2020 is the year which we will stand witness to prodigious global transformations in terms of technology. And the Hotel Industry will also get its share.
In 2018 and 19 we heard many new terms like IoT, AI, AR, and VR, etc… But 2020 is the year of implementation.
This will be the beginning of the future.
There was a time when hotels just meant serene shelter and scrumptious food. Hotels had a quite simple role in people’s life.
But, Technology is transforming the overall life of a human. We are now accustomed to a swift yet luxurious way of life.
Ergo, the hotels will have to march with the pace of technological advancements. Advancements will be there in the way they conduct their business.
With technology, they will be more efficient and economic.
So let’s discuss what is changing for a hotelier and his guest in 2020.
As I said we are now accustomed to a faster yet luxurious life and for that we largely depend on cutting edge technology.
We plan our trips in advance and make all our reservations online.
We feel more secure and connected even on strange locations. All the credits go to technology.
So here are some ways tech is making our hotel stay wonderful.
Let’s assume that we are in the 70’s. And I have just entered into a new city. After long journey tiredness has fallen upon me. The only thing I want is a serene shelter.
I walk into the hotel ask for a room but the receptionist says in his olive oil voice “Sorry Sir we have no vacancy.”
We should thank technology for saving us from such a situation.
Booking a hotel service has become as easy as eating an apple pie.
Today’s travelers prefer online booking over offline hotel booking. Hotels can be booked online by popularly two channels these days, i.e. Online Travel Agents and directly from hotel websites.
We can also compare the rates of the same room on the same location on the same date on different OTAs by the help Metasearch engines ( example:- trivago.com).
We can check the view, the interior of the building and the room itself after that we can take an educated decision that which hotel we have to book.
Websites like Expedia, Booking, Tripadvisor, and Airbnb have enabled us to find better deals and they have empowered us numerous options to choose.
But all this is a piece of old news now. In 2020 we are going to have even better booking services.
With Google BERT update we will have more relevant results to our searches. So our travel researches will become easy.
Finding a service will be an easy task compared to earlier times.
Then things will be more mobile-centric. You will be able to control the whole journey through your smartphone.
AI-enabled booking systems will make your reservation process seamless.
Most of us like it when someone welcomes us in the hotel on our arrival. After all, what can be more charming than a smile?
But many times we have to wait in ques especially in the high demand seasons. This not only deteriorates the stay experience but also decrease staff efficiency.
So the hotels are moving towards automated and mobile check-ins and check-outs. So now you do not have to wait in the line, you just enter the hotel and go directly to your room.
Even in Room Entry you just have to use your smartphone and you are in your room.
Hilton has already introduced Hilton Key App which facilitates key-less room entry.
The trend will curate further with RFID cards which will make your experience even better.
It seems we are now in the future. A robot delivering my food to the room. What to expect now?
This will give hotel staff more time to concentrate on the guest’s overall stay experience rather than making beds and cleaning dustbins.
Currently, this feature is out of the reach of the small and mid-range hotels.
You will not find robots serving you in every hotel but big hotel chains have started doing that.
One of the examples of this technology is Sevioke Relay Robot.
Guests these days walk into a hotel with a number of devices and need a super-fast wifi connection. Hence, wifi infrastructure has become a common feature in a hotel.
But slow wifi is one of the most frequent complaints from the guests. Providing the wifi service to the guests needs a strong network. So many things will upgrade in this field too.
The upcoming 5G technology will be an important upgrade to the current scenario. After the introduction of 5G, the network will be fast and more stable.
5G will also be a catalyst for the IoT.
Through IoT, the physical devices will be able to connect to each other and exchange data.
Controlling lights, refrigerators, AC, and heating can be automated through IoT. This will increase the efficiency of the hotel as well as save energy.
A lot of attention has to be given to guests’ services in the upcoming year, especially on entertainment. Movies on demand, Netflix and smart TVs are now becoming a part of every hotel room.
Hotels are now going for room apps by using which the guest can order room services.
Hotels also provide conference rooms with many facilities like network design to ensure indoor mobile phone coverage, WI-Fi connectivity, real-time location services (RTLS) and internet protocol television (IPTV) as well as all the AV and digital equipment to meet the expectations of their customers.
To enhance the guest experience we also see the use of NFC.
NFC can be used to make secure payments, self-check-ins and provide more personal facilities to guests.
As a guest we have power now, we can share our experience in a hotel with the public. One bad review can hamper the hotel’s reputation and that is a lot of importance is given on guest experience these days.
Guests’ feedback about their time in a hotel can build up the reputation of a hotel or can have an adverse effect also.
Courteous treatment will make a customer a walking advertisement
– James Cash Penney.
Technology is not serving only the guests in the hotel industry. Hoteliers also enjoy a lot of functionalities which make them more efficient and make their business flourish.
Let’s discuss some of them.
Do you remember those big cupboard containing hundreds of files in the offices? Well, computers have replaced those cupboards.
From the staff to the guests and amenities, and all other issues in a hotel are handled by just a few clicks.
Some of the features technology has bought at hotel backend are:
These are some of the most elementary points, otherwise, technology has amended the hotel business on a large scale.
Today we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data per day. We have created 90% of the total data we have today in just the past two years.
Ergo, every organization has started to feel the importance of Business Intelligence.
As stated by Accenture in a report
Analytics drives insights, insights lead to greater understanding of customers and markets, and that understanding yields innovative products, better customer targeting, improved pricing, and superior growth in both revenue and profits.
With a deep knowledge of the analytics of guests, hoteliers can enhance their inventory distribution, price management, and loyalty programs.
This will enhance the guest’s experience which can ultimately increase RevPAR.
It is clear that Technology is amending our lives day by day. and it is evident that it has played its role in the hospitality industry as well. The aim was to enlighten some of the points on how technology is enhancing the hospitality industry.
But it is not only technology that will please the guests, but hoteliers also have to strike the perfect balance between technology and traditions
We aspire to serve the hotel industry with our product QloApps and that process we have taken a step forward by launching the QloApps Forum. So please raise any of your issue on our Forum.
For any kind of technical assistance, just raise a ticket.
