Technology Mindset

As the hospitality industry stands at a crossroads between tradition and innovation, Ian Millar—Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at EHL and a leading authority in hospitality technology—invites readers to rethink long-held assumptions about the guest experience. Drawing on his dual expertise in hospitality and information technology, as well as his experience advising hotels and technology startups worldwide, Millar explores how a technology mindset is not only compatible with great service, but essential for meeting the evolving expectations of guests in 2025 and beyond.

“Hospitality is a people business.” This has been the mantra of the hospitality industry since the dawn of time. I am not suggesting that we replace the human element in hospitality, but we do need to drastically rethink what makes sense in 2025 and beyond.

In this short article, I kindly ask the reader to challenge themselves and truly consider: does what we are doing still make sense? There are many areas where rethinking our approach is necessary, but for the purposes of this article, I will focus on just a few. The first is “automation.” This topic was recently discussed in my class with master’s students, most of whom are working professionals in the industry. Once we sat down and started to answer a simple question, it was incredible how many examples emerged. The question was: “What could be automated or handled by the hotel guest themselves?”

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The Hotel Yearbook 2025 - Technology Edition

The HOTEL Yearbook Technology 2025 delves into the transformative power of data in the hospitality industry, exploring how the "everything-data decade" is reshaping the landscape. This year's edition brings together perspectives from global hotel brands, technology providers, consultants, and academics to answer a critical question: How can hotels harness technology to drive real, sustainable success?
www.hotelyearbook.com/edition/technology-2025.html