AI-powered chatbot automates 89% of enquiries and generates €733,000 in revenue for GHT Hotels

January 2024 – December 2024

89%

questions solved by the chatbot

733K

generated after interactions with the AI Booking Assistant

16%

direct website bookings came from chatbot

259%

revenue growth vs. 2022

Introduction

GHT Hotels is a leading group with properties along the Costa Brava and Costa del Maresme, offering guests a mix of comfort, entertainment, and great seaside locations. As the group expanded, so did the challenges – particularly in managing customer service, staying on top of digital communication, and boosting direct bookings.

To tackle these challenges, GHT Hotels teamed up with HiJiffy in 2021 to adopt AI solutions. By integrating HiJiffy’s AI Booking Assistant, included in the Guest Communications Hub, they simplified customer service, streamlined team operations, and improved direct booking performance – all while easily integrating the new tools into their existing tech setup.

Fast forward to 2024, and the results speak for themselves. This case study explores the key challenges, the solutions GHT Hotels used, and the impact they’ve seen since making these changes.

The Client: GHT Hotels

With several decades of experience, GHT Hotels has established itself as a prominent hotel group on the Costa Brava and the Costa del Maresme-Barcelona. Their focus is on offering holiday experiences designed for families and travellers seeking comfort and entertainment by the coast.

The group has a total of 12 establishments, including hotels and aparthotels, catering to all tastes and types of holidays. Families can enjoy daily summer activities, evening shows, and themed events like Halloween, La Castanyada, and Catalan gastronomy nights. There are also options for those looking for a more relaxed atmosphere or those combining child-friendly facilities with exclusive adults-only relaxation areas.

Many of the hotels feature spas, gyms, and even pet-friendly options. Cyclists and sports enthusiasts will find cycling-friendly facilities tailored to their needs. Most properties are just a short 10-minute walk to the beach, with some offering incredible sea views – a perfect mix of fun, relaxation, and a prime location.

GHT Hotels is built on a commitment to blending tradition with innovation, ensuring every guest enjoys a memorable stay along the beautiful Catalan coast.

The Challenges

The growth of GHT Hotels brought challenges in digital communication and customer service. The platform they were using was limited, making it difficult to efficiently assist guests or collect important data. They also needed a system that allowed reservations and digital marketing teams to work with tailored access permissions, while integrating smoothly with GNA Hotel Solutions, their hotel booking engine, to streamline daily operations.

Here’s a breakdown of the key issues and how they impacted the hotel group’s operations.

1. Inefficient customer service via chat

The old platform had clear limitations: queries could only be managed from one account during working hours, which slowed response times. On top of that, agents could only handle one conversation at a time, with no way to manage multiple requests simultaneously.

Consequences:

Long wait times frustrating website visitors.
Unanswered requests leaving agents stuck, unable to handle other enquiries if a customer takes too long to reply.
Visitors leaving the page without getting the help they need, translating to the group losing valuable booking opportunities.
Overloaded agents struggling without the right tools to make customer support faster and easier.

2. Lack of automation

The group didn’t have a chatbot or any automated system to assist travellers after hours or when agents were tied up. Customer service was limited to Monday through Friday, eight hours a day – far from enough to meet the round-the-clock demands of the hospitality industry.

Consequences:

Support was limited and users couldn’t get responses outside business hours.
Loss of potential customers, especially those browsing and booking during evening hours or weekends.
Higher website abandonment rate, impacting booking conversions.
Lack of immediacy in support – a key factor in travellers’ decision-making process.

3. Lack of data and metrics

The previous platform didn’t track detailed customer interactions, making it hard to measure service performance or improve the user experience. There was no data on common questions, popular pages, or peak activity times, leaving the company without essential insights into their customer behaviour.

Consequences:

No data on user behaviour, resulting in a lack of insights into what caught their attention or what questions they had.
No metrics to evaluate the quality of the service, making continuous improvement difficult.
Without a record of past conversations or client details, it was difficult to tailor interactions to meet their needs.
Difficulty in optimising responses, with no data on which ones caused the most confusion or dissatisfaction.

The Solutions

GHT Hotels simplified digital communication and improved the guest experience by implementing HiJiffy’s platform. Through using the AI Booking Assistant and the Console, they automated customer service, organised team access, collected key data, and boosted operational efficiency.

Here’s how these solutions addressed their greatest challenges.

1. Automation and 24/7 Support

GHT Hotels has tackled scheduling issues and long wait times by introducing the AI Booking Assistant. This tool handles customer queries automatically, 24/7, making the booking process faster and more efficient. Integrated with GNA Hotel Solutions booking engine, it not only improves customer service but also centralises booking management and boosts direct sales.

Key implementations:

Automated quick responses to common questions about availability, pricing, and services.
24/7 continuous support with no dependency on team schedules.
Automated routing of queries to human agents when necessary.
Optimised booking management, ensuring a smooth and reliable process for customers.
HiJiffy’s Smart Property Identification System automatically suggests the most suitable hotel based on the customer’s search, whether by destination or city, enhancing conversions and improving the user experience.

2. Access, permissions and team management

HiJiffy’s Console gave GHT Hotels the ability to set clear access and permissions within the platform, making sure every team only saw the information relevant to their role.

Key implementations:

The digital marketing team uses tools to improve content and track performance, making it easier to deliver results.
The reservations and call centre team can focus solely on customer communication, making their work simpler and more efficient.
Custom role and permission assignment ensures operational security and efficiency.

3. Optimisation of customer service

Key implementations:

Handling multiple requests at the same time, reducing waiting times.
Availability across various channels (website and social media).
Optimised interface for agents, making it simpler to manage queries.

4. Data analysis and detailed metrics

Key implementations:

Dynamic dashboards with real-time metrics on team interactions and performance.
Customer demographics and satisfaction measurement (CSAT Score).
Identification of the most common FAQs and those needing improvement.
Revenue and conversion reports, evaluating the impact on direct bookings.

The Results

With the AI-powered Booking Assistant and HiJiffy’s Management Console, GHT Hotels tackled key challenges in digital communication, customer service, and booking management. By automating tasks, setting agent roles and permissions, and improving data collection, the hotel group boosted operational efficiency, delivered better customer service, and saw a strong increase in direct bookings.

Here’s a breakdown of the results they achieved:

1. Faster and more efficient customer service

Challenge: Manual handling of queries, long waiting times, and users leaving without a response.

Solution: AI automation with the ability to manage multiple conversations simultaneously.

Results:

21,526 conversations managed through the platform.
89% of conversations automatically handled and resolved by HiJiffy’s AI, reducing the team’s workload.
Increased customer satisfaction, with a CSAT Score of 84%.

Automation makes it easy for customers to get quick responses, no matter the time, without waiting on an agent. This improves their experience while helping support teams stay organised and efficient.

2. Growth of direct bookings and impact on conversion

Challenge: Looking for additional tools to complement an already strong direct booking channel and improve conversion.

Solution: Implementation of the AI Booking Assistant, integrated with GNA Hotel Solutions BE, enabling conversion within the chatbot and boosting direct bookings on the website.

Results (1 January to 31 December 2024):

1,427 bookings made directly through the chatbot.
€733,000 generated via the AI Booking Assistant.
16% of direct website bookings come from the chatbot (1 January to 31 December 2024).
Revenue growth through the website chatbot: 2022 – 406 bookings (€204,000) vs 2024 – 1,427 bookings (€733,000).
259% growth in revenue through the chatbot.

Thanks to automation, direct channel optimisation, and integration with GNA Hotel Solutions BE, GHT Hotels has boosted their direct bookings, reduced third-party reliance, and improved overall profitability.

3. Strategic data for continuous optimisation

Challenge: Lack of metrics to evaluate service and optimise communication with customers.

Solution: Implementation of HiJiffy’s advanced reports, featuring analysis of satisfaction, conversion, and user behaviour.

Results:

Detailed metrics on interactions, demographics, and frequently asked questions.
Identification of recurring questions and areas for improvement in automated responses.
Measurement of the chatbot’s impact on direct booking conversions.

With this data, GHT Hotels can adjust its customer service and sales strategy, consistently improving guest experiences while driving more direct bookings.

Testimonials

“Since we started working with HiJiffy, the progress in our customer service has been consistent and remarkable. The platform has evolved with new features that have optimised our daily operations, allowing us to automate responses and centralise queries from different channels. This has saved us time and enabled us to focus on more personalised service, while the progressive learning of the chatbot has made conversations increasingly seamless, improving the user experience and reducing booking losses. Furthermore, the ability to launch promotional campaigns through the system has enriched our communication strategy.
Another highlight has been the support from the HiJiffy team, who, from the initial integration, have shown a strong commitment to our needs, offering tailored solutions and ongoing assistance. We haven’t felt like just another ticket number but rather part of a continuous improvement process with tangible results, backed by detailed data that has allowed us to analyse performance and identify growth opportunities. HiJiffy is not a static tool but a living system, constantly evolving to help us keep improving our customer service.”

Laura López, Digital Guest Experience Management at GHT Hotels

“HiJiffy is a complementary tool that optimises the performance of our Call Centre, allowing us to automate and centralise the management of our guests’ frequent queries on a single platform. Thanks to this solution, we can provide detailed information and facilitate the booking process in a swift and automated way, improving both customer experience and operational efficiency.
Furthermore, the platform provides access to detailed reports and global analyses, offering key insights into the system’s status, such as the volume of received queries, distribution between chatbot and agents, issue resolution rates, and customer satisfaction levels.
In short, HiJiffy represents an added value to our company, strengthening our commitment to excellence in customer service.”

Minerva Olivella, Call Center at GHT Hotels

“At HiJiffy, we take pride in collaborating with clients like GHT Hotels, where innovation and excellence in customer service are top priorities. Laura and her team have exemplarily adapted our solution for a hotel group, making the most of automation and centralised query management.
Thanks to their strategic approach, they have optimised booking management and enhanced the guest experience across all their hotels. Their commitment to continuous improvement demonstrates how well-implemented technology can transform daily operations and strengthen customer relationships.”

Joana Rodrigues, Senior Customer Success Team Lead at HiJiffy

About hotel tech partners

GNA Hotel Solutions is a consultancy specialising in All-in-One innovation and hotel technology, dedicated to boosting direct sales and optimising hotel distribution. Its booking engine helps maximise direct reservations and reduce commissions, offering an intuitive, fast, and fully responsive solution. Thanks to its conversion-optimised design, it allows guests to complete a booking in just three steps, enhancing the user experience and increasing the hotel’s profitability. Trusted by hotels, groups, and chains, it is the ideal tool to strengthen direct sales in the hospitality sector.

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