Kahoot! given a starring role in the entertainment industry

Bernat Quetglas is part of the entertainment team at Riu Hotels & Resorts. Speaking amidst a new hotel opening, he told us that the brand runs about 100 hotels, 67 of which offer their own entertainment programs for guests. The team is responsible for

devising, organizing, and implementing quality entertainment programs – now starring Kahoot!.

“When a show starts at say 9.30 pm, a lot of guests will take their seats up to an hour beforehand,” explains Bernat. “Kahoot! is just perfect for keeping them entertained as they wait. They can enjoy a cocktail or a coffee while joining in fun games on a big screen TV and get in the mood for the show to come. Kahoot! basically allows us to extend the whole experience.”

The show must go on 

So how did Kahoot! get an audition in the first place? Well, the 500 staff at Riu head office undertake an annual course and, a couple of years ago, Kahoot! featured in the main training session.

“We were playing a kahoot and we thought it would lend itself perfectly to entertainment. At the end of the session, we asked the leaders how it worked and they directed us to the Kahoot! website,” said Bernat. “Then COVID hit and it changed everything overnight.”

Suddenly, the team was faced with the huge challenge of running activities that allowed for guest interaction while maintaining safety and social distancing. Even pens and paper were no longer allowed.

“Everything stopped. No games and obviously we couldn’t put on shows – entertainers have to sing and dance and be close to each other and that became impossible,” continued Bernat’s colleague Sandra Müller Romero. “We knew that Kahoot! would be perfect for helping, that our guests could have fun but maintain social distance,”

Yet as the pandemic fades, Kahoot! is going from strength to strength to offer a whole new dimension to traditional hotel entertainment.

“Some time ago we used to put on traditional quiz or trivia nights, complete with paper and pen. Then we stopped because it was too leisurely and quiet – guests weren’t being engaged. With Kahoot! we have reinvigorated the concept with a fresher and more modern feel. It’s more dynamic and fun.”

Discovering RIU destinations and hotels with Kahoot!

Kahoots are helping the team promote other hotels, with quizzes or countries related to Riu destinations. “We can use images of our other hotels and ask where they are located, or even set quizzes about national flags related to the countries in which we operate.”

“We can also use kahoots to put our guests in the mood for the show,” Sandra carried on. “For example, when we put on a new show called Airport, we created a kahoot about airports: what city does this airport code relate to, which airline does this logo represent, that kind of thing. Or before a show based on rock and roll, we put on a kahoot about rock stars.

Taking center stage 

Needless to say, Kahoot! is also proving valuable for training entertainment staff around the world. Each entertainment program has its own Kahoot! course and, in the previous seven months, over 600 entertainers from 67 hotels all over the world had been trained.

Kahoot! now even features on the Riu guest app. “Guests all get access to the app, which provides all the information they need around their hotel and the destination. We’ve now enriched the app experience by adding a Kahoot challenge.”

Sandra shows us the app during the call – and we see that almost one thousand guests all over the world were playing at that very moment.  “At one time 1,300 people were playing! What’s also great is that this lets us continue our relationship with guests even after they return home.”

With 70% of guests repeat customers, plans are afoot to add multiple kahoots to keep the experience fresh and engaging.

Modernizing the entertainment offering

As far as the team is concerned, Kahoot! also delivers real value by blending entertainment with technology. “Everyone has a phone, they’re used to screens, so it’s helping us to align our entertainment with how people live.”

“We gauge value in terms of client satisfaction rather than financial metrics and we have started to see real progress. For example, just yesterday one guest commented that ‘Kahoot is great!’ And we thought wow! Feedback is usually more general – about the rooms or the food or the show – but now we see someone specifically mentioning Kahoot! People are getting involved and enjoying it and it’s become an established part of our entertainment.”

Staying in the limelight

In the post-COVID world, people are out to have more fun, to go out more, experience more. Quality hotel entertainment is becoming a really strong differentiator in the industry, with guests often returning to the same hotels year after year because of the entertainment.