Discover key trend projections from Hotel Tech Report’s “Ultimate Guide to Guest Mobile Apps for Hotels: 2022 edition.”

With the new year quickly approaching, many hoteliers are reviewing their tech budget for 2022. Since the pandemic, the industry has been making a shift to incorporate more mobile tech, and as technologies continue to advance, hoteliers have more opportunities to implement efficient and convenient mobile solutions. In an effort to help hoteliers find the right tech for their needs, INTELITY has sponsored Hotel Tech Report’s “Ultimate Guide to Guest Mobile Apps for Hotels: 2022 Edition.” Here are a few highlights about mobile tech in the coming year:

Trends and Future Predictions for Guest Mobile Apps

Mobile-optimized Guest Experience.

As the hospitality industry responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for mobile tech increased dramatically. The need for people to perform everyday tasks on their smartphones became more of a necessity than simply a convenience. And now, guests are looking for that same digital experience in their travel. Does your hotel offer contactless check-in through an app? Can guests order food directly to their room, the same way they can at home? Can they message back and forth with your staff the same way they can with their friends and coworkers? Enabling guests to interact with your property via a mobile device will continue to play a more central role in the modern guest experience.

Key Features to Look For:

• Mobile Check-In
  Your mobile app isn’t complete without a check-in solution. Mobile check-in offers your guests a way to reduce wait times at the front desk or bypass the front desk completely.
• Mobile Key Integration
  Your mobile app should offer mobile key functionalities that streamline the check-in process and reduce costs associated with plastic room keys.
• Guest Messaging
  Selecting a vendor that offers two-way messaging solutions enables guests to directly interact with your staff via their mobile phones. Whether through SMS, in-app messages, or Facebook Messenger integrations, guest messaging enables more streamlined service recovery and improved guest experience.

Customization, Personalization, and Familiarity.

Providing digital access to your services and amenities allows guests to have more control over their guest experience. Finding a solution that provides a consistent guest experience across multiple properties will ensure users find what they need when exploring your app.

Key Features to Look For:

• Service Requests
  Your mobile app should allow guests to place service requests, order in-room dining, access hotel information, book appointments at your on-property spa, make dining reservations at on-property restaurants, and much more.
• Local Services & Content
  Maximize your app interface by promoting local services and points of interests to help guests get the most out of their stay.

Mobile Payments.

As a result of the pandemic, and thanks to features like Apple Pay and Google Pay, many people now expect to use their smartphone to pay for goods and services. Today, travelers are primed, willing, and able to make payments through a mobile app—dining orders, incremental purchases, room upgrades, etc. While introducing new ways for guests to engage digitally, endless possibilities emerge once you can accept mobile payment.

Key Features to Look For:

• Requests & Ticket Management
  Offer guests the ability to make bookings with the concierge, arrange transportation, or request more towels right from your hotel app, and automatically create and route tickets for your team to follow-up and fulfill.
• Loyalty Program Integrations
  Look for a mobile app partner that has the capability to integrate with your existing loyalty program. Integrating your loyalty program with your mobile app encourages guests to keep the app on their phones and encourages increased engagement before, during, and after a stay.

For more tips on how to select the right mobile technology for your property, download the “Ultimate Guide to Guest Mobile Apps for Hotels: 2022 edition” for free today.

 

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As budgeting season wraps up, here’s why many hoteliers are putting a greater emphasis on their tech budget.

As the year comes to a close, hoteliers are in the midst of developing their 2022 budgets and looking ahead at what’s to come. What trends are on the horizon and how can hoteliers prepare financially for 2022?  After a tumultuous year of coping with the challenges of COVID and then labor shortages, it’s become clear that one area where hoteliers should consider increasing their investment is hospitality tech.

Where to Spend In 2022

For many hotels in 2020 and 2021, adopting contactless, mobile and smart-room tech solutions were essential in keeping their doors open. Amidst significant staffing issues and continuous health concerns, hoteliers adopted new technology to streamline operations on the staff side, and to offer a better, safer guest experience. Expanding the tech budget is also beneficial for properties at full capacity, because if the last year and half showed us anything, it’s how useful tech can be for improving operational workflows and elevating the experience guests have before, during, and after their stay.

Potential Savings For Hoteliers Investing in Tech Advancement

For hoteliers still mulling over how much to invest in new technology in the upcoming year, much of the concern isn’t just about immediate benefits, but where tech can save money in the long run. Utilizing a robust guest experience platform, hoteliers can find many opportunities for saving money. Here are a few ways hoteliers can see long-term saving right from the get-go:

• When menus and compendiums are transferred to a hotel app, spending costs on wasteful paper and printing costs can be eliminated entirely.
• Adding in-app dining reduces food waste. With easy-to-view metrics, management can make  more cost-effective decisions when it comes to what ingredients or supplies to purchase. There are also more opportunities to offer guests meal upgrades, increasing revenue overall through targeted microtransactions.
• For hotel’s investing more in their operations side, implementing systems that boost efficiency and streamline workflows can help during labor shortages. That’s why so many in the hospitality industry are choosing management systems that prioritize clarity and effectiveness.
• And finally, maintenance costs. Ticketing systems where management can set priorities on work orders ensure the hotel is focusing time and money on what’s needed. Plus, with so many still recovering financially from the impacts of COVID, setting priorities allows for smaller work orders to be tabled until the revenue lost during the pandemic can be recouped.

From a tech perspective, revenue perspective, and overall industry perspective, it looks like great things are on the horizon. But in order to capitalize on a return to travel in the new normal, the right tech is a must.

To learn more about what tech can best assist your property in 2022, request a demo today.

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For hotels with on-property dining, integrating ordering into their hotel’s app creates a better experience for guests and can offload pressure from dining and room service staff.

Hotels with restaurants may be reluctant to add room service and other delivery options to their existing hotel app. Questions naturally arise: Is it worth the work to get it set up? Does in-app dining really make a difference for the guest? What will the ROI be? For hoteliers considering investing in in-app dining, here’s a summary of the benefits we’ve seen for our clients and their guests.

A Smorgasbord of Possibilities for Guests

Showcase Your Menu
Guests enjoy the convenience of being able to browse a hotel’s restaurants’ menus and order food items directly from their mobile device or smart-room tablet. With a mobile app that includes digital dining, hoteliers can add their many on-property dining venues on a single app offering guests many dining choices. Plus, hotels can also add menus of other local restaurants, expanding food selections and providing the ordering experience your guests will enjoy.

Ordering from Anywhere 
In-app dining enables guests to order food from their mobile device and have their meals delivered to them anywhere on the property. Whether a guest wants a cocktail by the pool, a snack after a spa treatment, or lunch brought to them while working from the lobby, all they have to do is input their order via the hotel’s app and their orders will be on their way.

Pick-Up Orders, Anytime
Having a pick-up option is great for both guests and staff. For guests who want to bring some food with them while they sightsee, or want to grab their dinner on their way up to their room at the end of the day, they can schedule a pick-up order via a hotel app. A pick up option also saves staff a trip to a guest room to deliver food. Pick up orders, unlike room service, can be offered to non-guests as well. Day visitors who are enjoying a day at a hotel’s casino, or attending a conference or event, can also order food from the hotel’s app.

A Buffet of Benefits for Your Staff

Reduces App Confusion
When properties have a hotel app without digital dining capabilities, guests have to order food through an alternate channel, which can sometimes cause order and delivery confusion. But when dining capabilities are consolidated within a hotel app, orders are easier to view and keep track of, and there is less likely to be confusion.

Waste Management 
In-app digital dining can also provide actionable guest metrics, such as which menu items are more popular, that can help with making efficient purchasing decisions.  When considering the bottom line, investing in in-app tech that distills vital data so staff and management can adapt to guests food and drink preferences should be high priority.

Instant Updates 
Paper menus are quickly becoming a thing of the past. With in-app dining, menu items can  be updated immediately, saving on printing costs and the added tasks of staff having to manually switch out old paper menus. Add specials, promotions or event discounts in your hotel app to promote upsells and drive revenue.

These key benefits should give you an idea as to why so many hotels, casinos, and resorts are integrating dining options into their hotel apps. There’s no time like the present to make your dining experience that much more appetizing!

For more information about integrating dining into your hotel app, reach out today.

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Learn how hotels can prevent staff burnout and elevate guest experience during the post-lockdown holiday travel season.

As the holiday travel season gets underway, hoteliers across the globe are preparing for a busier season than last year. Guests who were unable to travel for the holidays in 2020 are planning to make up for lost time. As the hospitality industry continues to recover and return to full-capacity, here are three ways hoteliers can prepare for a possible wave of holiday guests.

1. Avoid Staff Burnout With Back-of-House Ticketing 

In years past when guests poured in for the November and December holidays, hoteliers and their staff had to handle a more than normal workload. But this holiday season, with many hotels, resorts, and casinos still facing major staffing shortages, there may be a higher risk of staff burnout.

Whether it’s work orders, dining orders, or service requests, one of the most effective ways hoteliers can support their staff is by utilizing automated ticketing systems. An automated ticketing system allows hoteliers to capture a guest’s request or order within an app, and keeps track of the request automatically, eliminating manual labor and reducing mistakes. Plus, management can create work order priorities that update instantly, facilitating greater efficiency at every level. For room service and service requests, a comprehensive ticketing platform enables back-of-house staff to move from task to task, removing confusion and keeping items from falling through the cracks.

2. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

This can’t be stressed enough. With many hotels, resorts, and casinos still working at reduced capacity or limited hours, communication with guests must be top priority. This year more than ever, hoteliers need to keep guests in the loop about new hotel policies, hours, and amenities at your property.

Before their stay, sending a friendly and informative welcome email to a guest can set the tone for their entire visit. Your welcome email can inform guests about your hotel app, how to use the app and, if you are working at some kind of reduced capacity, make them aware of current dining or activity hours. During a guests stay, a hotel’s staff can also use the hotel app to communicate with guests on a one-on-one basis or to a larger group. Communication shouldn’t end when guests end their stay either; follow-up emails, surveys, and personalized promotional offers for future stays are key in encouraging guests to return and becoming loyal customers.

3. Provide Mobile Convenience

Over the last eighteen months, consumers of all ages have become accustomed to using their mobile devices for every aspect of their lives. They now expect that same experience while staying at a hotel. Providing a mobile guest experience will give guests the convenience they seek and the best in-room experience possible.

Enabling guests to use their mobile devices to check-in as well as open their rooms, offers them a smoother and simpler arrival experience.  Plus, as more guests pivot to using their mobile devices throughout the duration of their stay, the front desk will have more time to focus on delivering a good guest experience.  Beyond check-in, the hotel’s app can act as an information hub as well, where guests can learn about hotel activities, dining and pool hours, local hotspots, and more.

Now is the time to adopt a mobile app, before the holiday travel season kicks into high gear, so guests can have a better and more convenient experience. The more access and control they have from their phone, the better their guest experience will be in every aspect.

Want to learn more about how to leverage tech for upcoming travel seasons? Let’s chat.

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Remote-workers are seeking out hotels, casinos, and resorts where they can combine business and personal travel. Learn how hoteliers can position their properties as enticing “bleisure” destinations.

After over a year of moving to remote work, as the world continues to reopen, many companies have opted to keep “work-from-home” options in place. Employers save on expenses that naturally come with in-office work, and employees get more flexibility—it’s a win-win. This surge of implementing fully-remote or partially-remote schedules also benefits both travel and hospitality industries. Remote workers can work from anywhere, which is why hotels, resorts, and casinos are seeing a rise in work-from-hotel guests. Hoteliers can capitalize on a combination of business and pleasure, now coined as “bleisure” trips, for guests who want the feel of vacation while still spending time on the clock.

Let the World Know You are Work-From-Hotel Friendly 

What do you have to offer remote-workers? Tables with killer views? Private spaces for virtual meetings? Whatever it is, let potential guests know! Create promotions around your unique bleisure features and offerings. If they are working poolside, offer them a discounted beverage. Offer your hard-working guests reduced-price spa treatments or golf games for the weekend. Remote-working guests want two things: accomodations that make work seamless, and vacation-like activities, views, food and drink so they can enjoy their time more than they would when working from home or in-office. All you have to do is let them know what’s available to them and help them make the most of both their work and R&R times.

Provide Remote-Work Travelers with Cutting-Edge Tech 

Guests traveling for both work and play are more likely to look for a smart hotel or properties that include high-speed wi-fi internet, work space, and especially ease of travel. Hoteliers who want to attract “bleisure” travelers can offer them a branded mobile app so they can  easily check-in and enter their room through their mobile devices.  A smart-room tablet also enables guests to make their hotel “work” environment their own through the ability to set room temperatures, order room service, and schedule leisure activities via their smart tablets. Work-from-hotel guests are seeking a getaway from office or home-office life, so give them the best version of that.

Don’t Forget Your “Bleisure” Guests Need to Eat Too 

Consider what remote-working guests will want out of their dining experience. When they are in the “zone,” food is a necessity; when they’ve closed their laptop for the day, dining is part of the vacation experience. Your hotel app can reflect this, offering both quick bites and guilty pleasures. And it’s not just about what you offer, but how you offer it. With mobile ordering, guests can get food or drink brought to wherever they’ve hunkered down to work. And with pick-up options, they can grab a meal on their way out in the morning, or bring something back to their room as they settle in for the night.

And for hotels that don’t have on-property dining, building out the information pages on your app to act as compendium and concierge so guests know what food is close and fast while they’re working and where they can get highly-rated, sit down meal when they’re ready to relax.

Ultimately, work-from-hotel guests want what you already have to offer, but they will be more likely to book with you (and rebook with you) if they feel your space fits their needs to a tee. So make sure they know what you have to offer, and that you’ve carved out spaces just for them.

Want to learn more about how to get your property’s platform ready for work-from-hotel guests? Request a demo today.

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