The hotel technology industry is always advancing. Here are the most recent hospitality technology trends you should know about to keep your business on the edge of the future.
Big Data
“The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data.” This quote from The Economist gets more accurate each day. Essentially everything in business is centered around consumer data now, and the more hotel companies realize this the more they will profit as a result. Mining customer data will generate insights into marketing tactics, pricing, management, and more.
“Big Data” is the term used for the immense amount of data being collected by businesses all the time. Industry experts further define big data by the 3 V’s: Volume, Velocity, and Variety. Volume alludes to the sheer amount of data being mined, which is expected to reach 180 zettabytes by 2025. Velocity refers to the speed at which this data is generated; each upload to Facebook, Google search, or App download produces data for companies to see, and this amount is constantly growing. Variety encompasses the two different types of data: structured and unstructured. Structured data is anything that can be neatly organized into a database and is easily understandable. Unstructured data is more difficult to organize, for example emails, social media posts, etc.
The hospitality industry is slowly understanding how to utilize this information to transform their business, but smaller hotels are still in the dark and not taking advantage of all the data being harnessed.
Smart Room Technology
World Cinema is an industry expert in Smart Room Technology, and we’ve discussed it in further depth here. In recent news, Virgin Hotels have streamlined their “personal comfort assistant”, known as Lucy, over the past months. Lucy delivers a seamless guest experience through a contactless mobile key as well as remote abilities that control temperature, lighting, and television, and room service. This latest innovation is an indicator of what many hotels will someday have to make their guest experience truly frictionless.
Decline in OTA’s
Online Travel Agents are seeing a sharp decline in usage as the hotel industry changes. Expedia and Booking have both suffered major losses in the stock market, of course partly due to Coronavirus but also other reasons: one being that hotels are seeing improvement on capturing direct bookings. “Hotel tech like direct booking platforms, metasearch ad managers, and messaging integrations help properties draw more visitors to their site and convert more direct bookings, circumventing the high OTA commissions in the process” (Hotel Tech Report).
What do these hospitality technology trends mean for you?
These hospitality trends all point to the growing need for hotels to outsource their technological needs. The industry landscape is changing, and old management companies who don’t take innovation seriously will end up losing major profits. World Cinema is at the forefront of these trends, and your business will benefit as a result.