisure activities surrounding the hotel? Lack of information on the offer for a long period of stay. The difficulty of understanding the needs of clients may vary a lot according to the purpose of the stay being leisure or work.

SECONDARY PROBLEM: Limited opportunity for activities outside the hotel.

MAIN OPPORTUNITY:

Front-office teams trained and prepared to match the needs of a “digital native” client (or with longer stays) at the destination, in the community, with tailormade tools. Teams prepared to work as support, "family" - human factor, always proactive with the client and his interests, not only inside but above all outside the hotel, in the post-work mode period.

ENSURE QUALITY EXPERIENCES TO THE CUSTOMER: OPPORTUNITY #2

CHALLENGE #3

HOTEL RESTAURANT

This context deals the catering services of the hotel: restaurants, bar’s, room service.

MAIN PROBLEM: Lack of promotion of the restaurant hotel being unable to grab the attention of passing customers. How to make the hotel's customers also customers of the hotel’s catering services?

SECONDARY PROBLEM: How to maintain a consistency of food quality?

MAIN OPPORTUNITY:

Improvement in the promotion of the F&B offer. Review of the strategy and the concept of restoration in the context of a hotel and present a more differentiated offer. Positioning of outlets at the level of independent units with the best environment that best meets the needs of the guest.

ALFREDO TAVARES

The Future of Hospitality is a certainty, we are here, and now the steps will be to look to the future and learn from the situations of the past.

IMPROVE COMMUNICATION & MARKETING STRATEGY: OPPORTUNITY #1

CHALLENGE #4

PRE-ARRIVAL

This is the step before arriving at the hotel. After booking and before customers are at the hotel unit.

COUPLES WITH NO CHILDREN (UPPER-CLASS)

MAIN PROBLEM: How to be able to differentiate the offer and quality of service in the face of a high number of competitors?

SECONDARY PROBLEM: How to attract the right customers?

MAIN OPPORTUNITY:

Development of an assiduous and clear communication plan with the client, presenting a strong positioning based on the differentiation and quality of services.

IMPROVE COMMUNICATION & MARKETING STRATEGY: OPPORTUNITY #2

CHALLENGE #4

INSIDE THE HOTEL

This context deals with the areas of the hotel, interior or exterior that are not the restaurant or the reception at the check-in. Depending on the hotel, The size and function of these areas may differ (e.g. leisure areas).

FAMILIES (UPPER-CLASS)

MAIN PROBLEM: How to keep guests busy, especially children, with adequate services (in type, offer and times), always thinking about the security of the space.

SECONDARY PROBLEM:

How to keep the offer updated and diversified by different ages and cultures and expectations?

MAIN OPPORTUNITY:

Understand and monitor the ages and needs of customers to adjust schedules and offer of outlets. Send a previous questionnaire to understand what customers want and ensure that they get the best offer in view of the data obtained.

MARIANA REBELO DE SOUSA

The versatility and flexibility within the Hospitality teams will enrich the customer's experience, whether in a large hotel unit or in a small hotel unit.

T

H O U G H T S A N D

______OPPORTUNITIES

CONCLUSIONS

CONCLUSIONS

The survey combined with the Think Tank’s outputs allowed us to recognize and categorize several challenges and trends the hospitality sector is facing at the moment. During both phases, experts of the area come together to create a reflection on the main struggles that need to be solved in the short-mid term.

One of the main conclusions of this study is that the sector is currently focused on personalized and unique experiences more than just providing services. This is due to the need to create trust and security for the client, given the pandemic situation, but also because the client's demand has improved. It was clear during the Think Tank session that the focus is on the customer and the way in which the hospitality sector wants to position itself in order to give an integrated experience to the customer and not just an overnight stay. Therefore, the quality of the delivery service is a fundamental

part of the value chain, where we need to innovate and create new approaches to improve the customer experience.

Our specialists also highlighted this focus on quality by focusing on internal processes, which indicates the need to reorganize and rethink the sector’s operations. When it comes to operational issues, the main challenge is human resources. Most experts identified a clear need for appropriate training for the team and training for more personalized service, more effective communication between departments, and the need to capacitate the team for the digital transition.

The experts also identified a clear need to develop a sustainable strategy, not only taking internal actions concerning local suppliers, organic products, and reducing the carbon footprint, but also the need to have a team that can understand where sustainable environmental practices and energy consumption could be improved.

Communication between the sometimes mentioned as a promoter for a more integrated customer experience. The need for a team focused on the quality of the service provided as an engine of differentiation in the delivery of services.

It was also mentioned the need for a strong communication plan to create trust and loyalty, the sector needs to invest in new and innovative ways of communicating with customers. This need becomes even more relevant when we approach a premium segment.

To summarize, we can conclude that the future of the sector is highly directed towards a service that aims to be as integrated as possible in the offer of services. To succeed in this task, it is intended to adopt strategies that can meet the needs of the client, be it a unique experience, such as the implementation and communication of a sustainable strategy. For these market trends to be met, it will be essential to take advantage of the innovation processes in technology and solutions of the startup ecosystem in the Hospitality sector.

MAIN CONCLUSIONS

DIVERSIFY THE OFFER

FOCUS: premium segment and how they can diversify the experience while maintaining quality.

How to meet the expectations of the customer?

How to diversify the offer and communicate it to the customer?

How to train human resources for quality service?

DEVELOP A SUSTAINABLE STRATEGY

FOCUS: to adopt more sustainable actions.

Implementation of software and technological solutions that improve service efficiency; Ensure communication between the various departments of the Hotel; Adequate training for the team.

How to train service staff to be sustainability efficient?

How to reduce the carbon footprint?

How to guarantee a sustainable quality service?

Train the team in all departments to adopt more sustainable actions and the ability to reflect on improvements; Partnership network with local suppliers; Communication of the sustainability strategy through the Hotel channels.

MAIN CONCLUSIONS

ENSURE QUALITY EXPERIENCES TO THE CUSTOMER

FOCUS: offer the best quality service to the new trend customers.

IMPROVE COMMUNICATION & MARKETING STRATEGY

FOCUS: how to communicate to the customer the diversity of service offerings.

How to offer a personalized service even outside the hotel?

How to convert hotel guests to hotel restaurant guests?

How to train service employees to meet customer needs?

How to differentiate hotel services from other competitors?

How to provide customer activity solutions during the stay?

How to keep the offer updated and diversified by different ages and cultures?

Improve the offer and information of services in the region; Review the hotel's communication and promotion strategy for F&B services;

Empower and train the team in customer relationship management.

Develop a strong communication plan with market positioning; Sending a previous questionnaire to the client to better understand their needs;

Analyze data of clients and diversify the range of activities and meal option on offer.

ROBERTO ANTUNES

Hospitality’s future is experiential and integrative. In the future, I see the potential for hospitality to stretch into new and different businesses, and hospitality brands to aggregate those opportunities under its own umbrella.