Technologies in the hospitality field

If you open Google Maps of any city in the world and type ‘food establishments’, your eyes will definitely diverge from the amount of pins: from cheap eateries to Michelin-starred restaurants. There are, obviously, a bit less hotels and places to stay overnight, but the option for every taste and budget is possible to be found as well. As it can be easily guessed, the competitiveness is incredible. These establishments compete not only for customers, but also for qualitative personnel. Therefore, the usage of technology is crucial as it: 

• helps to optimise processes
• reduces the burden on employees
• reduces costs
• increases the guests service’s level
• provides increased profits
• provides the opportunity for businesses to scale

The usage of latest technologies increases work accuracy to such an extent that is impossible to be achieved manually. It provides the possibility of preventing errors and reducing the influence of the human factor on processes.

The reason for being aware of the latest trends in the hospitality field.

The main reason for keeping track of the latest technologies and, more significantly, to make use of them, is that your competitors are likely to have already implemented them, or have a plan to do so in the immediate future. The slower you move, the larger the gap between you and your competitors is becoming.

The world is moving at a frantic pace and even the cosiest family restaurant must have some basic technological devices in order to meet the needs of the modern customer.

What is the hospitality industry and what technologies are needed in it?

• Food industry. Facilitation of booking process and customer service as well as systems for the administration of establishments.
• Housing industry. Platforms for booking and service organisation have been developed.
• Travel and tourism. Searching and buying tickets, planning routes, online diaries and open-airs for the tourist.
• Meetings and events industry. Software for both process organisers and users.

Hospitality is one of those fields where there are immense opportunities for the development of startups and technologies. Therefore, all possible options used in this industry are difficult to describe. Let us discuss several basics.

We would also like to emphasise that our company has extensive experience in the hospitality field. The benefit of cooperating with us is that we make not only software, but also hardware. That is why we are able to implement a full product development cycle.

Robotics

One of the most impressive technologies is the usage of robots in order to perform various types of tasks that used to be carried out by humans. It may be welcoming guests at the reception, providing information and even registering and taking orders. Robots are also used for cleaning hotel premises and destroying microbes. It is noteworthy that the usage of robotics has significantly helped to reduce human-to-human contact during the COVID pandemic.

Virtual reality

You can wander the streets of Amsterdam, contemplate the view from the Eiffel Tower as well as glance on the hotel room, which you want to book, while sitting on the sofa at home. In the modern world people have a desire to know exactly what they will get as a result: what the restaurant they want to visit looks like, where the bed they will sleep on is. Therefore, virtual reality has already become a common part of marketing. The majority of up to date virtual reality video tours can be viewed in a web browser making them easily accessible without the necessity for an additional VR headset.

Recognition technology

Recognition technology is one of the most essential new technological tendencies in general. Its significance for the hospitality field is difficult to overestimate. The usage of biometric data simplifies the process of guest authentication. For instance, it is possible to unlock the hotel room using fingerprints or facial recognition. The same technology is used for check-in, or for making purchases with just a touch.

Artificial Intelligence

Every second matters. If the customers do not receive the immediate response, they will not definitely wait for hours. Not every restaurant or hotel may boast of long queues. Therefore, there is a fight for each guest. Automatisation of responses and providing the information is the best solution. The easiest option is chatbots, which are constantly ready to provide instant standard answers to FAQs. This greatly facilitates the work process of support services as well as enhances client’s experience. The downside of chatbots is their lack of personalisation. Here comes artificial intelligence (AI) that copes with it perfectly. It is capable of analysing and providing more personalised responses. The technology of artificial intelligence is developing year by year and provides the possibility of performing more and more complex operations.

Internet of Things (IoT) 

The usage of IoT can turn ordinary hotel rooms into smart hotels, which are going to be discussed below. The connection of ordinary things to the Internet can not only make the guests’ lives more comfortable and facilitate the staff’s work process, but also can be used for marketing. Iot can collect data on a user's behaviour and make use of it in order to improve provided services.

Cybersecurity

The need for ensuring cybersecurity has increased along with the advent of technologies, especially those related to the Internet. Despite the desire to trust people, there are regular cases of cyber attacks, so it is crucial for hospitality establishments to protect not only their own data, but also customers’. It is also impossible to eliminate human errors. That is, improper maintenance or commonplace inattention may cause data loss. For this reason hotels and restaurants should properly invest in cybersecurity training as well as secure their IT systems and ensure customer data is secure, backed up and recoverable.

What are Smart Hotels and what technologies are used in them?

Smart home systems may be used not only in apartments, but also in hotels. It will also have plenty of advantages. Both individual hotel rooms and the entire hotel can be turned into Smart. IoT (Internet of Things) may help in managing big data, as well as in reducing operational costs.

The usage of smart technologies allows clients to:

• manage devices from their own smartphones
• control room and water temperature
• adjust the lightning
• make orders for both food and cleaning
• call room service
• check-in and check-out independently

Managers of establishments also use IoT in order to understand the demands of their guests better, identify the most frequently used services and improve internal processes. It provides the possibility of improving services, saving money as well as predicting hotel occupancy depending on the current season or holidays.

One of smart hotels’ major advantages is environmental friendliness.These types of hotels save a significant amount of resources thanks to the optimisation of temperature, water and electricity usage.

The disadvantage of implementing a smart system for hotels is its expensive cost at the initial stage as well as its time consumption regarding investment return. Therefore, only hotels above average are able to afford it.

To conclude, it is worth to note that modern hospitality field technologies are no longer a whim, but a necessity. However, the level of used technologies, certainly, depends on the type of establishment and the target audience.