Interactions and touchpoints along the hotel guest journey: an approach to experience management.

To create a memorable experience for its customers, the hotel firm must have complete control over the process, down to the smallest detail. This research aims to deepen the experience generation process, from a business perspective, by examining experiential encounters and touchpoints in detail. To identify the objectives to be achieved, both directly and indirectly, in each stage of the experiential process, it was necessary to identify the experiential encounters and touchpoints that generate value for the guest. Additionally, it was important to identify the key elements of a hotel customer's experience, the providers involved, and the managerial areas related to guest experience generation. After reviewing a large amount of literature, we conducted focus groups with hotel staff who are involved in the guest's experiential journey. We identified the main service encounters that occurred during this journey, which allowed us to identify the principal touchpoints, including products, interactions, messages, and settings. By managing brand-owned, partner-owned, customer-owned, or social/external touchpoints, positive guest experiences can be generated. Hotels must understand the process of generating guest experiences to improve them. This research provides a guideline that any hotel can use to manage the guest experience.