The Link Between Technology and Recovery
Hotel tech partners in the United States are relying on automation and new technologies including minimizing contact between staff and guests with digital assistants activated by voice. Hotels have suffered major losses due to the pandemic, including staff layoffs and drops in occupancy. According to recent data, the occupancy rate decreased from 60 percent to 22 percent between February and April. Although some recovery has been seen, it is dependent on whether or not the guests feel safe.
Hotels are using new technologies to clean rooms including electrostatic sprayers. The delivery of an electric charge releases a disinfectant to minimize droplets adhering to surfaces. Digital assistants are available to guests to request more towels or a later checkout. Guests uncomfortable with staff interactions can receive a digital room key, verify their identity and process payments at many hotels in the United States by downloading a mobile app on their smartphone.
Smart hotel technology available through hotel tech partners might be the key to recovery, marketing and guest experiences. The technology offers new opportunities for revenue while decreasing costs for the owners of smart hotels. Smart hotel technology is expected to play an important role in the recovery of hotels in the not too distant future.
Marketing Practices
For a hotel to provide a good experience, the guests need to walk through the door. Smart marketing offers hotel owners a lot of advantages. The data opportunities for hotels include a more thorough understanding of guests than in the past. The expectation is hotels leveraging data insight have a better chance of recovery and remaining a step ahead of the competition.
Smart Energy
Occupancy fluctuations can be monitored through the use of occupancy sensors and smart thermostats. Algorithms using sophisticated machine learning are essential for smart energy management systems. These systems can continuously analyze peak demand loads, local weather patterns and historical thermodynamics in real-time for optimal energy consumption. Studies have shown smart energy savings are possible. The hotel energy costs can be decreased by a maximum of 20 percent.
Most hotels will be able to cover the cost of the system within 12 to 24 months while significantly increasing hotel value for resale. During this time, the best option for survival is adapting and changing to meet the present requirements of travelers in the local and surrounding areas. The technology used for IoT or the Internet of Things makes energy savings possible for air conditioning systems, ventilation and heating. Hotels can understand their energy requirements with smart lighting technology.
Energy consumption can be automated to adapt to occupancy fluctuations in real-time. Hotels can use smart lighting systems improving energy consumption, tracking patterns of occupancy and setting preferable times for lighting. Machine learning algorithms and occupancy sensors are used by smart HVAC systems to continuously optimize energy consumption for HVACs and analyze load pattern demand.
Big Data
One of the key benefits of smart technology is the way data is combined before becoming actionable. This being said, big data requires a lot of responsibility whether the hotel is adjusting rates to become more competitive or attempting to reach a new segment in the market. The main concern regarding the use of big data is ensuring the necessary data remains safe. The desire to keep hotel guests safe is different than the steps necessary for success.
The Target (News - Alert) and Equifax data breaches were massive resulting in millions of consumers placed at risk. The cost of solutions based on big data is becoming more affordable, making them more accessible to medium-sized hotels. More hotels are expected to begin investing in these types of solutions. Guaranteed data protection has become necessary for all hotel owners struggling to recover.
Mobile Room Keys
The number of hotels offering mobile room keys is increasing. Guests can access their rooms using an app on their smartphone. Not only do hotels save money, but the need for plastic keycards harmful to the environment is eliminated. Hotels no longer need to manage an inventory of keycards with the potential to demagnetize or become lost.
Predictive Maintenance
Hotel tech partners are offering smart EMSs for tracking, monitoring and optimizing the consumption of energy. Sensor data can also be used as preventative maintenance for the identification of hazardous or wasteful trends. Maintenance staff can be alerted before the issue becomes more costly. This eliminates the waiting period for the breakdown of a component before replacement or service. Engineering staff can use the technology of IoT for predictive maintenance based on usage.
System failures can be prevented to effectively decrease the expense of running a faulty system. One leaky toilet can cost a hotel $840 a year. When water damage costs are added until the detection of the leak, the expense can be significant. Low-cost, smart water meters enabled with IoT can provide hotels with a water consumption return in approximately four years. Certain online management platforms collect data continuously for the runtime of HVACs for the assignment of an efficiency rating.
The rating is an accurate indication of the time required for a room to be cooled or heated for the preferred temperature of the guests. If HVAC equipment requires attention, critical alerts are available for the engineering teams.
Remote Check-Out And Check-In
Guests can check-out or in remotely by using a mobile device. This provides hotel owners with the ability to manage and predict staffing requirements to significantly decrease the cost of labor. Hotel staff is alerted through this technology when a guest has arrived to decrease the time necessary for the welcoming process, offer upgrades and provide a more personalized experience for the guests. This is appropriate for new guests and veterans.
When guests leave, the staff is not required for the check-out process to ensure a seamless experience. Guests can make arrangements for their desired transportation to reach their next destination including taxis, ride-sharing services and airport shuttles. This decreases the cost of hotel labor.
Smart Experiences
Hotels need guests to operate. Smart technology has become necessary for the improvement of guest expectations and experiences. The needs of the guest can be accommodated better with the use of guest data. When combined with occupancy sensors, guest interactions can be automated to decrease labor costs and friction during their stay. Smart technology has made personalizing and predicting numerous guest services possible for hotels. Guest data and previous visits enable the personalization of these services.
Online Reputation Management
Future hotel bookings can be predicted through online ratings while providing valuable insight to owners regarding the delivery of guest expectations. This is the reason the majority of hotel owners continue to make investments in platforms capable of managing the hotel's reputation and monitoring online reviews. The feedback can be used to make improvements for guest experiences and operational standards. Online reviews not only offer direct guest feedback but impact the bottom line of the hotel.
Smart Reserved Parking
Hotel apps and smart sensors can be effectively used by hotels to enable guests to reserve parking spaces before they arrive. Once the guest arrives, the parking spot is assigned. This decreases the cost of labor for manual management of hotel parking inventory. Guests receive a smoother experience as soon as they arrive.
Smart Room Service
Menu notifications can be pushed to smartphones at optimal times through smart occupancy sensors while the guests are still in their rooms. Personal suggestions can be included in the notifications according to past orders. There are numerous apps for home food delivery providing a similar service. Frequent users can be sent push notifications to ensure smart room service on preferred days at the order times guests have requested in the past.
