WorldVue partners with boutique hotels to bring in-room entertainment and upgraded infrastructure for Gen Z hotel guests. WorldVue Digital Infrastructure provides the necessary bandwidth to accommodate today’s travelers. Partnering with The Boutique Lifestyle Leadership Association allows us to support creative hoteliers as they provide unique and exciting experiences for guests of all ages.
Today’s hotel guests are overwhelmingly either Millennials or Gen Z’ers.
- Gen Z, iGen, or Centennials: Born 1996 – 2015.
- Millennials or Gen Y: Born 1977 – 1995.
Attracting the next generation of guests is a common question for all hoteliers. Gen Z hotel guests want unique experiences in interesting and exciting locations, two primary components of boutique hotels.
Gen Z consumers are increasingly important in today’s economy. As their influence and buying power continues to grow, hoteliers are curious about their unique needs and demands. In addition to providing reliable connectivity and upgraded in-room entertainment, we recommend hotels implement local art to grow community engagement and enrich the guests’ interactions with the area’s culture.
While updated technology and reliable connectivity may seem like apparent requirements for this group, we also recommend implementing local design and artistic flair throughout the hotel. Creative technology solutions like digital signage can complement a hotel’s artistic offering and encourage guest participation in local events. Below are five creative ways you can attract Gen Z hotel guests to your boutique property:
Display Local Art
Hotels can use digital signage to create engaging displays in the lobby or walk-through galleries in otherwise unused spaces like libraries or ballrooms. Digital signage is a cost-effective solution as management can change the displays at any time, depending on upcoming events or changing gallery themes. Partnering with local artists immerses guests in the unique local culture of the surrounding area and encourages them to engage authentically.
Digital art displays can also benefit local artists as management can feature art or NFTs that are for sale, encouraging guests to buy local art as a unique souvenir to remember their once-in-a-lifetime trip.
Provide Unique Experiences
Boutique hotels are unique in their ability to surprise guests. Advertising on-property or local events is a great way to get guests involved with the area they’re visiting. For example, The Standard – East Village, NYC features unique creative events hosted by locals to engage guests. These events, called Expression in the East Village: Complimentary Creative Workshops, include creativity-centered activities like flower arranging or fashion illustrating. After guests perform the activity, they get to keep their art and can display it on their social media pages. Create a unique hashtag to garner even more attention to the experience.
Additionally, The Standard – East Village, NYC highlights local musicians with their On The Decks: Al Fresco Listening Sessions, a community-wide event featuring local DJs. Pools, rooftop bars, and large courtyards are great places to host local artists and events. Immerse guests in the local culture with music or art from the region.
Communicate the Vision
Guests visit boutique hotels for their unique character and history. In-room entertainment is a great way for hotels to communicate their history and vision. In-house channels can be used to effortlessly connect guests to local lore and history. Additionally, hotels can feature information about local events and attractions directly on the in-room television screen.
Digital displays in common areas are another great way for boutique hotels to communicate with guests. Many boutique hotels host historic events and gatherings like Afternoon Tea by The Hermitage Hotel. A tribute to the women’s suffrage movement, events like Afternoon Tea are a great way for guests to immerse themselves in the hotel’s history. Advertise these unique experiences with an interactive event calendar and engaging digital signage throughout the hotel.
Be Authentic
The most exciting component of boutique hotels is their ability to capture guest attention and create transformative experiences. The WorldVue Entertainment HUB™ invites hoteliers to sprinkle personalized communication elements throughout the guest-room. Guests can create a custom greeting on the guest’s in-room television to be displayed upon their arrival. Our in-room entertainment platform integrates directly into every hotel PMS solution, enabling management the opportunity to greet guests with a custom welcome message, automated to appear on the screen identifying the guest by name. The goal is to continue the seamless experience from booking, to check-in to room arrival.
Engage with Guests
It’s great to host and design an engaging event, but it’s equally important to showcase and advertise the event to hotel guests. Digital signage is essential to draw guests into these activities and ignite their curiosity. The WorldVue Digital Signage platform is user-friendly, with easy-to-use event calendars and interactive displays. Remind guests of event-specific information with common-area digital signage.
Additionally, The HUB™ platform offers an easy-to-use Event Calendar to keep guests informed on property events from the comfort of their rooms. Management can easily update the Event Calendar depending on what events they’d like to promote. Because our system integrates directly into the property’s management system, staff can select which rooms they’d like to target, drafting unique messages to promote participation. Our custom messaging platform easily notifies guests of the goings on at the hotel. With a tiered notification system, management can determine the importance of each message, sending personalized content to individual rooms.