10 Reasons Why Hospitality Must Innovate

I vaguely remember the time when travel, hotels and hospitality were lots of fun, very glamourous and really memorable

I vaguely remember the time when travel, hotels and hospitality were lots of fun, very glamourous and really memorable. My parents took me on the original Queen Mary liner to New York when I was 10; that was really amazing. Stickers on my luggage reminded me for years of that joyful trip (although I think there was a hurricane and there is some super 8 footage somewhere of my toy boat going overboard). The stellar experience for travellers and the prestige of staying in a first rate hotel is part of the long-term customer experience. As travel became more common and hotel companies morphed into enterprises where size and scale were critical, hotels became less distinctive, less fun and less centred around the guest’s experience.

At times of economic uncertainty it is essential for hospitality operators to ensure that they stand out from competitors. This means not only having all the basic requisites of a welcoming environment, top-notch product and exceptional service in place, but also taking steps to innovate and create something extra special.

Let’s start with some amazing statistics:

The tourism industry is emerging as the world’s largest industry in the past decade by creating 200 million jobs worldwide and accounting for 11 percent of the world’s total gross domestic product.
Smart phones account for over 55% of global overall handset sales in 2014 
According to recent survey, 45% of hotel guests travel with two devices and 40% with three or more.
 Operating Systems with Android OS accounting for around 80% global market share 
Social networks users: Facebook 1.15+ Billion; Twitter & Google+ 500+ Million; LinkedIn 238+ Million 
More than 23% of marketers are investing in blogging and social media 
There are over 1 billion unique monthly visitors on YouTube

Those are truly amazing and should stimulate a rapid adoption of state of the art technologies and improving the overall guest experience from good to great.. Hoteliers and owners have heard it all before of course. The hotel industry used to be ahead of the curve when it came to technology, attracting guests with TVs and other innovations they couldn’t dream of having in their own homes. Now the opposite is true: Travelers are familiar with the advanced technologies they have in their living room and are often disappointed when hotel rooms don’t meet needs or expectations. Business leaders across multiple industries understand the need for innovation. Innovation as a human expression of creativity and smart thinking, is not the result of economic development, but rather the source of sustainable economic and social progress. The best definition I have found of innovation is:

Innovation causes significant positive change.

There is a process by which any organisation can systematically become more ‘innovative’. The secret of the success of any technology or innovation is in the execution of the process. There is an opportunity to restore the enjoyment and personalisation of hotels from the past, while retaining the low cost structures and enhanced conveniences that suit the needs of the modern traveler.

Hospitality industry and entertainment service is evolving into a more competitive and complex environment. Staying in hotels and eating in restaurants is not always a necessity, therefore businesses need to consider that, while the bottom line profit is vitally important, they must also generate special emotions and memories for their guests and customers, which will encourage them to come back time and time again. Such things can be difficult to quantify, but talking to clients and understanding and taking on board their desires is the starting point.

Your customers’ expectations are changing the hospitality industry and the entertainment experiences they want to live. They count on custom and high-quality standard services.With customer-driven strategy wholly new offerings are possible, and the innovative. There are innumerable ways that an innovative hospitality company can deliver customer-driven innovation. The following are only a few of the examples:

Better guest connection: The critical elements which make a huge difference to the guests’ experience of a hotel or restaurant visit are centred on finding ways of exceeding their expectations. Hotels need to make it easier for their most frequent customers, both individual and corporate, to do business with them. This means going beyond creating large data warehouses containing basic information about travelers habits and preferences. Hotels should create an environment where the hotel maintains and leverages digital notes from meetings, schedule and contact information and any other information which is valuable to those frequent customers.
Service and information: customers (and all of us) want to feel special; they want to feel that they are genuinely cared for by a hospitality. To do this hotels will need to extend their brand to services, so that hotels can offer customers a stream of branded products and services while still maintaining, or even strengthening their own brand. A hotel can apply the concept of web portals, which has resulted in astronomical valuations for many internet companies, and become the business services portal for the frequent business traveler. In addition to the traditional front desk experience, the Hyatt Regency Chicagooffers check-in via a lobby ambassador holding a special iPad. Guests can also use a nearby kiosk to select a room, inquire about an upgrade, and obtain an RFID key. These are the latest card key with a fancy chip inside, so it can’t become demagnetised, saving you those frustrating calls/trips back to the front desk.
Guests are their own concierge: The new Radisson iConcierge app (launched early April on Android and iOS) allows guests to access a wide variety of services including the ability to order room service, book a spa appointment, set a wake-up call, get your luggage picked up, and grab a taxi.
Needs and preferences: Hotels should provide services tailored to their most frequent customers.Too many guests work in their rooms while sitting on their bed or battle with many other meeting attendees for a single phone line.
Connect and charge guest’s gadgets: It starts with two adapter-friendly electrical outlets plus two USB ports, to flexibly power your devices. Then you’ve got HDMI, VGA, RCA, and S-Video ports, so you can view images from a computer, camcorder, or any other video device through your room’s TV. Likewise, you can pipe audio in through a standard 3.5mm jack or a docked iPod/iPhone connection. And in case you don’t feel like going wireless for whatever reason, there’s also a wired Internet port.
Training and development of staff: To provide an exceptional guest experience, staff education and training – plus the benchmarking of customer service – are essential. Using technology (like World Manager) to deliver training to all staff seamlessly will be the key to future development and innovation.
Benchmarking and value: Defining, quantifying and benchmarking service levels are also essential to the achievement of outstanding service. Compare your business against competitors and what you were doing last year, as well as analyse guest feedback and mystery shopper visits. More than ever, people want to feel that they get value for money – so the most important thing is to deliver what they expect. It all depends on what area of the market you are in, but whatever your promise is you’d better be true to it – nobody wants to feel they wasted their money in times like these.
A great customer experience: Customers are increasingly demanding an experience from their visits to hotels and restaurants, in addition to a quality product and service. The result of this means hotels and restaurants really need to start understanding: a) what experiences are and how they work and b) how to manage the innovation that is driving the experience
Remote control everything: Can your guests can use free companion app on their own phone or tablet to power the TV on/off; change the channel; browse, order, and control in-room movies. When you first enter your room you’re greeted with lights automatically turning on, the curtains parting, and your TV turning on to display all your control options. From there, you can use the special remote or one of the room’s conveniently located interactive touch displays, to operate the TV, lights, air conditioning, and motorised curtains from pretty much anywhere in the room. The system has a few one-touch options for quickly setting the mood. You can even have an alarm wake you up not just at a specific time, but also with your desired temperature, curtain position, light intensity and music playing. Mmmmmm – nice.
New solutions for old problems: Some solutions for entertainment service using the right technologies: Digital signage, Multimedia Entertainment Program Guide  and social networks hot spots.

Innovation is vital to the hospitality industry because businesses must compete with new ideas in order to meet the constantly changing needs of customers. This industry creates a competitive environment in each of its divisions, causing businesses to continuously look for unique ways of improving their reputations and attractiveness to consumers, all while attempting to cut costs and increase their profits. Be successful by providing not only a superior on-location experience but at the same time find new ways to interact with your customers before, during and after their holidays.

I have built the model, now I am waiting to get on the real QM II. Maybe.

Be Amazing Every Day

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