Chroma's AI Journey: How We're Using Tech to Delight Guests
Ever wondered how to connect the different nodes of your digital ecosystem from booking systems to customer reviews, AI-generated personalized itineraries and tour packages?
With an increasing penetration of Generative AI , comes the promise to enhance an interconnected and hyperpersonalised customer experience. Imagine seamless customer service, once-in-a-lifetime experiences that leave you wanting more, and automated recommendations that make planning a breeze – that’s the renewed future of travel driven by AI.
With 20 years of experience in capitalizing on digital marketing efforts to drive new revenue streams in the hospitality industry, Sunish Sadasivan, VP of Ecommerce & Revenue Management at Chroma Hospitality shares his insights on using revolutionary technologies to drive customer satisfaction. Having predictive data on inventory levels so that future orders can be made to meet on-demand requirements is one of the strategic moves that the firm is taking to swiftly cash in on the growing surge of customers. It also hopes to direct them to their offerings through early detection of underselling cases by 3rd party wholesalers or OTAs.
Lastly, the historical figure of Ada Lovelace incites inspiration and creativity in their marketing campaigns, driving their mission in creating unforgettable guest experiences with AI as a core component of their hospitality services to perk up customers.
So, buckle up and get ready to explore the future of hospitality through the lens of AI!
In your experience, how has AI transformed the eCommerce landscape within the hospitality industry?
Let me start by talking about my own journey in Hospitality which started 24 years back in Operations and Reservations Management. Most of our reservations were made either by a telephone or by fax coming in from Travel agents like Miki and GTA in the first few years which shifted to Booking.com sending fax after fax as they became a major player in Middle east. This will follow all of us inputting these bookings into the system manually. While technology has made the life of the current reservations lot easier, what was missing in our times was the automated yielding as well as reduction in time spend on the telephone explaining to each guest about the hotel and making the full reservation for the guest. This is where I would explain to everyone about Artificial Intelligence which has 2 popular ways to work for you – Machine Learning and Generative AI.
With machine learning, it has become easy to demand forecast as well as yield dynamically by room type based on segment and seasons.
Generative AI has totally changed the way we managed Reservations as well as Operations. AI enabled chat bots are taking over Reservations task in websites, social media as well as messaging channels like WhatsApp and Viber. Guest who have booked through offline channels are being sent emails or sms asking them to register using the official WhatsApp of the hotel which is powered by AI and this becomes part of the digital journey for during stay and post stay communications.
AI's role in hospitality is known for personalizing guest experiences through virtual assistants and in-room control. How does Chroma Hospitality leverage AI for personalization beyond these examples?
There are few additional areas where we are already using AI for both Personalization as well as customer retention and satisfaction improvements:
Customer Insights: AI analyzes customer feedback, social media interactions, and booking behaviors to provide deep insights into customer preferences and trends. This data helps us in refining marketing strategies and improving our service. This is all converted into sentiment analysis and shared with the departments involved whether negative or positive so that we can improve as a unit.
Targeted Advertising: AI-driven marketing platforms create highly targeted ad campaigns based on user data, increasing the effectiveness of marketing efforts and reducing ad spend wastage.
Content Personalization: AI personalizes website content, emails, and promotional materials to align with individual customer interests, enhancing engagement and conversion rates.
Can you elaborate on how Chroma Hospitality utilizes AI for tasks like inventory management and housekeeping, and how this translates to a better guest experience?
Predictive stock management and Automated ordering system: During the pandemic Chroma Hospitality focused on areas where we had seen challenges during the peak years of 2018 and 2019. Our purchasing system was challenging with a lot of manual procedures as well as failing stock management. We invested into a AI system built for the group focusing on key functions like predicting stock as well as ensuring that all suppliers related to Hospitality products are part of the system. The system based on future predictive requirements does advance ordering and suppliers for a particular order are based on their pricing and quality requirements meeting as minimum standards are already fed into the App.
Consistent availability of high-quality supplies ensures guests have a seamless experience, whether it’s fresh towels, toiletries, or dining options. For example, ensuring enough pool towels during peak season avoids inconveniences for guests.
How has AI impacted your decision-making process around pricing and revenue management at Chroma?
By leveraging AI in pricing and revenue management, Chroma Hospitality has optimized its pricing strategies, enhanced revenue, and improved overall guest satisfaction. The ability to make data-driven, timely, and strategic decisions ensures that Chroma remains competitive and profitable in the dynamic hospitality market. An example is how AI helps us detect which country IP is being undercut by a OTA or a 3rd party Wholesaler selling a rate which is only applicable for Offline bookings but sold on a Online channel. This helps us with doing test bookings and suspending such agents or OTA from the system and hence resulting in better conversion for our Direct channels.
On the other hand competition monitoring helps us to ensure that we are not leaving any money on the table and any major changes happening in the market has a direct price change reaction.
What are some of the key challenges you've faced in implementing AI solutions for eCommerce within Chroma Hospitality?
Data quality and Integration remains the key challenge especially that there are many system involved. Example – The Property Management System needs to integrate with Channel manager, AI Chatbot as well as Operations Management bot, CRM, Loyalty, Revenue Management System, and many others to ensure seamless data integration which helps with both customer satisfaction as well as right pricing by channel. Challenge is Seamless integration of diverse data sources, including legacy systems, to provide a comprehensive data set for AI analysis.
AI systems rely heavily on high-quality data. Inconsistent, incomplete, or inaccurate data can lead to poor AI performance and unreliable insights. Ensuring data cleanliness and accuracy across multiple sources, including booking systems, customer feedback, and external market data.
From your perspective, what are the most promising areas for further AI development in hospitality?
There could be many as Hospitality is full of used cases especially that AI can be integrated into the entire guest journey. I will focus on few major ones for future:
Voice-activated controls: Integrating more advanced natural language processing to understand and respond to complex guest requests, creating a seamless and intuitive in-room experience.
Predictive Maintenance: Implementing more sophisticated AI models to predict maintenance needs with greater accuracy and manage resources more efficiently.
AI Chatbots: Developing multilingual chatbots capable of understanding and conversing in multiple languages to serve a diverse guest base.
Sustainable Energy Management: Developing AI models that integrate with renewable energy sources and predict energy needs more accurately.
Virtual Tours: Creating immersive VR experiences that allow potential guests to explore local attractions and hotel amenities before they arrive.
Menu Personalization: Implementing AI to optimize kitchen operations, predict demand for menu items, and reduce food waste.
Predictive Event Planning: Enhancing AI tools to provide more detailed insights into attendee preferences and optimize event logistics.
How does Chroma Hospitality envision AI assisting its staff in delivering exceptional guest experiences, while ensuring human interaction remains a key element?
I recall in 2017 there was a team meeting with our Ecommerce and we were discussing on what new aspects can we bring in to increase business and one of the ideas was to set up a Chatbot which will assist customers on our website looking for any answers as well as ensuring that they are able to finally make the reservation without moving into another OTA or worse another hotel. At that time most of us thought this will not work especially as we were thinking about customer service standard and how customers may not like talking to a robot. In 2018, we gave in and tried one of the first chatbots on our website. Initial reactions from customers was not the most positive but we did not gave up and started making the intelligence better and any big booking opportunities were taken over by the new Online Communications staff. Over the years the bot has been enabled with AI which inspired us to start enabling it into the customer journey from Reservation to Pre Stay to During Stay and Post Stay. Now AI Bot is enabled on our website as well as all Social Media and Whatsapp and most of the push notifications as well as during stay request are handled on this platform. This has enabled our Front Desk team to focus on guest satisfaction which can be seen in our Reputation ratings for 2024 at around 93% groupwide satisfaction.
You are speaking at this year’s Digital Travel APAC Summit. Can you share what the audience can expect to hear from you and what excites you about this event?
Digital Travel APAC is going to be exciting with a wide range of experts on Digital channels. I am exciting to conduct few workshops on increasing Direct Brand Website as well as use of AI into Hospitality. See you all there soon.
Bonus: If you could have any historical figure as a guest at a Chroma property, who would it be and why?
If I could have any historical figure as a guest at one of our resort properties – Crimson Resort & Spa Boracay with a focus on leveraging AI marketing, I would choose Ms. Ada Lovelace. Ada Lovelace, often considered the world's first computer programmer, was a visionary in the field of computing and mathematics. Her forward-thinking ideas about the potential of computing machines to perform complex tasks beyond mere calculation laid the groundwork for modern computer science and AI. Here’s why Ada Lovelace would be an extraordinary guest and how her presence could help with AI marketing for the resort with her Pioneering mindset, understanding of complex systems, Creativity and Analytical Skills.
We could create a Marketing Campaign around her stay: "Experience the Future with Ada Lovelace at Crimson Resort & Spa, Boracay"
Virtual Reality Tour: An AI-driven virtual reality tour narrated by a digital avatar of Ada Lovelace, showcasing the resort’s amenities and the integration of cutting-edge technology.
Personalized Guest Experiences: Using AI to analyze guest data and preferences, offering personalized itineraries and exclusive offers.
AI-Powered Concierge: An AI chatbot named "Ada" to assist guests with bookings, recommendations, and inquiries, providing a seamless and intelligent guest experience.
Virtual Concierge implemented by Chroma Hospitality
By channeling Ada Lovelace's pioneering spirit and expertise, Crimson Resort Boracay could elevate its AI marketing strategies, creating a unique and compelling narrative that attracts and engages a tech-savvy audience.
Hear from Sunish Sadasivan, at Equarius Hotel, Singapore, on 14th August, 2:35 PM Case Study: How to utilise AI for ecommerce to enhance chatbot and website management? Find out more here!