How is hotel technology empowering North American hospitality to better serve its modern staff and guests?

North American hospitality has rebounded quickly following the economic recession, leading to a period of relative prosperity in recent years. Reports project that hotel occupancy rates will continue to break records through 2017, translating into increases in room rates and new development.

Despite this success, North American hospitality businesses are facing a number of challenges, many of which can be addressed with strategic implementation of hotel technology.

Sixty-four percent of U.S. adults now own smartphones, a figure that has nearly doubled since 2011. Not to mention the fact that about half of smartphone owners believe they “couldn’t live” without a mobile device.

In Canada, the number of adults who own smartphones reaches 68 percent, and the Caribbean mobile market has exhibited promising growth in recent years.

Given these numbers, it isn’t surprising that the popularity of hotel apps for communication and services, like booking and mobile check-in, is on the rise. In 2014, 40 percent of people in the U.S. used their mobile devices to book travel reservations. Some of the other services that guests have responded well to include:

• Receiving assistance from staff
• Making requests to housekeeping or operations
• Maps and directions
• Controlling room settings
• Ordering room service

Hotel occupancy rates will continue to break records through 2017, translating into increases in room rates and new development.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) forecasts that more than 300 million people in the Millennial demographic, ages 18 to 30, will travel to North America in 2020, expanding at a rate of 9 percent per year compared with 2 percent for other age ranges. As Millennials, these travelers are proven to place a high value on mobile as an integral part of the travel experience, and the more successful North American hospitality industry players with this group will be the ones who strategically leverage mobile devices as a means to communicate with and attract prospective guests.

Optimistic predictions for leisure travel are tempered by anticipated slowdowns in business travel, though, which could lead to increased competition among North American hospitality to secure bookings.

“While total committed occupancy for 2016 is off to a strong start…business demand pace has slowed, creating greater dependency on hoteliers to offset the slowing pace with discounted leisure and promotional bookings,” said John Hach, TravelClick’s senior industry analyst. “As a result, hoteliers must ensure that they are measuring and monitoring local advance booking trends across all channels to reach their 2016 revenue per available room objectives.”

Hotel technology will be a key factor in gaining a competitive edge, as business travelers have been shown to be more interested than leisure travelers in the ability to actively use mobile devices for communication and convenience during travel. Nearly 100 percent of U.S. business travelers own a smartphone, and it’s average for one in this group to carry three to four devices with them. Ninety percent expect hotel WiFi access.

Offering hotel technology, such as widespread WiFi access, in-room tablets or a hotel app, could all contribute to securing corporate and group business, as well as winning loyalty.

Another challenge facing North American hospitality relates to labor. Labor costs are a dominant expense for hotels in the Caribbean, Canada and the U.S. Apart from costs, issues relating to staffing include low employee satisfaction, insufficient productivity, and high turnover rates. Hotel staff is the face of a hospitality brand, so having unmotivated employees can be an impediment to ensuring that guests are engaged and well served.

Oftentimes, a lack of sophisticated hotel technology results in requiring staff to perform manual, tedious tasks, such as managing handwritten tickets and relaying guest information across multiple departments. New hotel systems ease this burden by automating operating processes. More hotel staff are left free to spend time focusing on addressing guest concerns and providing outstanding service. In addition, labor costs can be controlled more efficiently by employing technology to take on a lot of the basic, daily repetitive tasks.

Implementation of hotel technology can also assist North American hoteliers in succeeding when it comes to other initiatives as well, such as the push for green hotels.

“Going green has become a cost-saving trend in the Caribbean,” said Scott Smith, MAI, senior vice president of PKF Consulting. “Investing in sustainable energy has become very important to hotels in the region. While utility costs in the Caribbean may be high right now, I expect that the use of sustainable technologies will help reduce energy costs in the future.”

Developments in hotel technology have allowed hoteliers to begin the reduction of operating costs with advanced functions such as automated room controls. These allow the hotel to set up sensors that allow automatic adjustments to lighting and energy use in rooms depending on factors such as time of day, temperature and human presence. It’s part of the smart hotel trend that ties in with the expansion of the hotel Internet of Things.

Providing guests with the ability to control the room environment through in-room tablets or mobile devices also adds to enhanced brand perception and overall guest satisfaction.

To learn more about how North American hotels are improving the guest experience with hospitality technology, read about the digital experiences of our clients throughout the continent.

Hospitality technology will only succeed when it comes to providing insightful guest data through hotel system integration.

It’s become commonplace for there to be several different hotel systems by various hotel technology vendors and software developers running at a single property. Such a reality means that many hotels have a fragmented back-end environment that can be overwhelming and frustrating. It also allows potentially useful data to be lost or overlooked rather than leveraged with a single view capability. The solution is the prioritization of hotel system integration.

Todd Hotaling, Vice President of Revenue and Marketing at Lodging Hospitality Management, said, “Looking ahead, I think the major issue will be obtaining key guest information and having the ability to dissect and present it. Since various systems are used in the total process of booking a reservation, some key data such as time of reservation, sub-channels, and event guest preferences can fall off once it gets into a PMS.”

A hospitality industry vice president of revenue strategy and distribution was quoted in a recent report as saying, “Our systems very much hinder our efforts today to provide a personalized experience. We have a hard time welcoming a guest back. We can sometimes identify someone who has been to the same property again, but because of the separate property management systems, it’s hard to identify guests across properties.”

Developments in hotel technology are making it more of a reality for the hospitality industry to benefit from a collection of operational and guest data, but this depends on the ability of enterprise software providers to enable hotel system integration across the board.

“Our systems very much hinder our efforts today to provide a personalized experience.”

 

The benefits of system integration go beyond improved transfer of guest data, too.

Having information automatically communicated between systems means it won’t have to be done manually by hotel staff, which increases efficiency and reduces possible errors. Hotel management can also reduce the number of paper tickets that need to be kept track of and updated by storing information electronically. Improvements can also be made the

The hotel Property Management System (PMS) is a key component of hotel system integration. An interface between the hotel PMS and other systems is critical because it allows for verification of guest identity, status, and room number.

Another key hotel system integration is with the Point-of-Sale (POS) system. It results in a more streamlined SOP when it comes to charging guests for onsite purchases and updating the guest folio. Few things are more annoying to a guest than incorrect charges to their folio, and automating the process of keeping track of this information can result in increased accuracy.

Guest relationship management software has been identified as the third most commonly used hotel management system and, as such, should also be considered during the hotel system integration conversation. The fact that this software is guest-facing and is used by guests to input such large and varied amounts of information makes it necessary that this type of system be connected with all others to amplify the benefits of collecting guest service, satisfaction and engagement data.

Still, there are a number of issues that still stand between the hospitality industry and total hotel system integration:

• Security
• Differences between legacy and modern version of systems
• Lack of unified standards between systems
• Integration between Cloud-based and on-premises systems
• Insufficient hotel information technology support staff

Douglas C. Rice, Founder and CEO Emeritus of Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG), said, “Systems also need to expose data and core processes through easily accessible Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). The days of systems that insist on initiating a particular process only through its own user interfaces are history. A PMS needs to be able to check-in a guest, but it also needs to expose that check-in process to mobile apps, kiosks, websites, and other systems.”

Hotel system integration should be part of the discussion between hoteliers and hotel technology providers before implementation. Integration can often be a complex topic and ensuring that a selected technology vendor understands the significance of seamless communication between all property systems can improve the overall experience.

Mark Pate, Assistant Controller and IT Director at Highpointe Hotel Corporation, said, “We’re dedicating more time and resources to complete [system integration] projects. It is very easy to hit a hurdle, get off track and then never finish the initial plan. We partner with vendors that specialize in system integration.”

Rice also added that mobile is changing the nature of hotel system integration by “forcing a decoupling of business logic from the user interface.”

“The nature of integration changes dramatically when consumers start accessing your system through a [hotel] mobile app that might do a hundred other things that you don’t do,” Rice said.

INTELITY offers more integrations between guest service technology, both on mobile and in-room devices, and other hotel systems than any other company in the world. For more information about how guest service and engagement technology can integrate with other hotel systems to enhance hotel guest data strategy, visit our website.

 

What is the future of technology in European hotels?

The European hospitality industry is stronger than ever. It’s one of the continent’s fastest-growing industries for employment, and hospitality investment in Europe exceeded its all-time high, increasing by almost 50 percent from 2014 to 2015. According to a 2015 report, investors in the European hospitality industry have displayed great confidence in the future of travel, tourism, and hospitality.

Europe’s tourism industry is one of the most mature and most attractive to international travelers, accounting for 51 percent of total international arrivals. The Northern and Southern/Mediterranean regions accounted for the most growth in travel arrivals. In all, Europe had a strong presence on the list of top 10 tourist destinations in the world, with five countries making the list:

• France
• Spain
• Italy
• Germany
• United Kingdom

With statistics revealing such strong performance, there is abundant opportunity for the European hospitality industry to capitalize on. This is not the time for complacency, though. A number of factors still pose a potential threat to this success.

There are still traditional challenges, such as costs of labor and materials or fees such as VAT and excise taxes. More stringent policies relating to border control in the wake of events such as the attacks on Paris have also caused disruptions to hospitality. In Paris, luxury hotel bookings dropped 50 percent and overall hotel bookings dropped 30 percent in the wake of the attacks, and the subsequent border closing caused long delays for travelers seeking to enter the country.

Other items have emerged on the list of challenges.

Airbnb and the sharing economy are gaining traction in Europe. The company set up a European headquarters in Dublin to pursue more strategic expansion on the continent. The largest Airbnb hub outside of the United States is actually in Paris, with 60,000 people featuring listings.

Gabriel Escarrer, Vice Chairman and CEO of Meliá Hotels International, identified Airbnb as the biggest current threat to global tourism. “It is killing Barcelona’s exemplary tourism model,” he said to a Spanish newspaper. Barcelona is currently third on the list of most visited European cities with over 7 million visitors in 2015, but Escarrer warned the city would be a “victim of its own success” if it didn’t seek to figure out a solution to the growth of Airbnb.

The popularity of Airbnb evidences a shift in the desired travel experience, as Millennials become the predominant patron demographics. Expectations of hospitality and lodging are evolving with a focus on the incorporation of technology into the travel journey. Airbnb has been incredibly successful at offering innovative, sleek mobile features that users find appealing and easy to use.

Among Millennial travelers, 56 percent consider both traditional and alternative lodging options, such as Airbnb and vacation rentals, compared to just 38 percent of travelers in older age groups. Many younger travelers are styled as “digital natives” because they grew up with nearly constant access to computer technology and the Internet. This group has been shown to expect more highly targeted, personalized marketing from hospitality brands, with 70 percent expressing a preference for an immersive, unique experience.

56% of Millennials consider both traditional and alternative lodging options, such as Airbnb and vacation rentals

The tech-hungry Millennial mindset, which has spread to other age groups older and younger, has led to the need for a different, more digital guest experience than in the past, such as complimentary Wi-Fi access and self-service tools, such as hotel in-room tablets, mobile key room entry, check-in kiosks and automated information desks. Hospitality technology in European hotels could have a huge impact on guest perception.

Another more dominant trend in the global hospitality industry with a considerable impact on Europe is the rise of mobile. Mobile travel bookings will jump to 22 percent in 2016, and guests are now coming to expect the availability of a hotel mobile app for easy access to information, services, and communication with staff.

Embracing digital innovations and increased use of technology were both identified by leading global corporation Pricewaterhouse Coopers as a top priority and one of the most impactful trends for the European hospitality industry.

Looking to the future, the European hospitality industry will continue to flourish if it can successfully adapt to new technology in European hotels as a powerful means of increasing guest satisfaction, improving guest engagement, and overcoming operational challenges such as staff and material limitations.

If you’re interested in learning more about how global hotels are leveraging hospitality technology to meet the needs of guests, contact us to schedule a demo.

A majority of travelers are not loyal to a hotel brand. How can hospitality technology improve the state of hotel guest loyalty?

One of the top challenges faced by hospitality marketers, apart from increasing revenue, is better connecting with and engaging hotel guests. Customer experience has become one of the most important considerations for a business, and the hospitality industry is no exception. Hotel guest loyalty is built upon satisfying guest experiences, and the benefits of establishing guest loyalty are plentiful.

For one, it’s a well-known business principle that keeping existing customers is less costly than attracting new ones. Additionally, word-of-mouth and advocacy marketing are among the strongest tools for gaining new business, particularly among hospitality where online reviews are an active part of the pre-booking phase for many potential guests.

Increasing hotel guest loyalty is a major challenge for the modern hospitality industry. About two-thirds (64 percent) of leisure travelers and more than half of business travelers are not loyal to any one hotel brand.

Hospitality technology is beginning to come to the forefront of the hotel guest loyalty conversation. One of the top technology investment in 2014 was for solutions to improve the customer or guest experience, and investments in this area are projected to rise. It’s with good reason that hotels are looking for technology to manage guest experience and relationships.

No longer are there only one or two lines of communication that hotels have to monitor for guest feedback. Now hotel guests are constantly sharing online reviews and feedback through any number of communication channels. From social media to online review sites to blogs, the conversation never stops, creating a never-ending need for businesses to monitor what’s being said.

More travelers (39%) prefer to stay in hotels that know about them compared with hotels that don’t (21%).

Developments within hospitality technology allow management to proactively strategize in order to create fluid two-way communication with guests for improved hospitality brand perception. Creating direct channels for guests to communicate directly with hotel management and staff allows hoteliers to receive instant feedback rather than waiting for guests to post something negative once they’ve left a property. It also helps hotels build a connection with guests that leads to long-term loyalty.

Hotel mobile apps or text messaging services can serve as a convenient bridge to hotel guests. An increasing number of guests carry a personal mobile device and are enthusiastic to use these or complimentary hotel touchscreen kiosks or in-room tablets for active digital engagement with hotel staff.

Mobile guest apps can embed such features as digital comment cards. They can also provide insight into guest behavior and preferences that can be leveraged to increase hotel guest satisfaction and loyalty. This is critical for appealing to modern travelers, who place value on personalized guest experiences.

More travelers (39%) prefer to stay in hotels that know about them and their preferences compared with hotels that don’t (21%). Guests want to know that their hotel is attentively listening to them in order to create a more positive, engaged experience. Thirty-six percent of Millennials and 37% of travelers age 35 to 54 are willing to share personal information in return for valuable benefits such as personal touches in their room.

Investing in the right hospitality technology systems can help hotel management better connect with guests in order to actively improve the guest experience. By doing so, the hospitality industry will find that it is able to better establish hotel guest loyalty in the future.

To learn more about how you can use hospitality technology to create guest loyalty, schedule a demo with a member of our team.

Asian hospitality technology is being spurred by the continent’s love of mobile.

Asia has more mobile technology users than any other continent and is one of the world’s fastest growing mobile markets. On its own, China accounts for 28.3 percent of all smartphone users on the planet, and other Asian countries like Thailand and India are leading growth markets for mobile device adoption.

With figures like these, it is only logical to expect the Asian hospitality industry to be a leader in the adoption of innovative hotel technology.

Global travelers, and in turn hoteliers, are now interested in a lodging experience “grounded in sophisticated social, data, and mobile applications.” And the emphasis on hospitality technology will intensify as it proves to be a way to enhance hotel management efficiencies, increase hotel revenue, and improve guest engagement and communication across borders with all travelers.

Asia provides a perfect environment for hoteliers to experiment with technology to accomplish these goals thanks to the region’s position as home to many new and developing trends. For example, Asia is moving quickly to attempt to be the first to define a next-generation 5G mobile network, which will further the Internet of Things trend by “providing connectivity…to billions of [smart] devices” from cars to smart hotel room features to home appliances.

Two major trends now having a large impact on Asian hotel technology are mobility and cloud computing.

Thanks to digital investments such as this and the generally expanding influence of technology on travel, Asian hoteliers are seeking to create an alternative standard to the traditional guest experience. Two major trends now having a large impact on Asian hospitality technology are mobility and cloud computing. Both of these are contributing to a more flexible, robust hospitality technology infrastructure.

Mobile technology, such as hotel apps for guest or staff use, provides improvements to overall staff and guest experience, workflow structure, engagement, and communication, as well as offering key customer/guest data and staff performance metrics. Hotel cloud technology allows hotel management to create a more scalable digital environment that can be housed off-site with large technology providers or trusted partner vendors to assist in managing hotel information technology needs.

Another major trend within the Asian hospitality industry is the expansion of business travel, as 80 percent of Chinese corporations and 78 percent of Indian companies forecast an increase in enterprise travel and entertainment spending in 2016. This places Asian hotels in the position to have to prioritize finding ways to satisfy the needs of these business travelers. In the coming years, intra-Asian travel will be dominated by large-scale conferences, exhibitions, and meeting groups.

Hospitality Technology 2016 is a biennial exhibition held in Singapore, showcasing the newest developments in the hospitality industry related to technological shifts. This year, there appears to be a large focus on evolving topics like:

• In-Room Technology and Entertainment

• Mobile Enterprise Solutions

• Hotel Data Management

• Hotel Information Technology

• Marketing Technology

• Computer Hardware / Technology Systems

• Security and Safety Systems

As connected and mobile technologies drive rapid change throughout the continent, the Asian hospitality industry will continue to aggressively pursue the implementation of new and exciting operational and guest service technologies. Asia may very well be the birthplace of the next big thing in this regard.

Could the development of African hospitality technology speed growth in the continent’s industry?

The African continent is gaining traction as a major global force in the hospitality industry. The continent’s potential within this industry continues to grow, as several countries experience a boom in tourism and development, driving the necessity to accommodate the influx of international and domestic guests.

North Africa accounts for the majority of the hotel development pipeline (41 percent), and West Africa follows at 34.1 percent. The Sub-Saharan African hospitality industry is forecast to experience growth of over 5 percent every year for at least the next decade, with many major brands increasing the number of hotel rooms in the pipeline.

In 2015, Hilton planned to increase development in Africa by 18 percent over the previous year with 7,250 new hotel guest rooms added to its pipeline, followed by Carlson Rezidor with 6,953 rooms and Marriott with 6,412 rooms. Nigeria is the leading country on the continent when considering current hotel count and rooms in the pipeline.

With the hospitality industry thriving and investors setting their sights on further tapping into this potential, developments in African hospitality technology will have to speed as well in order to provide a competitive level of guest service and engagement. Without such advancement, African hospitality will face challenges in attracting and satisfying global travelers who are used to digital accommodations from a global industry rapidly changing to adapt to these expectations.

Gillian Saunders, a global leader of hospitality and tourism and head of advisory services for Grant Thornton South Africa, noted the significance for the hotel industry to embrace technology as a way to improve the guest experience and compete with sharing economy giant Airbnb.

She said, “Hotels must act now to differentiate themselves. They must make a reality of mass personalization – whilst keeping the human touch – to surprise and delight guests.”

As African nations begin to prioritize expanding the availability of innovative solutions, Internet connectivity, and mobile technology, the hospitality industry is shifting toward embracing technological trends. The market shows strong potential to catch up quickly to its global counterparts already experiencing the benefits of hospitality technology, especially as global brands that have incorporated hotel technology into their identity establish more of a presence in Africa.

African hospitality technology is already making a name for itself through various innovative companies and the fast adoption of mobile technology by African travelers. Ross Kata, online distribution expert and area manager with Expedia, said,

“We’re seeing mobile phones absolutely replacing the desktop. Nowadays people prefer to book their flights and taxis using their phones, a global trend which has not skipped [the African] continent.”

The positive aspects of hotel technology could serve to further speed the surge in African hospitality development and assist hotel management in maximizing resources in a market that often has to import experienced labor. Streamlining operations with digital tools and increasing guest service efficiency are both critical potential benefits that are often associated with hotel technology implementation. The use of mobile apps can also enhance the ability of hotel management to strategically market the African hospitality industry in a way that positions it as tech-friendly and connected to draw in travelers from all parts of the world who will see that their technology needs will be well served during their stay.

Embracing hospitality technology will allow the African hospitality industry to make a strong name for itself as the global industry as a whole competes for the attention of travelers who are more interested than ever in experiential travel uninhibited by borders or oceans.