The hospitality and leisure industries, from theme parks to casinos and hotels, play a huge role in entertaining people of all ages. Yet most of those who enjoy the huge variety of venues these industries provide around the globe give little thought to the digital infrastructure behind the scenes.
In reality, behind the comfy beds, flashing lights and high-octane thrills is a complex network of microservices and APIs, making it possible to deliver the best guest experiences. Increasingly, such businesses are tying their business objectives closely together with their API management strategies (one of our six tips for API management success).
Theme parks: a whole new (API) world
Theme parks are an excellent example of how businesses use APIs to take their visitor experiences to the next level. The industry is massive – Research And Markets estimated it to have a global value of US$54.9 billion in 2022, which it expects to increase to US$82.4 billion by 2030.
It would be easy for a focus on individual experiences to get lost within an industry of this size, yet that is precisely what APIs are enabling. By integrating APIs into their systems, parks can collect and analyse data on guest preferences. They can then use this information to create personalised experiences for visitors, tailoring everything from attractions and food options to character interactions.
Want your phone to buzz when your favourite ride has a shorter-than-usual wait time? How about a personalised greeting from your children’s favourite character? APIs that enable this level of personalisation are creating seamless experiences for visitors and guests, allowing theme parks to drive up customer satisfaction and grow their revenue accordingly.
Casinos: betting on API success
Casinos are also embracing the power of APIs to drive up customer satisfaction and reap the resultant financial rewards. They are integrating APIs for a range of purposes, from streamlining operations and enhancing security to increasing agility and improving the overall guest experience.
Security is a major focus at casinos, given the vast amount of money that flows through them. IBIS World reports that the global casinos and online gambling market will reach US$263.3 billion in 2023, growing by 5.6% compared to the previous year. APIs support casinos to grow responsibly and securely, providing functionality such as monitoring suspicious activity and ensuring that only authorised personnel have access to sensitive information.
Personalisation also comes into play for casinos using APIs. Venues are using APIs to help track player behaviour, allowing them to offer personalised promotions and rewards designed to woo customers and keep them happy and engaged.
Hotels: checking in to the API future
Personalisation and data security are also central themes when it comes to how hotels are using APIs to further their business objectives. From booking to check-out, APIs are streamlining processes and creating a more focused and personal experience for individual guests.
APIs are making experiences such as checking in with a quick smartphone tap or receiving personalised recommendations for nearby attractions and restaurants a reality for hotel guests around the world. They also enable the seamless and secure management of resources across international chains.
With at least 187,000 hotels globally, with an estimated 17.5 million guestrooms, the hotel and resort industry worldwide was worth US$1.06 trillion in 2022. IBIS World estimates that value will increase to US$1.21 trillion in 2023.
Effective API solutions for vast enterprises
The scale of these industries is massive. The largest hotel group alone, Marriott International Inc., has a revenue of US$19.3 billion and a market cap of US$47.6 billion. Businesses of this scale require enterprise-level API solutions that not only deliver watertight security and minimal downtime but that drive revenue and support their business objectives.
For hospitality and leisure businesses such as hotels, theme parks and casinos, achieving this means understanding how inextricably tech decisions and marketing are bound together. Such businesses can live and die by their reputations, so a poorly implemented technical strategy or a misguided choice of software and platform solutions can have a major impact on overall operations. At the same time, the need for increasingly advanced integrations – and the benefits they provide – is paramount, with venues vying for business in a competitive marketplace.
This is why such businesses are increasingly turning to the flexibility, security and scalability of API-powered solutions. And with the help of innovative API management platforms such as Tyk, these industries can ensure they’re making the most of the opportunities that API-driven digital transformation is providing.
Tyk works with some of the world’s biggest and best-known theme parks, resort operators and casinos, empowering them to deliver incredible guest experiences securely and seamlessly. In fact, if you’ve booked a hotel online in the last few years, it’s more than likely that it was Tyk that enabled you to do so. Keen to know more? Our friendly team is always up for a chat, so why not get in touch and let us know where you’re at in your API journey?
