Social networking, mobile phone bookings and a new set of customers from Russia, China, India and The Gulf will drive the hospitality industry forward, according to a new report.

The report by technology provider Amadeus called “A blueprint for the future of the hospitality industry” - the result of polling senior hotel executives, consultants, academics and researchers - also revealed a horizon for the industry that would see customers segmented not by nationality but by age and strong branding becoming even more important as web surfers are faced with a bewildering choice of hotel options online.

Potential customers are more likely than ever to read peer reviews online and hotel quality, the report explains, must be consistently high, from the booking stage to the actual stay, if customers are to be retained.

The report says: "The modern traveller wants to have experiences built around their personal needs.

"The hotel industry recognises that it must go further in its adoption of social networking.

"User reviews expose the truth of a hotel’s brand since customers often use their peer group as the main source of information. Hotels are now challenged with maintaining high standards and meeting the expectations of customers who have done a significant amount of research before they travel."

The research also reveals the growing importance for customers to have more choices on how their book, whether with a call centre, at a PC or using a handheld device.

It says: "The more demanding customer of the future will want to engage with a hotel across all touch points where appropriate. Hotels will need to capture and store more data, yet access to it must be faster and more targeted in order to personalise the guest experience."

Back office technology will also have to improve, ensuring tight integration between distribution, channel and content management.

As emerging markets like Russia, India, China and the Gulf grow in financial clout, respondents identified the importance of catering for these markets in a bespoke manner, providing tailored information and booking options and not treating them as "a homogenous group".

Surprisingly, the research also identified an opportunity in the future for hotels to expand into new sectors such as the provision of care for the elderly.

Summing up the report, Amadeus hospitality business group managing director Antoine Medawar said: "Customers are changing; technology is changing; markets are changing.

"By understanding these key business drivers we hope to deliver the technology that will make these hopes come true and will support the hoteliers to stay competitive in rapidly changing world.”

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by Dinah Hatch