Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport #40

INNOVATIONS & TECHNOLOGIES
Hotel & Tourism
SMARTreport #40
2018 Autumn Edition 45
93%
of surveyed hoteliers agreed that
“Highly trained staff backed up by technology
will be key to delivering personalized service &
experiences.”
Source – Hotel Trend 2020
part of their competitive advantage and
staff retention. The Hospitality industry
is reaching that maturity, and I felt
excited about the opportunity to bring
that experience and combining it with
FCS’ innovative technology with a human
touch at the service of hotel clients.
What is the opportunity for FCS and
its hospitality operations management
solutions?
In the race for the best “GX” guest
experience, hoteliers are thriving to deliver
the best/most personalised experience to
guests. Yet a personalised GX can only
happen if hotel teams are empowered, and
are freed up to do so. Staff empowerment
can only happen through the right tools: Our
service optimisation applications are used
to automate functions that free up staff to
spend more time with the guests. We aim at
being a Face Up not Face Down application,
giving staff the ability to concentrate on the
guests and not on the technology. At FCS,
we believe technology innovation should be
at the service of people and not the other
way around.
The way it works: FCS enables each hotel
staff/department to connect to a single
platform that allows for seamless & fluid
communication. Staff & management are
armed with the right tools to communicate
faster and more efficiently, serve guests
better, improve room turnaround time,
fix room defects, track glitches and
understand/track guest preferences...
Ultimately, this will also improve staff
loyalty and retention as tasks are made
easier and relationships with guests are
more favourable.
Hoteliers that understand the importance
of innovating in the next decade recognize
that standardized operations will act as a
multiplier effect, impacting the bottom
line while enhancing guest loyalty, quality
of services, and gaining competitive edge.
FCS helps hoteliers build that loyal bond
with their guests.
The hospitality industry is fast growing
in many regions where the shortfall of
qualified staff makes it imperative for
businesses to become more efficient and
productive. The competitive landscape
of the hospitality market, together with
the consolidation of groups and brands,
means that they have to be more creative
in delivering a more personalised service to
the guests without increasing workforce,
impossible to do if everything has to be
processed manually. They have to gain
efficiencies elsewhere to allow time for a
truly personalised approach.
In a hotel, speed & accuracy of service, is
a critical part of the guest services. As
in many other industries, having the right
information at ones’ finger tips to make
faster and educated decisions is critical. I
believe that in providing the management
and staff real-time information, they have
a competitive advantage.
When I look at the market today, there
is not one player that has conquered
the market. In the same way a PMS is a
must have for a hotel of any decent size,
operational solutions are becoming a
must-have as well.
It’s a labour-intensive market, but it’s
also a people market. Depending on the
brands strategies, high level or low level
of guest touch points, it remains a human
touch business about people. As much as
robots may fulfil some tasks, take care of
your luggage, or check you in, operational
excellence will remain people driven.
The best technology is the technology you
don’t see.
THE RIGHT
TECHNOLOGY IS THE
ONE WE DO NOT SEE
Who benefits the most from your
solutions?
Actually all stakeholders benefit from our
solutions. It’s probably one of the few IT
solutions that is a win-win-win for guests,
hotel staff & management, and thus
hotel owners and Brands. Moreover, it is
evidently an important factor of seduction
when it comes to attracting new and
younger talent to the hospitality industry.
The Economic Intelligence Unit reported
that 60% of employees believe themselves
more productive as a result of using
technology. We truly believe that it is a
game changer for the hospitality industry.
From a pure economic standpoint our
solutions have a very important impact
of the bottom-line. To take only one
example: automation and optimisation
of preventive maintenance demonstrates
better asset management and significant
extension of asset longevity.
We understand that you have recently
recruited hoteliers to work for FCS.
What was the thinking behind that
move?
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