The digital welcome book

The digital welcome book: why and how it nurtures your customer relationships

The digital welcome book is a fast-growing digital tool among tourism businesses, particularly hotels, campsites, guest houses and bed and breakfasts, as well as holiday rentals.

A clever blend of property management service and travel guide, its low subscription cost makes it a real time-saver for hosts and a very handy pocket companion for guests.

Today, 91% of all internet users go online from a smartphone, which represents 5.19 billion mobile users worldwide.

The digital welcome book is therefore a highly relevant digital tool for growing your business and gathering quality insight into what your guests expect.

If you are not using one yet, bear in mind that tourism is the sector most affected by technology and the internet. So if you would rather not be overtaken by the competition, it is time to speed up your digital transformation.

Here is a quick overview of what a digital welcome book can do, and what it can bring to you and your guests ⤵

Contents

1. What is a digital welcome book?

2. What features does a digital welcome book offer?

3. A web app that supports the local economy

4. A web app to understand your guests better and attract new ones

5. The digital welcome book at the service of your customer relationship strategy

6. Using the StyQR digital welcome book

A digital welcome book is a mobile web app that rounds out the digital toolkit of tourism professionals.

A web app, what exactly is that?

A web app looks and feels exactly like a mobile app, except that it is not one.

Unlike an app, it does not need to be downloaded from the App Store or the Android store.

Its advantages are many:

• Once opened, the link to the web app is permanent, whatever the device,
• The access QR code always stays the same,
• No login is required,
• The web app is fully customisable by you,
• Guests do not have to enter an email address to use the service, so security and confidentiality are guaranteed.

A genuine additional distribution channel, on a par with a CRM or a channel manager, this tool packs in best practice and fits perfectly with the way tourists now behave.

Available everywhere, at any time, even without an internet connection, the web app can be viewed on any device: tablet and smartphone, on a smart TV, or on a standard TV if it is connected to an HDMI mini-PC.

Some owners have even had the bright idea of setting up a tablet on a stand at reception, which makes waiting far more pleasant for guests.

Others have placed it in the lounge, so guests can chat about what they would like to discover, and sometimes even arrange outings together when they get on well.

First impressions always count, and a well-designed digital welcome book will certainly create a wow moment for your guests, rather like Stéphane Plaza showing round an exceptional property.

An organisational tool that saves time

Like a memo, it gathers all the practical information about your property. Except that it is not pinned to the fridge door.

The wifi password, the door or gate entry code, the house rules, the pet policy, services and facilities such as the pool, the washing machine, spare bed linen, parking arrangements, and so on.

No more mental sticky notes such as: "Did I remember to give them the wifi password? And the front door code? Will they find the spare bed linen? Work out how to use the dishwasher? Did they take note that the car park barrier closes at 10.30pm?"

StyQR notably includes a check-in / check-out module that quite simply replaces a property management service. Going paperless means, among other things, taking instant photos and validating by SMS with an electronic signature.

Peace of mind that your property and its contents are in good order when your guests arrive and when they leave.

You can also promote activities within your property: yoga classes, cookery or craft workshops, and even the special rates you have negotiated with your partners.

By making this information easy for guests to find, it saves the host a significant amount of time and cuts down considerably on those repetitive questions, particularly before the stay and during check-in in person.

A mobile travel guide

The web app borrows from web content to push tourist information about things to see and do during the stay, in and around your property.

It may seem a small thing, but giving guests access in a few taps to your recommendations on the best local restaurants, the craftspeople to meet, the walking routes to follow, upgrades the stay of your prospects and guests by suggesting personalised experiences that only you know about. Because yes, the best travel agent in your destination is you.

It is a spirit of sharing that guests really appreciate, as they often know very little about the destination they have come to on holiday.

Another advantage: connecting guests with local people, an approach built on encounters that creates memories and boosts the local economy.

The digital welcome book is therefore gradually establishing itself as the tool to have if you want to attract new guests easily and expand your local professional network.

Much like Mapstr, this web app lets you share your local recommendations and hidden gems: small producers, restaurateurs, winemakers, artists and more.

This mutual recommendation not only creates encounters and ties with local people, it also contributes to a circular, community-minded economy, in a win-win spirit.

Designed with common sense and values, the digital welcome book helps to extend the length of stays. How? By suggesting ideas for days out. Guests can plan their day around your recommendations.

• If they are keen on food and wine, for example, they can put together their "perfect day" like this: a morning discovering a particular vineyard with a tasting workshop, lunch at the little restaurant with a fully regional menu built around local produce, and an afternoon stroll to explore a nearby spot.
• If they love interiors, you could recommend: the flea market in the morning, or homeware and antique shops, a restaurant-cum-shop where they can buy the pieces they admired over lunch, and in the afternoon a pottery workshop with a ceramicist so they leave with a one-off creation.

A virtuous circle: the guest saves time organising their activities and enjoys memorable experiences, the partner generates revenue, and on your side you nurture the customer relationship and the desire to extend the stay or come back.

As you will have gathered, the digital welcome book is a wonderful pool of information for prospects and guests alike. Kept well stocked, it looks after your customer relationship at every stage: before, during and after the stay.

Before the stay: reassuring guests so they want to stay with you

Before the stay, you can send the web app link straight to your prospects and guests, or add it to your email signature.

They then have direct access to all the information about your property, along with your hidden gems and recommended places to visit.

You immediately satisfy your prospects' thirst for information and discovery. A considerable asset in terms of reassurance, which encourages booking and maximises your conversion rate.

During the stay: making the guest experience easier and richer, and turning guests into ambassadors

During the stay, whether you mention it in person or display a QR code in the room (which can be framed elegantly and become part of the decor), your guests plan their activities entirely independently while settled comfortably in your property.

On your side, you use that time for your other tasks (or to put your feet up, it is up to you).

After the stay: strengthening your brand image and increasing sales

After the stay, guests look back on the experiences they had with you and in your area, and they can even leave comments and photos.

You build yourself a network of knowledgeable ambassadors who strengthen your online reputation and make new prospects want to stay with you.

The app that instils a premium brand positioning

Like your property, your welcome book should be unique and reflect your personality. It is therefore fully customisable, from adding your logo to applying your brand guidelines, fonts and colours.

Beyond visual customisation, offering your guests simple, accessible, high-quality content strengthens your brand image.

It is the small details that convey a professional image, and a well-thought-out, well-maintained digital tool can have a powerful impact on your revenue.

The app that helps you know your target audiences better in order to communicate better

To go further, the StyQR app lets you view statistics on your most-viewed pages, much like Google Analytics. This marketing data is a pool of information that is extremely useful for feeding your customer relationship strategy. It gives you a clear, precise picture of what guests expect in terms of facilities and services and of their tourism interests, and helps you identify the content worth communicating about.

Beyond the app: building an effective web content strategy

More than ever, creating reliable, fresh and engaging content is at the heart of digital marketing.

Collecting data means you can feed all your web channels, from your website to your social media:

• To highlight the services and facilities that are most appreciated or most requested, or even create new ones to boost bookings for your property,
• To showcase the tourist attractions of your destination and so extend the length of stays,
• To create new offers or partnerships based on what your target audiences want. For example, if you notice that a lot of guests are looking at a page devoted to an outdoor leisure activity, why not negotiate a discount with a local operator nearby? You build a local partnership that may well bring in business, and your guest will be delighted to enjoy a special offer thanks to you.

As you will have gathered, standards of professionalism keep rising in the holiday rental sector. The same goes for guests' expectations.

Guests are no longer simply looking for somewhere to stay, they want to live like locals, and the first to understand that was Airbnb.

Guests expect more than accommodation: they want to feel at home, and they want their hosts to be welcoming and informative.

In short, enriching the experience of your prospects and guests is a sure way to increase your revenue.

What is the StyQR app for?

The StyQR digital welcome book is a web app that gives guests a pocket guide answering all their questions. As well as covering the practical side of your property, it is also a travel guide to your favourite local recommendations.

Multilingual, it allows managers or front-desk staff who do not speak a guest's language to offer exactly the same quality of information.

Why use StyQR as a tourism professional?

StyQR helps you establish your brand image by offering guests a simple, useful tool before, during and after the stay. It saves the host time and helps them grow their local professional network and attract new prospects.

How to get off to a good start with StyQR

To take your first steps with StyQR, try one of our live demos of our welcome book tailored to each type of accommodation and download our white paper free of charge.