INTELITY

October 20, 2022 by INTELITY

3 Key Takeaways from G2E 2022

If we learned anything while attending the 2022 Global Gaming Expo, it’s that the future of gaming is digital

During last week’s Global Gaming Expo 2022, members of the gaming industry descended upon The Venetian Expo in Las Vegas for four days of exhibits, networking and education sessions. Leaders in the hospitality and gaming industry spoke on the latest trends in gaming, but one consistency was noticeable: the push towards digital. Whether it was digital payments, digital wallets or online sports betting, industry thought leaders all seemed to agree that the future of gaming is digital. Here are three key takeaways we learned while at this year’s G2E.

The Digital Payment Push

Like almost everything in today’s economy, the gaming industry has made a strong push towards cashless play in recent years. However, growth in digital payments has been stymied by a lack of consumer knowledge. Another stumbling block has been casinos’ lack of ability to bring value to the customer. From loyalty programs to reduced fees, casinos need to find the right way to drive digital or cashless payments. Some ways to do this that were discussed during G2E include eliminating the enrollment process and bringing customers to their money faster with a one-click option; using fees to incentivize guests; giving customers a true value to go cashless and to digitally transfer funds; creating loyalty programs that customers want to adopt; and moving toward digital with more vendor choices for the consumer.

Benefits of Digital Wallets

One key factor in the digital push for casinos has been digital wallets, which make it easier for customers to transfer funds on and off a game. While digital wallets, and digital payments in general, benefit casinos in many ways, including creating less currency to drop and less to count while easing cage operations, one stumbling point has been the concern of problem gambling. Casinos can avoid this issue by providing tools to set limits, spot problems and provide actionable data to enforce responsible-gaming standards.

The Increase in iGaming

Thought to be the best way to increase total gaming revenue, igaming has been a hot-button issue over the last decade as legalized sports betting is now allowed in 36 states. However, only five states have legalized online casino gaming. While some thought igaming would hurt physical casinos, many have found the opposite happening. Gene Johnson, executive vice president of Victor Strategies, moderated a panel during G2E where he shared that total gaming revenue in states with online gaming had increased, with igaming numbers rising more as states added sports betting. Another benefit? Melissa Blau, founder of iGaming Capital, said during the same session that igaming and sports betting has historically attracted customers who don’t normally visit physical casinos, including women and younger gamblers, ages 25–50 — where physical casino patrons are typically 60-plus years old.

Interested in finding out how the digital push can extend to improving your casino hotel’s guest experience? Request a demo here.

October 6, 2022 by INTELITY

Stay and Play: Driving Casino Guest Revenue Using Hotel Tablets and Apps

Smart room technology, such as hotel tablets and mobile apps, help increase the guest experience while keeping guest dollars on-site.

We’ve all heard the old casino saying, “Put your money where your mouth is.” But what if you could put more of your guests’ money back into your property? Smart room technology, such as hotel tablets and branded mobile apps, allow casino owners to do just this, while improving the guest room experience, streamlining back-of-house operations, and ensuring you’re keeping guests’ dollars at your property.

Dining at Guests’ Fingertips

After a long day at the roulette table, a guest looking for a meal doesn’t have to look farther than the comfort of their own hotel room. By using an in-room smart tablet, guests can view the most up-to-date menus and place in-room dining orders with just a tap on their hotel tablets — keeping their dining dollars at your property. This smart room technology also helps streamline back-of-house operations, eliminating time-consuming room service phone calls and allowing employees to update the menu in real-time when an item is no longer available.

Market to Guests with Ease

Does your property feature entertainment and promotions that change on a regular basis? Keep guests informed and up to date with hotel tablets guest marketing, which can also function as digital compendiums. They can offer access to the property’s amenities and services as well as hotel and casino promotions, retail offerings and more.

Personalized Service with Mobile Apps

Branded mobile apps are another way casino hotels can transform the guest experience, while also streamlining their own operations. Mobile check-in and check-out allow guests to skip the front desk and head straight to their rooms. Keyless entry offered on a mobile app allows customers to access their hotel room without needing a plastic key card.

Once in their room, a branded mobile app lets guests engage with the hotel during — and even after — their stay, providing them with greater convenience and personalization. Similar to in-room hotel tablets, a mobile app offers guests the ability to reserve amenities, access live entertainment schedules, order food and drinks, and request an array of services — from anywhere on the property, including the casino floor. With guest messaging, hotel staff can inform guests of current promotions and serve customized and targeted offers that drive brand loyalty and keep dollars at your property.

Streamline Your Operations

While hotel tablets and mobile apps improve the guest room experience, they also help back-of-house operations run more efficiently. Using a back-office dashboard, employees can manage all staff activity, work orders and delivery times on the property — from the front desk to housekeeping to dining. Branded mobile apps and in-room tablets also cut down on the number of phone calls staff receive while also shortening front desk queues, allowing employees to focus on their tasks without interruption.

For more on how smart room technology can drive revenue at your casino while elevating the guest room experience, request a demo.

September 27, 2022 by INTELITY

How to Drive Hotel Revenue with Smart-Room Tablets

Smart-room tablets are a simple way to drive non-room revenue at your property

As a hotelier, looking for ways to drive non-room revenue is a key focus point of your business. From room service orders to selling hotel-branded merchandise to sharing information about your property’s spa, smart-room tablets are a convenient way to promote on-site purchases and drive dollars once guests arrive on your property. Not to mention, smart-room tablet technology also enhances the guest room experience by easily allowing customers to request additional items, browse the internet and adjust the heating and cooling system — all from an in-room tablet.

In-Room Dining

One of the most common ways to drive additional revenue to a property is through in-room dining. However, long hold times and messy paper room service menus can be deterrents for guests. Smart-room tablets offer guests the ability to browse dining menus that have been refreshed with up-to-the-minute offerings while relaxing in their rooms. Whether they’re looking to order a three-course dinner or just searching for a late-night snack, their next meal is just a tap away — improving the guest room experience while streamlining the employee’s workflow. Tablet technology also provides hotel staff with a simple way to receive dining orders without having their workflow interrupted by room service phone calls.

Hotel Merchandise

It’s hard to find a restaurant, bar or burger stand these days that isn’t also slinging T-shirts and sweatshirts in addition to burgers and beers. In recent years, hotels have jumped on the merch trend by selling their own branded sweatshirts, pool towels, and yoga mats. Many boutique hotels now also sell goods made by local vendors, such as candles, fragrances, and glassware. Instead of making guests wait in line at the busy front desk to purchase a branded souvenir, displaying your hotel’s wares directly on a smart-room tablet is an easy way for them to browse the gift selection while winding down after a long day or waiting for their room service order to arrive. It also cuts down on lines and wait times at the front desk, allowing staff to better service other customers.

Event Spaces and On-Site Offerings

Looking for a way to let guests know about your rental spaces or on-site offerings? An in-room tablet can hold all of the information a front desk pamphlet normally would right on its home screen, making browsing additional hotel information while searching the internet a seamless experience for guests. Tablet technology allows hoteliers to dedicate specific links to rental and event space information along with special pages on available upgrades such as wellness packages and spa offerings — saving a hotel money on the printing costs and allowing information to be as up-to-date as possible.

Tablet technology plays a major role in not only improving the guest room experience, but also seamlessly driving additional revenue to your property. To learn more about how tablet technology can increase revenue at your hotel, request a demo today.

September 13, 2022 by INTELITY

Sustainable Hospitality: How Hotel Tech Helps Your Property Go Green

Deploying in-room tablets and other hotel tech can greatly promote sustainable hospitality

From sustainable clothing to sustainable packaging to sustainable dining, more and more brands are continuing to do their part to protect our planet. And according to recent studies, today’s consumers appreciate it. Last year’s Global Sustainability Study found that 85% of consumers have become “greener” when it comes to their purchasing decisions in recent years. In fact, 63% of respondents said sustainability is an important purchase criterion when it comes to travel and tourism.

In recent years, many of the major airlines have announced plans to switch from traditional fossil-derived jet fuels to ones that are made from renewable sources. Enterprise Rent-A-Car has committed to stocking the newest car models, which are more efficient, including a wide selection of electric and hybrid vehicles. But it’s not just travel transport that can make a difference. Hotels can do their part as well. When it comes to sustainability in hospitality, hotel tech plays a major role. In-room tablets can reduce and even eliminate printed-out hotel marketing materials and room service menus, and mobile apps can eliminate plastic key cards.

Here are just a few ways hotel technology can help your property save the planet and promote sustainable hospitality.

Say Goodbye to Plastic Keys

Hotel mobile apps create an experience of the future for guests and also hold the key to sustainable hospitality. From mobile check-in and check-out to keyless entry, a hotel’s mobile app eliminates the plastic key cards that fill up hotel room garbage cans and, eventually, landfills. Not to mention, mobile apps eliminate the chance of a guest losing their key and needing a replacement or getting locked out altogether.

No More Printing

We all know how easy it is to waste paper, and printing off new marketing materials, announcements and property maps can be a daily necessity. While the information these materials hold is valuable, hotel mobile apps can deliver this information to guests virtually. With an app, guests can access important hotel information, maps and event information right from their pocket. For those who don’t download the app, in-room tablets can communicate must-know information and keep travelers up-to-date, while also promoting sustainable hospitality.

A New Way to Dine

The pandemic heavily changed the way we view menus at restaurants. QR codes handed to diners or taped to tables is now a regular occurrence across the country. And the same can be said for sustainability in hospitality. Uploading a room service menu to your hotel mobile app is an easy way for guests to access your most up-to-date offerings no matter where they are on the property and reduce your use of paper and ink. In-room tablets featuring room service menus offer the same seamless ordering experience, plus they allow staff to easily keep menus updated up-to-the-minute in case something sells out.

Sustainability in hospitality, like all other industries, is important to not only our planet, but the vast majority of today’s travelers. To learn more about how hotel tech can help your property go green, request a demo today.

September 12, 2022 by INTELITY

Key Trends in Hospitality Today: Uncaged Show Interview with INTELITY CEO Robert Stevenson

CEO Robert Stevenson shares how INTELITY’s guest experience platform can help solve some of the staffing challenges in hospitality today.

INTELITY CEO Robert Stevenson was recently featured in an episode of the podcast The Uncaged Show, where he touched on several topics, including the latest updates to the INTELITY platform, current trends in the hospitality industry, and how the INTELITY platform can help the hospitality industry weather staffing shortages.

During the interview, Stevenson shared how the pandemic has had an effect on most of the trends in hospitality today, including a push towards safety and contactless guest experiences.

Listen to the Full Interview

“Our customer at the hotel level is very concerned about the digital guest journey, and they are also interested in the contactless capabilities that our platform provides,” Stevenson shared with Uncaged Show host Bant Breen. “Something like the BA.5 variant of COVID-19 that is rearing its head, those are the kind of things I think we can expect to continue for years and years to come, so having a digital pathway is very important.”

Stevenson also shared how workforce shortages have greatly affected the hospitality industry since the start of the pandemic.

“The service industry workforces have come back, more much so than they were say a year ago, but a lot of people switched careers and are just testing the waters and exploring if they want a career in hospitality, so you have a lot of turnover and a lot of light staffing,” Stevenson said. “Some hotels are operating with only 30-to-40% of their staff. It’s a big concern, and technology like our platform can help.”

Stevenson shared how platforms like INTELITY’s allows guests to use their mobile devices to check-in, saving front desk employees time. The same goes for room service teams.

“If we automatically route in-room dining requests straight to the kitchen and get it fulfilled, then the only human labor that is actually required is cooking that meal and walking it up to the room. That saves hospitality workers a few minutes of phone time and manual entry time. And all those things add up.”

Interested in Learning More?

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September 7, 2022 by INTELITY

Overcoming Travel Pitfalls Using Hotel Tech

Utilizing hotel tech at your property can mitigate common travel pitfalls and recover the guest experience

From delayed flights and lost luggage to forgotten items and COVID restrictions, even if a traveler is on vacation, the travel process can be a stressful one. According to a recent study conducted by tour operator Trafalgar, approximately 89% of survey respondents said they find traveling to be a stressful event. As a hotelier, it’s your goal to allow guests to de-stress, enjoy themselves, and make memories that will last them a lifetime — whether they are on vacation, a business trip or attending an event at your hotel. One simple way to do this is by integrating hotel tech, such as a mobile app or in-room tablet, into your property.

Here are a few ways hotel tech can mitigate common travel pitfalls and ensure a stress-free experience for your guests.

Eliminate the Front Desk Wait

After a long day of waiting in lines at the airport, the baggage claim, and for a rideshare, the last thing a weary traveler wants to do is wait in a queue to check-in at the hotel. Hotel tech, such as a mobile app, allows guests to digitally check-in and use their smartphones for keyless entry, completely bypassing the front desk and allowing them to go straight to their rooms. Once they are ready to depart, the digital check-out process is just as easy.

Replace Can’t-Live-Without Items

Once in their rooms, guests staying at hotels outfitted with in-room tablets can request any items they may have forgotten, just with a few simple taps on a screen. Guests no longer need to trek down to the front desk in their pajamas after realizing they’ve forgotten their toothpaste. A quick tap on the in-room tablet or on their mobile app replenishes any needed items, including extra towels or pillows.

Dining — On Demand

Hotels that feature in-room tablets allow travelers to browse digital dining menus and order food and drinks to their room without having to pick up a phone and wait for the room service operator. For hotels that don’t have an on-property restaurant, in-room tablet technology provides guests with the ability to use delivery services such as Door Dash or Uber Eats without having to pick up their personal cell phone and re-enter their new location details. Hotels with a mobile app allow busy guests to order food on their time from anywhere on the property and get it delivered directly to their room.

Create a Digital Concierge Experience

A mobile app can offer guests a digital concierge experience — guiding them through the local attractions, dining options, and off-site events right on their mobile phones, whether they are in their rooms, by the pool, or at the bar. For hotels that don’t have a traditional concierge desk, an in-room tablet can offer up the same trusted recommendations right from the guest’s room.

Hotel tech can help streamline the travel experience and allow guests to have a stress-free stay, no matter if they are visiting on business or for pleasure. To learn more about how hotel tech can mitigate the stress of travel, request a demo today.

A Blog by INTELITY

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