I used to say that Hospitality has not changed a great deal since the beginning of time, and as we know innkeepers have played their part in many a historical story, but it was then and still is now all about providing a home away from home, a hospitable environment for people to relax, work, meet, eat and unwind, whilst away from home.
And while that is true, the way in which guests make their selection, and evaluate their experience has radically changed. It’s safe to say that it’s the digital transformation of consumers that is the driving force behind these changes in Hospitality. Just think about it – people are now carrying around the equivalent of a computer in their pockets thanks to smartphones, we are worried that manufacturing jobs will be taken by robots, every day there are new hotel booking sites and artificial intelligence is on the up.
The fact is hotel companies are faced with new challenges thanks to this transformation of the consumer. The main competitors that hoteliers face today are actually technology companies – such as the likes of Airbnb, OTA’s and Metasearch sites – and not other hotels. These competitors offer similar services as traditional hotels like distributing inventory and rates, enabling the process of making reservations or viewing images of the rooms, but in such a way that has piqued the interest of potential guests across the globe.
Even with the similarities, these competitors don’t own or manage properties, but they are owning the guest relationship through ease of use, experience, personalization, and predictive analytics. This is putting hoteliers under more pressure than ever to evaluate and increase their investment in technology to offer equal or better ease of use, experience etc. Hoteliers cannot expect to capture and serve the 21st-century consumer with 30-year-old technology.
