How to WOW Your Hotel Guests with Travel Tech
How to WOW Your Guests
With Hotel and Travel Tech
Technology is omnipresent, it has made our lives far easier than ever before. For better or worse, we’ve become dependent on technology for almost everything we do. From shopping and interacting with others on social networks, to paying your bills and a plethora of other day-to-day activities.
Every sector, be it retail or hospitality has been making extensive use of technology, with Smartphones at the center of our technological lifestyles. The travel and hospitality industry is no different. In fact, the hospitality industry now has more technology at their disposal than ever before to increase and enhance the guest experience, taking consumer satisfaction to a whole new level.
Guest expectations are growing daily and simply providing guests with HD TVs or a Free Wi-Fi connection will no longer suffice. Hotels have to cater to their guest’s basic needs while going above and beyond them, by allowing them to control room temperature, lighting, message hotel staff and even help them adjust the overall mood of the room. All of this is made possible with the use of high-end technology and smart automation.
A recent survey by Oracle Hospitality and Phocuswright emphasized the importance of technology for a better travel experience.
The report highlighted these key facts:
Nearly two-thirds of U.S. guests said it was “very or extremely important” for hotels to continue investing in technology to enhance the guest experience”
94% of business travelers and 80% of leisure travelers value the ability to use their smartphones to request service and message hotel staff.
Hoteliers are very well aware of the competition they face and the efforts they have to take to win the loyalty of their guests. A positive experience from the guest not only impacts their stay but it also reflects online as a part of the consumer review after, or during their stay.
We all know the importance of online hotel reviews and how online reputation can make or break a business, just as the impact of the word-of-mouth cannot be underestimated or ignored.
Here are few of technological solutions that can be embedded to make the consumers stay longer, more enjoyable and potentially driving up your hotel’s occupancy.
AUTOMATED CHECK-IN / CHECK-OUT
Instead of having your staff utilized for the purpose of catering to guest check-ins and check-outs, hotels can make use of automated check-ins and check-out, with keyless entry solutions. This frees up hotel staff’s time to focus on more important tasks such as improving guest interactions, as well as attending to guest demands. It’s expected that in the not so distant future, swipe cards will be obsolete.
The Hilton Hotel already introduced the Hilton Digital Key app back in 2015 to facilitate keyless entry for their guests.
CUSTOMIZED MOBILE EXPERIENCES
Hotels can make use of customized mobile apps to connect and engage with their guests before their arrival. Mobile apps can also inform visitors about various services at the hotel, send personalized notifications, as well as special events and offers. Personalized mobile experiences help increase customer satisfaction rates and guest loyalty.
Providing guests with the feature of contacting staff privately and on demand can certainly make the guest’s experience more enjoyable as well as improve staff efficiency. Services such as Viggo’s Smart Stay App to communicate is paving the way towards mobile chat communication between hotel staff and their guests.
“Over the past 10 years, guest’s habits have drastically changed”, shares Jonathan Casif, General Manager at Viggo. “Guests today prefer to text message instead of calling hotel reception, they also want to stay informed of hotel related information and share their experiences instantly. Hotels, on the other hand, are looking for creative ways to increase guest reviews, and provide a ‘digital concierge, Viggo’s smart stay app was developed with the growing needs of hotels in mind.’” He explained.
According to the previously mentioned Oracle Hospitality and Phocuswright report;
SMART ASSISTANTS
Amazon’s Echo is yet another perfect example of an intelligent tech-based personal assistant, capable of creating to-do lists, setting alarms and provide real time information. The Wynn Las Vegas was among the first to announce that they will be putting the Echo in all 4,748 of its hotel rooms. Alexa, The Echo’s virtual assistant can let guests control room lights, room temperature, drapery, and the television using voice commands.
DATA ANALYTICS AND SOFTWARE
Data Analytics tools are used in almost every industry to gain better insights on performance and how to best optimize efficiency. Hotels can also make use of data analytics platforms to gather data about guest bookings, locations, rooms assigned and a host of other factors that can be analysed to improve the guest experience. Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Marriott International are two such giants who are making use of Beacon technology to improve their guest’s experience.
CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE BOTS
Robotics is a yet another field which has advanced to a great level. In the years ahead, we shouldn’t be too surprised to see Maidbots cleaning rooms, delivering in-room items like water bottles, room service, pillows and more. The future of robotic hospitality services is much closer than you think. Botlr for example is a robotic butler already being used by Starwood Aloft Hotels for making deliveries to guests’, while over at the Henn na Hotel, guests are greeted by a female humanoid with an uncanny resemblance to a real female receptionist.
IN SHORT
There’s certainly no lack of smart technologies hoteliers could implement and utilize towards making the guest experience a memorable one. Using technology is essential, especially in the hotel industry that’s ripe for change. That being said the one thing technology can’t eliminate ‘yet’ is the human aspect of hospitality after all a welcoming smile is truly priceless. Additionally, if you haven’t done so yet, subscribe to the Viggo Smart Hotel Newsletter, and stay updated with the latest hotel tech trends!
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