How Can We Redesign the Hotel Experience of the Modern Day Traveler Looking To Indulge in Religious Tourism?

Project Type
Innovation
Service Design
Branding

Location
Saudi Arabia

Industry
Hospitality

Achievements
Muse Creative Awards Gold Prize for “Strategic Program”

Challenge

Every year, 2.5 million Muslim pilgrims make the journey to Makkah to perform Hajj, a requirement for all physically and financially able Muslims. What might not be equally famous, is another parallel journey 1.5 million Muslims undertake yearly, a journey inspired by love, exploration and curiosity, rather than a religious obligation, and that is to Medina Al Munawwarah, the radiant city," the second-holiest city in Islam.

With tourists flocking into the city, a call for excellent hospitality standards had to be answered. Blue Hat was tasked by AMAC Invest to redesign the service of its outdated Medina Hotels and provide a differentiated hotel experience for the modern day traveler.

Audit & Strategy

1. Spacial and Experience Audit
We conducted a qualitative audit to analyze the hotel experience from the user's perspective and identify potential usability issues, gaps in the journey, and moments of frustration.

2. Ethnographic Research: Understanding The Target Audience

- Participatory observation: We examined the overall hotel design, usability, customer servicing, conditions of different facilities and environmental touchpoints like sound, smell, lighting, etc to define missed opportunities.

- User Insight Gathering: We conducted interviews with key stakeholders and customer surveys to identify visitors’ wants and needs.

- Mystery Customer Journey: Our team stayed at the hotel to gain an understanding of what travelers experience during their stay and what could be moments of frustration.

3. The Marketscape (Competitors)
To achieve differentiation, we conducted competitor research to define a unique positioning for the hotel while keeping in mind relevant socio-economic insights in Saudi Arabia. 

4. The City’s Assets & Resources
Our team toured the city with local guides to explore Medina and gain an understanding of the city’s cultural nuances in terms of history, gastronomy, craftsmanship, and more.

We examined the customer journey that a traveler undergoes while staying at the hotel and interacting with Medina city. We focused on enhancing key moments for guests in order to innovate and add value. These are critical moments in their journey that could make the whole experience enriching, memorable, and ultimately, help the hotel cultivate guest loyalty.

5. Creating a New, Authentic Brand Name
Our team went through several rounds of name finding exercises. We ensured the new hotel name to be inclusive to all muslim pilgrims around the world, and not just Arab muslims. Yet, be able to tick all the right boxes in terms of pronunciation for Arab speakers. We finally settled on the name: Otencia which is a neological name inspired from “authentic” in English or “authentique” in French /ɔ.tɑ̃.tik/.

Otencia name resonated with a hotel concept that reflects the authentic city vibes, one that works closely with local family-owned businesses, showcases food, design and artisanal products that genuinely reflect the culture and traditions of the area, so that guests feel more like locals and less like tourists.

Solutions: Enhancing Key Moments Within The User Journey

Moment #1. Stepping Into Otencia: A Hidden Gem at the City’s Center
We designed a handful of touchpoints to perfect the overall user journey, from the moment the visitors thought of the service until the moment they have checked out. We expanded the customer journey for their service, and picked moments that matter in it. For instance, upon arriving at the lobby of the hotel and before check-in: guests will be welcomed and greeted with a serving of local coffee, tea & dates, and other local delicacies to echo the  generosity and hospitality of the people of Medina.

We conceptualized the hotel as being an immersive space that reflects  the outside vibes of Medina city in by celebrating islamic history, art, and culture through the different touchpoints: reception, concept store, cafe, concierge services, and curated artworks.

Moment #2. The Stay: Capturing the Medina Spirit
For the accomodation, we ensured that the different layouts recommended for the rooms are tailored to both functionality and aesthetics. The details of spatial functionality took into account the needs of the “religious traveler” or “pilgrim”, whether they are local or foreigners and whether they are solo travelers, couples, or families. We included a goodie bag inside each room that included “pilgrim’s essentials” to help them better navigate their journey: slippers for entering the mosque, tote bag to carry their prayer rug, bottle of water, snack, and a city tour guide based on the hotel’s staff recommendations.

Following through with the spirit of exploration, we designed a monumental map that offers guests a summary of the city’s main attractions that they must visit to ensure a holistic trip. We created different themes for the hotel’s floors, where each one was designed and inspired by Medina landmarks to raise awareness to these historical attractions and create “instagrammable moments and souvenirs” from their trip.

Moment #3. Memorable Moments: Don’t Leave Empty Handed!
For an immersive experience, we created a story-timeline in the cafe that tells the story of the Prophet’s journey in Medina using bold typography and impactful photography. We also made sure to include the gastronomy aspect which featured live culinary stations and local cuisine delicacies.

No trip is complete without travel memorabilia, and so the last touchpoint in the hotel service focused on designing a concept store that offers to hotel guests retail items exclusively” made by local artisans” to support local craftsmanship and give back to the economy.

Utilizing design thinking techniques, we were able to redesign the service at the Hotel and created a service that focuses on authentic and carefully-curated cultural, culinary and artistic experiences that mirrors the city’s spirit, adds value to the modern day religious traveler and differentiates the hotel from other competitors and puts in on the track towards innovation.

Next steps

Deriving from the legacy and experiential mood the new hotel was accumulating, we came up with the name “Otencia” as an ode to the authenticity and locality.

Inspired by the old city doors, their craftsmanship and bright emerald blue-green that is unique to the city, we crafted a logo that captures the spirit and character of Al-Madinah. Consistent throughout the entire brand experience, the design elements were all derived from the city itself, in an aim to transport hotel visitors to Al-Madinah.

We also prepared a blueprint to roll out the recommendations and implement the changes to the new service in collaboration with third parties, such as architects, interior designers, print shops, and the hotel team to implement changes to the service accordingly.

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