Hoteliers fear ‘robot-run future’
Hotel owners said that the future of hospitality should be one that combines technology with a human touch to create an enjoyable but authentic experience
A survey has revealed that while hoteliers fear a future where properties are run by robots, they also believe artificial intelligence (AI) may be the key to delivering a highly-personalised guest experience.
The survey was conducted by hotel cloud platform, Siteminder, and hospitality revenue management solutions firm, Ideas Revenue Solutions, and was raised in a session at the World Travel Market London in November 2017.
Leading hoteliers at the event said that although they did not think robots could ever replace genuine hospitality, they can decipher data to learn about guests much faster than humans.
Monica Or, consultant at Star Quality Hospitality Consultancy, said one reason for the sentiment is the recognition that hotel guest preferences have become more “sophisticated” over the last 25 years with the growing accessibility of digital technology.
She added: “Hoteliers desperately need to get on board with the technological advances that we all, as consumers, are seeing and experiencing on the day-to-day. Guests today are more tech savvy, so what they have in their homes they now expect in the hotels where they stay.”
Hoteliers suggested AI could best enhance the guest experience through tailored pricing during the booking process, voice and face recognition upon arrival, and 24/7 customer service during the guests’ stay.
Ruairi Conroy, managing director Siteminder, said: “Hotels have a wealth of guest intelligence at their disposal. They have the opportunity to understand and analyse every point of the guest experience – and to make more innovative, more informed decisions – but they need information to flow seamlessly through their systems in order to make it work.”
