Innovative tech approaches have always been seen in the hotel and hospitality industries. According to the Hospitality Innovation Industry Report, 72% of them have already executed technological innovations in their business. Alongside online buying, paying, and booking in other different industries, people expect the hospitality industry to offer the same tech-driven scopes.
The worldwide crisis has affected not only industries but also their consumers. Henceforth, they have changed their habits and behaviors and now have some new demands to the facilities that must be considered for making visitors feel comfortable and secure by focusing on more hygiene and contactless communication.
With the continuous COVID-19 pandemic, kinds of hospitality technology that help in online booking and contactless interaction have become a necessitous part of producing revenue.
All in all, modern tech solutions and tools are the most useful for hospitality businesses, offering new ways of communication with visitors, improving in-house procedures, etc.
These technologies offer a great client experience and they are essential during this pandemic, when client expectations are changing fast and when people must be convinced it is beneficial to travel.
Latest Hospitality Technology Trends for 2021
Let’s discuss the latest hospitality technology trends for 2021 in this blog!
1. Contactless Payments
Contactless payments are highly beneficial for cafes, restaurants, resorts, bars, and hotels. This is why this has been one of the most important tech trends in the hospitality industry in the current scenario. Apart from accelerating payments and enhancing client satisfaction, contactless technology has easy compatibility with loyalty programs.
Contactless check-ins and check-out can be possible using NFC and mobile apps. Many hotels already have started implementing this technology.
Even if clients don’t carry their wallets with them or misplace their credit cards, they can use mobile contactless payments. Moreover, during the COVID-19 pandemic, contactless payments are the best way to lower human-to-human contact.
2. Voice Assistant
Fast service restaurants are taking cues from Siri and Alexa by applying voice recognition software for ordering. Although still, this trend is in the preliminary phase, it’s a natural advancement in the online and mobile ordering trends.
This voice recognition technology can also be used in mobile food ordering apps and at self-service kiosks, making them a steadier experience.
Many smartphone users don’t prefer voice assistant technologies. However, this tech trend is growing daily as it’s promising. Through voice assistants, you can easily order customizable foods.
3. Hotel Booking through Mobile App
During and post pandemic, mobile apps has become an important asset for every types of business including hospitality industry. People have started using mobile app for booking a trip.
To keep us with the changing market demand, restaurants and hotels has started developing their own mobile app solution. Using mobile app, users can make online hotel booking, mobile check-in and check-out, mobile key, etc.
4. Cloud-Based POS System
Based on the cloud, restaurant POS systems are getting highly popular these days. Not just these are easier to install but also the hardware is affordable and software upgrades can be done remotely and for free. This saves restaurant owners thousands of dollars in maintenance and startup expenses.
Alongside the savings, these POS systems work amazingly. After all, the technology is more unique, newer, and many POS systems are equipped with the digital mode that keeps them running during an internet outage also. Partnering with a cloud-based POS system, the most valuable restaurant technology can track server functionality, sales, menu trends, and so forth.
5. Chatbots
Online widgets and chatbots are seen on several sites and can create an essential part of a modern hotel marketing tactic. Nevertheless, now they are also implemented on things like WhatsApp Messenger and Facebook Messenger. Here, the major advantage is the capacity to give swift answers to customers’ questions round-the-clock.
A few chatbots can communicate in several languages and this provides a more detailed client support experience. Moreover, the necessity of chatbots has evolved during this pandemic, as clients will sometimes have queries about processes and policies and bots can answer these efficiently.
6. Virtual Reality
This is another technology trend in the hospitality industry that you should know. Especially, this can make the difference at the phase when clients can make a booking because it gives promising clients a clearer understanding of what they can predict when they really visit. During the pandemic, people involved in hospitality marketing have a great scope of capitalizing on virtual reality technology.
They can acquire an edge over competitors, as VR offers clients the capacity of encountering a hotel’s elements or seeing a restaurant’s layout before booking. Maximum modern virtual reality tour videos are easily accessible through web browsers. If users get a VR headset, they can achieve a better immersion level.
7. Smart Hotels
Smart technology has already become an integral part of our daily lives. The same importance is seen in the hospitality industry also. Customized environmental settings within every room, automated checkout services, wireless data linking, and the utilization of IoT (Internet of Things) are currently becoming common.
The absolute target is to offer guests a completely tailored experience. This will help in reviving the hotels’ brand recognition and as an outcome, they can emerge better in the future.
8. Hotel Robots
Using robots is one of the amazing hospitality technology trends, as this technology is quickly enhancing. There are many instances of hotels that have utilized robots for purposes like offering round-the-clock traveler info or greeting visitors upon arrival. And currently, users are expecting something more.
Hotel robots can assist in housekeeping tasks like killing germs and vacuum cleaning floors, which are highly necessitous for making your space hygienic. Nevertheless, a few hotels also use robots for security, luggage transportation, restaurant waiting, and room service.
We expect that this technology will continue to grow in the upcoming years, as robots become more trustworthy and better equipped for boosting performance over time through AI and Machine Learning.
Closing Remarks
As we go ahead into the future, it is evident that the broader factors impacting the hospitality industry are mass customization and communication proficiency. From cloud-based communications to interactive, touchless service, the possibility for the hospitality industry to boost the guest experience has never been as easier as it is presently.
With lowered occupancy and limited travel caused by the worldwide crisis, these improvements are important and timely to these organizations’ long-term success. In case you want to take your business to a further level or match the leaders in the field, go for custom software development for hospitality.
