2024 Hospitality Trends and How to Get Ahead of Them

As with any new year, our industry is eager to hit the ground running and grow business to new heights. We’ve been seeing a lot of articles on trends and thought we’d share the highlights that are close to how we support the hospitality community.

Here’s one takeaway every article has in common: extending your team and processes with technology can help you stay ahead of what’s becoming more prevalent.

Business Travel and Corporate Events Are Growing

What to Know

✅ Group sales in the hotel industry is projected to reach $190 billion by 2024. Source: Hospitalitynet

✅ International business travel spending is projected to reach $1.5 trillion in 2024, surpassing peaks of $1.4 trillion in 2019. Source: Global Business Travel Association (GBTA)

✅ 94% of travel managers are optimistic about business travel activity. Source: Cvent

✅ 85% of event planners are more likely to choose a hotel or venue for simple meetings if they have the option to book online. Source: Cvent

✅ A primary consideration for venue selection in 2024 is the speed with which venues can reply to communications. Source: Marriott International Survey

How Sertifi Can Help

As demand for group blocks and event space grows – combined with the fact that many hotels and venues are still facing staffing shortages – the use of automated technology is more necessary than ever to ensure you’re responding to inquires promptly and giving customers a great experience throughout their entire journey doing business with you.

Keep in mind that meaningful automation doesn’t have to mean a significant investment or laborious onboarding period. Solutions like Sertifi automate tasks that are easy to offload to technology, freeing you up to focus on more complicated tasks that require the human touch. From one solution, you can securely capture contract e-signatures, deposit payments, and card authorizations, helping several departments across your business maximize productivity, reduce costs, and deliver a more convenient experience to customers.

Fraudsters Keep Getting Smarter

What to Know

❎ The average global cost of a data breach has increased by 15% over the last three years to $4.45 million. Just recently, in September 2023, MGM Resorts International was hit by a cyberattack that cost the company $100 million in its third quarter alone. Source: Rackspace Technology

❎ Over half of all credit card fraud occurs with hotels. Source: Forbes

❎ Card-not-present (CNP) fraud represents 65% of fraud losses. Source: Merchant Cost Consulting

How Sertifi Can Help

A practical yet meaningful way to apply AI plus increase security is with early fraud detection. Using a combination of AI and data analysis, we use data from the user and the credit card you were provided to assess if a transaction is potentially fraudulent.

Our platform also meets the most stringent security requirements and is PCI Level 1 compliant. If you’re currently storing credit card information on paper in binders, now is the time to make a change.

Customers Expect Payment Flexibility

What to Know

✅ ACH is the second most preferred method for payments, following debit cards. Paper checks ranks third, putting credit cards fourth. Source: ACI Worldwide Annual Report

✅ A 20% increase in online transaction values occurred following the pandemic’s acceleration of e-commerce. Source: Stripe

✅ The pandemic pushed millions of consumers to rely on embedded payments, where they can make a purchase without leaving a website. In the five-year period ending in 2026, the global market for embedded payments is expected to surpass $138 billion. Source: Global Payments

How Sertifi Can Help

We know removing friction in the payment process is important both to you and your customers. We offer both card processing and ACH transfers, so your customers have choice in how they pay and don’t have to worry about sending you payment information via insecure methods like email when they’re not physically on property. ACH is also significantly less costly to merchants than card fees.

Sertifi also offers embedded forms, where your customers can purchase items like gift cards, spa services, and room amenities directly from your website.

By now, we hope you've learned about simple yet powerful ways to improve how you're doing business this year. If you'd like to explore what's possible with Sertifi, our team's happy to show you.