Great uncertainty has spread with the new reality of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May 2018. Even though it was expected, many companies have 
underestimated its complexity and the efforts needed to implement the right technology to comply with the regulations. Particularly hotels.
Hotels already struggle to get all data within one system. It is siloed, inaccessible. Now, with GDPR, all this data must be consolidated and recorded somewhere so that it is readily available once requested. Is it even possible, or is this another bureaucratic monster?
A reboot for the industry?
Hotels should take a step back. GDPR isn’t so ghastly when looking at it from a distance. Rather, it improves the guest experience. It allows the EU to ensure that guests are comfortable with where and how their data is used, and it allows companies to compete in a healthy manner. Hoteliers keep asking me, in disbelief, how that can possibly be true. The answer is really quite simple: it is about data ownership. Do you, the hotel, own the guest data, or do you pass it to someone else? This all boils down to how advanced a hotel’s digitalization strategy really is. If you are a hotel that struggles with its digitalization strategy, listen up: it won’t work when you have dozens of different systems that own your guests’ data. You must consolidate. And fast, before the GDPR regulations hinder you from giving your guests the right to access their data.
Owning the data
How does a hotel company gain the access to a guest’s profile? One must. But, it requires a rethink. No more self-sufficient, isolated solutions. Hoteliers must take a more holistic approach. A centrally managed data platform approach. One that ensures not just GDPR compliance, but also a better guest experience.
Enter: central data management (CDM). This consolidates all guest data in one place, ensuring high-quality service, targeted marketing and correct analyses. Much like the OTAs, hotels need a central data management system, to consolidate their data, combining PMS, POS, newsletter system, questionnaire system, Wifi and the website. dailypoint™ offers all of this, with various interfaces in the customer’s own Marketplace and hundreds of solutions to unite all systems in one place.
The sticking point: data quality
But bringing them together is not enough. Hotels often have poor data quality in their systems. An analysis of 4.5 million stays showed that per loyal guest an average of 2.3 profiles were only available in the PMS. Up to 25% of the stays were associated with false/incomplete profiles. dailypoint™ offers the Data Laundry, a patent-pending solution that combines and cleans guest data from various sources. The result is a central guest profile based on many different data sources.
Driving without a driver’s license
Guests must also consent. Their data should also be up to date. Multiple profiles and various systems with different data must be weighted and correctly processed so that a central declaration of consent can be created in addition to the central guest profile.
You can compare the situation in the industry with driving without a driving license. It can go well for a long time, but it doesn’t have to. With dailypoint™, hoteliers have one less thing to worry about and, on top of that, they have the control center for digitization at their disposal. If, as a first step, you would like to learn more about email marketing with regard to GDPR regulations, let us know.