Are there any quick-fix IT solutions for hotels in the post-COVID new normal?
Information Technology
— 12 experts shared their view



Managing Partner at Wayfare Ventures LLC
IT professionals need to wear their data analytics hat for the next several months at the very least. The problem is that all metrics comparisons to last year same day, week, and month are useless for the first time. Management relies upon IT professionals to extract comparative data to aid decision-making, and this won't work when properties have been shut down or occupancy is so low as to make comparisons useless. see more

Head of Systems & Technology Architecture at citizenM
The availability of NFC contactless payment (Restaurant POS, Front Desk, Kiosk), and NFC contactless access control (guest room doors, parking garages, elevators, meeting rooms, gyms, spas, front doors etc.) in hotels to reduce the need to touch shared surfaces that allow the transmission of coronavirus is both an urgent need and an intelligent response to one of the most significant issues that the hospitality industry has ever faced: coronavirus transmission and covid19 . Importantly also, NFC contactless, if widely implemented, would demonstrate that the hospitality industry has the well-being of its guests and employees front of mind once hotels start to emerge from lock-down. see more

Hospitality Consultant
RPA - Robotic Process Automation - is growing quickly. It is an application of technology, governed by business logic and structured inputs, aimed at automating business processes. It uses AI to import data from screens and forms. It is relatively quick, easy, and low-cost to implement and co-exists with other tech, eg sits alongside a PMS or finance system. see more

Professor at Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne
The main things that could or should be done are. 1: guest communication platforms, either a Whats App for business or a dedicated platform, guest's communication should be digital and remove the need to go to the reception or concierge. 2: Link this to QR codes. Remove all paper menus, wine lists, in-room breakfast, and in-room compendiums and replace them with QR codes linked to digital menus for guest ordering. Potentially even removing guest amenities in the room (hairdryer, bathroom amenities, shoe cleaning kit, sewing kit, iron and ironing board, minibar items, paper and pen, coffee machine, magazines, shoehorn, slippers, bathroom scales) and then request the guest asks for them in the communication platform or again QR code to request. Guests will be worried about touching things other guests could have potentially touched, housekeeping will have new procedures in place and a lot more to do as well. By removing these items by default but still allowing the guests to request may be a stop-gap for the moment. 3: Finally encourage or insist on contactless payments. This could be the suspension of sending items to the room bill from the bar or restaurant and asking guests to pay direct on the spot. Would save on a lot of contact and paper and pen signing.

Information Technology and Services Consultant
the first thing i would undertake is a complete forensic audit of all your IT systems to determine the following... see more

Adjunct Professor NYU Tisch Center for Hospitality and Hospitality & Online Travel Tech Consultant
I believe there are three immediate action steps hoteliers, especially independents, can implement in a relatively fast and inexpensive fashion: see more

In a time of scarce resources and where caution is required it is sometimes astonishing that some experts propose and advocate a level of IT investment that hardly can fit the budgets of distressed companies that face diminished demand and significant drops in revenue. The recent study published by IDeaS, “The Journey to Recovery”, reveals the intention of 42% of the inquired to reduce costs in technology tools. Curiously the same group of industry leaders inquired by the SAS's company revealed intentions to significantly reduce the costs with staff, both hourly and salaried ( 70% and 58% respectively) which seems a paradox since a logical path for this reduction in labor costs would be the more intensive usage of technology to increase the levels of automation and business processes digitalization that could compensate the unavailability of human resources. see more

IT solutions for the current situation can be split into two areas: in-property interactions and communication. First, in the hotel, there are straightforward steps like online check-in and check-out. Second, during the guest-journey, starting on the hotel's website booking process all the way until the post-stay phase, clear communication with the guest is paramount. Messaging has to be able to cover every step, be personalized to each guest, and quickly adapt to changing conditions.

It cost money to make money. Doing nothing is the last thing hotels will want to do. While it may seem hard and strange to invest in new technology during this uncertain time, I believe it is really important to actually make changes now. Today's hotel technology is all available as SaaS so you only pay a monthly fee and have mostly little or no initial cost to get it going. Move your stack to the cloud NOW, is I think a first step hotels should take. Likely hotels will open up with low occupancy and less staff, so a perfect time to introduce new technologies and processes. A second step is to ensure the hotel has clear technologies in place to facilitate social distance and contactless check-in and out, and this should include technologies that can help with offering room upgrades. Now is the time to enable the choice of service! Guests still will want to come to the front desk, but you should enable guests who prefer to limit contact, to do it all by themselves, on their phone, or on a self-service check-in/out station. Offering room upgrades digitally is another affordable and simple to activate solution, that will help bring in some high margin revenue. see more

“As guests slowly return to hotels, they will do so with a heightened sense of hygiene. We can logically predict an increased demand for a “touch-free” experience across the guest journey. This might well prove to be the trigger for wide-scale adoption of the kiosk and mobile check-in/check-out, for example. Uptake of the mobile key is also likely, especially given that the associated technology is rapidly evolving to support a more straightforward guest experience. In addition, we are likely to see an increase in the use of chatbots, guest request platforms, and other communication tools.” see more

I'd like to start by saying that most modern, cutting-edge technology costs far less than many think - and the savings to be made in resource-hours alone often directly demonstrate a positive ROI! Naturally, you expect me to say this, as the CEO of a high-tech hospitality software vendor - but luckily, it's true! see more

First and foremost, building trust is the most imperative factor to get your guests in the rooms. Physical sanitation of rooms and common spaces on a regular basis should be made routine. SOP's need to be designed around room dining and buffet break fasts can be replaced by in-room service. However, empowering the guests to transact at their convenience and safe environment is very important . see more