According to Statista, the market size of the U.S. hotel industry was approximately USD 171.1 billion in 2021. In 2022, it was expected to reach USD 258.13 billion.
Technology is a huge part of the hotel industry, and it’s only growing. Hotels have been using technology for years to make their guests’ stay better and more comfortable, but many hotels are now using new technologies to improve efficiency. You can use these latest tools to help you run your hotel more smoothly.
Use Business Intelligence Solutions for Hotels
Business intelligence (BI) is the use of information technology to provide decision-makers with real-time, accurate data about their business. BI helps companies make better decisions by making available the necessary information and insights needed to understand what’s happening in real time.
Hotels have become increasingly reliant on technology to run efficiently and effectively, but they are still challenged by incomplete or inaccurate data when it comes time to make important decisions.
This makes it difficult for hotel managers and owners to understand what’s happening in their business using traditional methods, such as reports or spreadsheets, and ultimately, leaves them with poor insight into how their hotel is performing overall.
Business intelligence solutions for hotels can help solve these problems by providing a central location where all data is stored, analyzed, and presented in an easy-to-understand format. It allows users at any level within your organization access to critical information, so that everyone understands exactly what’s going on with each department of your hotel at all times.
Use Robotic Assistants in Your Hotel
With the help of robotic assistants, hotels can streamline and automate tasks that were once done manually. You can use robotic assistants to help you with housekeeping, security, maintenance, and concierge services. They also make a great addition to guest services by providing guests with useful information or even entertainment.
Robotic assistants are small, inexpensive machines that are usually placed in strategic areas throughout your hotel property. Some meeting rooms might have a robot assistant that gives guests directions to other parts of the building or plays music when people enter the room.
A lobby could have an interactive display set up where guests can ask questions about local attractions or restaurants before booking a reservation online through their phone or during check-in. This will save time on both ends.
Create a Website That Allows Your Guests to Control Their Room
A website that allows your guests to control their room using their phones or tablets is an excellent way for you to offer a unique experience.
This can be especially helpful if you have a hotel with multiple rooms because it allows guests to keep track of everything they’ve set up in their own space while they are away from it. It also enables them to make changes remotely, which means that they don’t have to walk around the whole building looking for the remote control or check-in desk every time they want something changed.
Virtual Assistants
Virtual assistants are a great way to help you with tasks like checking in guests, managing inventory, and even managing finances. In some cases, they can even help you with planning events. Virtual assistants can also be used to manage staffing problems by giving them access to your employee database so that they can do things like screen applicants for job openings or schedule interviews for you.
Virtual assistants have been around for a long time but only recently have become popular thanks to advances in artificial intelligence (AI). AI allows virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa from Amazon Echo devices or Google Home speakers or Cortana on Windows 10 computers to be able to carry out tasks without being programmed specifically for those jobs first.
Self-Service Kiosks
According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), 97% of hotels experience staffing shortages, and 49% severely so.
Self-service kiosks are a great way to save time and money for both guests and staff. Guests can use self-service kiosks to check in, print boarding passes, or find their hotel room without having to wait in line or call the front desk. They can also use them to order food, drinks, and other amenities.
This can be especially helpful if your hotel is busy during peak travel periods like Thanksgiving weekend or summer vacation time.
Self-service kiosks are also useful for staff members who don’t have enough time on their hands. They allow staff members to spend more time helping guests with other issues while still providing a quick solution that doesn’t require additional workers taking up valuable space at the front desk.
Chatbots
According to Grand View Research, the chatbot market size globally was worth USD USD 525.7 million in 2021. It is expected to expand at a substantial compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.7% between 2022 to 2030.
Chatbots can be used to answer questions from guests, help with reservations and room service and even deal with maintenance requests. Chances are that if your hotel has a loyalty program or Facebook page, a bot for answering customer service queries is already in place.
The biggest advantage here is that chatbots can respond quickly and accurately by pulling information directly out of the database. That means no more searching through endless FAQs on your website or having to go back and forth between multiple email threads while trying to sort out an issue.
Conclusion
The thing you need to remember is that technology can help, but it’s not going to solve all your problems. You still need to be able to think and make decisions on your own.
The key is knowing how much you want it in the first place because there are some great options out there for those who want them.
