Sojern rolls out guest experience solutions in Europe

Move follows acquisition of VenueLytics last year

Digital marketing platform Sojern has rolled out its guest experience solutions in Europe.

The UK, Spain, Italy and Ireland are the first European countries to have access to the travel specialist’s platform, with France and Portugal to follow.

It follow’s Sojern’s 2023 acquisition of guest experience platform VenueLytics, which it has since incorporated as an extension of Sojern’s travel marketing platform Guest Experience Solutions (GES).

Sojern said GES offers hoteliers the chance to provide personalised experiences, automating guest communications, giving hoteliers information on customer sentiment and freeing up staff to deliver ‘the special touches that make a hotel stand out from the crowd’.

It says hotel marketers can use GES to engage with travellers during their trips using automated tools to optimise net revenue per room

And Sojern says its AI Smart Concierge, which automates more than 500 responses to common guest questions via SMS, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Website Chatbot, enables staff to prioritise face-to-face interactions and gathers data on guests’ wants and needs.

This, it says, has driven up to a 600% increase in guest engagement, a 65% decrease in front desk calls, and a 56% reduction in brand quality audits in North America.

Sojern’s Reputation Manager is also available to its European clients, allowing them to gather and manage feedback, drafting responses in-stay and to online reviews in real-time.

The company says its customers in North America have increased their Net Promoter Scores by 35% on average over three months – and that a negative review can cost a hotel anywhere from $1,000-5,000 in revenue and loss in the lifetime value of the customer.

Sojern also offers a guest marketing suite, allowing hoteliers to contact guests via email, SMS, WhatsApp and chat features throughout the entire customer journey through ‘consistent and tailored communication’

It says this has boosted direct bookings, ancillary revenue, and fostered long-term loyalty from clients, with Sojern customers having generated more than $5,000 per day from email marketing campaigns.

Celine Chaussegros, vice president of property at Sojern, said: “In a short-staffed market, the increasing expectation for customised experiences throughout the entire customer journey is placing unprecedented pressure on hotels.

“We are excited to introduce our Guest Experience Solutions in Europe to empower hoteliers beyond the booking, expanding our offerings to be an end-to-end marketing platform.

“We are dedicated to delivering innovative solutions for the travel sector by harnessing data, AI, and technology to achieve impactful outcomes. Through our Guest Experience Solutions, we analyse, unify, and act on data from diverse hotel management and marketing systems, enabling Sojern to strengthen our connections within the hospitality industry.”

As part of its move into Europen, Sojern is to work with booking platform GetYourGuide.

GetYourGuide chief marketing officer Emil Martinsek said data from the tours and activities specialist shows consumers are finding and booking tours and activities earlier in their travel planning, and increasingly doing so digitally.

“We are focused on developing and leveraging technologies that help travellers easily discover and book experiences worth traveling for,” he said.