數據已經成為當今社會的一個組成部分。廣泛使用互聯網、社交媒體、基于位置的服務和多媒體有助于不斷增長的數據，這些數據將產生有關的人、人的喜好等諸多的信息。這種海量的數據給行業更好地了解他們的客戶創造了新的機會，并提供基于客戶喜好的個性化服務。

正在利用這些海量的數據來尋求更多的東西的產業是酒店業。在過去，酒店和技術從來沒有互相補充，因為酒店從業者一直關注有形的東西。他們更愿意花時間和資源在定義業務區域上，如提高一個地方的氛圍，拓寬菜單的選擇范圍，提高服務交付的質量，而不是專注于技術和大數據。其結果是，企業想提供的和客戶想要的之間的距離變大了。因此，由于缺乏對客戶喜好的了解，酒店業從業者使得企業效率低下并且盈利處于低水平之上。

為了克服這些問題，酒店業開始以一種很顯著的方式使用技術，特別是大數據。大數據是關于識別模式和關系的，這些關系存在于可以確定未來趨勢的數據和變化的客戶喜好之間。有了這些了解，企業可以使得自己的現有產品或添加新的來滿足這些客戶的期望，這反過來將推動需求，并使得利潤增加。

具體地講，大數據可通過以下方式來提高客戶滿意度，從而能夠提高企業的整體效率和收益。

個性化體驗

大數據有充每次給客戶提供個性化旅行體驗的潛力。當一個企業知道某個特定的客戶想要的什么時，它就可以更改其相應的服務。例如，如果一個餐飲企業基于老主顧過去的飲食習慣和他們的社交媒體更新知道老主顧想要什么，那么它就可以提供這樣的菜單選項。特別是當客戶有飲食禁忌時，如素食主義者或猶太教，這些信息就會派上用場，

這樣的策略在許多方面被證明可以為公司帶來經濟利益。首先，客戶對服務很滿意，那么他們肯定會再次光顧生意。其次，更重要的是，這個客戶很可能會向朋友和家人推薦這個地方。該建議將帶來更多的客戶，而公司則不用在營銷或廣告上花費任何金錢。

創造合適的產品和服務

大數據可以給公司對于他們的產品和服務提供更好的方向感。他們會比以前知道哪些產品將成為熱點，使他們能相應地規劃自己的業務。例如，它是不難預料，在熱天人們會喝啤酒或吃冰淇淋，但了解他們喜歡什么啤酒以及什么口味的冰淇淋是很有益的，使企業能夠儲存足夠數量的合適產品。這個信息就是大數據可以給企業的東西。在更廣泛的層面上，大數據有助于最大限度地優化品牌的戰術決策并給旅游公司提供更好的控制力。

競爭優勢

大數據很可能成為幫助企業獲得競爭優勢的關鍵因素。在這個意義上說，大數據工具將是主要的差異化要素，因為所有的公司，無論是新的還是老的，都有機會獲得相同的數據量。因此，能夠創新和捕捉最深的見解的公司將超越其他公司。

在另一個領域，大數據可以幫助定價。公司將能夠預見發展趨勢，并調整其產品售價，以使他們的服務對客戶更具吸引力。一個典型的例子是租金成本。例如，當船租賃公司，知道更多的人將要在夏季前往它所在的城市，大部分旅客可以負擔得起的價格，其競爭對手的價格和其產品的預計需求，那么他們就可以定一個能夠吸引客戶的價格，并且與此同時又使得公司有利可圖。這給了企業競爭優勢，因為它的定價決策是有相關數據支持的，這種相關數據能夠以比以往任何時候都高的精度來預測客戶的消費行為。

謹慎的做法

盡管使用大數據能夠帶來好處，但企業應該注意一些灰色地帶。首先，過度個性化可能會適得其反，因為這將被某些人看作是侵犯隱私權。因此，企業應該利用大數據來提供個性化的體驗，但不應該過度的這么做。例如，記者登上飛大西洋航線的飛機，很多東西讓她大吃一驚，其中她相鄰座位的兩名記者竟和她前往同一會議。利用大數據，該機設計了座位安排，使得所有的三名乘客有機會在會議之前就知道對方。在另一方面，只要一個老顧客進來，餐廳服務員就會拿出顧客喜歡的飲料。選擇也會基于客戶的歷史訂單推出。雖然這些“服務”，一些人是可以理解的，但是對于想在本次計劃嘗試新鮮事物的顧客來說，這將是非常不愉快的。

其次，大數據本身并沒有多大用處，除非企業以創新的方式使用它來提高他們的業務水準。正是這種創新，給了企業競爭優勢，使得產品或服務對用戶更有吸引力。

最后，企業應該使用正確的大數據工具以最大限度地利用它。實時分析和深刻的洞察力，將提供真正駕馭它的好處必不可少的新模式。

總之，通過提供新的模式和見解，大數據將對對酒店業產生深遠的積極影響。有了這個新的信息，企業能夠更好地提供個性化的服務，提升客戶滿意度，提高運營效率，獲得競爭優勢，所有這一切最終將使企業獲得更高的利潤。然而，有一些需要小心，特別是在隱私和侵犯客戶的方面。當這些問題得到解決，大數據成為企業和旅客的游戲改變者。

Is Big Data a game -changer for businesses and travellers?

Data has become an integral part of our society today. Widespread use of the Internet, social media, location-based services and multimedia are contributing to the ever-growing data explosion that is generating information about people, their preferences, likes and so much more. Such vast amounts of data have created new opportunities for industries to better understand their customers, and to provide personalized services based on their preferences.

One such industry that is looking to make the most out of these vast amounts of data is the hospitality industry. In the past, hospitality and technology have never complemented each other because the hospitality players have always been concerned about tangible things. They preferred to spend their time and resources on defined areas of operations such as to improve the ambience of a place, widen the choice of menus and enhance the quality of service delivery, instead of focusing on technology and big data. As a result, the gap between what the industry offers and what customers want widened. Hence, players in the hospitality industry were left with inefficient businesses and low profitability levels due to this lack of understanding of customers’ likes and preferences.

To overcome these problems, the hospitality sector began to adopt technology, specifically big data, in a profound way. Big data is all about identifying the patterns and relationships that exist between data to identify future trends and changing preferences of customers. With these insights, companies can customise their existing products or add new ones to meet these customer expectations, that in turn will fuel demand, and will lead to increased profits.

Specifically, Big data can be used in the following ways to enhance customer satisfaction, and to improve the overall efficiency and profitability of businesses.

Personalised Experience

Big data has the potential to give customers a personalized travel experience every time. When a business knows what a particular customer wants, it can make changes to its services accordingly. For example, if a restaurant business knows what a regular customer wants based on his or her past eating patterns and social media updates, then it can provide such menu choices. This information will come handy especially when the customers have diet specifications such as vegan or kosher.

Such a strategy will prove to be economically beneficial for the company in many ways. Firstly, the customer is sure to come back to the business again because he or she was satisfied with the service. Secondly, and more importantly, this customer is likely to recommend this place to friends and family members. This recommendation will bring in more customers without the company spending any money on marketing or advertisement.

Creating the Right Products and Services

Big data can provide a better sense of direction for companies with respect to their products and services. They will be in a better position than before to know which products will be a hit, so that they can plan their operations accordingly. For example, it is not hard to predict that people will drink beer or eat ice-cream on a hot day, but it will help to know what beers and what flavors of ice-cream they would like, so that the business can stock the right kind in adequate quantities. This information is what big data can give to companies. On a broader level, big data helps to maximize tactical brand decisions and gives greater control to tourism companies.

Competitive Advantage

Big data is likely to become a key factor for helping companies to gain a competitive advantage. In this sense, big data tools will be the key differentiators because all companies, whether they are new or experienced, will have access to the same amount of data. Hence, the company that can innovate and capture the deepest insights will score over others.

Another area that big data can help is pricing. Companies will be able to foresee trends and adjust their prices accordingly to make their services more attractive to customers. A case in point is the cost of rentals. When a boat rental company, for example, knows that more people are going to travel to its city in summer, the rate that is affordable for most travelers, the prices of its competitors and the estimated demand for its products, they can set a price that is attractive to customers and at the same time, is profitable for the company. It also gives the business a competitive advantage because its pricing decision is backed by relevant data that can predict consumer behavior with a greater level of accuracy than ever before.

Cautious Approach

Despite the benefits that come with using big data, there continues to be some gray areas that companies should watch over. Firstly, over-personalisation can backfire because it will be seen as an intrusion to privacy by some people. Hence, companies should use big data to offer a personalised experience, but should not over do it. For example, a journalist who boarded a transatlantic aircraft found much to her surprise, two other journalists who were heading to the same conference in her adjacent seats. Using big data, the aircraft engineered the seating arrangements to give all the three passengers an opportunity to know each other before the conference. On the other hand, a restaurant waiter brought in a complementary drink as soon as a regular customer walked in. Menu choices were also suggested based on the customers’ past orders. While these gestures would be appreciated by some, it would be seen as a heavy hand by others, especially by people who had planned to try out new items this time.

Secondly, big data by itself is of little use unless companies use it in an innovative manner to improve their business offerings. It is this innovation that gives a competitive advantage and makes a product or service more attractive to users.

Lastly, businesses should have the right big data tools to make the most out of it. Real-time analysis and deep insights that will offer new patterns are essential to truly harness its benefits.

In short, Big data is having a profound positive impact on the hospitality industry by offering new patterns and insights that were hitherto not available. With this new information, businesses are in a better position to provide customised service, enhance customer satisfaction, increase operational efficiency and gain competitive advantage, all of which eventually lead to higher profits for businesses. However, there are some areas that need caution, especially in terms of privacy and intrusion to customers. When these areas are addressed, Big data becomes a game -changer for both businesses and travellers.