Hospitality HR experts estimate there are 100,000 open IT and digital marketing positions in hospitality in North America alone. This labor shortage and lack of adequate investments jeopardize the introduction of the latest technology applications and best practices, curbs new implementations and stifles technology innovations in the industry.  Is the lack of proper education - hospitality technology degrees and courses at hospitality schools, and professional development opportunities on hotel IT and digital marketing - the reason for this labor shortage and for the industry falling behind from a technology perspective? What's your take?

Mark Fancourt
Mark Fancourt
Co-Founder at TRAVHOTECH

The topic of education in hospitality is always an interesting one as it is so often the first casualty of financial performance. Technology education appears to lower the priority further. Buyers often complain about the volume of education recommended to successfully deploy a technology, seeking ways to whittle down education investment. Yet, quick to react when adoption into the business of a new technology is challenged. Ask any vendor company how often they can secure commitment from customers for ongoing education and updates to feature functionality. Even while the complaints roll in that the technology does not satisfy the needs of the operation, despite the required capability existing in the tool.

The end result is is that such a self destructive approach negatively impacts the two most important stakeholders - the staff and the guest. Over time, and sometimes not that long, a very good technology ends up being replaced because it 'doesn't work'.

There is no substitute for education. Education directly impacts adoption and influences retaining of the technology by the customer. 

As our industry shifts from capital based models to SaaS based models all parties will do well to heed the necessity for continued education. As it is oft highlighted it's much easier to remove a SaaS based deployment.

We can argue over the mediums and delivery mechanisms. At the end of the day the only way to avoid rapid wash-down of a knowledge base is to continually educate. There are no shortcuts. Fail to continually educate - fail to maximise the opportunities through technology assets - fail to be as effective and efficient in the operation. This is where industry falls behind.

Education institutions have a role to play in the introduction of technology to aspiring young hoteliers. However, it's not possible to have every technology used in industry on hand. Tool introduction needs to extend well beyond the traditional PMS and POS to other across operational tools regularly found in industry today. More importantly young hoteliers need to learn about the strategic approach of technology and the role technology is intended to play in a business environment. Many students move into management over time and technology, while so fundamental to success in a modern hospitality industry, has been largely overlooked as an important management discipline for a well rounded hotelier. There is room for improvement and focus.

Finally, young hoteliers need to learn the skill of process engineering and optimization. The reality is that technology is the operational process and good management needs to be constantly scrutinizing operational excellence and the adoption of tools to run a better business. Teach them young to have an inquiring mind and a view toward constant improvement.

If there truly is demand for technology professionals in the industry, that is indeed good news and perhaps a telling statement for the industry. It wasn't that long ago that many operators determined that technology could run quite nicely without industry technology resources - wholesale removal from industry. Perhaps some growing up has taken place and it is now appreciated that all aspects of a business require capable and knowledgeable custodians in scale with the breadth and business impact of technology deployed in industry.

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