The hospitality and tourism industry in Australia today is continuously changing, specifically with regards to the demographic profile of travellers and the technological advances of the modern world. With a fresh influx of millennial travellers and growth in their use of technology, the expectations of the customer and the delivery of services is constantly shifting.  Your business must be able to adapt to maintain its profitability.

Increase in competition 

Hospitality and tourism is thriving across Australia.  This wave of visitors can be an attractive drawcard to anyone wishing to start a café, restaurant, or guesthouse. However, the tourism boom also breeds competition, diluting the market and making it harder for you to differentiate your business from the rest. Part of this competition-led differentiation is being able to cater to the needs of the modern day customer.

The modern day restaurant goer

Customers today are more reliant than ever on their phones, and as such businesses need to consider their online presence and functionalities. The days of calling ahead to book a table and reading the menu for the first time at the restaurant are disappearing. Today’s customer will often ask Google for restaurant recommendations, then want to view the menu, pictures, read reviews and even book a table all via their phone.

Furthermore, with the introduction of food delivery options such as Uber Eats and Deliveroo, it is quite possible for customers to patronise the restaurant without ever actually setting foot inside the establishment or speaking to any of its employees.

In addition, portals such as TripAdvisor and UrbanSpoon mean that potential customers can evaluate your business and read recommendations without you ever seeing them.

Hospitality businesses need to have online functionality to provide these options or risk losing potential customers.

The modern day accommodation seeker 

As with restaurants and the hospitality sector, when choosing accommodation customers today want to be able to view and do everything from their phones. Hotels and accommodation providers need to consider having online booking functionalities with quick response times, virtual reality tours and multiple touchpoints along the online booking process in order to keep up with the modern consumer.

Airbnb is a huge development in recent years which is greatly threatening the hotel and accommodation providers sector. The lack of regulation, ease of booking process and lower prices make them an attractive option to many customers. Hotels and accommodation providers face significantly higher and unavoidable overhead costs, meaning that it isn’t feasible for them to compete at a price level with these Airbnb providers. 

Can you relate to the above challenges in your business? Perhaps you are aware of the changes you have to make but don’t know where to start? Or maybe you want to track your performance against previous years?

At RSM we can help you develop a business plan and strategy to keep up with the fluctuating environment of the hospitality and tourism sector.

Contact us for ideas to reduce costs, manage your cash flow and plan for the future, to stay afloat in the competitive and always changing market.

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