Technology is creating new opportunities and challenges for
hospitality brands, and the ones that use it effectively will be rewarded with
a loyal following of guests and, ultimately, more profits.
That was one of the messages from the general session
Tuesday morning at HITEC, the Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and
Conference.
The panel:
When asked about technology strategy in the hospitality
industry, several of the panelists said it is lacking - and instead brands
resort to a piecemeal approach.
“Today’s technology
in the hospitality space, I believe, is extremely myopic,” Kapur says.
“It’s very important you have that vision, a sense of where
you want to be two, three, five years down the line and you partner with organizations
that can help you get there. And I don’t see that happening."
Technology integrations - whether in the back office or
customer-facing - are deemed successful when they facilitate guests having a seamless,
positive experience.
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Green urges attendees to use that filter to evaluate all
potential new technology products, and to steer clear of adopting technology
just because it seems cool.
“There is the part the guests see and touch, but then there
is the whole part they don’t see,” she says.
“And I think it’s the stuff they don’t see that can have even
more impact on their experience.”
As apps and personalization have become so commonplace in a
variety of consumers’ day-to-day interactions, the bar is now higher than ever
for travel brands to get it right.
“The challenge is you don’t get a lot of chances,” Goldstein
says. “Once you get it wrong the first couple of times you will
potentially lose that customer.”
But exploring and implementing new technology takes
knowledge and money, and Carrier says hotel owners are looking to their brands
to lead the way.
“They have the scale, mass, infrastructure to innovate,” he
says.
“Sixty-five percent of hotels in America are small
businesses. The vast majority of hotels are smaller groups that look to their
franchise leadership as people that can deliver leadership in technology. But I
don’t believe that owners necessarily have a challenge paying for that if the strategy
is well-thought-out and includes the franchise community as part of the
decision-making process.”
The payoff is that a successful technology strategy can be
substantial, says Kapur, allowing hotels to increase their profits and drive
more direct bookings.
“Brands have worked very hard in increasing their distribution presence,” he
says.
“We have to look intrinsically. If I can own the whole
aspect of the guest having a brilliant stay every single time, if I’m very
consistent in my service … and technology helps me enable that every time - I
will eventually own the guest.”