Proactively reach guests throughout their stay

Written By Bram Haenraets

Last updated 13 days ago

Great guest communication does not wait for guests to ask. With Viqal you can reach out automatically at the right moments, from the minute they book to after they check out. This article explains what to send at each stage of the stay, so you save your team time, lift the guest experience, and open up upsell opportunities, all on WhatsApp.

If you want the click-by-click steps for building one of these messages, see Add a step to your Guest Journey. This article is about the ideas and the timing.

Campaign or Guest Journey?

These two tools look similar but do opposite jobs, so it helps to be clear:

  • A Guest Journey message is scheduled and continuous. It sends automatically to every guest at the same relative moment in their stay, for example a welcome message the minute anyone books. You set it up once and it runs forever, per guest.

  • A Campaign is a one-off blast. It goes to a group of people you choose, at one moment you choose. It does not repeat per guest. Think of it as a broadcast, not an automation.

Rule of thumb: if it should happen for every guest at a certain point in their stay, use the Guest Journey. If it is a specific message you want to send to a specific group right now or at a set date, use a Campaign.

Create a campa

What proactive messaging is

Your Guest Journey is an automated flow of messages, grouped by the stage of the stay. Each step sends a message at a moment you choose, to the guests you choose. Once it is set up it runs on its own for every booking, so you are present throughout the stay without anyone lifting a finger.

The journey is split into five stages:

  1. Pre-arrival — from booking until check-in

  2. Arrival — check-in day

  3. In-house — during the stay

  4. Checkout — checkout day

  5. Post-stay — after check-out

What to send at each stage

Here are proven touchpoints for each stage. Mix and match to fit your property.

Pre-arrival (from booking to check-in)

  • A warm welcome message the moment a booking is made, confirming the stay and introducing your AI assistant.

  • An online check-in prompt so guests can complete details before they arrive.

  • A question asking for their expected arrival time, so your front desk can plan.

Arrival (check-in day)

  • A message highlighting complimentary services or things to do, sent in the afternoon so it lands when guests are thinking about their evening.

  • Directions, parking, or Wi-Fi details to smooth the arrival.

In-house (during the stay)

  • A friendly check-in on the first full day to make sure everything is good.

  • A question asking for their expected departure time, sent before checkout so housekeeping can plan.

  • Upsell moments such as a room upgrade, spa treatment, late checkout, or a local experience.

Checkout (checkout day)

  • Sharing the guest's invoice or folio so they have it before they leave.

  • Checkout instructions and a thank you.

Post-stay (after check-out)

  • A review request, for example a quick three-button rating that sends happy guests straight to your Google review link.

  • A come-back offer or loyalty message to encourage a repeat booking.

How the timing works

Each message can fire based on three kinds of trigger, so you can be precise about the moment:

  • Booking moments — when a booking is made or modified, or relative to the scheduled check-in or check-out. For example, welcome immediately at booking, or ask for departure time 20 hours before scheduled check-out.

  • Scheduled times — on the check-in or check-out day at a specific time. For example, send a complimentary services message on check-in day at 17:00.

  • Live PMS events — the real check-in, real check-out, or room ready, pulled live from your property management system. These need your PMS connected under Settings, then Integrations.

You can also add a time offset to any trigger, so a message goes out a set time before or after the moment.

Sending to the right guests

Every step can go to all guests, or only to guests who match certain rules, or to everyone except a group. You can also exclude specific guests by name. This means you can target an upsell at the right segment, or make sure a message never reaches someone it should not.

Previewing and going live

Build your steps, use Preview journey to see the flow as a guest would experience it, then click Publish Changes to make it live. Nothing reaches guests until you publish, so you can prepare the whole journey and switch it on when you are ready.