Big Data and Artificial Intelligence are helping level playing field between the large and small hospitality players, but human intervention remains crucial for deriving optimum value, say experts at a session dedicated to hospitality industry at the ongoing Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.

Big data is having a transformative effect on hospitality across the Middle East and beyond. However, leading hoteliers speaking on the opening day of Arabian Travel Market 2023, which will run at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) until May 4, emphasised that human intervention remains essential if owners and operators wish to derive genuine value from the information being gathered.

According to a press sgtatement issued by the organisers, the session on hospitality industry in the Middle East, Hospitality Debate: What More Can Big Data Unlock featured a range of expert insights into the power of data to improve guest experiences within the Middle East’s hospitality sector. Moderated by Paul Clifford, Group Editor, Hospitality & Design at ITP Media Group, the session saw Chris Hartley, CEO of Global Hotel Alliance, Tommy Lai, Chief Executive Officer at General Hotel Management Pte Ltd, Sandeep Walia, Chief Operations Officer, Middle East at Marriott and Nicolas Huss, CEO of Hotelbeds, take to the ATM Global Stage to share their views.

“It used to be that you would need a lot of people for analysis, but now, you can collect data and AI will decipher it for you. Big data and AI are evening the playing field between small groups and larger brands,” Lai of General Hotel Management said at the session.

“This technology can help guests to narrow down the hotels they would like to stay in and noted that Big Data, when used in combination with AI, can help to identify the best options for customers. But ultimately, guests have to connect with us to make the booking, so the balance between AI and the human touch is equally important and can’t be forgotten,” said Walia of Marriott.

“Acquiring data is one thing but that isn’t Big Data’. It is what you do with the data that is critical. We have known for years, for example, that credit card companies have a huge amount of data on spend, way beyond the hotel. This tells you a lot more about the customer than they might reveal to you during a one-off stay,” said Hartley.

Hotelbeds’ Huss agreed but warned that an ethical approach is essential in order to realise the full potential of this information. “I think there are several rules,” he said. “The first is that everything has to be anonymous. The second is that we must ensure that the data we have adds value to the guest experience. And finally, we must acknowledge that the way we behave when we’re staying at a hotel doesn’t always reflect what we do when we leave that environment. We will only thrive if we have the best data and some form of human care,” said Huss.

Day one of ATM 2023 featured 20 sessions across the Global Stage, Travel Tech Stage and Sustainability Hub.