By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com)
The need for viral safety has made technology inescapable
for hotels. With all the new protocols for self check-in, mobile room keys,
physical distancing, contact tracing, prearrival virus screenings (staff and
guests), contactless transactions and rigorously itemized cleaning checklists,
and with less revenue to go around due to the lack of groups, the only way to
stay profitable is through continued automation.
But what hardware and software do you deploy? How do you
compress your property’s hemorrhaging tech stack so that costs are kept under
control? Broader still, how do you find about what technology is making waves
and experience them firsthand before purchase?
Given the newfound demands for tech-enabled hotels and
reducing labor costs, this makes technology tradeshows all the more vital so
that you can discover new vendors and address the above three questions. And
none may be more essential than HITEC, the world’s largest hospitality
technology convention. I’ve religiously attended HITEC for over the past dozen
years, calling it a veritable ‘candy shop for hoteliers’ as each new device or
software presents an opportunity for increasing productivity, property
differentiation or cutting costs.
With the proverbial gun to our heads to rapidly innovate our
hotels, the upcoming CyberHITEC requires your attendance. The virtual product
demonstrations and webinars require your attendance so that you are up to date
with where the industry is headed, especially in the face of Covid now becoming
a perennial feature of our lives.
And by attendance, I mean engagement; resist the urge to
multitask by answering emails in another browser window or checking your phone.
Studies show that humans are naturally horrible at juggling multiple items that
require heavy input from the thinking part of the brain, so try to focus.
This post is not intended to be a commercial endorsement of
CyberHITEC nor a review of the myriad of exhibitors and concurrent educational
sessions that will take place. Rather, it is a wakeup call for our industry. If
we stay away from our own tradeshows – technology or otherwise – how do we
expect meeting planners and corporate event planners to make bookings
confidently in our properties? How do we expect to thoroughly safeguard our
guests and protect our assets against future black swan events beyond the
requirements for the current pandemic?
All hoteliers are facing Covid-induced challenges including
but not limited to:
- How do
I minimize guest contact throughout the onsite hotel experience? For
instance, is this the time for voice controls to replace touchpads? Will
your guest dare to touch that TV remote control? How do I reassure fearful
visitors without sterilizing the guest experience? How do I incorporate
these new standards while still appearing as friendly and inviting?
- What
modules or integrations can I set up to better facilitate the touchless
and online purchase of ancillary revenue generators such as restaurants,
spa, golf, parking, casino or activities? What can I do to prompt
customers right from the room booking engine to secure these reservations
as far out from arrival as possible?
- How do
I get more out of my PMS? What are they doing to address the demand for
24-hour or even 72-hour booking buffers after the last guest checks out
before reassigning a room? What other features are they and business
intelligence platforms developing to help my revenue manager build rate
amongst so much marketplace uncertainty? What new modules are being
implemented to forecast against unprecedented situations?
- With
CDC guideline compliance as well as cleanliness theater front and center,
what programs can be integrated into housekeeping to keep the promise of
scrupulous cleaning while preventing costs from hemorrhaging? What can
management software do to optimize cleaning costs so that this doesn’t
become an insurmountable expense?
- How
will you guarantee that service delivery is never compromised as you shift
most of your guest communications onto a messaging app? How do you
maintain team accountability as many of your associates become more fluid
in their departmental roles?
- What
new security technologies can be deployed that will address concerns over
viral spread without incurring a huge capex? Is now the time for
phone-activated key cards? What about such things as rapid temperature
checks at all entranceways or limiting area access based on guest
credentials? How do you integrate all these upgrades onto one system?
- What
payment systems exist to make transactions contactless by eliminating
credit cards, reducing any form of physical money changing hands or moving
financial matters online while staying PCI-compliant? With the future
dead-set on cashless and online credit card payments, what additional
features can be installed to prevent fraud and limit chargeback disputes?
These are just a few of the questions I would ask myself or
whichever manager I’ve assigned to attend the vendor demos or webinars. As
there’s a ton to experience, best to go in to any technology tradeshow –
virtual or physical – with a list of preformulated objectives or questions so
that you can better assess what’s right for your organization amongst the
various competitors.
And this applies not just to HITEC but all the other
tradeshows that are pivoting to offer safe networking and virtual meeting
options in the wake of Covid. Attend because it’s right for our industry and
definitely worthwhile for your long-term business goals. With any luck, we’ll
be able to regroup in person come June 2021 in Dallas for next year’s edition
of HITEC.
About Larry Mogelsonsky
One of the world’s most published writers in hospitality, Larry Mogelonsky
is the principal of Hotel
Mogel Consulting Limited, a Toronto-based consulting practice. His
experience encompasses hotel properties around the world, both branded and independent,
and ranging from luxury and boutique to select-service. Larry is also on
several boards for companies focused on hotel technology. His work includes
five books “Are You an Ostrich or a Llama?” (2012), “Llamas Rule” (2013),
“Hotel Llama” (2015), “The Llama is Inn” (2017) and “The Hotel Mogel” (2018).
You can reach Larry at larry@hotelmogel.com to discuss hotel business
challenges or to book speaking engagements.
Media Contact:
Larry Mogelonsky
Email: larry@hotelmogel.com
Website: http://hotelmogel.com/
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