Human Resources

My perspective is that an authentic, personalised experience does not require touching the guest. It is true that we are accustomed to shaking hands, speaking in close proximity, and serving the guest items that one touches, but contact and proximity are not what guests remember when they complement the service of a hotel.

At the end of the day, personalised experiences are all about "thoughtful" gestures. The great thing is that these gestures can be executed in ways that don't involve contact. This can include outreach emails, following up once the guest is at the property, texting services, hand-written welcome notes, and committing to always finding ways to delight and surprise guests.

Let's take a step back for a moment to look at the bigger picture: COVID-19 will absolutely linger for some time with new variants and local or regional hotspots of concern. We'll likely face rolling vaccinations and other steps as well.

For the last decade or so, there's been a huge debate between man vs. machine in business. The way I see it, it's man and machine. When approached correctly, the two go hand-in-hand. Artificial intelligence (i.e. robotic process automation, machine learning) can perform tasks faster than any human can, yet people have the ability to express emotion in a way that technology simply can't.

The customer experience should never be subjugated by technology. Rather, technology should be utilized to enhance the guest experience, streamlining time utilization and created an environment of service excellence. Humankind is, by and large, social animals.

While digital and self-service options are growing in popularity, the stats and facts are still telling us that the old-fashioned human-to-human connection is still the number-one way customers like to connect for having their problems resolved.