It is safe to say that the success of a hotel and the technology it employs go hand-in-hand, and hence technology becomes vital to differentiate themselves from competitors and engage with guests. Remaining ahead of the curve not only increases profits, but also drives more exposure, solidifies loyalty and brings in more guests.

According to a Walker study, by the year 2020 customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. Studies validate that dynamic shifts in the hotel industry are taking place in 2018 – with dominance of digital and mobile.

Today, hotels can monitor guests around their properties using installed apps tied to key cards. They can log every guest request through AI-driven concierges, which means the guest doesn’t need to come to the front desk or even call them. Devices using Internet of Things (IoT) can help the hotel know what temperature the guest likes their room to be at, when water bottles need to be replaced, and more. Armed with this information, hotels can then personalise at an individual level for each guest, making recommendations for add-ons, for instance.

Here are the top technologies that any hotel must have in order to determine if they will manage to win the hospitality race this year –

#1. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality – With analysts predicting that AR and VR will be a $150 billion industry by 2020, it offers enormous benefits for brands savvy enough to seize the opportunity. Hotels who use VR will be able to determine guests’ tastes when they check in, monitor their movements inside the hotel, and even attempt to get them to pay for additional products. The gadgets associated with the technology, such as mounted headsets or connected glasses, are also a key part of the tourist experience, especially for the more tech-savvy, millennial generation of travellers.

For instance, Shangri-La Hotels has a website dedicated to virtual reality wherein people can explore the chain’s hotels and destinations around the world with their immersive 360-degree videos. They can take virtual tours of amazing destinations and iconic hotels – all from the comfort of home.

#2. Self-Service – According to a report by Gartner, by 2020 a customer will manage 85% of the relationship with an enterprise without interacting with a human. So, whether a hotel is a high-end boutique or a budget-friendly one, self-service technology, especially via mobiles, is increasingly impacting the hotel experience, right from check in to check out. If done correctly, the service allows hotels to operate much more efficiently, while maintaining comfort for guests.

Marriott recently rolled out its mobile check-in feature across the Asia Pacific region, that enables members who have downloaded the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) mobile app to book their stays directly with SPG on its website or in the app.

Image source: Marriott

#3. Paperless transactions – More and more hotels are starting to realize the advantages of paperless transactions, not only for expenses, but also for the environment. From employee management to receipts, surveys, loyalty programs, and managing documents – going digital makes it more efficient for the hotels to run their business. By having a modern Property Management System designed, with additional features such as electronic signature for guests, the entire process becomes more seamless and mobile.

Silverbytes System, a specialist in hotel management software, is already helping hotels go green by enabling them to offer express check-in online or via mobile, and express check-out via iPad and other tablet devices.

#4. Internet of Things – Smart hotels are enabling hoteliers to offer better service and run the facility on their back-end more efficiently, all this thanks to IoT, the global market of which is expected to reach $7.1 trillion in the years to come. The benefits of IoT lies way beyond regular servicing of tech-savvy guests with smart room technologies; it is also helping hotels manage electricity and power consumption by controlling usage of lights, and other systems that automatically switch off when guests leave rooms.

Last year, Hilton unveiled its ‘Connected Room’, a first-of-its-kind, high-tech guest room that enables guests to personalize and control every aspect of their stay from one central point – their mobile device. Guests who stay at Connected Room-enabled properties will be able to use the Hilton Honors app to manage most things they would traditionally do manually in a room, like controlling the temperature or window coverings.

Image source: nyc.epeak.in

#5. Strong cybersecurity – With the rise of IoT, and the increased usage of online tools, cyber-attacks have become more frequent and prevalent. The hotel industry is particularly vulnerable due to the amount of personal data available with them. It will be imperative for hotels to upgrade their data protection processes, or face the risk of significant losses, both in terms of data and revenue. From investing in cybersecurity technology and having a cloud-based PMS to providing the staff with appropriate training programs, hotels will have to up the ante when it comes to protection.

A couple of days back, Rosewood Hotel Group announced an issue affecting certain Rosewood guest reservation information that was maintained on the systems of Sabre Hospitality Solutions, a service provider used by Rosewood and other major hotel brands to process guests’ hotel reservations. This further highlights the need to put the spotlight on cybersecurity.

#6. Frictionless experiences – The key to success for any hotel is removing each and every pain point for a frictionless guest experience. Mobile keyless door is one of those technologies that are already in use and are generating immense positive feedback from guests. The security, convenience, and efficiency it offers helps guests manage their stay on their mobile devices, making it easier for hotels to do away with unreliable, easily-duplicated plastic key cards.

Hilton’s guests in the UK, for instance, are now able to use their phone as a key to enter their rooms, as part of an international roll out of the technology by the hotel. Its competitors such as Marriott, Hyatt and InterContinental Hotels Group are also experimenting with similar systems.

Image source: ExtremeTech

All these technologies combined will help hotels react smarter and faster, fixing an issue before it escalates into a complaint, mastering guest communications and services, and finally, pushing up the all-important review scores. This will give the hotel of the future an edge in customer satisfaction and also drive increased revenues from altogether new streams.

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Over the last decade, the hospitality industry witnessed a plethora of innovations and technological advancements, most of them designed to snatch the decisive powers from the hands of the hotelier to the smartphones of guests. As a hotelier, you strive hard to take care of your guests and a little misfortune gets you a bad review on TripAdvisor, Yelp and numerous review portals which have sprung up. While the reviews ensure that the staff is always on their toes to provide the best guest experience, sometimes it makes me wonder if we have given too much power in the hands of the consumer(aka guest). When mistakes (mostly unintentional) happen, bad reviews pour in, snatching away business. When we looked deeper into it, we realized technological innovation happened mostly in the B2C space and hospitality technology played the catch-up game.

The reason of all reasons

We knew, we had to bridge this gap and that’s how eZee was born. We started eZee in 2005 on a simple belief: “The software you choose should go with your business; not the other way round.” This is the mantra which drives us till date. We ensured that all our products are built with a single focus of simplifying processes for hospitality businesses. We have come a long way by creating robust products for the hospitality industry which are simple to use and integrate with all the systems used in a hotel.

Traditionally, the PMS had been the heart and soul of hotel operations. As time progressed we witness the rise OTA and at present there are more than 1000+ OTA selling rooms like commodities as we speak. As a result of the advent of online distribution, the PMS now had to double up as a distribution tool as well, integrated with other tools like web booking engine, channel manager, revenue management system and many more. Despite this, there are chances that the Front desk agent sometimes forgets to login an offline booking and the OTAs overbook, thereby attracting penalty and guest’s wrath. It puzzled me that when OTAs aren’t able to sell the rooms, why we aren’t able to automatically open room inventory to channels which are doing well? The whole thing was too chaotic, complicated and desegregated.

Eureka!

Sitting here today, reminiscing the past it is truly remarkable how we realized the solution so simple- the answer was an integrated hotel management systems! We thought of uncomplicating life and getting rid of the multiple independent systems like PMS, web booking engine, channel manager, revenue management system, guest feedback system, POS, KoT and many more. Replace it with a robust PMS which integrates with all the systems in a hotel, communicating with each other and updating in a real time.

It was important to provide integrated solutions to our customers. We created an open API for our web booking engine which is being widely used by hospitality businesses worldwide to get direct bookings through their site. Customisation options also play a key role as offering our customers a wide array of customisation options gave them more control and enabled them to tailor the interface in sync with their websites. With the rising number of young travellers, the hoteliers have to be prepared to cater the tech savvy customers. People no longer want to spend time in front of the front desk. Introducing a Mobile Guest Portal gave them the ability to engage and interact with the tech savvy travellers.

It is crucial that all the solutions work in tandem with each other to offer a seamless experience. To ensure that, step by step we connected all our solutions. Starting with booking engine and distribution system, we streamlined all major hotel operations. We further connected our Restaurant POS, Feedback management System and Digital Menu. This minimised the efforts for our clients and gave them more opportunity to focus on other aspects of their hospitality businesses, resulting in better customer experience in the long run.

The closing act

The biggest learning we would like to share is that it is very important to maintain constant communication with the clients. They have been our best source of innovation. We listen to their suggestions, understand their requirements which in turn gave us great insights into the workings our beloved hotel-travel industry. Through our simple to use, robust integrated hotel management systems like eZee Absolute, we have transformed how hotels of all sizes run their operations. We are proud to partner with progressive hoteliers from around the world to unlock the next level of profitable growth with the best in class hospitality technology.

Author

Vipul Kapoor is the CTO and co- founder of eZee Technosys. He has been the driving force behind eZee’s products and solutions since the company’s inception. He is also responsible for eZee’s technical vision and leads all the technological development.

eZee Technosys, founded in 2005 to provide technology driven solutions for the hospitality industry. The brand achieved quick success with its flagship product- eZee FrontDesk PMS. The company has now grown into a global software solutions enterprise serving over 5500 clients spread across 140 countries. You can find more details about eZee Technosys and the solutions they provide at www.ezeeabsolute.com You can also reach them at hello@ezeetechnosys.com.

This is a sponsored article by eZee Technosys. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect views of TravHQ

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Travel tripper, the big shot innovator in hotel aggregation and e-commerce solutions announced the opening of a new global delivery centre in Hyderabad, India. This new office will cash on the rich technology talent and serve as a development and client service centre for Travel Tripper’s expansive global operations.

Travel Tripper is a full-service hospitality technology provider and strategic partner in helping hotels worldwide to generate demand, optimise conversions, and maximise revenue. Known in the industry for its constant innovation and exceptional expertise, Travel Tripper provides a comprehensive suite of solutions that empowers hotels from search to stay, including hotel distribution, website and booking, and digital marketing.

The Hyderabad office will be placed under Satish Nuggu, who will be presiding over as the Managing Director of the Global Delivery Centre. Nuggu was serving as managing director and partner at Accenture’s India Delivery Center, most notably in travel and hospitality segment, prior to his new role here. Nuggu has led a team of thousands handling global client delivery projects from brands like Starwood, Marriot, and Hilton.

“I’m ecstatic to be spearheading Travel Tripper’s new Hyderabad office and helping the company expand its global presence,” said Nuggu. “I look forward to working with such a talented team to build innovative, dynamic products for the hotel industry.”

Travel Tripper is expanding rapidly throughout the world and India’s rich talent pool will put the enterprise on the fast track to expansion. The new Hyderabad office is located at a prime location Cyber Towers HITEC City which is the home to companies such as Microsoft, Oracle Corporation and GE Capital and more. It currently plans to hire 65 employees in the field of engineering, web design and development, technical support, customer support, revenue analytics, sales and business development.

“Hyderabad, particularly HITEC City, has the ideal mix of talent and infrastructure that will help us accelerate the company’s engineering efforts, push our platforms forward, scale our operations and expand globally,” said Gautam Lulla, President of Travel Tripper.

This is Travel Tripper’s second international office. Headquartered in New York City, Travel Tripper recently opened a sales and business development office in London to cater to its growing European clientele.

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