Technology trends in hotels 2016

Serge Chamelian, managing partner of h-hotelier, pinpoints two emerging and advanced technology trends for the hotel sector, that are bringing about unprecedented and irreversible change to the hospitality industry

Airbnb and Homeaway have revolutionized the accommodation sector and have become the largest providers of rooms that own no real estate. In 2016, they are expected to broaden their distribution strategy and offer alternative lodging, such as rooms within boutique hotels and extended stay properties. Customers’ embracement of these unconventional accommodations indicates a shift in their behavior, which should not be overlooked by the hotel sector. The latter is loosing transient business (i.e. the largest market segment the hotel attracts) at the expense of Airbnb and Homeaway. Therefore, hotels have to innovate and invest in technology in order to gain a competitive advantage and encourage customers back to their properties.

With technology adoption on the rise, the expectations of customers have also increased manifold. Thus, a hotel's technology offering plays an important role for customers when they are booking accommodation. The two main trends that will undoubtedly affect your business are:

1. Personalization via Mobile Devices

Over the past two years, numerous studies established the growing importance of mobile marketing, especially as it relates to the hotel sector and revealed insights into the trend of changing consumer behavior. In fact, the World Travel Market Global Trends report projects that mobile bookings will account for 35 percent of online bookings by 2018, excluding customers driven to call by mobile search. Moreover, Google modified its search algorithm on the 21st of April 2015 to a new mobile-friendly ranking algorithm that aims to enhance mobile-friendly pages in Google’s mobile search results. Hotel customers are traveling with a growing number of personal devices and their own information and entertainment content. A Smartbrief poll showed that 45 percent of hotel customers travel with two devices and 40 percent with three or more. Marriott is responding to this trend through guestroom design, ensuring customers have the electronics (adequate and easy-to-reach plugs, bandwidth capabilities) and ergonomic support (seating and surfaces) they need.

Contemporary hotel customers expect a seamless connectivity across platforms and devices, and want to be delivered a personalized service that caters to their own specific needs. In fact, customers want to be independent and self-sufficient with mobile apps and top-quality technology. For instance, the possibility for customers to decide, through their smartphones, the lighting in their room, the size of their hotel room, the type of bed they will sleep in, the temperature of the room, and the type of food available in the minibar.

Moreover, many hotel groups, including Accor and Starwood, are launching partnerships with the new Apple Watch to include the option to check-in and keyless entry offering via their apps on the innovative new digital watch. Customers will get a push notification to their watch when their room is ready, be shown their room number on the watch, and then be able to use Bluetooth technology to tap the watch against the door lock to open the room. Likewise, Kaba Mobile Access Solutions offers a state-of-theart, cloud-based technology to securely issue and manage a mobile or digital key on a smartphone, smartwatch or other mobile device. With their mobile device key, customers keep moving, bypassing the front desk check-in process, allowing them to proceed directly to their room, and thereby enhancing their stay while hotel operations remain streamlined.

2. Software as a Service (Saas)

Saas is and will increasingly be adopted by hoteliers as an alternative to on-premise web servers. In fact, under the Saas model, hotels subscribe to a licensed cloud provider, and software applications are delivered via the internet by simply renting the software app from a cloud service.

The benefits of Cloud Saas include: (A) low capital expenditure since there are no initial hardware costs or associated expenses such as full time in-house IT staff to maintain the servers, network and data backups and maintenance. (B) automatic software updates as hotels are constantly connected under the Saas model to the latest software versions. (C) Saas apps accessibility anytime and anywhere through an internet-enabled device, and (D) increased focus of hotel IT staff on the day-to-day activities of looking after the hotel customer.

The latest technology trends are dramatically changing and revolutionizing the hotel business. Traditionally, the hospitality industry has been slow in utilizing new technology, but that is changing gradually. As technology changes the way people do business, 78 percent of business customers use their smartphone in a travel planning capacity. Thus, if your hotel does not fully embrace new technology, you risk your hotel being left behind in the previous century, along with the fax machine and dial up internet.