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Hospitality has always been a slow changing industry, with an emphasis on high-touch service and people at its core. However, in the past few years we’ve seen the pace of change accelerate, especially in the domain of hotel technology and the way it touches every aspect of hospitality.
2022 was the year of the guest platform – we’ve seen a number of major hospitality brands embracing the guest experience or guest engagement platforms driven by modern guest’s reliance on technology. This is a trend that will extend into 2023 as seamless guest experience becomes ever more important and hotels start to recognize the value of such platforms and what it means for their business.
This year was also marked by technology integrations and related challenges, especially in multi-property hotel groups and chains that require robust, yet flexible, and interconnected solutions at every level of an organization's technology stack. As properties increase their reliance on technology, smooth integration will continue to top the list of priorities.
Looking forward to 2023, hotel technology trends will gravitate around the following key phrases: seamless experience, mobile-first, operations automation, contactless service, experiential offerings. Some of these trends first rose during the 2020 pandemic but we’re yet to see them being a) fully developed by providers to match the realistic needs of hotels and b) implemented by hotels in a way that delivers the results they’re after.
Let’s look at some of the biggest hotel tech trends that will continue to shape the way hotels operate their business and deliver guest experiences.
High-impact automation to solve staffing shortages
The hospitality industry is all about high-touch service that attends to guest’s every need. However, this level of service is difficult to scale and staffing shortages that the entire industry is facing are preventing hotels from continuously delivering excellence.
Hotel technology solutions that enable centralized task management, automation of repetitive and labor intensive tasks, and access to data insights will become effective solutions to operational issues hotels will continue to face in 2023.
This level of automation will not only improve guest service delivery but it will also make hotel staff happier, giving them the ability to work smarter and create a bigger impact in less time. The result? Faster guest requests resolution time, no more thinking of mundane tasks (everything is automated), housekeeping and maintenance teams have more time to focus on repeatedly delivering high quality service.
Guests take full control of their own experience
This is one of the new mantras of the hospitality industry - put guests in control. Here’s what this actually means: put a familiar, easy-to-use technology in guests’ hands so that they can easily design their stay, from the moment they step foot through your door all the way to check-out.
Essentially, guests increasingly want to manage their experience with a hotel via their mobile devices. All with a few taps, when convenient for them, no fuss. Things like remote check-in and cashless payments, booking/purchasing relevant amenities, events and activities from their phone, requesting services with a tap or via SMS, all of this gives guests a higher sense of control over their experience.
In 2023, we’ll see more hotels implementing guest-facing technology solutions to help improve overall guest satisfaction and consequently boost their ancillary revenues.
Experiential offerings powered by hotel tech
2022 was the year of tourism revival. People started to travel again and they’re craving more than a pretty room in a nice location – authentic travel experiences is what they are looking for. Need proof? Just look at the industry giant Airbnb and the popularity of their local offers e.g. culinary tours, local brewery tours, historic biking tours, arts & crafts experiences, etc.
Travelers want this type of authentic experiences, they want to feel connected to the local community and immerse themselves in local culture.
So, how can hotels help their guests to enjoy these experiences and enhance their stay? In 2023 we’ll see an increase in experiential local offerings by properties delivered through partnerships with local operators.
Using the right guest experience technology, hotels will be able to promote experiential offerings to guests via SMS, instant messaging, or in app notifications and send timely offers for stand-alone experiences. This is a huge revenue opportunity for both hotels and activity operators and technology is the key enabler.
Personalized communication on guest’s own terms
Guest communication is evolving and personalization continues to be the main ingredient of successful guest communication strategies. Hotels are increasingly investing in solutions that can help them deliver personalized, real-time communication at scale.
Hotel technologies like digital concierge or simply automated AI messaging will see more implementation in 2023 as hotels look for ways to effectively communicate with guests via channels they’re already using, e.g. SMS or instant messaging.
An AI messaging tool enables hotels to learn more about their guests as every interaction can be tracked, documented, and analyzed, helping them build a guest profile based on real preferences, previous behavior and purchases, etc. This level of insight into guests’ interests, needs, and preferences will allow hotels to tailor their messages and deliver highly personalized service.
In 2023, we’ll also see increased use of automated guest messaging as a 24/7 support channel so hotels can easily handle FAQs. More forward looking properties will also use this hotel tech to be proactive with guest service and send timely information and offers based on their context.
Hotels choose technology that ‘plays well’ with their core systems
Hospitality technology can help hotels improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance overall service quality but only if those systems communicate, share information, and ultimately report meaningful data.
Hotels today use a variety of different technologies – everything from reservations, to guest services, CRM and communications is powered by software. When adding new tools in 2023 and beyond, hotels will increasingly focus on choosing those that integrate easily with their existing technology stack. The goal here is to break down data silos with thoughtful integrations and then turn data into opportunities and insights that lead to timely actions.
Takeaways
The hospitality technology trends for 2023 are driven, like the industry itself, with the changing needs and wants of travelers. The pressure is high because guests will expect a lot from the properties they choose. The future of guest experience is personalized and seamless, and hotel service flexible, proactive, and adaptable. All of this is, in one way or another, powered by hospitality technology.
As the year comes to an end, now is the time to think about technology investments that will address new traveler’s demand and provide you with a competitive advantage over the long run.
LasoExperience takes care of the guests' entire journey with your hotel, from reservation to post-stay, opening up new revenue opportunities while focusing on guest needs. Contact us to have a chat and see how we can help!
