• Hotel Call Center Conversations Revert to Bookings and Trip Planning   

Excerpt from CoStar

Customer inquiries to hotel call centers are reflecting more normal travel trends, and the early uses of artificial intelligence have resulted in quicker response times, experts say.

Based on the types of requests hotel call centers have received in the past year, hotel guests appear to be reverting to more normal travel patterns.

A year ago, customers were contacting Hyatt Hotels' call centers primarily for help with changing plans due to disruptions in travel, or for answers they couldn't find themselves.

Jessica White, Hyatt's senior vice president of global property and guest services, said guests today are calling to plan trips around special occasions and particular times of the year.

Hyatt's call center employees, nearly all of whom work remotely, continue to field calls from prospective guests who are at the beginning of their booking phase and looking for travel recommendations.

"The guest may not have a specific location in mind, but they know they want to go somewhere. Our [global property and guest services] colleagues are more than happy to assist based on their specific needs and preferences," White said via email.

Anita Travis, vice president of contact center operations at Hawaii-based Outrigger Resorts, said the company uses private call center Travel Outlook. Travel Outlook is an off-site central reservation service that acts as the primary reservations department for hotels or handles overflow.

There were two characteristics Outrigger looked for in choosing a call center to partner with: flexibility of scale and a business contingency.

Click here to read complete article at CoStar.