Every business, no matter what, has to adapt to changes over time. For instance, car manufacturers have had to innovate constantly to compete with other companies to make better, faster, safer, and cheaper cars for customers. This is why cars today look nothing like they did a century ago. Likewise, the hospitality industry has seen plenty of changes over the years. The one thing that has remained constant for every motel, hotel, and bed and breakfast, however, is providing excellent service to guests.
Trends in Hospitality Technology
Thanks to recent developments and trends in hospitality technology, many hotels have been able to better accommodate their guests and give them an overall better experience than ever before. Whether this means making transactions quicker and easier or offering the latest entertainment options, hotels need to provide the best experience by utilizing the latest technology in order to compete in the industry. So what are some of the trends you should be using for your hotel? Here are just three trends in hospitality technology that are improving the hotel experience for guests everywhere.
1) Staying Up to Date In-Room Technology
If you’ve stayed at a hotel you know the feeling of disappointment when the TV in the room looks about 20 years old and the screen resolution is so fuzzy it’s hard to make out what channel you’re watching. Granted, this is typically an issue for smaller, family-owned motels, even larger hotels can suffer from not being up to date in terms of the entertainment options in the room. The entertainment industry has changed so much over the past decade it’s understandable why this is an issue. Streaming services have now taken over the cable business, and people want the freedom to pick and choose what they want to watch when they want. Implementing smart TVs is a great way to ensure your guests will feel comfortable and entertained when staying in their rooms.
With all this streaming going on, and with so many people already equipped with devices that can stream on their own (like smartphones and tablets), it is vital that the hotel has powerful, fast Wi-Fi with enough bandwidth for the guests. Additionally, it needs to be easy for the guest to connect to the Wi-Fi. Even if there is a cost imposed for using this service, make it evident so each guest knows they are being charged for using the internet. The fewer questions a guest has, the better.
2) Keeping Things Moving with Mobile
By this point most people staying in hotels have some sort of internet ready device on them at all times. Hotels with apps can make the check-in and check-out process incredibly efficient and simple. Many hotels now even have mobile key systems that essentially allow guests to access their rooms via their smartphone. All this is made possible by increased data storage thanks to the cloud. Hotels can now store more data than ever before. Working in conjunction with the trend of smartphones rather than working against it makes for a better, more efficient system that benefits both hotel management and every guest.
3) Investing in Better Security
In this context the security being referred to is basically data security. With so many guests using mobile devices with personal information, hotels need to concern themselves with how secure their servers are and how safe each guest’s personal information is during their stay. Even if it isn’t necessarily the hotel’s fault that someone’s identity gets stolen, there is always the chance that charges will be pressed on the hotel. If nothing else, an occurrence such as this hurts client loyalty severely and can lead to a bad reputation. If customer service is a hotel’s main concern, then keeping guests safe from hackers and harm is crucial in this effort.
These are just a few trends in hospitality technology. It’s hard to say where these trends will go in the next five to ten years, and how many of them will last. Regardless, the only way to compete in today’s market is to pay attention to trends like these and do your best to implement them any way you can. Technology evolves quickly, after all. You have to evolve with it, or your potential guests will gladly stay elsewhere.