A Hotelier’s Guide to Surviving the Pandemic: 10 Ground-Breaking Technologies by Hotel Technology News
“The timeframe over which demand recovers—especially in the U.S.—is less important than t manner in which we’ve prepared to continuously adapt to whatever conditions we face.” – Hyatt Hotels Corporation President and CEO Mark Hoplamazian
The hospitality industry is evolving. Customers are nervous and concerned about health and safety, top quality customer service can no longer be achieved exclusively through in-person interactions or even to the degree that they are accustomed to, and many guests are choosing to stay home and not travel, meaning occupancy rates are at historic lows.
The pandemic has exposed a technology gap within the hotel industry, and for many, it’s time to sink or swim. Even after the pandemic has passed, a vaccine is successful and widely distributed, we reach herd immunity, or simply when travel normalizes to pre-pandemic numbers, the hotel industry may never look the same again.
Here are 10 ground-breaking technologies which can make hotels contactless and safer for employees and guests, competitive and more efficient, and prepared to meet new technology standards in the industry.
4. (Nearly) Contactless Hotel Restaurants
While room service and robots are excellent ways to limit contact points, guests will continue to seek social-distanced in-person services like restaurants. Maestro PMS and SilverWare POS have released a contactless ordering and payment platform that allows guests to browse the menu, order, and pay all inside the restaurant via digital QR code. This platform allows guests to split the cheque, add a tip, and redeem gift cards. It also allows managers to track guest spending, identify meal preferences, apply discounts, and manage loyalty points. In a recent study by Criton, 48% of survey respondents said they would be more likely to go to the hotel restaurant if the hotel would give them the option of ordering food via an app. With many non-hotel restaurants and bars adopting this worldwide due to the pandemic, customer expectations will shift to expect hotels to also offer this option.