How will Automation and Technology Change the Hospitality industry?
The advancing technology and automation have been transforming all the different types of industries. In the hospitality industry, the same story applies, automation, artificial intelligence and other innovations are being adopted in hospitality industries to augment human interaction. Consequently, these trends have had several impacts on the industry in the area of improving customer experience and promoting the efficiency of operations. This paper further focuses on several ways technology and automation are transforming the hospitality industry and the impacts on room division.
To begin with, automation has allowed mobile check-in and check out systems (Minette, 2020). The automation has been a positive step resulting in the abolishment of keys for hotel rooms. Check-in can nowadays be done through mobile applications, facial recognition of the use of biometric systems. During room construction, these systems are being integrated.
Additionally, popular hospitality industries are implementing the Internet of Things to enhance connectivity. The technology involves equipping the hotel rooms with voice recognition devices that have an active internet connection; the hotel operators are therefore able to control various hotel features by the use of specific-built in commands. Additionally, in most hospitality industries today, self-service kiosks are the most common application of automation. The automation gives the guests the freedom to check-in and out during their duration at the hotel. Notably, the kiosks are usually located in the lobby where guests can access their respective room keys by use of a reference code provided by the hotels (“Automation and Enhanced Service Delivery through Process Improvement in Hospitality Industry,” 2019).
The advanced technology has also revolutionized the hotel industry with the use of Chatbots (Robinson, 2020). These are computer programs with the ability to respond to text messages and commands; therefore, give advice in the place of a human attendant. The Chatbots have the ability to interact with guests on different platforms, such as mobile websites and social media. The hospitality industry is also embracing smart technology in the construction of hotel rooms. A German company has been developing technology that incorporates smart mirrors and smart floors. Smart mirror technology allows guests to view and read the latest news as they brush their teeth. On the other hand, the smart floor technology, once implemented, will be able to take care of the older people who are at a higher risk of falling (Minette, 2020).
In the kitchen area, robots are being developed to prepare different dishes. For instance, Chowbotics is a company that has replaced the former processes by coming up with an automatic salad making technology that is utilized by the kitchen personnel or by the visitors directly. In addition to this, a company named Aloft is already using robots to deliver the salad to guests as well as various room services to guests (Kim & Ham, 2006).
Lastly, the advancement in technology has been applied to improve security services in the hotel industry. Security is one of the most significant considerations that guests have to make before deciding to spend in a specific hotel. Thanks to the new technology that is bringing the worries to an end. The hospitality industry has resulted in the construction of rooms with access to a special hazard detection and suppression systems. The system is effected from room level where rooms are fitted with smoke detectors conveyed through an alarm system to the suppression system. Moreover, room corridors are being equipped with bomb detectors, which keep away malicious guests. In addition to this, Surveillance cameras are also being used to monitor hotel operations.
In conclusion, mobile check-ins, use of Chatbot systems, integration of internet operations at room level and advanced surveillance system are quickly transforming the hospitality industry resulting in more memorable guest experience.