Radisson expands digital strategy with virtual tours for guests

Dive Brief:

Radisson Hotel Group has introduced virtual technology that allows guests to view digital replicas of its properties via laptops, mobile phones and VR headsets, according to a press release.
The immersive experiences let guests explore hotel rooms and spaces virtually and interact with surrounding objects.
To date, 86 Radisson hotels have integrated virtual tours into their web pages, delivering a 279% increase in the number of clicks, a 3.85% increase in average time on page and 20.91% more interactions in 2022 versus 2021.

Dive Insight:

As part of its ongoing efforts to drive increased customer engagement and booking conversions, Radisson has ramped up its efforts around the digital experience, including introducing virtual tours for guests.

Led by an in-house team of digital experts, Radisson launched its first immersive experience pilot in 2020. The goal is to roll out immersive experiences from 86 to 100 of its hotels by the end of the year.

According to Radisson, immersive content has helped boost conversions for its meetings and events business. In 2022, it launched a meetings and events booking engine that integrated immersive experiences, allowing planners to explore meeting rooms and book directly or send a request for proposal. The technology generated increased qualified meetings and events inquiries by 35% and booking conversions by 12%.

“Localization and immersive experiences have helped us to strengthen the trust and relationship we have with existing customers and have proven to be great long-term investments, as they have contributed to increased customer satisfaction and higher conversion rates,” said Raul Alvarez Barrera, vice president of global digital experience at Radisson Hotel Group, in the release.

Additional components of Radisson’s digital strategy include offering 29 languages through its reservation system, which the hotel company claims allows it to reach almost 70% of people in their native languages. Radisson also surfaces relevant content to consumers based on their location. Available in more than 60 markets, the personalized features have increased website conversions by 33% and reduced bounce rates by 24%.