4 Technology Advancement a Hotel Must Adopt
In this digital era, technology has become an imperative aspect of the hospitality industry. Guests seek immediate information regarding the room availability, prices, hotel amenities, visitor reviews etc. on their Smartphones. To keep pace with their guest’s requirements, hotel authorities must ensure that they significantly increase their spending on technology. These technologies include improving technology in the rooms, payment and data security, bandwidth and mobile engagement. The good news is that this investment is going to be beneficial to the hotels in the long run. Here are some of the top technological trends that hotels must adopt.
Focus on Payment and Data Security
As the cyber crime is increasing at an alarming rate, hotels authorities must ensure that they invest greatly in payment and data security. Statistics show that hotels are increasing their budget in this particular segment by 25%, as compared to 2015. This will ensure that the guests have secure payment gateways for online and mobile transactions.
Introducing ‘Smart Rooms”
Nowadays, guests seek amenities like wireless chargers, automated lighting, flat screen TVs, docking stations, and temperature control etc. They want the room facilities of the hotel to be tech-savvy. According to 2016 Lodging Technology Study, 22% hotels are allotting investments to Room Control Devices (RCD) and 16% to Smart TVs.
Advancement in Bandwidth
Majority of the guests seek for hotels with free and efficient Wi-Fi connectivity around the clock. The bandwidth must support multiple tech devices of the guests across the hotel property. Globally, hotels are enhancing their property’s bandwidth so that their guests can use the internet without any obstructions.
Mobile Engagement
Mobile engagement is an underutilized opportunity which offers great potential for hotels to increase their revenues. Mobile engagement enables the hotels to provide a personalized experience to their guests by knowing their preferences and creating custom packages as per their requirements. For example, Hotel Empire Bangalore is using Bluetooth enabled beacons to build personalized experiences. They have placed these beacons at the entrance of their properties, so that as soon as a guest enters the hotel, the staff greets them by their names.
Integrating some of these trends will enable hotels to be easily accessible on web and upsell their various points of sales, resulting in better profitability for their property.