Technology

Dear reader, nobody knows exactly how the metaverse space will evolve. However, we know that technology is relentless in its progress, and that immersive technologies will likely keep being developed and pushed for mass adoption.

Hoteliers are already overworked as is with numerous other siloed systems in place, so adding yet another parallel, disconnected process isn't going to work. Hence, the first step to onboarding any metaverse technologies is to look at how the data will be piped, cleaned and structured within existing guest profile systems or CRMs as well as connected to current payment rails.

The metaverse presents many opportunities for hoteliers. Kick off your journey by acquainting yourself with key concepts like virtual reality, augmented reality, and immersive guest experiences. Delve into the metaverse ecosystem, researching platforms, trends, and enterprises, while choosing your niche, be it virtual concierge services, digital amenities, or VR-driven F&B experiences.

Blockchain technologies have to take a backseat right now because, with 2023 as a rebuilding year filled with uncertainty, there are just so many other technology and organizational issues for hotels to tackle that take priority.

I am particularly interested in the marketing and branding side of how blockchain can help the hospitality industry. Blockchain users are a very tight, large, and financially powerful community of people from around the world, that usually does incredible amounts of travelling.

Blockchain technology presents a "leapfrog moment" for the hospitality industry, allowing hotels to jump to the next stage of tech solutions and bypass intermediate stages. Hotels have been slow to adopt new technology, but blockchain offers the opportunity to create value by restructuring distribution, controlling pricing and increasing loyalty.

Unpopular opinion: we need to cut back on using the word 'revolutionize'. When we overuse it, it gets diluted to the point where it loses its meaning. After all, most technologies are only revolutionary in hindsight. For 2023, hotels need to first focus on cash flow and deepening their tech integrations across all outlets to improve KYC and TRevPAR.

Without a doubt attribute based (up) selling will revolutionize hotels booking and upsell process. Attribute-based Selling (ABS) re-imagines hotel inventory merchandising in order to improve guest satisfaction and generate greater hotel revenue.

Hey! I'm 82. It's all in the mind. At any age, it takes 10% of a person's time to keep up with, and become comfortable with new technology.

"The medium is the message!" as Marshall McLuhan coined six decades ago. In this case, the underlying message of establishing a metaverse presence is that a hotel brand is forward-thinking and is engineering its products to fit the mindset of Gen Y+Z+Alpha.

The Metaverse provides the opportunity for people to travel who normally could not afford to travel as much. The middle class is able to visit the most incredible places through virtual reality experiences that bring joy and wonder.

The rise of the Metaverse presents exciting possibilities for the travel and hospitality industry. Businesses can use the Metaverse for advertising, immersive e-commerce experiences, and B2A marketing. One effective strategy is to leverage avatars as native advertising, as demonstrated by companies such as Tommy Hilfiger or Deliveroo.

The Metaverse is here to extend the possibilities of reality and the digital presence of any person or company. My personal and professional use goes from a creative CV, to my virtual office to organizing activities up to 2000 users.

There are three specific and tangible practical business applications for immersive platforms and the Metaverse with the global travel and hospitality space. First, the ability for brands and operators to deploy mobile digital, immersive overlays of information, new services, marketing and guest experience enhancements to their hotel, resort or restaurant locations.

The question is: what can we do with the Metaverse which we cannot do on Web2?I think one missing piece of the puzzle is helping the Hotel guests understand the area around the Hotel.Ideally, a potential guest may stroll around the Hotel and get a feeling of the environment: see the streets, the restaurant, the shops, the noise and so on.Also, simulating the transport from the airport to the Hotel may be fun and make the experience smoother once on place.