Technology Trends in the Hospitality Industry
Introduction
Technology is a major driver of all business in the world today. The mechanization of services leads to short lead times and eventual savings in operational expenses. The savings in turn lead to an improvement in business profits. Technology is also a major driver of the current global nature of business. In particular, developments in the transport and communications sector play an important role in globalizing business. The connectivity of the world means that potential customers learn of new services and products as they arise and expect them wherever their location. Consequently, new technologies spread quickly and the informed customers demand them in relevant areas across the world. Business operators on their part also need to adopt new technologies and business practices to remain competitive.
Technology and Hospitality
The hospitality industry is one of the business areas most affected by globalization. Hospitality is the service industry that concerns itself with lodging, transportation, tourism, theme parks, event planning and other fields in the leisure industry. It is an industry whose clientele is alive to the latest industry developments and whose tastes change frequently to reflect global trends. Technology is therefore, a major driver of the hospitality industry. Adoption of the latest technologies is vital for the hospitality industry players to offer their customers satisfactory services and to remain competitive (Tsai, Song and Wong 2009). Developments and changes in technology have an impact on the design of buildings for hospitality businesses, the management structure and the level of staffing necessary to run these concerns. The elimination of the physical check-in desk for instance, makes it unnecessary to have such a desk in a hotel. Current technological trends in the industry include automation of services, Wi-Fi, digital conferencing, use of robots, smart room keys, near field communication technology, cloud services and social media feedback among others.
Automation
Tourists and business people are the major customers of the hospitality industry. These clients would like to concentrate on their key business that is either their work or relaxing. Automation of activities that support their key business is becoming a normal expectation of hospitality clients. For instance, the busy company executive would prefer booking his or her stay in a hotel online from the office computer or from the smartphone (Rao 2014). Upon arrival at the hotel, the traditional system would require the customer to check-in at a counter reserved for that purpose. More often than not, there would be many clients requiring the service at the same time, resulting to a queue. Automated check-in systems eliminate this time-consuming stage and the customer can check in from a computerized booth that instantly recognizes the face, identification and other necessary information without the danger of intruding into personal space. Once in the hotel, the busy customer would want to save time and would prefer to order his food from the room than have to call for room service. A dedicated app can simplify the work by recognizing the customer needs and transmitting them accurately. At present, the level of automation varies depending on the location of the hotel (country) and the standard of the outfit. However, it is rapidly becoming a standard feature, as customers demand minimal time wastage doing things that do not make up their key activity. A point of caution is that automation should not eliminate human interaction in totality. Customers still value the human touch in their dealings with businesses, especially in the hotel industry. It is important that in the event of a major problem, a human staff attends to the customer to reassure them of their concern and care. Even in the absence of a hitch, the presence of a concierge to welcome the guest is a welcome sight. While automation is a welcome development to the hospitality industry operators and other businesses at large, a study by the International Labor Organization in the ASEAN region found that nearly three in five jobs face the risk of obsolescence due to the phenomenon (ILO 2016). It warns of a crisis if governments do not take action to protect or create other jobs.
Wi-Fi
At the advent of the Internet, the service was expensive and its main use was for official communication between government agencies or organizations. As the costs of the Internet fell and connectivity improved, some hotels began offering it in their premises to enable guests on working holidays connect with their home offices and other people. The common arrangement then was a user pay model where the hotels charged exorbitant fees for internet usage directly to the customer. At that time, provision of internet services for guests was a unique offering that distinguished entities providing the services. The reduction of internet costs and extensive connectivity brought the charges down and guests started expecting connectivity as a standard offering at no extra cost. The mass ownership of mobile smartphones today gives every customer the need for an internet connection for keeping in touch with family and friends back home or just for entertainment. A study by J.D. Power found that hotel customers today expect an internet connection (especially) Wi-Fi as a basic part of the package (Power 2016). However, in another study by Berezina (2010), with Wi-Fi, the issue of network security arises. Customers on work assignments expect that the hotel network is secure enough to prevent unauthorized access to their employers, network. Hotel management must provide a secure network to inspire the confidence of their clients to lodge with them when on work trips. In addition, clients expect an internet connection even while on the move. Many taxicabs today provide Wi-Fi connections to enable their passengers to access their social media and work networks while on transit.
Digital Conferencing
A major income stream for hotels is provision of conference facilities. The emergence of conference tourism as an industry by itself stresses the importance of availing state-of-the-art facilities for conferences (Wiitamaki 2015). While the hotel provides the physical space for the conference attendants to conduct their business, in many cases, there is the need to connect the residential proceedings with other people in distant places. Teleconferencing offers a solution in such cases and the hotel must provide audio-visual facilities with a high-speed internet connection. The design of such buildings must take into account the provision of concealed pathways for the cabling in the floors and ceilings. The design must also cater for indoor mobile coverage and other ICT-related services.
Customized Hotel Room Entertainment
The typical hotel room guest is not a local and has an entertainment taste different from the local trends. Different cultures have different norms that dictate what is entertaining and what is not. In addition, the hotel room customers fall under a variety of demographic segments, an important determinant of entertainment. It is therefore impossible for a hotel to provide a fit-all form of entertainment for all its customers. Studies indicate that most guests prefer creating their own entertaining environment in their rooms (Kumar, Dhiman and Dhaiya 2015). In view of such challenges, customers resort to individual entertainment from their smartphones and on the internet. The technology trend is for hotels to make provisions for customers to connect their smartphones to the in-room TV, to provide quality sound equipment and to avail internet as the previous sections mention. The use of laptops for entertainment is also still en vogue. The design of hotel rooms must therefore take into consideration the necessary power and internet ports.
Robots
The typical traveler who stays in a hotel room is on either a work mission or taking a vacation from his or her usual job. They would like to maximize their time doing what takes them there. Thus, they stick to their rooms whenever they are not in conferences or taking an excursion outdoors. The need for privacy accompanies the need to stay in the rooms. Room service becomes very important in keeping the hotel guest inside his or her room. On the downside, room service creates unwelcome intrusion into the customer’s privacy. The use of robots to deliver foodstuffs or to collect used cutlery and the laundry is a trend that is catching up in the hotel industry (Bhattarai 2016). The use of robots meets the needs of the customer with no infringement on the privacy needs. Furthermore, some hotels are adopting the use of robots to welcome hotel guests with all the ceremonies established by the concerns. The robots are programed with prior information about the guests and they are able to recognize them on arrival. They give them the requisite directions for that the bellman would ordinarily give. Some hotels use the robots to conduct back office tasks such as the laundry and cleaning. They are programmed to do the services better than humans and save for cases of hitches, the devices can work round the clock, giving the establishment significant savings in the end. As cautioned earlier, the use of robots or robotized machines must be carefully moderated by retaining a human touch to reassure the clients that the hotel cares for them. An overuse of robots and robotized services makes the customer experience mechanical and cannot earn loyalty. To further minimize room occupier interruptions, hotels can make use of infra-red sensors. The sensors detect the presence of a person inside the room and the room service personnel can skip the room until that time when the guest is out. In that manner, the guests do not feel an infringement on their privacy and that improves the customer experience.
Digital Marketing
The adoption of digital transformation is becoming popular with many businesses today. Digital marketing can find innovative application in the hospitality industry with beacons and virtual reality. A beacon is a fixed Bluetooth transceiver that detects and can communicate with certain apps on a passerby’s smartphone. They are placed strategically to collect or push information related to the service offered at that particular point. In a hotel setting, beacons are gaining use in promoting specific services charged per use (Jones 2016). For instance, beacons placed in gymnasia can inform the gym users of discounts for the use of the hotel spas. In other establishments, beacons have been used to inform housekeeping staff when the guests leave their rooms. Virtual reality headsets enable potential customers to ‘experience’ the facility at the planning stage of their trip. The potential client can take a tour of the facility in mind and if he likes it, he is likely to book room.
Internet of Things (IoT) and Integration
The connectivity of everyday objects that guests require promises a major boost in customer experience (Sathi 2016). In a hotel setting, the drinks fridge could be connected to the guest’s smartphone and the beverage department. The fridge and phone would monitor the consumption of the drinks and notify the relevant person when the popular beverage runs out. The bathtub could memorize the favorite temperature of the water and automatically heat the water to that level when he indicates the need to take a bath. Integrating the data collected from the various departments of a hotel can make management easier. For instance, information on the room occupancy and status of the rooms can help in placing orders for supplies that are running out.
Social Media
Social media affects all aspects of human life today. The hospitality industry can use social media sites to market their product offerings and even give them a preview of what they should expect. Popular social media sites such as Facebook offer an opportunity for hospitality industry operators to interact with their clients and manage their customer relations in general (Minazzi 2014). Regular updating of information on the establishment’s site assures the potential customers that the hotel can meet their expectations. On the other hand, social media can sound the death knell for an establishment that messes up with customer relations. There is therefore need to engage professional staff to manage the concern’s communications on social media in real time.
Technology and Hospitality Management
The technology trends mentioned in this paper are in no way exhaustive and are subject to rapid change. However, they indicate the current trends that the hospitality industry players must adopt or prepare themselves for to remain competitive. In view of the fact that what is a bonus offering one day becomes a hygiene factor the next day, adaption to and adoption of these trends is not an option for players who wish to remain in business. The owners and management must consider these trends in running their businesses.
First, for start-up hotels, the design of the buildings must take into account the need for connectivity and video conferencing. The buildings must include internet and power ports that can support teleconferencing and broadband connectivity at all times. The designs must also support energy saving in design to reduce energy costs, a major expense for the hospitality industry. Second, the instant availability of information and the need for response in real time requires a flat structure. Elimination of hierarchies enables immediate response to customer needs for a satisfactory experience. Each departmental head (and to an extent each departmental staffer) should be in position to resolve any matter that comes to their attention without having to seek permission from above. However, guiding policies should be available to restrict workers to acting within the company principles. The staffing levels in an establishment would be comparatively low and lead to significant savings in the end. However, the staff should be conversant with the technologies in use for best results. Training in new technologies should be offered by the hotel whenever there is need for change.
Personally, the increased integration of automation and robotics in the hospitality industry has respective implications in my career. To start with, robotics and automation both fall under technological advancements in the field. My career is based on the successful management of businesses in the hospitality industry. Being a manager means overseeing every aspect of the business and the resources such as capital, physical, and technological resources. As such, it is my obligation to ensure that all aspects of the business are running smoothly including the robotics and automation systems. Moreover, as a manager, it is my duty to create a competitive advantage for my organization. This can only be attained when having wide knowledge and skills in the hospitality industry. Therefore, it is paramount that I garner skills and the know-how of how the technological advancements in the hospitality industry work. This means I have to learn how such systems are operated and understand their possible implications as well as benefits to the business. This will enhance my ability to operate as a manager in the industry.
Reference List
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