The 4 Cornerstones of Digital Transformation in the Hotel Industry
We are living and operating in an age of digital transformation, and new technologies are having a very real and exciting impact on the hotel and hospitality industry. It’s up to business owners to recognise what hotel digital transformation looks like in order to understand how to leverage these changes to ultimately grow their business and increase profitability. Here are some insights into the four key areas of digital transformation in the hotel industry.
How Digital Technologies are Transforming the Hotel Industry
Digital transformation is now a fairly old term, coined in the 1990s to describe customers who connected with businesses and brands via a website rather than traditional channels. Today, digital transformation has expanded far beyond this. With the onset of the IoT (Internet of Things) and the multiplicity of digital channels and technologies available, businesses rely extensively on digital transformation to connect all processes and devices, gather and leverage data, diversify offerings and engage with their target audiences.
Today, digital transformation for hotels refers to your business’s ability to harness technology to streamline and improve business processes and deliver a higher quality consumer experience. It’s about continuing to close the gap between what digital customers want and what your business can deliver.
Digitalization in the hospitality industry is especially critical, with customers increasingly relying on digital avenues not only to research, review and book hotel stays, but to also communicate their needs to hotel staff, enhance their stay and access in-demand amenities.
Digital transformation in the hospitality industry is no longer a trend – it’s now a critical component of creating, sustaining and growing a feasible, resilient and recognised brand. So, where should hotel transformation efforts be focused when seeking viable digital technology in the hospitality industry?
#1 - The Internet of Things: Connected, Smart Tech
The IoT is a term used to describe the ability to bring smart technologies together and integrate them into a network for a seamless, high-tech experience of everyday life.
It ranges from basic smart tech like the ability to stream subscription online content on an internet-connected or smart television in your hotel room to being able to control heating and cooling in the room through an app on your smartphone and beyond.
In smart hotel rooms, guests can control all amenities via a mobile app or home assistant like Alexa or Google Home Assistant, including music, lighting, window shades, room service orders and more. It’s a voice activated universal remote that allows guests complete control and customisability over their stay.
In an industry where hyper-personalisation and unique experiences are key differentiators from competitors and a central driver for guests, the IoT is an invaluable opportunity. Take a look at how AI and machine learning is put into action by Wynn Resort in Las Vegas, where they’ve installed Amazon Echo devices into each of their 4,748 hotel rooms. At the Eccleston Square boutique hotel in London, everything from the curtains and lights through to the angle of the mattress itself and the do not disturb sign can be controlled from an inbuilt panel next to your bed.
#2 - Artificial Intelligence: Improving Guest Experiences
AI and machine learning are invaluable in any industry where data can be used to better tailor services and improve customer experiences by responding to customer preferences and behaviours. This is especially effective in terms of digital transformation in the hospitality industry, helping businesses utilise existing customer data more effectively in order to improve the customer experience, build loyalty through familiarity with their individual wants, needs and preferences, and improve return rates from guests who value having a more personalised hotel stay.
Although AI and machine learning are as high-tech as it gets, the guest experience remains comfortably familiar – creating that old school feeling of a hotel being a home away from home, a place where people know who you are and what you like, and where personal touches are everywhere.
These technologies can be used in several ways in the hotel transformation process, from chatbots that deliver immediate answers to guest questions through your website or app, interfaces that utilise past guest data to suggest restaurants, entertainment and events based on their personal preferences and interests, through to utilising data from previous calls and interactions to suggest relevant booking options for return guests.
Some interesting examples of using AI in the hotel industry and digitalization in hospitality industry include Rose, the AI concierge at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Edward, the chatbot at the Radisson Blu Edwardian in London and Manchester, and Connie, the Hilton hotel’s AI concierge.
#3 – Augmented and Virtual Reality – Bringing the Travel Experience Home
Augmented reality and virtual reality are the newest cornerstones of digital technology in the hospitality industry, and while they may have seemed like fun gimmicks at first, recent worldwide events have shown just how important it can be to allow guests to fully access the hotel experience from a remote location.
As anyone in the hotel industry knows, it is essential to create that “wish you were here” feeling while giving your customer as much information as possible prior to making their travel decision. Nothing achieves this quite as effectively as augmented and virtual reality. Recent technology has made this much more accessible not only to hotels, but to everyday consumers too.
While Oculus and other sophisticated headsets offer the most immersive experience, AR and VR tours of your grounds, amenities and guest experience can still be accessed by smartphones, laptops and tablets – the everyday devices consumers use to trawl social media for new, exciting inspiration for their next trip.
Not quite convinced? Take a look at this VR tour of the Cape Dara in Pattaya, Thailand, this info-rich VR tour of the Pullman Brisbane King George Square Hotel, or this one of the Vythiri Resort of Wayanad. This is a thriving space that is only going to get bigger as hotels look for new ways to urge guests to book their next getaway.
#4 – Mobile: Here to Stay
Mobile is the oldest and most established cornerstone of digital technology in the hospitality industry, and it’s here to stay thanks to the way it forms a functional and effectively streamlined backbone to the modern hotel experience. With a simple but well-designed app, a hotel can offer guests exceptional functionality ranging from booking options, restaurant bookings and remote check-in/check-out to chat functions with staff, access to guest services like room service and laundry services, hotel and local maps, and room access functionality.
Hotel mobile apps can be as simple or as sophisticated as you want, but the key is great design and user-friendly features when choosing or designing mobile digital technology for the hospitality industry. Some exceptional examples of hotel apps include the Hyatt Hotels app, the Ritz-Carlton app, and the Marriot app.
With the rise of Covid, mobile use has extended beyond apps, with hotel technology companies finding new ways to leverage mobile to streamline the check-in and check-out processes. P3 Hotels offers a great contactless check-in which any hotel can integrate in order to allow their guests to bypass the traditional check-in using their laptop, tablet or mobile.
Strategic Digital Hotel Transformation for Improving the Customer Experience and Streamlining Operations
With a strategic digital approach to hotel transformation, hotels can harness the benefits of digital technology and leverage it to improve the guest experience, enhance personalised services, create high-impact marketing content and streamline everyday administrative processes. Digital transformation in the hospitality industry is a necessary and yet highly rewarding path for hotels of every size, meeting the needs of a digital consumer market while preserving a quality experience.
Proven Partners is a specialist hotel and hospitality industry consultancy using over 35 years of experience to realise our client’s full potential for success. We help businesses like yours to win market share, improve customer service and engagement, and grow brand loyalty in a way that is both personal, customisable and cost-effective. Contact us to learn more about how we can assist you.
