While the hospitality industry is not typically associated with high-tech innovations, there is no sector that is being left untouched by the movement towards digitization and automation.
It may seem strange, but technology is dramatically reshaping the nature of the traditional hospitality industry to a point where businesses can deliver a higher standard of service.
MYOB accounting software for hospitality is specifically catered to the needs of the industry to more guest-friendly innovations that make life easier for everyone is contributing to a revolution in this sector. No one-size-fits-all, but rather solutions that are uniquely designed to help hospitality professionals thrive. If you are a manager or small business owner in hospitality who wants to explore what is out there for boosting your business, then you cannot afford to miss out on these trends.
Let’s look at five specific tech trends that are improving the hospitality industry in a measurable and meaningful way.
5Chatbots
While the first generation of chatbots was more of a novelty than a useful tool, the technology has changed in recent years. Now, chatbots are a great means of improving your customer service capabilities without the need to increase the size of your staff. This is the ultimate goal of all businesses, particularly in hospitality.
Consumers do not usually mind interacting with an AI assistant, especially if these can provide rapid and accurate assistance. If you hadn’t considered Chatbots for your hospitality operation, you might be missing out on an opportunity to connect with your audience and point them in the direction of useful recourses without having a physical person doing the work.
4Social Media
These days, even social media can be a useful tool for hospitality businesses seeking to break away from the competition and establish their identity in a meaningful and consistent way.
While your guests may not be upfront with you in person about their experience with your service, many people leave reviews and recommendations online. By paying attention to these comments in a structured way, you can optimize your business to better meet the demands of the market.
It also provides a platform to correct any issues that your guests might have experienced, and future guests will be able to see how you treat your diners and can be inspired by your engagement and empathy. As we have seen with almost all industries, social media can be a powerful tool if you know how to wield it and commit to these channels.
3Better Bandwidth Services
Hotels and other hospitality businesses who routinely house dozens of guests know that bandwidth can be a big issue. Having sufficient speeds for all of your guests’ mobile devices and laptops is a big task, but these days there are increasingly powerful solutions to ensure that everyone remains satisfied with their ability to access wireless internet in these settings.
If you have mobile pos systems or rely on an online CRM platform, efficient bandwidth service will be absolutely necessary. Investing in such technology will put you ahead of the curve when it comes to customer satisfaction so start reviewing your bandwidth service and speed.
2Service Automation
Automation has been a godsend for many industries, and hospitality is no different. Technological advances in automation are making the process of doing business and interacting with a hospitality business easier than ever before. Mobile apps, for example, are automating many of the check-in and verification steps that are necessary for ensuring the security and safety of hotel guests. Going forward, this will be something that your guests expect from their hospitality providers so don’t be left on the wrong side of that conversation.
This is allowing managers to offer better service with fewer staff members on the floor at any one time. Data collected from mobile apps can also be used to better understand guest preferences to personalize the customer experience. Imagine your guests having a positive interaction with your brand and service when you and your team are busy with other matters. Automation allows you to be everywhere.
1High-Tech Conference Rooms
Hospitality businesses like hotels are often the site for major business get-togethers, meetings and conferences. With the explosion of business travel over the past few years, it is reasonable to expect that this trend will continue.
It is also reasonable to expect that hotels will continue to open alongside this trend, creating an oversupply where only the highest performing hotels will continue to garner a full occupancy.
Making sure your hotel has lounges and meeting rooms that are outfitted with the latest in high-tech wireless internet and videoconferencing technology will become increasingly important for those who want to cater to business class travelers. Being seen as a business that embraces technology trends will award you more conferencing business and a consistent revenue stream.
Be sure to explore this area in more depth as the tech demands of businesspeople continually change as time goes on.
Conclusion
Keeping these trends in mind as we enter the new year will allow your hospitality business to stay ahead of new developments as they happen. Since there is a lot more competition in the hospitality industry than there used to be, it will be increasingly important to offer these kinds of tech-related services for guests who insist on the best.
Standing out from the competition will be much easier if you make the investment into exploring some of these developments. It is a sad fact that many businesses refrain from embracing technology in their business, and will often be left behind. Your hospitality operation does not need to be defined by technology, but it should include the basics if you want to keep up with the market.
For some hospitality operations, it might be worth reviewing your headcount to ensure you have a dedicated individual who can champion these technical initiatives and keep you accountable to these five trends. Whether that individual is in-house or outsourced will vary depending on your operation size, but the value of this investment will be seen ten-fold in your revenue and brand visibility.
