By Dr. Michael Toedt
The GDPR deadline came and went without major shakeups and without the doomsday scenarios that we all were dreading. Is this all there is, or is it the calm before the storm?
As an indicator of what is to come, let’s look at what’s been happening outside of the hospitality industry. Regulators in the UK, France, Austria, and across Europe are reporting a sharp increase in data protection complaints and breach notifications since the GDPR came into effect. The majority of these complaints were filed against tech giants like Google and Facebook.
Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, the head of French data protection regulator, CNIL, told Politico: “The general public is interested about all the transparency obligations, consent and all the new rights.”
What does this mean for the hospitality industry? Should hotels be concerned? Only time will tell, however, with maximum fines up to €20m or 4% of a company’s global turnover – whichever is higher, hotels must be prepared if complaints come their way.
So how can hotels prepare? First, they must have a proper way to manage all guest data. Since most hotels use multiple different systems that all store guest data in different formats, this can quickly become a burden. One way to simplify the storage of data is to centrally manage all guest data in one system. In this scenario, if a guest requests that his or her data is retrieved, edited, or removed, the hotel can simply fulfill the request at the click of a button.
Centralized data management has further benefits for hotels. It allows them to truly understand their guests and use their data in meaningful ways. Imagine the possibilities when data from a hotel’s PMS, POS, WLAN, newsletter system, Outlook, booking engine, channel manager, questionnaires, website etc. are all in one place. The possibilities to personalize marketing, upsell communications and guest services are limitless. Centralized data management transforms data into revenue.
Learn more about how to leverage your hotel’s data in the post-GDPR landscape in an all new webinar hosted by Michael Toedt, Managing Partner and CEO at dailypoint. The webinar will cover:
- What the new GDPR regulations are
- What the implications are for hotels
- Best practices for hotels to handle the requirements
- How to simplify compliance with all your data in one, centrally managed source
- Further operational benefits of central data management
The webinar will take place on July 13 at 10am CEST in German and at 11:30am CEST in English. Register now, as space is limited.