Balancing High-Tech And High-Touch In Hospitality - HSMAI Marketing Review
By Frederick J. Demicco, Ph.D., Professor and ARAMARK Chair, The University of Delaware, CIHAN COBANOGLU, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Hospitality Information Technology, The University of Delaware and Marvin Cetron, Ph.D., President, Forecasting International. Technology applications used by management and guests in the hospitality industry are changing rapidly.
Imagine typical Americans traveling for business or pleasure. The travelers check out a hotel's Web site, select their accommodations and make an online reservation, download the confirmation number and directions to the airport and hotel to their personal digital assistant (PDA). When they arrive at the hotel, a bell person meets them at the door and types their relevant information into a wireless, hand-held PDA, enabling them to skip a check-in line at the front desk. They're given a card that electronically unlocks their room — a room complete with Internet access, digital movies on demand, and high-speed phone line. During their stay, a computerized system keeps track of any extra charges they incur, adding them automatically to the bill. All that reliance on technology is just the part of the hotel operation that's visible to the customer. Behind the scenes, computer software revenue/yield management is continually adjusting room prices according to changing supply and demand, controlling energy use within the building, providing online training programs for employees, tracking and ordering inventory in the hotel's restaurant, setting employee work schedules and monitoring the security of operations."
Hotel management is both an art and a science. In the past and today, technology centered on the science of the business — automating reservations, accounting and check-in/check-out of a hotel. Today, we are more "state of art" where we are forming closer customer relationships to better understand and serve "individual" guests. This is referred to as "customization." Technology is constantly expanding hospitality "horizons," benefiting companies to better serve their customers and their bottom lines. How companies apply this stream of advances in technology and telecommunications will be a factor in their future success or competitive challenge.