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Despite being one of the largest and most dynamic segments of the US and global economy, penetration of cloud-based technologies in the segment remains incredibly low, and the vendor landscape remains tremendously fragmented on a global basis,” says Matt Melymuka, co-founder and partner at PeakSpan Capital.

Hotels use Zingle’s messaging tools to deliver five-star service at scale; Medallia’s investment in Zingle gives hotels the opportunity to provide frictionless guest service and streamline time-consuming interactions, such as check-in.

Life House, a tech-first hotel experience, shows proof-of-concept: that hotels that invest in technology drive higher revenue, better guest reviews, and a higher star-rating.

Hotels are catching on, adding convenience through streaming, voice activation, guest-room tablets, and food ordering tech.

White labeling is a practice in which a product – in this case, hotel software – is manufactured by a third party and uses branding by the purchaser, or marketer, so that the end product appears to have been produced by the purchaser.

Oaky, one of the industry’s leading upselling tools, raised a Series A funding round of $9.5 million led by PeakScan Capital. Oaky’s appeal to investors stems from the app’s data-driven approach to driving incremental revenue. Their deep understanding of customer behavior makes Oaky one of the top-rated upselling tools on the market today.

For instance, feeding data from your PMS into a business intelligence tool leads to real, operational data to analyze trends and provide recommendations for better marketing campaigns, smarter staffing decisions, seasonal trends, and market competition. Hotels that are comfortable using APIs can automate tasks that take up much of their employee’s time with manual data entry.

On-demand convenience dominates our lives, and guests expect this level of ease from their hotel experience as well.

An API, application programming interface, is simply a messenger of data between applications. APIs allow your various hotel technology tools and programs to work together, connecting your RMS to a PMS, or your PMS to your upsell software, or your business intelligence software to your PMS. An API makes your technology user-friendly and efficient; when your tools work together, you capture each platform’s full capabilities.

Hilton is taking a different approach, partnering with Netflix to allow guests to control their streaming straight from the Hilton Honors mobile app.

As far as voice-activation, Volara is leading the way in providing a thoughtful, Alexa-esque guest-room solution. Volara integrates with the most popular work order management systems so that guests can make requests and get confirmation when the item or service they need will be delivered.

And for savvy marketing managers, tablets provide a new channel through which to send targeted, automated messages generating $5,000 per month in additional revenue.

2nd Kitchen is a godsend for hotels without a kitchen on-site: guests can order room service from restaurants near your hotel, taking care of care of orders, menus, payment, fulfillment, and customer support for your property.

Hotels are a prime target for hackers. “Only about 25% of all U.S. businesses, including hotel operators, are fully compliant with current data security best practices. That means that three out of four are not and are potential disasters waiting to happen,” reported one cybersecurity expert.

Numerous high-profile malware attacks on the hotel industry have led to hundreds of millions of guests’ data being compromised and millions of dollars in damage. Just this February, MGM Resorts revealed they were the target of a massive data breach that compromised personal information for more than 10.6 million guests. Files leaked in the MGM attack included information on celebrities, chief executives of technology companies, reporters and government officials, according to Skift.

Expedia and Booking have taken some pretty big hits in recent months.

Why the dive in stock price? There are two factors outside Coronavirus that are impacting OTAs. First, hotels are getting better at capturing direct bookings. Hotel tech like direct booking platforms, metasearch ad managers, and messaging integrations help properties draw more visitors to their site and convert more direct bookings, circumventing the high OTA commissions in the process.

Secondly, Google has entered the travel market in a big way. Google has expanded from traditional AdWords to include hotels everywhere via its Hotel Ads product.

5G may be getting all the buzz, but for property owners, WiFi 6 is much more relevant. WiFi 6 is the term used to describe the next iteration of Wifi, a faster, more efficient connection enabled through new technologies. WiFi 6 is about 30% faster than our current WiFi.

With WiFi 6, your property can leverage in-room technology to provide better service, driving positive guest reviews and repeat business. Smart thermostats, smart speakers, and smart locks will all perform better with the adoption of WiFi 6 over the next five years.

Investors in Oaky already recognize this next insight: data has become the world’s most valuable resource. The sooner you start to mine guest data for better customer insights, the better positioned your property will be against your competition.

Data can fuel smarter marketing campaigns, inform your pricing, and help you capture a higher market share than your competitors by knowing your guests on a deeper level.

Earlier this year, Revinate launched the hotel industry's first Guest Data Platform to aggregate, clean and deliver rich guest profiles for hotels and property groups of all sizes. The platform combines data from multiple sources to provide a complete picture of a hotel’s guests, delivering the information needed to increase guest satisfaction scores, direct bookings, and ultimately, profit.

Brands in the alternative lodging sector include Stay Alfred, Sonder, The Guild Hotels and to some extent groups such as Selina and OYO. 

The biggest distraction or barrier these next-gen hotels face is that they’re taking the wrong approach to tech. The companies that win will be the ones who stop acting like tech companies – using buzzwords like AI and virtual concierge – and focus on being more innovative and agile real estate businesses than traditional market players today. Those that succeed will be tech-enabled businesses; not tech businesses.

Smart hotel rooms use technology to allow guests to personalize their stay experiences.

Technology is becoming more important to hotel operations because it can deliver increasingly high value for hoteliers and guests.

The most important software in the hotel industry is the property management system, which acts as “mission control” for hotel operations. Hoteliers use a PMS to manage reservations, check guests in and out, and handle billing.

While exciting technologies present new options for hoteliers to enhance their offerings, these new innovations also mean hoteliers must focus on data security and continued training when implementing the technology that guests expect.

20,000 properties.

hospitality property owners look to address the challenge of competition from peer-to-peer platforms like Airbnb

focus on improving guest experience and helping travelers have the trip of a lifetime

guest-messaging software

messaging tools to deliver five-star service at scale

provide frictionless guest service and streamline time-consuming interactions, such as check-in.

White labeling has already begun in the hotel industry without hoteliers even knowing it. Property management systems that offer channel management integrations are usually white labelling their channel managers from other vendors

The many tech innovations we see penetrating the market require constant vigilance of cybersecurity best practices, regular updates to security software, and dedication to routine testing and threat assessment.

Most revenue management systems focus on reporting and data visualization; the addition of white label software to the backend of an RMS can improve price optimization, letting hoteliers spend their time on higher value tasks and strategic revenue management.

APIs allow your various hotel technology tools and programs to work together, conne

streaming, voice activation, guest-room tablets, and food ordering tech.

2nd Kitchen is a godsend for hotels without a kitchen on-site: guests can order room service from restaurants near your hotel,

Numerous high-profile malware attacks on the hotel industry have led to hundreds of millions of guests’ data being compromised and millions of dollars in damage.

forced to get smart about security

do their research in selecting tech tools

regularly host training to their staff

all-in-one suite of tools, including a property management system, channel manager, booking engine, and revenue manager, growing revenue and automating workflows at more than

There are two factors outside Coronavirus that are impacting OTAs. First, hotels are getting better at capturing direct bookings.

Secondly, Google has entered the travel market in a big way.

for property owners, WiFi 6 is much more relevant

beyond the guest experience, hotels can take advantage of faster WiFi

Smart thermostats, smart speakers, and smart locks

data has become the world’s most valuable resource.

Data can fuel smarter marketing campaigns, inform your pricing, and help you capture a higher market share

Hoteliers are just starting to realize the potential of its guest data.

put a dollar figure on just how much hotel industry data is worth. The Group purchased STR for $450 million in cas

New competitors are challenging old management companies that haven’t innovated enough

These next-gen properties are sometimes called hometels (home+hotel), or more generally, alternative lodging

Technology in hotels goes far beyond guestroom TVs and phone

smart locks

ast WiF

NFC technology for contactless payments

kiosks or mobile apps for digital check-in,

robots that deliver room service.

Smart hotel rooms use technology to allow guests to personalize their stay experiences.

The most important software in the hotel industry is the property management system

hoteliers must focus on data security and continued training

White labeling is a practice in which a product – in this case, hotel software – is manufactured by a third party and uses branding by the purchaser, or marketer, so that the end product appears to have been produced by the purchaser. “The advantage is that a single company does not need to do it all: one firm can concentrate on producing the product; another on marketing it; and another can focus on selling it, each according to its expertise and preference,”

Interest in investing in hotel technology has slowly ramped up in recent years.

Hotels that are comfortable using APIs can automate tasks that take up much of their employee’s time with manual data entry.

Why is data so valuable? “Data are now part of every sector and function of the global economy and, like other essential factors of production such as hard assets and human capital, much of modern economic activity simply could not take place without them

Hotels use technology to provide better service, streamline communication, allow guests to personalize their experiences, and offer more convenient processes, like checking in or ordering room service.

deliver increasingly high value for hoteliers and guests. For hotel managers, technology specifically designed to manage hotel operations, reservations, housekeeping, and more can enable greater efficiency and fewer human errors

2. Virtual RealityWe have talked about virtual reality for events a lot in the past. This is indeed a trend that is definitely here to stay. A major plus in attendee engagement, event planners have been finding a lot of amazing ways to leverage this tech to create interactive displays, on-site experiences as well as utilizing VR devices as a major factor in their event promotion strategy.

3. Augmented RealityAlternate reality transports attendees while ensuring that attendees remain connected to the event.

From scavenger hunts to exhibitor promotions and lead management, augmented reality has a plethora of use cases in events.

4. Event DataBig data is considered to be the future of technology. Event technology definitely is no exception. Time and again professionals have emphasized the importance of data and data security in events.

5. DronesThere’s a lot that can be done with drones. Events like Superbowl, Winter Olympics etc. have used drones in the past to mesmerize attendees with breath-taking drone shows.

Apart from event experience, drones are also a great asset in terms of event security and surveillance.

6. RFIDWearable tech is all the rage these days. It’s been in the market for quite a while now, its utility beginning with events such as concerts, music festivals, etc.

From event ticketing to attendee mapping, RFID enabled bands and other wearable gadgets along with Beacon technology will be one of the most used event technologies in the coming years.

7. Mobile App for EventsMobile apps for events is officially mainstream. A lot of events these days are going smarter, making the most of a mobile event app to let attendees access their event on the go.

Event app developers are now focusing on integrating new and improved tech including AR and AI within the event app to engage attendees as well as for lead generation in events such as tradeshows, expos, etc.

8. Voice SearchNot much has been talked about SEO for events. Organic traffic through SEO is a great tool for event promotion. Talking about SEO, voice search is definitely the future.

9. Artificial IntelligenceAI is making great leaps in every field imaginable. One of the most popular implementations of AI is Social Media such as the Facebook chatbot.

Event tech developers have started to focus on this tech in a lot of ways including stand-alone chatbots for events, integrating AI within the event app as well as using AI robots for attendee engagement.

10. Experiential TechEvent professionals are now putting heavy emphasis on experiences. Experiential marketing is on the rise. Attendees, consumers even, now value experiences above anything.

The value addition that an event provides is important to gain loyal attendees. Event technology such as 3D projection mapping, video mapping, etc. that aid event planners in developing these experiences are the future.

Although these enhancements are beneficial to hotels worldwide, some wonder whether hotels are buying the technology and ultimately, implementing them.

the future of hotel technology is unclear, but moving forward requires a certain factor.

Smarter Cleaning Solutions One of the more intuitive applications, technology offers huge potential to solve the greater need for thorough cleaning and dependable sanitation without obliterating profit margins or compromising the safety of the janitorial team. From product design to virtual checklists, many tech vendors have stepped up to offer their services in this arena.

Pure employs a seven-step process to equip any space with purified, allergy-free air and ensure complete elimination of invisible toxins.

LightStrike’s Germ-Zapping Robots are another great example of tech-improved safety. Used first by the Westin Houston Medical Center Hotel, the robots can be used to sanitize guestrooms and common areas, reducing the threat of the virus.

Smart tech solutions can be integrated into personalized guest technology, whether at the time of check in or during their stay, allowing guests to learn as much or as little about the precautions their host is taking. With the option to request more attention in certain areas, cleaning can, for the first time, be a customizable experience.

Most bookings are made online and the check-in process is moving in the same direction, with many hotels investing in facial-recognition technology.

Some platforms can integrate with any access-control system, allowing it to be part of a more personalized guest experience.

Concierge apps are becoming standard, and most hotels are extending in-app offerings to include unlocking the doors, contacting room service, and ordering from the hotel restaurant. The Solay Mobile App is allowing guests to book pool chairs or beachside reservations ahead of time and from a distance. The same philosophy can be applied to gym use, pool time, and restaurant management.

Social Media and Social Good Social media is the best avenue to keep potential guests informed and motivated.

many hotel owners have stepped up to be of service where they’re needed, and they’ve used various forms of social media to spread the word about their offerings. 

Industry leaders are capitalizing on smart solutions, using new technology to rise to new demands and foster deeper client connections. Far from impersonal, tech offers new ways to offer a tailored guest experience. As a permanent part of the new industry normal, smart tech should be embraced and pursued as another opportunity to excel in guest accommodations. 

Super-fast, reliable and suitably priced Internet access

Why are you adding connectivity panels so the guest can tether their device to the TV, when most are very comfortable at either holding it in their hand (like a book) or prefer to connect it wirelessly?

To understand what the guest really wants and needs: STOP, LOOK and LISTEN!

What travellers want in hotel technology

Less is more

A well-lit room with simple controls

They just need the tech to work

Temperatures that can be easily controlled

A place to work

And as for the TV, include 24-hour news channels, sports channels and some entertaining TV channels.

Actually, you can summarize what guests want from a hotel room with three Cs: 1. Clean2. Comfortable 3. Connected

Power sockets

What does this mean to YOU, the hotelier?In my opinion, going forward, guests will start to question why they should pay for this tech when they don’t need it, don’t want it and, most importantly, don’t use it.

A trendy piece of tech is no longer an enticement to make a guest change allegiance from one hotel to another. A B&O stereo or an iPod dock is not a deal breaker, but free Wi-Fi and a free mini-bar can be.

And besides, the lifespan of these toys is very short—12 to 18 months tops—before they become relegated to the old-version league. Can you really afford to swap out gizmos that fast?

the online share of gross travel bookings for corporate meetings is anticipated to hit the 50 percent mark this year.

Technology eases the event registration process, from room allocation to booking guests and handling online payments.

Companies can save money and increase attendance with virtual meetings. It’s also possible to include participants who might have otherwise not been able to attend a meeting due to budgetary concerns or travel conflicts.

There are even tools to help companies ensure that all details such as attendee seating and room arrangements are handled before the event begins.

Hilton is taking a different approach, partnering with Netflix to allow guests to control their streaming straight from the Hilton Honors mobile app.

2nd Kitchen is a godsend for hotels without a kitchen on-site: guests can order room service from restaurants near your hotel, taking care of care of orders, menus, payment, fulfillment, and customer support for your property.

There are two factors outside Coronavirus that are impacting OTAs. First, hotels are getting better at capturing direct bookings. Hotel tech like direct booking platforms, metasearch ad managers, and messaging integrations help properties draw more visitors to their site and convert more direct bookings, circumventing the high OTA commissions in the process.

With WiFi 6, your property can leverage in-room technology to provide better service, driving positive guest reviews and repeat business.

The sooner you start to mine guest data for better customer insights, the better positioned your property will be against your competition.

Data can fuel smarter marketing campaigns, inform your pricing, and help you capture a higher market share than your competitors by knowing your guests on a deeper level.

The companies that win will be the ones who stop acting like tech companies – using buzzwords like AI and virtual concierge – and focus on being more innovative and agile real estate businesses than traditional market players today. Those that succeed will be tech-enabled businesses; not tech businesses.

some people will worry about security,

"I think that you will begin to see more hotels going to RFID and smartphone entry before using biosystem recognition," says Wolfe. "These systems are expensive, and there are many consumers who just don't want this information stored somewhere -- for a variety of reasons."

Systems that track the other qualities that make each human unique are in development as well.

Yet more card-free security systems are on the way.

Many industry watchers are keeping an eye on Houston's largest hotel, the vast 1,200-room Hilton Americas–Houston. The hotel has a facial recognition system that can identify and track guests, employees, and even suitcases. With 700 employees and an annual $16 million payroll, the system offers benefits such as employee time-theft monitoring and prevention for the hotel. But travelers aren't that concerned about employees taking an extra cigarette break. What it means for you is that the system includes alerts if unwanted people are on the property and a response time of mere seconds if there's an incident. Customer service is heightened as well: Returning guests will be recognized and greeted by name. And with 1,200 rooms worth of luggage in transit, the system makes it a lot easier to find lost or misdirected bags.

not everyone wants to be on-camera, all the time. With concerns about "snooping" and a Truman Show-like lack of privacy, might guests feel that systems such as this are too intrusive in our hotels? "

Technology is opening new doors to hotel safety, and the way we navigate hotels is set to change in the blink of an eye. Or the swipe of a cellphone. Or the print of a finger. With futuristic systems like scent and iris scanners and digital facial-recognition, hotel security is being taken to the next level. #plain_module { width: 590px; height:170px; border: none; float:left; margin:0px; font-size:12px;} #plain_module img {border:none; width: 13px; height:14; border: 0px; margin:0px; } #plain_module .mini_main { margin: 0px; padding:0px; width:585px; height:220px; repeat scroll 0 0} #plain_module .mini_item_header {padding:10px 0px; margin: 0px 0px; font-size:16px; color: #555555; border-bottom:1px dotted #CCCCCC;} #plain_module .mini_item {padding:5px 0px; margin: 0px 0px;} #plain_module a { color: #49A3CA; text-decoration:none; } #plain_module a:hover { color: #F98419; text-decoration:underline;} span.gray {color:#949494;} .mini_main li{list-style-type: none;background-image: url(http://www.aolcdn.com/travel/bullet);background-repeat: no-repeat;background-position: 0 1px;padding-left: 10px;} Those plastic key cards that once seemed so innovative will soon go the way of the actual key. The new thing is contact-less Smartcards and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) cards that need just be waved to allow room access. Much like the cruise world's one card system, these cards may soon make hotel stays easier by allowing guests to pay for services, as well as to check-in and check-out, through a single device. Travelers may even be able to save preferences on the cards, from pillow type to floor choice. RFID cards are already in use at New York's Plaza Hotel, and Starwood Hotels are considering introducing them into their hip Aloft and Element properties. But travelers worried they will constantly have to traipse back to reception every time they lose their card need not despair. Security systems in some hotels do away with cards altogether. "In addition to Radio Frequency Identification, there are also systems that use a smartphone, such as an iPhone," says Frank Wolfe, CEO of Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals. "When a guest checks into a hotel and provides their phone number, they get an encrypted sound code via text message." You can then play back the code to unlock your room door.

Systems that track the other qualities that make each human unique are in development as well. Movement-activated video-capture systems were showcased in New Zealand in September 2010. Researchers are at work on devices capable of recognizing an individual's gait or walk and even their DNA. Frank Wolfe says, "If you want to go 'way out there', there are some systems being explored that can allegedly sniff someone, and also systems that can recognize the pattern of blood veins on a human being which are apparently unique to the individual," says Wolfe. Quite common in Japan, vascular-recognition systems such as this are still "several years off," according to Wolfe. "I think that you will begin to see more hotels going to RFID and smartphone entry before using biosystem recognition," says Wolfe. "These systems are expensive, and there are many consumers who just don't want this information stored somewhere -- for a variety of reasons."

BuildingOS provides a central hub where the data from all of a building's systems (e.g. water, electric, gas, solar power) can be processed and understood. If the experts are correct, you'll likely see many similar applications emerge for homeowners in the new year.

The ways attendees' expectations have changed is due largely to technology in the event space.

"The expectation for attendees is that they can be engaged. From the easy stuff — polling, contests, social curation — to environmental changes, such as how IBM has changed their product-demonstration approach at events, or a recent augmented-reality experience we created for UPS … to nuances like RFID tags that personalize digital signage, people expect to see themselves as part of an event."

With that as a given, now comes a newer drive on the planner's side: To place more control of events in their audience's hands.

She's talking about app and online tools that allow for text-to-screen and text-to-moderator communications, so that moderators have more control over what questions are being asked and who's asking them while on the podium.

"We started using apps for all of our events: No paper, no welcome book, no paper agendas — everything digital. That way no one has anything in their hands, which encourages them to interact."

"We use live polling at our events via social media. In our workshops, we tell people to tweet at the speaker or use a hashtag when they ask a question. That way the speaker can constantly receive and answer questions in real time."

already key to the personalized experience is the advent of beacon technology within the event space. In essence, beacons detect attendees' mobile devices and then push relevant information to those screens

"While GPS and geocaching are still popular for scavenger hunts, augmented reality has proven to be a huge step forward in location-based mixed-reality games for corporate team building," Shackman says, regarding how AR intersects with event activities.

From on-site wristbands that allow participants to capture moments and information — say you like a sample of a dish at a food event and the wristband can send the recipe to you — to BYOD opportunities surrounding devices such as Google Glass, we're at the front end of a potentially profound shift toward hands-free tech at events.

Mobile-app usage in the messaging and social-media space increased some 203% last year. Recently, this kind of functionality is "becoming geo-enabled," says Shackman, "which helps attendees enhance their experience based on their location at a given moment.

Old models are falling away and technology is giving both planners and event participants an opportunity to grow and revisit the underlying ideas about how event spaces work.

Using an app during the events, she says, makes everything more seamless.

Camera drones are becoming an incredible technology used in various industries, and the event space is one that will soon take full advantage.

Old models are falling away and technology is giving both planners and event participants an opportunity to grow and revisit the underlying ideas about how event spaces work.

"With this kind of technology, attendees can now ask unlimited questions, and moderators can quickly filter out ones that don't make sense or that disrupt the flow. Furthermore, because speakers can clearly see the questions being asked, they do not get lost among the noise of status updates."

"When anyone who has a Bluetooth-enabled device walks past the hotspot, it automatically triggers some sort of video, push notification or message. It's particularly great for welcome tables, so you can send a welcome message, or if you want to announce a retail opportunity, like a special product on sale, somewhere at your event."

"Instead of playing on a [map layout], you can walk around in the real world as you look at your screen. And you can do more than simply collect items: You can take over territory, collect virtual items and use them to become more influential."

Wearable tech

the Yobot, a robotic luggage handler that stores guests’ bags (Yotel rooms, called cabins, are small, so Yobot is useful for putting away giant suitcases). The robotic arm automatically lifts a bag to one of its available storage compartments. Yobot can even send your luggage off to the airport after you check out (via a delivery service).

Hotels have gone mobile, giving you the ability to check-in and request services via a smartphone app. The James hotels in Chicago and New York have gone a step further by outfitting their properties with iBeacon sensors. With the app, James Pocket Assistant, installed, guests automatically receive notifications once they step onto the property, which could be anything from hotel information to special discounts. The app functions as a virtual concierge, too, allowing you to communicate with staff or find nearby attractions.

If there’s one country that isn’t afraid of robot domination, it’s Japan. Huis Ten Bosch, a European-styled theme park, is planning a hotel that’s not only high-tech, but staffed by robots. The Henn-na Hotel (translation: Strange Hotel) will feature human-like robot receptionists that converse in natural language; robots even handle bellhop and custodial duties. There will be human employees, but the company’s president told CNN that he hopes robots will eventually operate 90 percent of the property.

five of the biggest data security concerns in the hospitality industry and highlights some best practices for protecting hospitality data.

Data Security Concerns in Hospitality

complex ownership structures

From the perspective of cybercriminals, hospitality appears to offer an ideal target vector for conducting crimes such as identity theft and credit card fraud due to the existence of multiple databases and devices containing both Payment Card Information (PCI) and Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

challenge to maintain teams of well-trained staff.

t was reported in 2017 that out of 21 of the most high-profile hotel company data breaches that have occurred since 2010, 20 of them were a result of malware affecting POS systems.

can go unnoticed for months.

High Staff Turnover

In the U.K., for example, the job turnover rate in hospitality is as high as 90 percent.

Reliance on Paying By Card

t involves employees selling data to third parties without the knowledge of the organization that employs them.

Insider Threats

Compliance

Hotels such as the Las Vegas Aria at CityCenter provide RFID (radio frequency identification) keys that unlock the room door when flashed over a sensor.

London's Ecclestone Square Hotel -- as well as featuring in-wall docking and charging points for guest's devices -- provides visitors with an in-room iPod2 to play with, and a library of 3D Blu-rays (and accompanying 3D eyewear) to watch on the room's 46-inch television.

Doggrell says that many larger hotel groups, such as Starwood Hotels and Resorts, are increasingly investing in apps for the mobile market, which allow users to find nearby hotels and check their room rates