In the post-COVID-19 era, the hotel and tourism industry must adapt to stimulate a revival after the country re-opened and the various measures have been taken to attract tourists and increase hotel occupancy rates, causing the hotel business to adjust the management style and provide a variety of services in line with the ‘next normal’ way of travel.
ZAZZ Urban Bangkok, an alternative contemporary boutique hotel in the heart of Bangkok, is one of the hotels returning to full service in mid-2022 after Covid-19 pandemic. With new goals of service elevation and quality improvement toward perfection, the hotel integrated the power of offline networks with partners to be prepared for the new age of Hotel 4.0. Supported by National Telecommunication Public Company Limited (NT), it is further enhanced by telecommunications solutions to reach target groups with digital marketing.
Mr. Noppadol Oomking, Resident Manager, ZAZZ Urban Bangkok, revealed, “Investment in the Asia-Pacific hotels continues to accelerate. According to CBRE insights and market research, the industry will recover to the pre-Covid level by 2024. Thanks to Thailand’s policies to welcome tourists with more convenient entry, the number of tourists is soaring. The Tourism Authority of Thailand expects the number of foreign tourists visiting Thailand in 2023 to reach more than 18 million, generating about 970 billion baht in revenue. This prompts the hospitality industry, including our hotel that is open again, to speed up administration and service management.”
He said the priority now is service and personnel management: “We want to foster multi-skills for employees and support them to learn service and digital technology skills. For example, our digital marketing is not restricted to only Facebook and Google. We have learned about new programs and platforms to reach and understand more customers.”
Mr. Noppadol also shed light on the hotel’s comprehensive marketing, saying, “For sales channels and promotion, we focus on online travel agencies. We constantly monitor customer reviews. If the reviews drop, we try to drive more customer engagement. At the same time, we have a booking platform on the hotel’s own website to facilitate tourists who check out a room to book right away. In addition, we have to study competitors nearby and focus on competitive pricing strategies as well as
offline promotions to drive sales, including hiring freelance sales representatives, offering a promotion with partners in nearby areas such as hospitals and tourist attractions, and maintaining the existing customer base via emails. Everything is a dynamic that we have to compete, especially marketing in a comprehensive way, both offline and online.”
ZAZZ Urban Bangkok has always adhered to its philosophy to provide ‘beyond expectation’ impressive services comparable to a 5-star hotel despite being a boutique hotel.
“We have trained our staff to provide the best service. In addition to our strength of prime location, we provide complete facilities and services to satisfy the needs of customers in the next normal era, including 24-hour check-in service, modern security systems such as e-card security, restaurants, free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, and complete entertainment systems from movies to music. Everything is featured at the inclusive price that customers have already paid,” he said.
Studying and understanding consumer behaviour are key to winning customers’ hearts in all industries. ZAZZ Urban Bangkok recognises that today customers are always using mobile devices such as smartphones, whether ordering food from various applications or searching for tourist attractions. Therefore, an efficient, fast and smooth Internet connection is of vital importance.
“We are confident in the service here as we have chosen corporate Internet from NT which provides good service and takes good care of us. Most importantly, NT gave us advice on choosing the right package so that expenses can be controlled. I am impressed that we paid a reasonable price but received better service and advice than expected. This makes the hotel confident in the choice both for now and in the future,” said Mr. Noppadol.
ZAZZ Urban Bangkok’s main customers are tourists from Singapore, China, Malaysia, Japan, Korea and Thailand. Currently, the occupancy rate is about 60 percent. The cost per customer is about 3,000 baht. There are a total of 48 modern rooms and suites. The hotel is located on Rama 9 Road, opposite RCA and Show DC. Private meeting rooms, Fitness room and co-working space with full facilities are available.
The ZAZZ Hotels & Resorts chain consists of ZAZZ Urban Bangkok in Thailand, ZAZZ Urban Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, and Treasure Oasis Siem Reap in Cambodia, which are open for business as usual. The hotel chain is also raising funds to prepare for the construction of a brand-new hotel, ZAZZ Escape Maldives.
