Top 10 Technology Trends for Hospitality Industry

Top 10 Technology Trends for Hospitality Industry The Hospitality industry is one of the highly competitive sectors in the world. Its value gets judged through the way of providing customer experience and customer satisfaction. Moving with the waves of new generation, it has become much important for the Hospitality industry to keep a proper track of the emerging technologies and trends. Doing so would not only help them to keep a finger on the pulse but also in shifting the requirements. Here in this blog, you would learn about the most exciting and latest technology trends in the Hospitality industry. IOT - Internet of Things in Hospitality Internet of things (IoT) can be defined as the technology in which many devices are interconnected by utilizing the data extraction ability on the internet. The Internet of things within the Hospitality Industry integrated because technology offers many benefits that are relevant to the hotel industry. The IoT adds smartness required to deliver quality services to the customers and to enhance the performance of business operations. The hospitality industry can make use of the positive impact of IoT in hospitality, once devices are connected and share information. Hospitality Industry can leverage the benefits of IoT Many companies in Hospitality Industry have started implementing IoT into their businesses with the help eminent Software Development Companies, as it offers various advantages such as it allows them to optimize the hotel conditions, saves energy and extra expenses, deliver a more personalized experience to their customers and minimizing guest waiting times. In terms of business operations, the real-time data and insights gathered assist to identify issues or problems and also prevent them to occur in the future. IoT enhance room services through guestrooms automation With intelligent IoT-based solutions in Hospitality vertical enable a centralized network of automated IoT systems to deploy services to the guests as per their preferences. For instance, a mobile app on the customer’s smartphone could connect to the control systems of the room, so the system can analyze customer activities when they arrive in the room or get the room ready, plays music, etc. Auto-sensors helps in providing a personalized experience to the guests. On behalf of Stanlee. Alastair Boyd says “Whether it's hotels or hospitals, robots are going to take over some of the important duties. During the time of Covid, the importance of automation can't be underestimated. With limited budgets and staff, automation and robots are a good option for the hospitality business. Automation offers a hassle-free process while the robots can do any kind of service in the best possible way. Scientists have come a long way in Natural Language Processing to improve the functioning of robots. They are less of robots and more of humans now!” Smart maintenance and support services Another essential benefit of IoT in the Hospitality industry involves providing hotel employees with a smart maintenance system which can be used to improve business operations. This system could detect different appliances and devices, and notify the staff any warning signs that might be predictive of deterioration or unusual performance. The primary advantage of IoT based solutions where sensors can detect the problems faced by guests and can be fixed automatically or notify hotel staff. Efficient handling of building and logistics with smart solutions IoT assists to enhance and maintain the building and provide smart logistics. This saves costs and reduces manpower. The building can also get advantage from advances of IoT in hospitality with smart solutions for the inventory management system and facility management. Remi Del Mar, Senior Product Manager at Epson America, Inc says, “There is no denying that the hospitality industry had to completely shift directions this year and business owners have turned to new technologies and tools to help keep consumers engaged, while remaining safe and informed. One form of technology at the forefront of it all is digital signage - particularly with projection. Digital continues to play a critical role in developing engaging and informative displays and projection offers added content flexibility and creative freedom, while limiting the need for physical touch. Digital signage is changing the way companies communicate and create experiences and as we head into 2021, projection technology will be an essential tool for delivering safe and engaging customer experiences in the hospitality industry.” Another expert Casey Halloran, Co-Founder & CEO of Costa Rican Vacations says, “A major trend we see is the need for all sides of the industry to increase inter-connectivity of systems and tools across the supply chain. This can be done through APIs, channel management tools and other forms of direct or indirect integration. Any players still relying on double and triple entry of data across multiple platforms are going to be left behind. It's just too slow, there are too many channels, and today's always-connected customers demand SPEED.” Read More: 7 Emerging Healthcare Technology And Software Trends In 2020 In-Room Features IoT transforms the guest experience in the room with in-room features. This allows guests to control the heating temperature, ventilation, and AC systems from a single place, or even just specify a temperature and enable the many devices to automatically regulate the room to that temperature. It will also usually permit them to control the TV, while some devices may even greet them by name. Such as Amazon Alexa. Dessie Nikolova from Bathroom Butler says, “The heated towel rack is a leading trend in hospitality, it offers elegant towel storage, creates a designer feature in the bathroom, and it is multi-functional. Specifically designed to dry towels, keeping them fresh and up to 90% more hygienic between washes (proven by an independent study we commissioned). Almost every five-star hotel has a [heated towel rack] installed. They can be found in most new modern -day apartments and homes as a standard fixture. But in the past, many have considered them a luxury. The truth is a heated towel rack is more affordable than you might imagine and has several benefits that are hard to ignore. The heat keeps [ those damp-loving germs and bacteria] away, but what is even better is that guests can increase or decrease the temperature to his/her personal preference with the built-in switch and reduce running costs by up to 75%.” Cross-property Integrations IoT systems gather guest data and other essential information. This information can be uploaded in CRM to maintain transparency across all the properties. This provides customers the same services if he/she checks in any of the properties worldwide. IoT can even allow the sharing of data between smart devices. Hospitality companies can also use location data to optimise staffing levels. Conserve energy with IoT based devices It has been found that a smart energy management system can save energy costs upto 20%. There are many devices smart thermostats, sophisticated ML algorithms and sensors. These IoT based devices analyze the usage pattern for energy, weather forecasts and peak season demands to optimize energy consumption. Todd Ramlin Manager of Cable Compare says, “Who knew that a global pandemic was coming? Not me! IoT may be the thing that saves the hospitality industry, though, if you think about it. The number one thing that people are being told to prevent spreading the virus is to limit contact with other people. IoT more and more allows people to interact in hospitality settings without interacting with other people. Everything from getting money and making payments to ordering services and numerous other things that used to require human to human contact. Just as remote working has become a hot trend in business I think IoT for hospitality is going to get a big push. People are already getting cabin fever and looking for ways to get out of the house safely and if IoT for hospitality can facilitate that it’ll be one of the next big things.” Virtual reality “Virtual reality (VR) is the next frontier of technology, and it will certainly change the hospitality industry. VR is what we're talking about when we talk about big tech trends – like artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, 5G wireless technology, and more. People realized that hospitality must be more versatile and remote. We will see a lot of experimenting with VR next year.” - Sara Mandeed from  Best of Our Home Connectable devices to reduce physical interactions and touchpoints “The IoT can have huge benefits for the hospitality industry, especially in times of Covid. Connectable devices can reduce the number of physical interactions and touchpoints which in turn reduces the risk of spreading infections. Examples of such applications could be mobile key enabled door locks which open doors via and app or when the authorized device is close enough, in-room appliances and devices such as the coffee maker, the TV, curtains and speakers. Apart from the hygiene benefit it also improves the guest experience since IoT technology can allow for greater and easier customization during a guest's stay.” - Juliana Hahn, Content Writer at  Hospitality Copywriting Solutions “The hospitality industry is one where personal interactions between host and guest are of paramount importance, but IoT can certainly be used to evolve the customer experience. Many hotels are starting to experiment with connected entryways that allow a busy guest to bypass the age-old process of checkin/checkout to allow for a completely touch-less arrival into a room. In the age of social distancing, this provides an additional safety benefit beyond simply catering to busy, on-the-move travelers. The key will be to maintain a certain level of personal touch while introducing these virtual options to users.” - Chao He, Founder of  Swenson He Ensure customer’s cybersecurity “Providing physical safety for guests has always been important to the hospitality industry. If guests are not ensured a safe experience, the establishment will have a hard time bringing in customers. The cyber-world is not approaching the physical world in terms of the importance of safety. The hospitality industry will dedicate focused efforts to ensure customer’s cybersecurity. Hotels will offer smart home features more regularly in 2021. Many guests have gotten used to controlling the lights, turning on the TV, and ordering pizza using just their voices. Hotels will start offering these smart room features to enhance the guest experience.” - Melanie Musson, Travel Insurance Expert at ExpertInsuranceReviews.com Biometric Payment technology The Hospitality industry is such a vast industry that includes several divisions that are constantly focussed on by the customers. To name just a few they are event planning, lodging, food and drinking, parties, transportation, etc. Therefore, processing payments for such adoptions is not less than a big deal. Going cashless and making biometric payment strategies has become the current trends, and these would have a big part to play in such cases. The Hospitality sector should provide a Biometric mode of payment facility that is done through fingerprint, facial recognition, etc. High-tech indoor air quality devices “One new high-tech trend in the hospitality industry - due to Covid-19 - is a recent emphasis on indoor air quality. Ever since indoor air was proven as a transmitter of coronavirus, the travel industry has made high-tech upgrades to their HVAC systems to provide wellness, safety and help regain customer confidence in traveling again. A growing number of airports, hotels, casinos, and cruise ships have already invested and installed a little known technology, bi-polar ionization. High-tech BPI devices, added to HVAC systems help prevent the spread of coronavirus, other viruses, germs, bacteria and contaminants. They are 99% effective in mitigating coronavirus in the air and on surfaces. Selected Hilton, Marriott, Loew’s, Kimpton, Doubletree and Gaylord hotels, The Dominick Hotel in New York, Jefferson Hotel in Washington DC, The Bath Club in Miami Beach, Station Casinos in Nevada and California, Revel Casino in Atlantic City, the Sugar House Casino in Philadelphia, the Seminole Hard Rock (Guitar) Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, FL. are using BPI technology. Among airports, Los Angeles, Charlotte, Chicago/O’Hare, New York/LaGuardia, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Fort Lauderdale, Minneapolis and Anchorage have installed BPI devices to keep passengers, airline employees and airport workers healthy. In the cruise industry, Virgin Voyages and Princess Cruise Line have both installed bi-polar ionization on its ships. Virgin’s newest ship, The Scarlet Lady, has BPI installed throughout the entire ship providing a new wellness and safety feature for passengers. The Valiant Lady, which will debut in May 2021, will also feature BPI throughout the ship. The Regal Princess has BPI installed in its casino and crew quarters. The travel industry will not fully recover until it can convince its customers that wellness protocols have been put in place to assure their safety. And indoor air quality - once an afterthought -is not only a new priority, but a growing high-tech trend in the industry.” -Tony Abate, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at AtmosAir Solutions One Stop Solution for Hospitality Software Development - Enquire Today. See here   “Indoor air quality is one of the main concerns brought up in the hospitality industry, including hotels and vacation rentals, considering that 94% of COVID-19 cases spread through the air. Guests and staff are worried about their indoor air, so hospitality businesses are investing in portable air purifiers for common areas and individual rooms. The EnviroKlenz technology is a military-grade technology proven to eliminate 99.9% of virus and bacteria from the air.” - Leticia Menzzano, Communications Director at  EnviroKlenz Voice technology “Voice technology was poised to become widely adopted, but because of sanitary concerns, voice technology quickly boomed in popularity. As more industries are taking stock of where they can incorporate voice technology, the hospitality industry can leverage digital voice to provide a more seamless and safer experience while continuing to build relationships with customers.” - Matt Muldoon, President, North America of ReadSpeaker Focus on result-driven marketing “I think 2021 will see the hospitality focus on result-driven marketing. With tighter budgets and no room for wastage, successful companies will need to focus their marketing on channels where they only pay for a desired result. I think PPC and display advertising will be dropped, and marketing platforms that have result analytics will get the most attention.” - Joshua Wood, Founder and CEO of Bloc Personalized customer experience Personalized customer experience Smart hotel rooms are probably the best use case for IoT in the hospitality industry. With the help of provided or even their own phone or tablet, guests can effortlessly control the heating, AC, lighting, etc. Moreover, Internet of Things even makes it possible to control all these features with voice commands. Keyless entry Digital keys are nothing new for the hospitality industry. However, IoT can allow guests to use special solutions for keyless entry and access their rooms with their phones. Not only this is convenient, but it also decreases the chance of them losing a key card. Maintenance Internet of Things implementation means hotel management gets information about the condition of devices and appliances in rooms, making it easy to maintain and repair them. As the room condition is usually crucial for the guests, IoT is a great solution for keeping everything in good working order.” - Vladlen Shulepov, CEO at Riseapps Employee retention “Outside of adapting new technologies to tackle ordering and delivery in a different way, the biggest trends will come in the war for talent and employee retention, which has never had higher stakes ($146B problem last year, now compounded by COVID). This is driven by a smaller industry labor pool, and the historic trends in industry recruitment, retention, turnover, and absenteeism. For example, the majority of business execsare championing the integration of contractor/gig-economy into their respective labor models and F&B/Hospitality is the industry that can benefit most by evolving how they handle labor shortages, recruitment, retention, et al. So in the short-term we see a continued evolution towards tech-enabled management/optimization of worker staffing/scheduling powered by the gig-economy (and 'gig-trade')— this is ESSENTIAL in order to compete and stay solvent. And longer-term there will be a growing reliance on technology within every aspect of the operation and companies can be ready to take advantage, but they must start now or be left behind. In short there will be a growing reliance on technology to augment the entire staffing process away from job boards and other insufficient approaches (posting on social media, hanging signs in the window, etc) to a more specialized platform that can deliver real-time on-demand results while cutting managements' time spent addressing the issue and subsequent costs tied to turnover and being understaffed.” - Thor Wood, Founder and CEO of SnapShyft Wrapping Up The Hospitality industry is changing its shape with the waves of technology trends, and focused exertions were made to reduce human efforts with smart technologies. This helps in revamping the progress of the Hospitality sector. Technologies like IoT helps to automate processes, improve the consumer experience, and assist businesses in the hospitality industry to save money on energy costs and maintenance.

Kapil Panchal

A passionate Technical writer and an SEO freak working as a Content Development Manager at iFour Technolab, USA. With extensive experience in IT, Services, and Product sectors, I relish writing about technology and love sharing exceptional insights on various platforms. I believe in constant learning and am passionate about being better every day.