Tech Trends in Hospitality

Technology plays a pivotal role in almost all facets of life in the modern world. The hospitality industry is no exception to this, and technological advances have fundamentally changed how some aspects of the industry operate. New techniques are being used in the industry to improve facilities, save money for companies and change infrastructure and management in hotels.

Wi-Fi Overhauls

These days, those travelling and staying in hotels will often come along with phones, laptops and tablets. As a result, internet connections are no longer seen as a perk of an establishment but a necessity.  When they check in to a hotel, guests now expect to connect to the internet seamlessly throughout the building with little to no interruptions.

Because of this, there is a growing trend in the hospitality industry for businesses to invest significant amounts in their Wi-Fi infrastructure. Previously, it was common for hotels to employ a user-pay model for internet connections, where guests were expected to pay substantial amounts to get online. While this has not entirely left the industry just yet, many hotel managers are reconsidering their internet infrastructure to keep up with customers’ demands.

Revenue Management Systems

Revenue management systems (RMS) are software solutions employed in the hospitality industry that efficiently enable hotel managers to carry out important revenue management tasks. Using these systems, you can collect data from your establishment and the industry, in general, to help make more informed management and strategic decisions.

Using these solutions, you can analyse industry trends and data with in-built algorithms to better understand the current state of affairs within the market. Using this information, you can set room rates competitively depending on various factors that affect the industry.

This can all be performed from a centralised hub in real-time and allows you to alter prices across various channels simultaneously without having to log into them all individually. Overall, this makes revenue management far more streamlined and can be an especially valuable tool for smaller hotels and businesses in the hospitality industry. You can learn more about revenue management here.

Cloud-Based Computing

The migration of computing to cloud-based servers has altered almost all industries since its widespread adoption. The hospitality industry is no different. Emerging cloud technologies have presented opportunities for businesses to streamline their operations with relatively low costs associated with acquiring systems.

Cloud-based solutions and communications allow companies of all sizes to simplify their operations, reduce their staffing requirements and ultimately provide a better experience for guests.

Predictive Maintenance

Modern technologies allow hotel managers to monitor, track and optimise the state of equipment within their business. Using sensors, hoteliers can identify wasteful and hazardous situations and alert maintenance technicians before becoming a more significant problem.

Many hotel managers take an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach to equipment maintenance. However, if you wait until an asset breaks down to perform repairs, you risk paying a much higher price. Current innovations with the internet of things (IoT) technology means that engineering staff can predict the maintenance requirements of equipment based on the usage of assets. Overall, this can significantly reduce repair costs in the hospitality industry and extend the usable life of assets, further reducing replacement expenditure.

Tailored Guest Experiences

The general trend towards a more data-driven approach to hotel management has allowed many businesses in hospitality to provide more tailored experiences to their guests.

Guests and their experience when staying in a hotel are undoubtedly the backbone of the hospitality industry. Your business cannot operate without them, and using smart technologies, their expectations can be met with a greater degree of accuracy than ever before. Hoteliers now collect data on their patrons to accommodate their needs more effectively based on trends and data from previous stays.

Additionally, occupancy sensors are being used with greater frequency to automate interactions with guests. This can reduce friction points and wait times during their stay while simultaneously reducing overall labour costs. Overall, integrating guest data into strategic planning and hotel management is becoming increasingly common in the hospitality industry. This area is still in its infancy, but currently, hoteliers are achieving promising results regarding guest experience and labour costs using data-driven approaches.

To conclude, much like every other industry at present, hospitality is constantly adopting new technologies and data-driven strategies to improve its offerings to guests and improve efficiency. The trends listed above represent just a small overview of the technological advancements currently revolutionising hotel management.

In the future, we can expect to see even more significant pushes towards integrating smart technologies and IoT-capable devices into hotel operations. This, coupled with better data analysis and collection solutions, will undoubtedly result in better guest experiences while also reducing the operational costs of hotels. Ultimately, the most successful companies over the coming years will be the ones that embrace data collection and analysis and implement actionable strategies using this.