How to incorporate the latest trends in hospitality at your property in 2023

It’s hard to believe, but 2022 is almost over. As we enter the new year, now is a perfect time to evaluate your business and position it for success in 2023. One key way to do this is to tap into the biggest trends in hospitality leading into 2023. From sustainable practices to smart hotel technology to incentivizing employees, let’s take a look at the future of the hospitality industry and what’s going to be hot in 2023.

Sustainability

One of the biggest trends in hospitality in 2022 that will continue in 2023 is the push towards sustainability. With travelers becoming more and more eco-focused, hotels can anticipate an influx in guests leaning towards hotels that feature rooftop gardens, farm-to-table restaurants, sustainable toiletries, and water conservation-focused laundry services.

According to Hospitality Net, 3 out of 4 accommodation providers say they’ve implemented some form of sustainability practices at their property, but only one-third of those actively communicate their efforts to guests and potential guests. Don’t forget to share these practices on your hotel’s website and social media, as well as in your email marketing.

Bleisure

Another trend that took hold in 2022 and is poised for growth in 2023 is bleisure travel: or part business, part leisure travel. According to Forbes, 89% of people planned to add personal vacation time to their business travel in 2022 and this trend will continue in 2023.

How can you reach this type of traveler in 2023?

Studies have shown that many of these travelers stay at the same property for both the business and the leisure portions of the trip. So, having offerings that accommodate both parts of a bleisure traveler’s trip is key. Adding flexible workspaces and meeting rooms that allow working guests to take video calls and answer emails outside their hotel rooms in a quiet space is crucial. Additionally, when looking to unwind, hotels typically associated with business travel now have the opportunity to showcase their relaxing offerings, including spa appointments, in-room massages, and tour package options — which are also ideal for family and friends who tag along.

Employee-Focused Initiatives

The year 2022 saw staffing shortages plague the entire hospitality industry. For 2023, putting a focus on your employees will go a long way when it comes to attracting and retaining staff.

Offering employees incentives for any rewards program sign-ups or guest room upgrades they sell are one way to make current staff feel valued and rewarded, while also attracting potential employees.

When it comes to retention, make sure you speak with staff regularly and check to see how they’re managing their role. Employees who feel cared for are less likely to look for work elsewhere. Offering them opportunities to grow and develop in their career will also make them less likely to seek a new position. Staff are more likely to stay in a job which offers career prospects. Not to mention, they’ll be more enthusiastic and go above and beyond for guests.

Smart Hotel Technology

One of the other key trends in hospitality for 2023: technology. Just like most other industries, the future of the hospitality industry is digital. In today’s day and age, most travelers expect a digital experience, from check-in to check-out. According to a recent study by Avail, 71% of Gen-Zers and 71% of Millennials lead the way in 2022 when it came to making plans to travel more often. And with more younger travelers starting at your property, incorporating smart hotel technology will be key in 2023.

Offering guests a branded mobile app that allows them to check-in and check-out digitally, order room service, and book spa appointments all from the convenience of their mobile device is critical to capturing digitally minded travelers. In-room tablets will also bridge the digital divide and allow guests to order room service, adjust temperature controls, and browse the latest hotel offerings all with the tap of a finger.

 

Looking to learn more about bringing your property’s tech into 2023? Request a demo.

Refining your brand’s service culture can have exponential effects on the guest experience and create a return customer for years to come

We all know the importance of good customer service. But have you ever taken the time to evaluate your property’s service culture? The standards you set for your hotel’s service culture can make or break a guest’s experience. If executed correctly, your service culture can ensure a guest for life.

But before you evaluate your property’s service culture, let’s first define what service culture is and why it’s important.

What is Service Culture?

Service culture is an environment where employees are focused solely on offering the best customer service possible. An effective service culture has all employees’ duties center around offering the best guest experience. Not surprisingly, service culture leads to guests associating your brand with a positive experience, which in turn, leads to positive online reviews, favorable word-of-mouth and a regular customer.

So, what are some ways to hone your property’s service culture? Incorporating initiatives that are specific to your brand’s mission should be first and foremost when defining your brand’s service culture. Once defined, here are a few steps you can take to ensure a proper service culture.

Train Your Employees

Instruct employees from day one what your brand’s unique service culture is and how they can implement it at all times. Hold semi-regular team meetings that remind employees of your company’s service culture. Make an outline of your service mission with tips on how to enact them in daily guest interactions and post them anywhere employees gather so they stay front-of-mind at all times.

Include All Employees in the Mission

If a guest has a great experience at the front desk, spa and hotel bar, but a terrible experience at valet, then your service culture has failed. Your customer service culture needs to permeate your entire brand. From front-of-house to back-of-house, all employees must be on board and focused on the same service goals.

Remember Your Guests’ Names

One of the simplest ways to make your guests feel valued is remembering and addressing them by name whenever you interact with them. Writer and lecturer Dale Carnegie once said, “A person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” This simple but impactful gesture lets the customer know that you respect them as a person and value their business.

Remove the Needless Friction

Comb through your company rules, policies, and procedures and remove any redundancies or needless ones that may cause frustration. Unnecessary rules and policies reduce the chances of a customer doing business with you in the future.

Practice Service Recovery

So something went wrong — we’re all human. When a mistake is made, admit it and do whatever it takes to correct it. Instill in your employees the importance of acting swiftly to correct an error. Remind them to take responsibility for the mistake made and work to correct it as soon as possible. Following up with a guest immediately after a mistake is made is also critical.

 

To learn more about how you can improve the guest experience and create a positive service culture using hotel technology, request a demo today.

Protecting guest’s information and combating against an online security breach can be achieved by selecting a secure platform

For any IT director, a data breach is a worst-nightmare scenario. And hotels are no stranger to these types of security breaches. IHG Hotels has been the subject of hackers on multiple occasions, most recently in September 2022, and they aren’t alone. Hilton and Marriott have both experienced an online security breach in recent years. But, it’s not just the large industry players that are at risk. Even small brands and boutique hotels can have their systems hacked and customer data stolen. As a hotelier, making a point to protect guest data and keep a guest’s information secure is key.

So, what proactive steps can you take to make sure you protect against an online data breach? Selecting a secure platform service provider is step No. 1. When looking for a provider, here are a few key attributes you must consider.

Get in the Cloud

When selecting a platform service provider, look for those who use a secure, cloud-based system. Cloud-based systems store information in various data centers with redundancy implemented throughout the system, so if one goes down, your property’s data will fail over to another automatically. Another benefit to cloud-based systems? Encryption. While it’s difficult to implement across the entire environment, cloud providers, such as Microsoft and Amazon, offer encryption right off the bat — helping to prevent data exposure thanks to the military-grade AES 256 encryption used by cloud providers.

Be Compliant

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is widely recognized by the hospitality industry, and PCI compliance is the first step for hotels to protect guest data. When selecting a platform service provider, make sure your provider integrates with a PMS provider that is also PCI DSS compliant. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Tokenize Your Data

Using a secure platform service provider that offers data tokenization is also critical. Many platform service providers don’t store any PCI information, but instead tokenize a guest’s sensitive information and send it directly to the property’s payment gateway — ensuring that anything that’s compliant is stored in the hotel’s PMS.

Train Your Employees

Believe it or not, a large majority of online data breaches are a result, not from direct hacker attacks, but from human error. If one of your employees downloads an attachment from an unknown sender, a guest’s information can easily be at risk. Protect guest data by educating employees on how to spot a phishy email. Other important steps to take? Make sure passwords are changed and updated frequently, and impart on your staff the importance of logging out of a system when finished with a task. Also, be sure to enact modern security practices and regularly update your company’s security standards.

 

Looking for more information on choosing a secure platform service provider to keep your guests’ information safe and secure? Request a demo today!

Smart-Room Tablets and Mobile Apps can help hotels anticipate customer needs and target guests when they are most engaged — improving the guest experience in the process

As hoteliers, providing the best guest experience possible is always the Priority No. 1. Fulfilling in-room dining requests in a timely manner, booking spa appointments for weary travelers, and providing extra towels and toiletries as soon as possible are all a must. But what if you could anticipate guest needs before a guest even asks your staff? Enter hotel technology. Solutions such as smart-room tablets and mobile apps can help hotel staff anticipate a guest’s desire, improving their experience and ensuring a return customer in the process.

But, before we go any further, let’s answer the question:

What is silent service?

Put most simply, silent service is anticipating your guests’ needs before they voice them. And embracing hotel technologies can help create this silent guest experience for your customers. Here are a few ways to anticipate a customer’s needs using the latest hotel tech.

Guest Messaging with Mobile Apps

With a smartphone in the pocket or purse of nearly every guest that steps foot on your property, mobile apps allow hotels to send a welcome text that lets guests know how they can easily request items they might need during their stay, such as towels or pillows. Guests no longer need to trek down to the front desk or place a phone call to request an additional luggage rack. A message sent directly to their phone through a mobile app allows them to place service requests from anywhere. Guest messaging is also a great way to share a link to your property’s dining options, so when a guest is ready for dinner, they can simply tap a link and be redirected to the latest in-room dining menu in the mobile app. Guest messaging also allows you to receive instant feedback and resolve escalations quickly.

Streamlining Stays with Smart-Room Tablets

Smart-room tablets located in-room are another easy way to anticipate customer needs. With functionality that includes the ability to cast video to an in-room smart TV or adjust in-room climate controls, smart-room tablets put guests in control of their stay. Similar to mobile apps, in-room tablets allow guests to browse menus that are updated to-the-minute and place dining orders with just a tap while lounging around in their room. They also allow staff to fill orders without interruption and eliminate the chance of human error in orders.

Creating Specially Crafted Offers Using Tech

Using a hotel technology platform, hotel staff are able to create endless opportunities to reach their guests when they’re most captive. For instance, mobile app features, such as push messaging, in-app promotions, and guest messaging, allow staff to create special offers and promotions that guests will love based on their rate code or stated preferences at booking. Did a guest request a room on a quiet floor? Consider sending the guest a message about booking a spa appointment to help them relax even more during their stay. Personalized offers can tell guests what they want before they even know it themselves.

Want to learn more about how hotel technology can help anticipate your guests’ needs? Request a demo today.

Mobile apps and smart room tablets automate upselling in hotels — driving additional revenue without overwhelming staff

There are many benefits of upselling to the customers who stay at your property. But when a manager thinks of the benefits of upselling in hotels, they might also stumble over the workload increase for their staff. Enter hotel technology. Offerings such as mobile apps and in-room smart tablets automate the upsell process — providing guests with what they want, when they want it, while not overwhelming back-of-house staff.

To get a better idea of how upselling can be automated, we’ve broken down some best practices below.

What are examples of upselling in hotels?

There are many ways to upsell to a customer. Before a customer arrives on your property, emails reminding guests to make on-site dinner reservations or book spa appointments are easy ways to drive extra revenue to your property. Once checked in, in-room dining and hotel-branded merchandise are two simple on-site ways to upsell to hotel guests.

How can hotel technology streamline the upselling process for guests?

Using hotel technology, such as mobile apps and smart room tablets, hoteliers can easily showcase add-ons to guests. Here’s how.

A branded mobile app can do a lot of the heavy lifting for your property — including checking-in and checking-out guests and providing them with keyless entry to their rooms. Additionally, it offers guests a way to review a hotel’s offerings, order room service, and browse gift shop offerings from wherever they are on the property.

Similar to a mobile app, in-room smart tablets offer guests a seamless way to browse up-to-date in-room dining menus and place orders all with the tap of their finger. Smart-room tablets eliminate the need for guests to pick up a phone and wait on hold to place their order. Shopping from a hotel’s gift shop is also just as seamless. While lounging in their room, a guest can browse in-stock selections and shop virtually on the tablet. Additionally, personalized promotions and marketing can be displayed on the smart-room tablet, enticing guests to purchase hotel services and add-ons to truly complete their experience at your property.

How can hotel technology streamline back-of-house operations?

While providing additional offerings to customers might seem like additional work for staff, mobile apps and in-room smart tablets can actually automate the process, freeing up back-of-house operations.

As mentioned before, mobile apps allow hotel guests to check-in and check-out of their rooms without stopping at the front desk. Keyless entry lets guests access their rooms directly from their mobile devices, freeing up a front desk employee’s time to handle other tasks. Both mobile apps and in-room tablets enable guests to browse and order room service, saving your staff from having to answer phone calls and allowing them to process and deliver orders in real-time. Plus, digital ordering reduces the chance of human error. When it comes to shopping hotel-branded merchandise, a customized storefront on a mobile app or smart-room tablet makes it easy to manage inventory and product availability. Additionally, staff can easily manage and track guests’ orders through a staff-facing content management system, reducing the need to place a staff member at the gift shop and cutting down on gift shop traffic at the front desk.

Want to learn more about the benefits of upselling in hotels and how to use hotel technology to streamline the upsell process? Request a demo today.

Simple ways to elevate the holiday season traveler’s guest experience using hotel technology

It’s (almost) the most wonderful time of the year — and that means holiday season travelers will soon descend upon your property. According to a recent article from Business Insider, Expedia has reported searches for holiday travel are up 25% for Thanksgiving and 35% for Christmas through New Year versus 2021, indicating that the time to start prepping to elevate your guests’ experience is now.

While the holidays are often dubbed the “most wonderful time of the year,” conversely they can also be one of the most stressful times, especially for guests who traveled cross-country and faced busy airports and flight delays. So, how can you elevate their experience once they step onto your property? Here are a few ways that also streamline back-of-house operations.

Enhance the Check-in/Check-Out Process

After waiting in long airport security lines and battling flight delays, the last thing weary holiday travelers want is to wait in a long queue in your hotel lobby. A customizable mobile app for your property allows for contactless hotel check-in. Guests can skip the front desk by using their reservation information to head straight to their room, cutting down on your front desk staff’s workload in the process. Once arriving to their room, customers can use their mobile device as a room key, giving them control over their stay and cutting down on the amount of plastic key cards front desk staff have to reprogram or replace. At the end of the stay, the check-out process on a mobile app is just as simple as it was at check-in, allowing holiday season travelers to be on their way home without delay.

Streamline In-Room Dining

In-room smart tablets can take the guest’s dining experience at your property a step further by allowing them to peruse the most current, up-to-date menu offerings from the comfort of their room. With just a tap, guests can go ahead and place their in-room dining order directly on the smart room tablet without having to make a phone call. This also eliminates the amount of phone calls the back-of-house team receives, allowing them to more quickly process orders. In-room smart tablets are also a convenient way for guests to easily adjust in-room temperature controls or browse property compendiums.

Create a Digital Gift Shop

During the holidays, consumers are in a spending mindset, so why not increase your property’s revenue by creating a digital storefront that’s featured on your mobile app or in-room tablet? From branded towels and T-shirts to local artisanal goods that represent your hotel’s locale, guests can shop from the comfort of their rooms. Their orders can be easily managed and tracked through your staff-facing operations hub. In-room tablets and mobile apps are also the perfect way to drive additional revenue by offering guests ways to enhance their stay, such as spa treatments and local excursions.

 

To learn more about how hotel tech can help improve the guest experience for your holiday season travelers, request a demo today.