Why it matters for a UK hotel
International guests are a big part of the book, and they are growing. The UK took a record number of inbound visits in 2024, and two of its three biggest source markets, France and Germany, do not speak English as a first language. When one of those guests rings to book, or messages on WhatsApp, or emails an enquiry, the hotel that answers them clearly in their own language is usually the one that gets the booking.
Sources: VisitBritain, 2024; CSA Research, 2020 (general consumer finding).
The CSA figure is a general finding across shoppers, not a hotel statistic, but the logic carries straight over. A guest who cannot get a clear answer in their language does not usually wait and translate. They book the hotel that answered them properly. With that many inbound visitors, the gap between "we will reply in English" and "we answered you in French" is the gap between a lost enquiry and a direct booking.
What "answering in their language" actually covers
It is not one clever chat box. It is every channel a guest might reach you on, all reading from the same source of truth:
- Voice: a number answered around the clock, in the caller's language, taking and confirming the booking from real availability.
- Chat and WhatsApp: website and messaging answered in seconds, in the guest's language, booking in the same conversation.
- Email: read by intent, replied to fast and in the guest's language, with confirmations sent.
- Social: Instagram and Facebook messages and comments answered before the lead goes cold.
- One knowledge base: every channel reads from the same record of your rooms, rates and policies, so answers match across every language.
An AI guest agent vs the usual workarounds
Most hotels already have some way of coping with a guest who does not speak English. Here is how the common ones compare.
| Option | Speaks the guest's language | Around the clock | Takes the booking |
|---|---|---|---|
| A staff member who happens to speak it | Only that language, only on shift | No | Sometimes, when they are free |
| Tell the guest to email in English | No | No | Rarely, you lose the ones who will not proceed in another language |
| A translation app passed around the floor | Clumsy, not while busy | No | No, and it can err on things that matter |
| An AI guest agent (Sorino) | Yes, many languages | Yes, day and night | Yes, and hands hard cases to a person |
The difference that matters: the first three depend on the right person being free at the right moment. An agent answers every time, in the guest's language, and hands anything it should not answer to the desk.
What a good system will not do
Answering in someone's language is not worth getting the important things wrong. So a few lines we hold, in every language:
- It will not guess on allergens or safety. Those are answered from a written, checked record and passed to the kitchen or the desk, never guessed, and the guest is told when a person will confirm.
- It will not pretend to be human or handle a complaint on its own. It hands over cleanly, with the full conversation passed across.
- It will not replace your front desk or front of house. It covers the calls and messages they cannot get to, and keeps everything on the record.
Frequently asked
Which languages can it handle?
The common European and world languages your guests actually use, set when you go live. It answers in the language the guest wrote or spoke in.
Will it sound like a robot?
No. It answers in your hotel's own voice and tone, from your own information, and hands anything delicate to a person.
Is it safe for allergen and dietary questions?
Those are answered from a written, checked record and passed to the kitchen or the desk, never guessed, and the guest is told when a person will confirm. That rule holds in every language.
How long does it take to get live?
Live in two to six weeks. You load your rooms, rates and policies into one knowledge base, go live on voice and chat and tune them, then add email and social with reporting turned on.
This is the hotels edition. There is a wider report covering hotels, restaurants and bars together.
Read the full hospitality reportThe short version
- The UK took a record 41.2 million inbound visits in 2024, and its top markets include France and Germany.
- People buy in their own language: 76% prefer it, and 40% will not proceed in another one at all.
- An AI guest agent answers the phone, chat, WhatsApp, email and social in the guest's language, around the clock.
- It reads from one knowledge base, so answers match across every language, and it hands allergen, safety and complaint cases to a person.
- It works alongside your team, not instead of them, and goes live in two to six weeks.
Sources
We do not publish a figure unless it is real and attributable. The numbers on this page are:
- 41.2 million inbound visits to the UK in 2024 (up 9%), £31.5 billion in spend, top markets USA, France and Germany. VisitBritain, 2024. visitbritain.org
- 76% of consumers prefer to buy in their own language, and 40% never buy from other-language sites (8,709 consumers, 29 countries). A general consumer finding, applied to hotels by argument. CSA Research, 2020. csa-research.com