Video Conferencing and the Hospitality Industry: an Inside Look

Evolving Customer Demographics
Forbes reports that within 10 years, a major game changer for the hospitality industry will be the maturation of the Millennial generation's spending power, a demographic that expects individually tailored services at lightening speeds. Hoteliers will be wise to invest in the latest technology to address this demand with supply. This will extend to many different types of technology used in hospitality services, such as allowing guests to make and pay for reservations using mobile devices. It also includes upgrading current technologies such as video conferencing. Only offering fast Internet connections won't cut it for Millennials. A dependable option is using a video conferencing service provider like Blue Jeans that uses cloud-based technology and allows users to connect from multiple devices. Providers like Blue Jeans offer many different packages that can be tailored to individual industries, and can help hoteliers manage video conferencing systems for guests.

Reimagining Amenities for Business Travelers
While Millennials and the younger demographic are important, you also can't discount business travelers of any age. Not only are business professionals going to also demand current technology, but catering to this crowd is also in any hotelier's best interests since they're a substantial demographic in the hospitality industry with very specific needs. Not only that, but they pay close attention to what you offer, especially when they're overwhelmed with work. Anything that makes a business traveler's work easier is going to be a major factor in where they decide to stay.

4Hoteliers highlighted the Westin Hotels & Resorts's newest innovation for their business travelers: a completely reimagined workspace. The state of the art space is outfitted with video conferencing, replete with seating for four that can also be made private to hold meetings, in addition to other amenities such as wireless Internet, printers, and white boards. This is how you need to start approaching the types of business travel amenities you offer.

Keeping Up with Content
It's common sense that having an up-to-date website and social media marketing plan in 2015 is a must for any business. However, you need to think about how you can take video communication to the next level and take full advantage of what it offers in the way of content. According to SelfGrowth.com, one of the top ten most useful aspects of video conferencing in the hospitality industry is the ability go to give a live demo of the property. Most travelers rely on customer reviews to judge whether they want to try a new hotel, since making reservations online can be a risky business. The last thing a traveler wants it to arrive at a property that promised a full service workspace, only to find out that there's not even Wi-Fi available. Therefore, one trend sweeping the hospitality industry is using video conferencing for live demonstrations of your property. Seeing a destination in real time on video gives travelers peace of mind as well as allowing them to compare. Making fully informed decisions about what types of products and services to buy online without ever seeing them in person is an expectation that most people have come to possess, and travel isn't any different. A customer may not know what they're going to get when they book a room with a double bed and "lounge area," whereas offering a look at it via video conferencing can be much more enticing and inspire consumer confidence.

Developments In-house
When thinking about how technology impacts the hospitality industry, your thoughts may first turn to how it effects customers. However, just as important is what kind of effect it can have on internal affairs and staff.

Tnooz reports that in 2015, one of the biggest trends that the hospitality industry will see is the integration of marketing and technology jobs. In the past, these two departments seemed to be opposites, one being considered creative, and the other technical. Today, though, collaboration is the name of the game. Video conferencing can play an essential role of maximizing collaboration amongst staff. This is especially true if you're working within a larger brand chain with properties spread throughout the country, or even the world.

Video conferencing represents one of many technologies that are currently extremely relevant in the hospitality industry. However, it also reflects the trend of the growing importance of collaboration and improved communication in any business. This means both inside the industry and also for your customers, since both are equally important as these types of tools continue to evolve and grow in popularity.