We’re more than halfway through 2017 already – how did that happen? One thing that we do know is that technology continues to be the major influencer for the hospitality industry. Here’s our mid-year report of the three major hospitality technology trends fascinating us so far, this year.
1) Actionable Data
“Actionable Data” may be the biggest buzz phrase of the year. It’s been one of the most elusive pieces to the lodging industry’s customer service puzzle for decades. Now we’re finally able to convert all that vast information that’s been collected and transform it into actionable insights that can be used to generate revenue. This was a major topic of discussion at this year’s HITEC.
Actionable Data is the “final frontier” – giving us new ways to enhance customer. For example, SkyTouch capitalizes on Actionable Data with the SkyTouch Technology Experience Program (STEP). STEP allows hoteliers to collect and act upon a guest’s “likes” while eschewing their “dislikes”. The cloud based SkyTouch Hotel OS® is a property management system that allows hotel associates to build guest profiles that will tailor more personalized experiences during future stays– allowing a hotel owner to capitalize on the latest consumer behavior trends at any point in time.
2) Robots
During the last year, robots have rolled into the hotel universe in a big way. Robots have quickly gone from gimmick to a viable business approach, and according to industry icon Robert Alter, president of Seaview Investors in an article within Travel Weekly, «We feel that it pays for itself, more from a guest-satisfaction standpoint than from labor savings». Seaview utilizes the Relay robot at their Residence Inn Los Angeles LAX.
When guests get behind a technology, then we know it’s a smart one to explore incorporating into a hotel’s business model.
3) Automation
The escalation of labor costs that are pushing up wages in all areas of the hotel business has become a major issue across the hospitality industry. The pressure is mounting on hoteliers to find ways to moderate their operation expenses at manageable levels. Automation is helping hoteliers find ways to provide guests with topnotch service while at the same time freeing employees from once laborious and costly tasks. A PMS like the SkyTouch Hotel OS® can help hotel operators reduce potentially wasted hours in myriad ways. A cloud based PMS can leverage two-way channel distribution management via XML connections with Online Travel Agency (OTA), Global Distribution System (GDS) and a customizable (branded) Internet Booking Engine (IBE) to display the hotel everywhere at once. This helps save time and money – instead of updating multiple distribution systems, operations staff only need to update inventory in one place. The PMS does the work of updating all of your distribution channels for you.
There’s more to come in 2017
We will be watching these trends, and looking out for what’s coming next. Stay tuned – we will give you our 2017 wrap up and forecast what’s coming in 2018 near the end of the year.
