Everyone is familiar with the word digitalization. It is becoming more prevalent in some industries or occupational groups while becoming less so in other industries. The latter applies to the hotel industry. Here, digitalization has barely penetrated at present. And that has consequences, as it turns out.
A study conducted by Peter O’Connor, Ideas Revenue Solutions, Revinate and SiteMinder, makes it clear that the gap between guest demands and the state of the art in hotels will widen in the coming years. It becomes clear that already in 2020, more young, tech-savvy guests, so-called “digital natives” will be welcomed, but also in the future, mainly technology from the 2000s will be used. An imbalance that can potentially become a problem for the hotel industry and each individual hotel. But what are the ways and means to counteract this development? Contrary to expectations, this does not require an expensive, complex and elaborate (software) solution. A first step towards a digital hotel is already possible in a few moments through a so-called guest service system (GSS). This allows hotels to provide guests with targeted information (such as the Digital Guest Folder, hotel bar promotion, etc.) and services (including cab call, room service, etc.) depending on the phase (before, during and after the stay). If desired, services – such as the cab call – can be outsourced with just one mouse click and usually without additional costs thanks to existing interfaces & integrations. A real win-win situation. Conclusion: The gap between the guests’ requirements and the state of the art in hotels is wide. There are already inexpensive and simple solutions, such as so-called guest service systems (GSS), to counteract this.
