Key stats:
- Increased direct bookings by more than 10% in 3 months
- Raised WEB members by 8000 in a single year
- Multiplied by 4 the number of UU on the official website
About the company:
The Centurion Hotel Group is a nationwide chain hotel with 21 facilities and provides 3 types of hotels: premium hotels where you can spend a luxurious time, city hotels that offer the best relaxation as an urban residence, and next-generation private cabins and hostels.
Mr. Toshihiro Motoshima, Deputy General Manager of Sales Headquarters (right)
Mr. Ryota Sawai, Deputy General Manager of Business Administration Department (left)
Objectives:
- Strengthen direct booking reservations
- Unify membership program and boost the number of members throughout the chain
- Reduce the workload of the front desk which has many foreign staff
[tripla Hotel Booking]
Challenges:
- Strengthen domestic reservations
- Simplify the booking process
- Acquire more members for the entire chain
Solutions:
- User-friendly booking engine
- Easy membership registration
- Multilingual booking engine
- Easy to use CMS
Results:
Boost direct bookings ratio from 1.8-2.0% to about 10% on average for all facilities within the first 3 months
Our first goal was to obtain an average of direct booking ratio of 10% or more in one year. We were able to quickly exceed the first-stage goal in just 3 months after starting using tripla Hotel Booking. It has grown steadily and it is currently growing to around 13-14%. We will now aim for a direct booking ratio of 30%, but since we were able to achieve the first goal earlier than expected, we are rushing to set the next goal.
Increase WEB members by 8000 members in just 1 year
In terms of membership acquisition, there were originally 7,000 WEB members as of December 2019 when tripla Hotel Booking was implemented. From there, by the end of November 2020, the number of new members exceeded 8,000, and the current number of members has reached 15,000. In other words, while the acquisition period of the initial members took about 5 years, although the number of Centurion facilities increased, it is calculated that approximately the same number of members was acquired in just one year after using tripla service.
Mr. Toshihiro Motoshima, Deputy General Manager of Sales Headquarters
[tripla AI Chatbot]
Challenges:
- Strengthen support in Japanese
- Reduce the work burden
- Understand customers needs
Solutions:
- Replies with multi-languages
- 24h service with AI or human operators
- Easy FAQ input and AI training directly on CMS
Results:
Drive more customers to use the chatbot and reducing the work burden
Chatbots users have grown exponentially in the first 3-4 months. The number of UU visitors to the homepage has increased from 10,000-20,000 to 70,000, which is about 3 to 4 times higher. Since our chatbot is a self-service tool, customers don’t have to email or call our front staff to get answers. If their problem is simple or common, the chatbot can link them to the FAQs for the solution. This frees up our staff to focus on more complex and time-consuming cases.
Better customer communication
FAQs are stored and easily accessible in our CMS so that everyone can find the information they need, at any time of day, anywhere, without outside help. It is also possible to update the answers that need more details and AI training can be done directly on CMS.
Successfully clarified customers needs
Our customers’ needs are now highlighted. For example, we have discovered the needs of the sauna. Centurion has 8 facilities that have a sauna and spa. Before the introduction of chatbots, all facilities had about 10 to 20 questions about saunas a month. However, after using chatbots, we noticed the need for saunas for both day trips, and when we used the pop-up function to provide guidance, the number has increased to about 100 to 150 requests every month. We also realized that our official website did not mention this kind of information. Other than that, the need for parking lots became clear. We first thought that the parking lot would not be used but we found out that 80% of the customers are actually coming by car. We have now become able to understand what customers are interested in, so we think that answering them will lead to more bookings.
Mr. Ryota Sawai, Deputy General Manager of Business Administration Department (left)
Mr. Toshihiro Motoshima, Deputy General Manager of Sales Headquarters (right)
Looking ahead:
We are expecting that the synergistic effect of using both services will lead to more sales in the future. For us, where hotel bookings and chatbots are linked, we think the increase in UU will have a positive effect. From there, the future task is to strengthen members’ conversions using tripla Hotel Booking. We are also looking forward to strengthening direct bookings and membership acquisition using chatbots as the entrance. We hope we can continue to work together with tripla in the future.
Centurion Hakone Bettei Executive Room
Centurion Hotel & Spa Ueno Ekimae Large Bath
Click here to visit the website of Centurion International Co., Ltd.