1.

Voice Search & Voice Control

Voice search is growing technology trend within hospitality because a growing number of guests
or customers are turning to voice search in order to find hotels, restaurants and cafes, so it is
worth taking the time to properly capitalize on this. To do so, you will need to make sure your
website and booking engine are structured so that the voice search can be used properly.

In some settings, demand for voice control is also growing. This could include everything from
the use of smart speakers in hotel rooms, allowing for control of the various in-room devices,
through to automated order taking in restaurants and cafes, meaning customers will no longer
need to wait for waiting staff to take their order.

2. Contactless Payments

Contactless payments offer a number of advantages for hotels, resorts, restaurants, bars and
cafes, which is why this has been among the main technology trends within the hospitality
industry in recent times. Aside from speeding up payments and improving customer satisfaction,
contactless tech is also easily compatible with loyalty programmes.

Mobile contactless payments are possible even if customers do not have their wallet with them,
or even if their credit card has been misplaced. Additionally, with COVID firmly in the minds of
hotel guests and other hospitality customers, contactless payments can also offer an excellent
way to reduce human-to-human contact.

3. Robots in Hotels & Restaurants

One of the most exciting technology trends the hospitality industry is getting to grips with is the
rise of robotics and the use of robots to carry out tasks traditionally performed by humans. For
instance, robots can occupy a concierge role within hotels, welcoming guests and providing them
with important customer information.

Similarly, some hotels have started to use robots for cleaning purposes, such as vacuum cleaning
floors and even for germ killing. This is a practice that can be replicated across the rest of the
hospitality industry too, including in restaurants, and the use of robots can also help to make an
environment more COVIDsecure.

4. Chatbots

Chatbots have been an emerging hospitality technology trend for several years, but the
importance of this option is only growing, especially as customers now demand swift answers to
questions at all times of the day. Hotels and restaurants will also often attract queries from
people in different time zones, so having staff available is difficult.

A good chatbot will answer the most common questions without the need for any human
involvement. In more advanced cases, the chatbot can obtain information from the customer and
then pass the query on to a human staff member at the earliest opportunity, while also providing
them with access to what the customer has said. 

The “Reasons Why Every Hotel Needs a Hotel Chatbot” post covers the topic in more detail. It is
also worth noting that with the emergence of COVID, customers are likely to have questions
about the topic. Chatbots can be ideal for answering here, as these questions will often require
standard answers about procedures and policies.

Best AI Chatbots Software for Your Website (Compared)

1. ChatBot.com. ChatBot allows you to easily make chatbots using their drag and drop
chatbot builder. ...
2. ManyChat. ManyChat is a Facebook messenger chatbot builder. ...
3. Freshchat. Freshchat allows you to build chatbots for WhatsApp, Messenger, Apple
Business Chat, mobile, and web. ...
4. Drift. ...
5. Chatfuel. ...
6. MobileMonkey. ...
7. Tars. ...
8. Tidio.

Below are five key benefits businesses realize when using chatbots:

 Save Time & Money: By automating conversations that would otherwise require an

employee to answer, organizations save time and money that can then be allocated to
other work. 
 Generate Leads and Revenue: Chatbots use machine learning and direct messages
to gather information necessary to provide effective support. Asking users why
they’re visiting your page, for example, is one popular question that is likely asked in
every customer engagement.  Automating this initial interaction allows users to share the
information needed for the agent to better serve them without requiring a human to ask
for it.
 Guide Users to Better Outcomes: Customers don’t always know where to go to find the
information they’re interested in. In fact, your customers may not even know what it is
they’re interested in. Maybe they just heard your brand name in passing and decided to
explore. By asking a series of qualifying questions, you route users to the best place
for them to find the information they want.
 Provide After Hours Support: The most popular use of chatbots is to provide quick
answers in an emergency. However, organizations that don’t offer 24-hour support won’t
provide answers when the office is closed. By using a robust customer services chatbots
when your business is closed, customers still gain access to the information they need,
efficiently - increasingly important as studies continue to show that while customers
expect a response between 0-4 hours, brands typically take 10 hours to
respond. Customer service chatbots help you significantly decrease the average time
to respond, bringing you closer to your customers’ expectations.
  Engage Users in A Unique Way: Traditionally, customer questions were routed to
businesses via email or the telephone, which made user experiences fairly standard and
non-customized. But chatbots offer a new, fun and interactive way to engage with
brands. Think Domino's Pizza Twitter.

5. Virtual Reality

Virtual reality is another of the major technology trends in the hospitality industry that you need
to be aware of. In particular, this can make the difference at the stage when customers are ready
to make a booking, because it will give potential customers a much clearer sense of what they
can expect when they visit for real.

During the COVID pandemic, those working in hospitality marketing have a particularly good
opportunity to capitalize on virtual reality technology and gain an edge on rivals, because it
provides customers with the ability to experience elements of a hotel or to see the layout of a
restaurant prior to booking.

Most modern virtual reality tour videos can be viewed within a web browser, making them easily
accessible. A greater level of immersion can also be achieved if users have access to a VR
headset.

Example of  Cape Dara in Pattaya Virtual Tour

You can find out more about current VR tech trends by reading our the articles, “6 Reasons Why
Every Hotel Should Have a Virtual Reality Video” and “How Virtual Reality (VR) can Enrich
the Hospitality Industry”.

6. Mobile Check-In

Mobile check-in hospitality tech is another important area to give consideration to, because it can
help to improve the customer experience at the point of their initial arrival. This is especially
beneficial, because first impressions can have a huge bearing on how customers ultimately feel
about their visit or stay.

Crucially, mobile check-ins swerve the need for face-to-face customer interactions, meaning
customers can potentially have greater flexibility in terms of when they check-in. This ties in
with wider contactless technology trends within the hospitality industry, and can be especially
welcome for those who are nervous about COVID.

Take a look at “Mobile Check-In App for Hotels: What Are the Benefits?” for further details.

7. Recognition Technology
Recognition technology is one of the most important emerging tech trends in general, but its
potential uses in the hospitality industry are especially interesting. In particular, biometrics is
being used to usher in a new age of seamless authentications, and this could benefit hotel
processes and customer purchases.

For example, imagine if a fingerprint or facial recognition technology could be used in your hotel
to unlock rooms. Now consider the uses of the same technology for check-in and check-out
purposes. In the future, this technology is also likely to allow for completely seamless purchases,
with payments being authenticated by touch.

Example: Facial Recognition Check-in in Marriott China

8. Artificial Intelligence

In the modern age, customers expect to be able to interact with hospitality companies across a
variety of digital channels and receive rapid responses. Of course, actually having staff
monitoring all of those channels and delivering swift responses can be difficult, if not
impossible, which is where chatbots and artificial intelligence (AI) come in.

Chatbots are able to understand simple questions and provide answers almost instantaneously,
taking the burden away from customer service staff and improving the experience for customers.
Meanwhile, AI’s uses extend into other important areas for hotels too, including data analysis. In
short: definitely a tech trend to watch out for.

Example: Hilton and IBM pilot “Connie”

9. Internet of Things (IoT)

Another technological trend within hospitality management is the The ‘Internet of Things’, or
IoT, involves extending internet connectivity to everyday objects, devices and appliances. These
devices can then collect data and communicate or interact over the internet, turning previously
unintelligent devices into ‘smart’ devices, which are often semi or fully autonomous.

An example of this already being used with the hospitality sector is internet-enabled thermostats,
which are used to automatically adjust room temperatures at check-in and check-out times, or in
response to temperature swings caused by the sun, or by windows being opened. The same
concept is also being deployed for lighting, improving energy efficiency by, for instance,
reducing light intensity during daylight hours.

Example: The Internet of Things comes for the hotel network

 10. Augmented Reality

Finally, augmented reality has exploded as tech trend in a similar way to VR technology, but is
even more accessible; typically requiring little more than access to a smartphone and the internet.
Unlike VR, which places users in a digital environment, augmented reality is about enhancing
the real-world environment through information overlays.

Again, this offers limitless potential. Imagine if your hotel provided AR-compatible wall maps,
where customers can point their phone at the map and find out information about specific
locations. Alternatively, how about an app, which allows users to see customer reviews of local
restaurants by looking at the building through their phone?

Example: Augmented reality within the hospitality industry

11. Cybersecurity

Finally, the increased need for cybersecurity is among the most vital technology trends in the
hospitality industry. Today, hotels and restaurants are more reliant on data than ever before, and
make more use of IT systems than ever before too. However, this potentially leaves them in a
much more vulnerable position.

Some of the biggest threats here include ransomware attacks, phishing attacks, distributed denial-
of-service (DDoS) attacks and human error within the company. For this reason, hotels need to
invest adequately in cybersecurity awareness training, protect their IT systems, keep customer
data secure and ensure data is backed up and recoverable.

12. Big Data

Data collection has grown rapidly across almost all industries, but can be used to great effect by
hospitality businesses to provide more personalised experiences. As an example, it could be used
by travel agents to make intelligent destination recommendations, based on age, gender, budget,
previous locations visited, and so on.

Within the hotel industry, big data allows businesses to identify trends, which can be used for
revenue management purposes. This allows for more data-driven approaches to pricing strategies
and enables business leaders to gain a clearer understanding of current business performance and
the outside influences that impact upon it.

Example: Big Data and predictive analysis

For those in the hospitality industry, keeping up with the latest technology trends is of the
utmost importance, not only to improve the customer experience, but also to improve
internal processes at the same time. By exploring the seven technology trends detailed
above, you can help to ensure that your business stays ahead of its rivals.
More Tips to Grow Your Business

Revfine.com is a knowledge platform for the hotel, hospitality & travel industry. Professionals
use our insights, strategies and actionable tips to get inspired, to optimise revenue, innovate
processes and improve customer experience. You can find all hotel & hospitality tips in the
categories Revenue Management, Marketing & Distribution, Technology and Software.

https://www.revfine.com/category/hotel-blog/

1. Improved payment alternatives

With the advancement of payment methods beyond credit and debit card, people are beginning to
get more serious about cryptocurrencies. At the same time, people are drawn to a hotel that
operates through loyalty programs. These loyalty set-ups are collaborations between hotels and
either booking agencies or ventures owned by cryptocurrency-operating companies.

While these programs have different methods of operation, the most common ones include points
accumulation and special discount deals. Cashback is also another way these hospitality ventures
attract customers. Through their partnerships, they extend payment options such that the
customer can choose the best mode of payment in order to reserve a service.

2. Property Management System (PMS) software

A writing company, say EduBirdie.com for example, needs a platform that allows it to manage
multiple orders from different students. The same applies to various resorts, especially those that
deal with temporary lodging or transport. With the development of newer, adaptable software,
the overview of general workload encountered by managers is changing.

It’s becoming common to see managers interact freely with prospective customers, ensuring they
get bookings. In addition to this, this software allows these managers to reach out to a bigger
population of people. This makes them both time-effective and cost-effective. It also increases
productivity on the part of the employees and makes a communication faster since all workers
are connected via the same database.

3. Customer-friendly check-in systems

Imagine you are checking into a hotel the second time, and your place of stay is already
customized based on your preferences. How cool is that? Customer-friendly systems are being
developed by feeding in relevant data obtained from previous check-ins. These data include food
and lodging preferences, and the likes.
These type of systems are also used by airlines, being included in their loyalty programs. A very
good example is the Miles & Smiles program operated by the Turkish Airlines. Through these
developed innovations, it is very possible to give your clients the welcoming feeling. It is also a
perfect opportunity to put them at ease. This is because they know that their welfare is in trusted
hands.

4. Virtual intelligence robots

Compared to the previously mentioned trends, this one is a little ‘green’, i.e. new. It is being
adopted by travel and booking agencies to help with troubleshooting issues as the foremost line
of contact. This helps to reduce the workload on chat representatives. A good number of
customer complaints can be solved by per-written instructions that these bots are programmed to
identify through certain keywords written by the clients.

When clients who experience difficulties type in these or similar words, the bots offer
suggestions that fit best. A good number of clients get their problems solved this way. Complex
problems are then forwarded by these bots to human chat representatives. Virtual intelligence
provides an amazing alternative in comparison to writing e-mails or submitting support tickets.

5. Photography on a new level

One of the best ways people get a glimpse of what they would possibly get is through the
pictures posted by different companies. Photography is a powerful tool especially when it comes
to advert placements. It allows the buyer to create a mental image of what they are about to pay
for. With drones doing the photography shots, the prospective clients are exposed to a view
that’s like no other.

Because they are able to capture pictures while airborne, drones can account for some of the
most breath-taking photos available. These photos are pivotal for tourist companies, as the buyer
gets to see the full picture of what they are likely to see on arrival at the place.

https://www.aliceplatform.com/blog/how-to-keep-a-distributed-staff-on-the-same-page

Digital conference facilities

Besides being able to offer high density Wi-Fi for conferences and meetings, hotels also need to
be able to offer access to audio-visual (AV) and digital facilities for conferences. While the
amount of AV and digital equipment that goes into a typical conference room is fairly minimal,
staging companies are often hired for various projects in order to equip the facility as required.

A key component in designing effective conference facilities that can accommodate this type of
technology is creating easily accessible, concealed pathways in ceilings and flooring where
adequate power and data connectivity can be facilitated. If a hotel has extensive conference
facilities, network design becomes critical to ensure indoor mobile phone coverage, Wi-Fi
connectivity, VoIP, real time location services (RTLS) and internet protocol television (IPTV) as
well as all the accompanying AV and digital equipment.

Mobile communication and automation

In many airports, it’s no longer necessary to stand in a queue to check in and people are
expecting the same kind of easy, technology-driven check-ins at hotels. Guests want to be able to
do everything from checking in at a venue’s automated kiosk to ordering room service with a
digital device instead of standing in queues and moving around the hotel premises to order food.

Thanks to digital innovation and social media, guests also expect digital interactions with the
hotel to be personalised. When investing in digital apps for check-ins, room service and other
customer-oriented digital interactions, hotel operators are investing in systems and technologies
that can personalise the experience for guests, including a guest’s name being displayed on the
welcome desk at a digital check-in station; their food preferences or past purchases being
displayed in a digital room-service order system; and similar.

In addition, the ‘concierge in your pocket’ concept is fast gaining popularity due to its ability to
allow operators to include useful information such as surrounding entertainment venues; medical
facilities; and similar services.

Like many of the other technology trends in the hospitality industry, investing in a check-
in/cocierge app requires a small initial investment and can lead to greater efficiency and savings
as hotel staff are able to focus on customer service and property developers don’t have to create
large static reception desks at each entrance and hotel location.

NFC technology
Near field communication (NFC) technology is the next-generation short-range high frequency
wireless communication technology that gives users the ability to exchange data between
devices. Communication between NFC devices can transfer data at up to 424 kbits/second and
the communication is enabled when two devices touch each other, which makes mobile
payments (by touching the smart phone to a credit card) an instant, secure process. This
technology is also ideal for self check-ins by guests at hotels as well as the next trend in this
article: smart room keys.

Besides payments and an easier way to gain entry to hotel rooms, NFC technology can also be
used to personalize a guest’s experience at a hotel or resort. For example, advertising can be
targeted based on gender and age (so if a child walks by a digital sign in the lobby, the
advertisement can change to promote a local theme park or the hotel’s kids club) and this
technology could also be used to track loyalty points from a guest’s use of the conference
facilities or room service. This opens many doors for hotels who want to offer a more
personalised experience at their establishment.

Robots and infrared sensors

Some hotels are already offering more futuristic experiences, with robots delivering any items
ordered through room service to a guest’s door. A boutique hotel that is nestled between Apple’s
headquarters and other tech companies, called Aloft Cupertino, has a robot butler called Botlr
that is able to move between the various floors of the hotel in order to take items such as
toothbrushes, chargers and snacks to guests. These types of digital systems not only make it easy
for hotel staff to deliver items to guests, but it also offers a forward-facing digital experience to
people who stay at the hotel.

Infrared scanners are now also used to minimise disruptions relating to housekeeping (which is a
common complaint from customers). Instead of hanging a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on doors or
having cleaning staff wake up traveling guests with knocks and phone calls, hotel staff can take a
more innovative approach by using infrared scanners that will detect body heat within a room
and tell cleaning staff that they should rather come back later if the room is currently occupied.

Smart room keys

Hotels will increasingly install smart room access systems that allow guests to unlock their doors
by simply swiping their phones across a keyless pad on the door. Starwood (owner of the
Sheraton, Weston and “W” hotel chains) has already upgraded 30,000 room locks across 150
hotels with this system and Hilton will be implementing a similar system at 10 of their US
properties this year. In 2016, they will be deploying the smart room key technology globally.
This technology will mean that guests don’t have to worry about picking up keys and front desk
staff won’t have to issue new keys in the event that a guest loses their room key.

Another innovative way to offer a keyless experience is through fingerprint-activated room entry
systems and retina scanning devices. Retina scanning is even more accurate and secure than
fingerprint scans and hotels like the Nine Zero Hotel in Boston have already installed an iris scan
system in place of key cards to control access to the hotel’s presidential suite.

Entertainment on tap
According to a Smith Micro Software trend report entitled The Future of Hotel In-Room
Entertainment; people are increasingly plugging in their own devices for in-room entertainment.
The hotel room’s television, radio and clock are taking a backseat as travellers use their own
technology to keep themselves entertained. An earlier survey by Smith Micro Software showed
that 81% of respondents wanted access to mobile video content at hotels and 55% said that
mobile content availability at a hotel would influence where they choose to stay.

Cloud services
Being able to provide entertainment on tap and mobile content has led to the trend of hotels
investing in cloud services. While hotels want to be able to offer digital content, they don’t
necessarily want to invest in IT infrastructure and IT staff, making cloud computing the ideal
solution.

Not only is the initial capital investment lower than IT infrastructure and servers, but it gives
hotels the flexibility to expand and adjust their IT needs along with business growth, invest in
upgrades without causing a complete IT system overhaul and it removes the administrative
burden of managing an IT system in-house. Cloud computing is becoming the norm and we will
continue to see hotel groups replacing their legacy IT infrastructure with cloud solutions.
Feedback on social media
Technology has infiltrated almost every aspect of our lives and hotel developers need to realise
that almost any person checking in at a hotel, resort, spa or lodge, will have a smartphone in their
pockets.

Many companies in the hospitality industry are already using social media to their advantage as
guests check-in on location-based social media apps, tweet about their experience on Twitter and
share their holiday photos with friends and followers on Instagram and Facebook. This trend will
continue and hotels can expect to see even more social media engagement from guests who use
these platforms to give feedback about their experience, complain and give compliments about
their stay. Hotel staff are also expected to provide feedback and address and complaints or
queries from guests in real-time.

From an online, reputation management perspective, this is a trend that marketers and hotel
management need to manage proactively. Consumers don’t make decisions about where they’re
going to travel to or book a stay in a vacuum – they turn to community-developed content and
rating systems such as Trip Advisor and social media to make decisions about holiday
destinations, hotels and leisure. This shift has led to many hotel and leisure groups developing
active social media monitoring and communication strategies in order to stay on top of what’s
being said about them online and making sure that both marketing and operational staff address
feedback that has been given online.

An additional way in which operator can take full advantage of technology in this space is using
it to communicate how well they are doing (in real time) with respect to their various
environmental initiativesConverged LANs to support multiple services
Converged local area networks (LANs) will also help hotels to create more intelligent buildings.
A variety of computer-based building services can be automated in order to control lighting,
refrigeration, air-conditioning and heating. Besides reducing energy consumption, converged
LANs can also be set up to provide a smarter, more personal experience. If a guest is known to
prefer his or her room temperature at 18°C with the lights dimmed to 65%, for example, this can
be programmed before the guest checks in at the hotel. (such as real time electricity/water usage
reporting, etc.)

Integrated, seamless experiences

Technology doesn’t mean that customer experience can only happen online and through devices,
check-ins and online comments. All of these experiences need to be part of an integrated,
dynamic system so that the guests’ experiences are at the forefront of the marketing and 

operational team’s mind. If a guest leaves a comment about their stay when they check-out of the
hotel, for example, the right people need to reply and acknowledge this type of communication.
If a guest leaves a complaint about not being able to stream mobile content during their stay, then
processes should be put in place to ensure the right person follows up by communicating with the
guest and solving the problem at the hotel.