The adoption of technology has changed almost everything around us, from the homes we live in to how our cities are managed. The hospitality industry is no different. The entire sector has been witnessing a major shift towards tech-enabled solutions for managing operations, enhancing the guest experience and becoming more future ready.
During the pre-covid times, the hospitality sector was leveraging technology as the first point of customer contact with an increasing number of bookings being done online but the general adoption of technology while being constantly spoken of was not keeping pace with other sectors and the more tech-enabled world.
However, the situation has changed considerably during and after the covid era with tech features, such as keyless/mobile check-in and check-out, digital menus and contactless payments increasingly becoming standard practices. Once considered luxuries, these features are fast turning into essentials for hotels to remain relevant due to rapidly changing customer behaviour.
Technology has also proved to be an invaluable resource for the food and beverage industry. Take digital or QR code scanned menus, for example, or online food ordering, can anyone now imagine a life without these? Tech solutions like online payments, booking, and delivery apps etc. have helped the industry players to stay afloat during the pandemic and also enhance their revenues.
Going forward, the industry adoption of tech-based solutions is expected to happen at an even better pace, considering how relevant and helpful they’ve proved to be and in keeping with the desired customer expectations. This will not only bring fundamental changes to hotel operations but also change the way clients enjoy the hospitality. From mobile apps and digital keys to self-check-in kiosks, most hotel companies have started evaluating the various options available to them. Marriott, for example, is steering the concept of automated kiosks with touch screens that assist in guest check-ins and provide room keys.
Smart technology is expected to play a major role in future hospitality with solutions like smart energy management, smart guest experiences, smart room service etc. forming the core of hotel operations. Features like virtual help desk/assistants or the ability to enter or exit using QR and RFID codes etc.are expected to become standard practices and automation as a whole will gain significant traction. Hotels will leverage guest data along with occupancy sensors to better accommodate the needs of guests. By automating guest interactions during their stay, hotels will benefit from the reduction of both friction points and labor costs. In this way, smart technology will make it possible for hotels to predict and personalize guest services and experiences based on their previous visits and aggregated data.
Implementing these tech innovations will give future hoteliers endless possibilities to differentiate themselves from the competition, enhance personalization and exceed guests’ expectations. Besides this, one of the biggest advantages of implementing smart tech will be the reduction in costs, especially utility and energy costs. These solutions will not only help in streamlining processes but also in optimizing operational efficiency and enhancing staff productivity among other things. Besides, we are witnessing enhanced use of AI for various revenue management and revenue optimising tools which will only get more and more sophisticated over time. The gradual build-up of the Metaverse and its various extensions is also likely to change the way customers will travel and book hotels as virtual and fully immersive tours to hotels become easily available.
However, the larger challenge that the hospitality sector will face is to define the fine balance between tech and human interaction which will continue to play an even more vital role as customers who are already getting increasingly isolated on account of technology would value human interaction during travel and hotel stays. Given the traditional people-oriented nature of the sector which always put customer contact and interaction as a pivotal part of the business, only time will tell how technology will redefine that in the years to come.
(The author is Mr. Mandeep S. Lamba, President (South Asia), HVS ANAROCK and the views expressed in this article are his own)
