THE BALANCING ACT

As part of our extensive Technology focus, Stewart Moss, Managing Director at High Level Software, reveals how to get the balance right between technology and human contact at an overnight stay venue.

When it comes to hotels, technology needs to work in the background, removing points of friction from the customer journey and alleviating staff of laborious and time-consuming tasks to allow them to focus on doing what they do best – delivering exceptional customer service.

Convenience is king for today’s guests and so, even before they arrive at the hotel, technology needs to provide them with a simple and streamlined experience. Hoteliers who introduce direct bookings online can ensure that the booking journey is tailored to their specific clientele, as well as use the opportunity to upsell and offer guests extra little touches to their stay. Additionally, the ability to have a 360-degree view of room availability, rates and features before their arrival, through to the option to pay at the end of their stay, will all help to create better, more positive guest experiences.

We know that now more than ever, consumers are looking for personalised experiences – in fact, 80% of consumers are interested in some form of personalisation from the hospitality venues they visit. An integrated system will enable hotel operators to gather data, which can be used to create hyper-personalised customer rewards, promotional codes and digital loyalty points. All of which will create a seamless experience to encourage repeat visits time and time again.

With some guests (mainly younger guests and business travellers) showing a preference for contactless checkin and check-out – and our research shows nearly half (46%) of consumers say they would prefer to book a hotel which will offer online check-in and check-out - hoteliers need to be looking at implementing this technology. However, following a significant proportion of guests still showing a preference for face-to-face service, with 85% of consumers saying they would be unlikely to stay in a completely unmanned hotel due to the fact they prefer human interaction, there is balance to be had in the use of tech alongside personal service. Hoteliers therefore need to ensure they are offering a choice, in order to cater for all guests.

Our insight shows that there is plenty of demand for technology in hotels — with innovations like automated check-ins and in-room smartphone controls all cited by guests in our research as technology they’d like to see in a hotel in the future. As ever, though, it is those hotels that balance the use of technology with traditional service that will have the best chance of success in 2023 and beyond.

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