Technological Advances in the Hospitality Industry

Technology is one of the most prominent aspects of our world which impacts greatly on the economy we live in today and it is through the advancement of technology that we have structured how we live our day-to-day lives. This has affected the hospitality industry excessively and in order to maintain a successful business, many hotels have had to change aspects of their hotel in order to keep up with the needs of modern society.

Technology has already impacted greatly on this industry and some of the big hotel chains such as
Marriott have now started to incorporate guest rooms, which cater especially for people who enjoy modern technology. These room types include facilities such as a ‘Guestroom Digital Assistant ‘, which allows the guests to personally adjust the air conditioning, turn on and off the lights and also allows the guests to research into the hotels facilities with a simple tap of the screen.  Other facilities, which are being used in these types of rooms, include digital security cameras built into the Guestroom door and even ‘Walking Alarm Clocks’, which roll around the floor when the alarm begins to sound.  This recognition of the changing world from hotels could be considered smart, in order to promote their hotel to customers and stand out from their competition. Despite this, it is a costly endeavor and would be almost impossible to be able to provide all of the guestrooms with this type of technology.

Although technology is needed in many businesses in the hospitality Industry, it has been debated widely as to whether it is completely necessary in such environments. Many customers “value the person-to-person interaction” (Harteveldt, Forrester Research) and if an establishment which focuses on providing customer service incorporates too much technology, then they are not producing a friendly, personable and welcoming atmosphere which many establishments pride themselves on. This could be an issue at the front desk of a reception in a hotel, for example, if a hotel company were to change their check-in procedure so that guests simply have to use a machine in order to access their room key, it could take away the amiable atmosphere created for a guest upon their arrival at the hotel.

 In the foreseeable future, there are further technological advances, which may be eventually introduced into the hospitality industry. Many ideas have been discussed and various hotels are currently looking into how they can reach out to the customers more efficiently for example through mobile phones, whereby, guests would be able to book a reservation via SMS text messaging. (Amadeus,2008) There is even discussion about a possible headpiece with a built in camera which would be worn by the reception staff and will be able to access the guests information simply by facial recognition.

It is evident that technology is impacting greatly on the Hospitality Industry and it is inevitable that this will continue to happen for many years to come. Technology is needed in this Industry as we rely on it enormously, as it has become a necessity for the majority of humanity. However, this industry requires a warmhearted approach to all guests and this is accomplished most successfully through a sociable approach between the Guests and the Staff within these types of establishments.

Reference List

Amadeus, (2008), The future of the Hotel Industry: next month, next year, next decade – a blueprint for the future of the hotel industry. Amadeus Reports [Online] Available at: http://arcres.com/arcrates/users2/news08/Amadeus_hotelindustry_future.pdf (Accessed 20 October 2014)

 The JLS Agency, (2007),  Youtube, Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-LWSkZkjr8&spfreload=10%20Message%3A%20JSON%20Parse%20error%3A%20Unexpected%20EOF%20(url%3A%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D8-LWSkZkjr8) (Accessed 21 October 2014)