Day 2

See your property through the eyes of a booking guest

Module: module-01

The Big Problem

Your guest experiences 30+ touchpoints from the moment they think about a trip to the moment they check out. Most hotel operators only control 5 of them. The rest happen on third-party platforms, review sites, and social media where you have zero influence unless you engineer it.

Today's Objective

Map the complete guest journey for your highest-value guest segment and identify the moments where revenue is won or lost.

The Five Phases of the Guest Journey

Phase 1: Dreaming The guest does not know they are staying at your property yet. They are browsing Instagram, reading travel blogs, or talking to friends. Your property appears (or does not appear) through organic content, social media, word of mouth, and search results.

Phase 2: Planning The guest has decided on a destination. They are now comparing properties on OTAs, Google, and your website. They read reviews, check photos, compare prices, and look for packages. This phase determines whether you make the shortlist.

Phase 3: Booking The guest chooses your property. This phase includes the booking engine experience, confirmation email, and first impression of your communication style. A clunky booking process kills conversions here.

Phase 4: Experiencing The stay itself: pre-arrival communication, check-in, room, amenities, service, F&B, and every human interaction. This phase determines review scores, referrals, and repeat bookings.

Phase 5: Sharing Post-departure: review posting, social sharing, referrals, and rebooking (or not). Most properties ignore this phase entirely. It is where loyalty is born or dies.

Journey Mapping Exercise

Pick your most valuable guest persona (we will build these formally in Module 2; for now, use your best guess). Walk through each phase and answer:

• What is the guest thinking?
• What are they feeling?
• What information do they need?
• What could go wrong?
• Where is the revenue opportunity?

Today's Action Items

1. Draw your guest journey map across all five phases
2. Identify the 3 touchpoints where you lose the most guests
3. Identify the 3 touchpoints with the highest untapped revenue potential
4. List the touchpoints you currently control vs. those controlled by third parties

Revenue Insight

The properties that engineer the guest journey from dreaming through sharing capture 35-50% more revenue per guest than those that only focus on the in-stay experience. Every touchpoint is a revenue moment.

Clozo Academy Proprietary Curriculum — The Hotel Growth System