Hotels need to invest in technology to meet new guest expectations and to be able to operate the hotel profitably. The first step is to get an overview of all the systems needed in a hotel.
Hotels should embrace technology because it will make it easier to acquire revenue and operate the hotel. There are many benefits of using systems to become more productive. Here are five good reasons why a hotel must take the next step in implementing technology to become more successful.
Digitalization in hotels
There are five clear benefits of digitalization in hotels
- Offering a better guest experience
- Using new channels to their full potential
- Improving everyday efficiency
- Reducing cost
- Enhancing security
During the pandemic the most forward looking hotel companies have continued to digitalize their business to meet new customer requirements, such as contactless interaction with the hotel. Hotel companies have also digitalized their back-of-house functions to be able to operate the hotel profitably on a lower occupancy.
Digitalization in all industries has taken a leap of 5-10 years during the pandemic. Many consumers have been first time e-commerce users and people already using technology have increased their usage and now expect a higher degree of digitalization in every day life. This wave of digitalization will continue at a high pace even when the pandemic is under control.
Technology investments in the hospitality industry will increase the next couple of years to keep up with expectations from guests as well as hotel owners. It is important to buy the right systems and a good starting point is to get an overview.
Hotels need many systems
A hotel needs systems to build a strong business, but why do hotels have so many different solutions? There are probably several reasons. One is that a hotel is a complex business to run. The standardized software packages do not have a good fit for hotels, and therefore hotels need tailor-made industry solutions.
We have categorized all systems into the three main functions of a hotel: Commercial, Guest Management and Finance/Accounting. The number of systems is overwhelming and the choice of system vendors seems almost unlimited. You can see the full overview if you download the white paper.
Five building blocks
Apart from using systems to minimize the waste of time, this white paper outlines four other building blocks needed to create a high-performance commercial team to recover faster during the next couple of years.
The five building blocks are
- Build the proper organizational structure
- Hire A-level talents
- Automate to minimize waste of time
- Execute the recovery strategy
- Communicate progress
