Last year I participated in the research and illustration of the last 100 years of hotel technology in our series "The History of Hotel & Travel Technology" (read article). In many cases, we've seen hotel distribution and technology change during or after a global crisis. But is this a trend that will continue? And what could be the innovation from these crises?

Up until the early 2000s, managing the guest experience was still a very human to human experience, yet today the experience happens primarily through technology. Human interactions still hold value, but with the incredible growth of the internet, smartphones and an always-on lifestyle, people are no longer willing to wait very long for their desired outcome.

Hotels have so many touchpoints where customers interact with the property and staff, and this is what has set a hotel experience apart from a retail experience, hoteliers recognise this. They excel at delivering guest service. Yet more so than ever in today's climate, we need technology to facilitate many expectations that guests are not only used to but also expect. Today's hotel guests expect a quality experience from before, during and after their stay.

We all agree that people will want to travel again as soon as possible for holidays and business trips. Until travel resembles anything to pre-covid times we have a chance for innovation.

Looking beyond the obvious needs to support health concerns, 'contactless technology', how should we prioritize the data and innovate from what is available - what innovation will/should come from the current crisis?

Floor Bleeker
Floor Bleeker
Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Accor

During the Covid crisis we have seen an acceleration of contactless technology that already existed in some shape or form.  We have not seen many radically different innovations. The frictionless or seamless guest journey (how it was called before the crisis) was on many hotelier's wish list and is now, thanks to Covid, a reality in many places.

Now that we have online check-in, mobile keys, and other mobile services in place, we also have a platform and that's where it will become interesting. On the one hand we will collect a lot of data related to the in-hotel guest journey and this data can be used to personalize the stay and offers. With the hotel app being more prominent we can also use it to push services and experiences while the guest is staying with us and this could significantly change the way we interact with our guests.

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