The key word at The Ascott Limited is growth. In order to achieve profitable and coherent growth, the company decided to rethink its digital ecosystem. Thus back-office and the loyalty program are affected. Any similarity to BonVoy for Marriott and Accor Live Limiteless (ALL) may not be a mere coincidence.
Customer relationship and data are central to the business as Mr Kevin Goh, Ascott’s Chief Executive Officer, emphasizes: “To augment the growth of Ascott’s lodging brands, which now stands at 13, we have to be smarter about the sales and distribution of these various brands to ensure we deliver the right products for our guests. By combining the technology of cloud commerce, revenue and customer relationship management applications as well as location analytics, Ascott will be able to capture an unprecedented level of data, both online and offline. We will then be able to customise entirely unique experiences based on our guests’ implicit and explicit preferences. To sharpen Ascott’s competitive edge to stay ahead of the curve, we must continue to harness technology to reinforce our strong international network of customers, boost employee productivity, gain cost advantages from economies of scale and strengthen our operations.”
He added: "Ascott has grown its global portfolio at a compound annual growth rate of 32% over the past four years. 2018 was a record year with the addition of over 30,000 units, extending our footprint to over 170 cities across more than 30 countries. [...] As we continue to grow our asset-light business model through management contracts and franchise deals to achieve Ascott’s target of 160,000 units globally by 2023, the ability to expand and multiply efficiently is paramount. Technology is therefore a critical enabler to succor this rapid expansion and boost our multiple revenue streams.”
How so? By launching a new Loyalty program Ascott Star Rewards as Marriott and Accor did recently. Why? To keep its customers within its ecosystem, to know them better and to deliver better experiences. By adopting a new revenue management system and updating its global property management system to a cloud-based one. This represents a tremendous effort as the group is present on all 5 continents with 6 brands.
