Gone are the days when technology was a matter of luxury. The trend has changed and technology has penetrated literally all aspects of human life. One sector that has been experiencing great technological changes is the hospitality industry. Automation has become an indispensable part of property management. More and more property owners are planning on establishing smart properties to benefit their customers and themselves. Also, making use of intelligent gadgets and tools, travelers try to get high quality services and gain better travel experience. Whether you’re a traveler or a property owner, you need to become acquainted with today’s hospitality trends since they will affect you in different ways. Going smart in hospitality includes a vast range of areas on which this article will elaborate.
A Revolution in Online Booking
How did you use to book a room? Did you call the property and wait in long lines to be connected to the front desk? You would use your computer to search for a property’s website and end up in another website? Not anymore! There has been a revolution in hospitality trends related to the booking process that has made it easier and faster than you’d ever imagine.
While you’re surfing the net on you cell phone, use Goki travel applications and book the properties you desire. Wait! You can also check into your hotel without any confusion or waste of time prior to your arrival. Upon your arrival at the property, by scanning a QR code via Goki applications or using one of our self-serve check-in tablets you get access to your room. After check-in, the guest is automatically issued with a Smart Key and PIN that expires on check-out. Easy, isn’t it?!
Smart lock your property!
Good News for Travelers
Safety has always been a primary concern for travelers and property owners. Travelers would worry about their belongings and property managers would be concerned about their responsibilities. In the current hospitality trends, no one can access your room except you. How? Thanks to modern technology used in fabricating Goki smart locks, safety is granted. Your PIN would be emailed to you after your check-in. So, you’ll be able to use your phone as the key! In addition to working as the key, the Goki application provides the opportunity to meet other guests staying simultaneously. Also, contacting reception has never been comfier. You can message reception anytime you wish for various requests, including:
- room service,
- extension,
- sentiment tracking and more.
Support for The Staff
In busy work days, nothing can be more frustrating for reception staff than seeing the bored faces of clients waiting in long lines or handling workload that gets heavier and heavier. Are you looking for a way to ease the process of serving the guests? Goki app provides the easiest solution. The Goki dashboard has enabled the staff to contact guests more efficiently. Using pre-check-in options, passengers won’t encounter long queues at the front desk.
- Direct messaging,
- shout-outs,
- sentiment tracking,
- extend stays,
- reviews,
- and payment options
are but a few of the services that Goki application can offer. Also, using the Spaces app – a key Goki application – the staff will constantly manage Goki devices from their cellphone. Owing to the Goki user-friendly application, staff can:
- generate PINs,
- run Lock audit to understand who has accessed each room,
- and encode wristbands for housekeeping in next to no time.
Ground-breaking Payment Methods
After the outbreak of Covid-19, people in every corner of the world take health and hygiene more seriously. This concern has pushed industries to come up with new ideas of paying for purchases. Way better than using credit or debit cards, contactless payment is a smart trend in payment method that
- significantly decreases the possibility of infection;
- and enables you to just tap the payment card near a point-of-sale terminal equipped with the technology. Since it’s built on RFID technology and near-field communication.
Providing this new method of payment by property owners is another step toward having satisfied customers who feel this property is comfortable and safe to stay. Business owners have learned that they cannot expect benefit only for themselves. There must be a win-win situation vis-à-vis businesses and creating satisfaction in different forms is what makes customers happy to extend stay.
Robots Serving Humans
Another cool package that has been taking over the market in recent years is using robots. Haven’t we all raised with the dream of talking machines?! It appears to be a dream come true. The robots that can serve food, answer your questions, guide you to your room and do a lot more. It seems like an imaginary world, doesn’t it? But it’s happening right here, right now. It’s not a far-fetched idea to see robots working shoulder by shoulder with humans. In fact, it’s no dream anymore but a reality.
Why AI Is Becoming Commonplace?
The reason why artificial intelligence is becoming commonplace in hospitality industry has its roots in the need for
- self-service,
- clean,
- easy,
- and automated
customer experience that has been on the rise in recent years. It’s generally accepted that tasks carried out by robots are not only more accurate and precise but also faster and more cost-effective. Using robots in hospitality industry can create an enjoyable experience for both customers and property owners. Using robots is not just limited to the property, all through the way various parties can benefit from smart services. Next time you fly abroad or land in another country you may face a robot assistant answering your requests or even offering room service at your hotel. Another interesting usage of robots in hospitality industry is in travel agencies for pre-qualifying customers. Take Amadeus Agency for instance that employs a robot called 1A-TA.
You may wonder if any hotel or property is currently using robots, let’s take a look:
1. Henn-na hotel in Japan was the first hotel that became entirely intelligent. Robots provide services regarding information, reception, storage, check-in and check-out, using voice and facial recognition technologies.
2. Hilton hotel also deploys robots who use speech recognition technology to interact with guests and respond questions.
There are some other robots specialized in security affairs that are used in airports and hotels to autonomously detect weapons and make flights and stays safer. Also, some properties are utilizing robots which are working as butlers and luggage porters to deliver a range of basic services.
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Chatbots to Facilitate Communications
Are your staff tired of answering the same questions over and over again? Are you a customer who is bored with waiting in line to find a receptionist available to answer your questions and guide you after long hours of flight? Here is a technology that gives both of you what you miss. Despite the variety in customer needs, there are always some repetitive questions and requests coming from guests in properties that need practical use of robots in form of chatbots that:
- manage repetitive human interactions and deliver various basic services, including booking through messaging interfaces such as live chat;
- work as filters, chatbots will respond the questions they can and will refer the ones that need human assistance to human staff. Hence, they reduce the workload and organize the requests;
- facilitate the process of receiving information by guests that is a lot easier for the guests than searching the website on their own, since chatbot communication is based on conversation;
- by receiving customers’ personal information, chatbots send the info to the booking engine and notify the sales team to continue the booking process easily and accurately.
- As an example, SnatchBot Booking Travel Template assists customers and eases the booking process.
- Bots such as Quicktext and HotelResbot can manage the full follow up process by sending emails containing all that is needed for reservation.
In addition, hoteliers can use chatbots as a source of receiving feedback from guests after checkout that is useful in enhancing guest communications. Owing to artificial intelligence, they are tireless employees which provide 24/7 services and help increase brand loyalty. Also, they are great assistants for the staff in busy work days and they are a means of keeping in touch with customers during the stay and after checkout.
Virtual Reality Tours (VRT)
Traditionally, marketing teams would use virtual tourism as a marketing tool to present the magnificent potentials of the destination regions to tourists and catch their attention. However, with the current outbreak of this new virus, virtual tourism has found some new functions. Business owners have realized that they may need to wait way longer than they expected for this infection to fade away. In the meantime, they needed to adapt to the present situation to keep the tourism industry alive and avoid further losses. Therefore, tourism found some new meanings.
Not An Aid But The Main Stuff!
Virtual tourism has arisen not as an aid to tourism but as the modern venue for tourism. It is no longer a charming portrait to entice the tourists and make them embark on long and expensive journeys. Rather, it has become the tourism itself! Click on some buttons and you will see a marvelous world opening to your eyes. Brand new technology has made it possible for you to see the breathtaking views of untouched sights in unknown regions throughout the globe.
Also, thanks to virtual tourism, you can experience the joy of watching amazing videos from Sahara Desert to Niagara Falls, from white plains of Antarctica to the Nile river, from scuba diving tours to visit the astonishing world under the sea to destinations that may be less possible for you to travel to, like journeying to other planets and beyond! Virtual tourism can make you feel the atmosphere by involving your sense of vision and hearing. Also, other senses such as movement and touch may get involved as well. In more advanced forms of virtual tourism, there are some simulators that mimic the experience of riding a roller coaster or water sprays that help you feel the freshness of a fountain. By means of 3D images, videos and also streaming it practically feels alive.
Technology and Hospitality Trends On The Go
One might argue that because of all of these advancements we have come a long way. Of course we have, but we’re not even halfway there! In this technological day and age, open each door and gazillion other doors would open behind each there is an unknown world waiting to be discovered. So, keep looking forward to more ground-breaking technologies and hospitality trends in this industry and other sectors. We’ll keep you posted!
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