Hospitality technology continues to shape guest experiences and expectations, serving as a critical piece in attracting and retaining hotel guests. Property managers have invested in a wide range of solutions to create engagement with their brands. Smart technology is no longer just a luxury, it’s an expected commodity.
With rising expectations, it’s important to stay ahead of the curb. Here are some trends that have the potential to reshape the industry in 2020.
Smart Energy Management
The ability to combine guest satisfaction, energy savings and multiple devices is an appealing idea for most. Voice-technology platforms allow guests to adjust the temperature, switch the lights and change channels with their voice.
With more and more hotels working towards pushing the sustainability agenda forward, energy-saving technology will continue to grow. Energy management thermostats automate this by adjusting the temperature when the room is empty. The use of occupancy sensors can also be used to accumulate data that can be used to personalize guest services based on predictions from aggregated data.
Remote Check-In/Check-Out
Allowing guests to check in with their phones can give hotel owners a better idea of how to manage their staff. Hotel staff can be alerted of a guest’s arrival and departure, enabling them to focus their time and budget on providing more positive guest experiences.
Mobile Room Keys
Alongside being able to check in with your phone, hotels are starting to offer guests room access via their phone. Using applications can save costs printing plastic cards (which are terrible for the environment) and eliminate the process of distributing and storing keys. Since keys are replaced frequently from demagnetization and damages, this eliminates certain costs too.
Guest Apps
Mobile room keys and remote check-ins all come down to the application. Smartphones are the catalyst for most of the industry’s technological innovations. Although apps are nothing new, hotels have only recently begun truly incorporating them into their strategy. Applications allow guests to tour rooms, contact customer service, order specific services and virtual payments.
Chat Bots
This one is one of the newer advancements in the industry. We’re all familiar with Alexa and Siri, but how can chatbots be used in the hospitality industry? Bots are typically used for customer support, booking rooms and upselling. For simple customer inquiries, a bot can assist before redirecting guests to a customer service representative. Not only that, but they are capable of collecting insights that allow you to tailor your guest services.
Is your hotel management team open to the new trends of the hospitality industry or are they resisting change and costing your property bookings in the process? If you want to find the top talent that will welcome in the new trends of the new decade, call JDI. Joseph David International is the leader among hospitality recruiters because we work hard to ensure the ideal fit for both the candidate and the client. For more information about our hotel management recruiting services, please click here.