Week 6: The Hotel Industry Today

The Hotel Industry Today

With the youngest generation and widespread use of technology, the hospitality industry is changing. In particular, the hotel industry is moving quickly to accommodate those young travelers. Below are some of the recent changes:

• Digitized guest experiences: High quality services would include a fast Wi-Fi network and a mobile app. From the app, guests could check-in and -out remotely, access their room, and control the heating and cooling. Guests could also receive personalized offers for local events or food and beverages.
  
  
• Sustainability: In the last few decades, more focus has been given to the environmental, economical, and social impacts within the hospitality industry. Hotels use vast amounts of energy and water in order to provide food and beverage services, bathrooms, laundry services, heating and cooling, refrigeration, cleaning, irrigation, lighting, and garbage disposal.
  
  
• Virtual communities: Sites such as Trip Advisor and Yelp allow customers to leave feedback and ratings on hotels, restaurants, and attractions. Many businesses us social media, because that’s where people communicate, as a form of marking; social media sites include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter, just to name a few. Managers must manage their virtual presence, and try to maintain a positive online presence. A company’s online image will impact business. Because of the time commitment to monitor so many sites, businesses hire people to watch the virtual communities and social media sites and post responses and comments.
  
  
• Online travel agents: The distribution channels have changed from calling a business directly to book reservations and tickets to using sites, such as Expedia and Priceline, to book online. Many of these online agents have developed strong relationships with their customers, and they can offer deals and discounts for loyalty. Being able to book flight, lodging, and auto rental all at one site makes planning travel much easier.

The younger travelers want more independence and variety. While the older generations are content with reliable car rentals and tried and true hotels, the younger travelers prefer Uber (Uber, 2019) and Airbnb (Airbnb, 2019). Hotels are heavily regulated and taxed, often with state and local taxes; however, Airbnb rentals do not have the same regulations. Hotel taxes are often used to fund tourism because strong tourism strengthens the economy, and currently, Airbnb rentals are not taxed.

Hotel Functions

Hotels provide accommodations similar to those one has at home. Generally people think of hotels providing sleeping accommodates, bathrooms, gathering spaces, food and beverage, and amenities. However, there is much more behind the scenes. The general manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations and is tasked with a great deal of responsibility. General managers are expected to provide quality service to the guests while making a profit for the company. The main sections of a full-service hotel include:

• Human resources: Forecasting, advertising, hiring, training, evaluating, and disciplining staff.
  
  
• Food and beverage: Restaurants, lounges, catering, or anything that involves food. This includes adhering to federal, state, and local regulations and laws regarding safe food and the sales of alcohol.
  
  
• Marketing and sales: Making sure that the facility is publicized and connected with other hospitality and tourism people within the local community. This would include virtual communities and social networks.
  
  
• Engineering: The physical space including meeting rooms, fitness centers, pools, Jacuzzis, and landscaping.
  
  
• Accounting: Ensuring a consistent cash flow, maintaining accounts receivable and payable, verifying that cost and payment systems are working properly, and reporting internally and to the central office.
  
  
• Rooms division: Maintenance and efficiency of the rooms including customer satisfaction, customer relations, employee satisfaction, security, and guest services. Traditionally, the rooms division includes all of the room events a guest encounters from check-in through check-out. Those include reservations, front desk, concierge, guest services, housekeeping, and security.

The Guest Cycle

Front Desk

Depending on the size of the hotel, the front desk may include the concierge, door person, or bellhops. The front desk is the main hub dealing with guests and related services. It is the face of the hotel, but they do much more than simply be the physical location where a visitor checks-in and checks-out. Staff must provide excellent customer service when dealing with guests and provide services 24 hours per day. They must review incoming guests and monitor those leaving in order to coordinate with housekeeping services.

Housekeeping Services

Those working in housekeeping are responsible for the overall cleanliness of the facility. Housekeeping staff must have attention to detail in order to spot worn linens or hidden dust bunnies. This is physically demanding work, and while most of the work is completed behind the scenes, staff must also be able to provide quality customer service with their interactions with the guests.

Looking to the Future

With so many changes happening with technology, what could possibly be ahead? Some suggestions include:

• The Internet of Things (Morgan, 2014): This is much more than an app to check-in and -out of a hotel room. The Internet of Things (IoT) connects everything so that it can be controlled by a smart phone. This could allow a guest to connect with online subscriptions and use those while in the hotel room.
  
  
• More unique offerings: Unique offerings are not new, and VIP travels are accustomed to getting small perks when they travel. For example, at the Hotel Commonwealth, those who book the Fenway Park Suite can have the World Series trophy delivered to their room so they can take selfies (Lippe & Lippe-McGraw, 2016). Because young travels want to experience new things, experience options are expected to grow. Some current adventures include feasts with sumo wrestlers, riding reindeer, and ninja training (These hotels hold the key to one-of-a kind local activities all over the world, 2019).
  
  
• More focus on green and sustainability: According to a 2017 report by the International Tourism Partnership, hotels will need a 66% reduction of energy by 2030 to be in compliance with the Paris Climate Agreement(Hotel Global Decarbonisation Report, 2017). (Whether or not the US participates in the Paris Climate Agreement, the expectations have been established.) The report stated that a paradigm shift was needed that included:
  
  
  • Increasing the efficiency of both equipment and operations with new technologies.
    
    
  • Increasing the use of renewable energy such as on-site wind and solar power. This would also include the use of biofuels to reduce costly HVAC systems.
    
    
  • Increasing “electrification,” which means moving away from fuel-burning energy sources. Electric-powered chillers are quite common in hotels; however, they waste a lot of energy.
    
    
• Increased focus on wellness: While many hotels have fitness centers, travelers are expecting more. Beyond pools and spas, guests are wanting healthy food, yoga facilities, air purifiers, improved lighting, and in-room exercise equipment. In fact, in 2017, Hilton introduced a Five Feet to Fitness^TM guest room with an “integrated fitness experience.”(Hilton Launches Revolutionary New Guest Room, Five Feet to Fitness, 2017).
  
  
• Artificial intelligence: Since 2015, robots using artificial intelligence (AI) have been designed to deliver room service (New Robot May Revolutionize Hotels, 2015). Hotels are considering using AI to learn about their guests’ purchasing behaviors, travel selections, how they travel and what they visit, rating inquiries, and methods of payment.
  
  
  • AI Concierge: Armed with previous knowledge of a guest, the robot could provide customized information about food and beverages including specials of the day, book reservations, recommend sights and attractions, book taxi or other transportation, and control the hotel room temperature and lighting(How is the Hotel Industry using AI to provide an awesome User Experience, 2019).

References

Airbnb. (2019, 10 20). Retrieved from Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com/

Hilton Launches Revolutionary New Guest Room, Five Feet to Fitness. (2017, May 31). Retrieved from Hilton Hotels & Resorts: https://newsroom.hilton.com/hilton/news/hilton-launches-revolutionary-new-guest-room-five-feet-to-fitness

(2017). Hotel Global Decarbonisation Report. London, UK: International Tourism Partnership.

How is the Hotel Industry using AI to provide an awesome User Experience. (2019, 10 20). Retrieved from Maruti Techlabs: https://marutitech.com/hotel-industry-ai-awesome-user-experience/

Lippe, J., & Lippe-McGraw, J. (2016, March 31). The 20 Coolest Secret Hotel Amenities. Retrieved from Travel & Leisure: https://www.travelandleisure.com/hotels-resorts/secret-hotel-amenities?

Morgan, J. (2014, May 13). A Simple Explanation of 'The Internet of Things'. Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2014/05/13/simple-explanation-internet-things-that-anyone-can-understand/#7c41bbfc1d09

New Robot May Revolutionize Hotels. (2015, May 13). Retrieved from Smart Meetings: https://www.smartmeetings.com/news/69716/new-robot-may-revolutionize-hotels

These hotels hold the key to one-of-a kind local activities all over the world. (2019, October 20). Retrieved from Fodor's Travel: https://www.fodors.com/news/photos/the-worlds-most-exclusive-hotel-experiences

Uber. (2019, 10 20). Retrieved from Uber: https://www.uber.com/

 

Source: Velda Arnaud, Blue Mountain Community College, Pendleton, Oregon