In The Field with David
In The Field with David Esseryk THE "INSIDE LINE" ON WHAT'S HOT IN HOSPITALITY TECHNOLOGIES PART 20 LEARNING ABOUT HOW THE INTERNET IS BECOMING SO MUCH MORE THAN “SURFING” INTERNET OF THINGS (IoT): WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR IN THE HOTEL ENVIRONMENT? The hospitality industry is well positioned to benefit from the IoT. That’s because the IoT is poised to improve the customer experience while also reducing costs. Connecting the world changes everything. That’s what businesses and consumers are learning as they embrace the Internet of Things (IoT) for everything from household garage door openers to smart-city applications that solve traffic congestion and reduce crime. In this edition, David Esseryk, Chief Digital and Marketing Officer (e-commerce, customer experience, loyalty, brand marketing and IT) at SEH United Hoteliers, looks at why IoT is more significant than just adding connectivity to existing products or services. IoT is changing the way products and services deliver value. In the process, products are becoming services, and services are becoming more intelligent. The hospitality industry is not immune to this evolution, and, in fact, it is well positioned to benefit from IoT. That’s because the industry is poised to improve the customer experience while simultaneously reducing costs. The modern hotel room is far from modern in that it is mostly disconnected. Hotel operations rely on property management systems that require mostly manual entries to track resources. Much of this work centres around the front desk — a oncecritical part of the hotel stay that is on the verge of obsolescence. A CONNECTED THERMOSTAT ELIMINATES THE COST OF COOLING OR HEATING VACANT ROOMS IoT: TAKING THE TEMPERATURE Many hotels already use IoT to control in-room thermostats. By switching to a connected thermostat, hotels can adjust room temperatures at check-in and checkout. A connected thermostat eliminates the cost of cooling or heating vacant rooms. It also reduces the likelihood of marring the first impression of a room with an uninviting, uninhabitable temperature. Taking heating and cooling a bit further, when hotels combine the thermostat with other sensors, the air conditioning can turn off automatically when a guest opens a window or balcony door. Another opportunity is to tie in automated window coverings that can mitigate temperature swings due to afternoon sunshine. Time of day or temperature sensors could activate these environmental adjustments. IoT BEYOND THE THERMOSTAT Today, hotels really don’t know when a guest room is empty. Knocking is not the ideal solution. Knocking can wake or interrupt a guest, and the lack of a response to a knock is not conclusive. Intelligent sensors, though, can help detect occupancy. If the last detected motion was near the door, combined with an opening of the door, it may be reasonable to assume the room is empty. ENTERTAINMENT In-room entertainment also gets better with connectivity. Hotels understand that guests value entertainment options, but premises-based movie systems are expensive and complex. Premium movie channels are a common alternative, but they offer a limited selection at fixed times. When hospitality more closely embraces IoT, hotels can improve the guest experience and lower costs, and when done right, they can avoid interfering negatively in a guest’s stay. As technology continues to evolve and play an increasingly active role in our daily lives, Marriott International has teamed with two leading companies – Samsung and Legrand – to launch the hospitality industry’s Internet of Things (IoT) hotel room to inspire the ultimate hotel experience of the future SEE YOU AGAIN IN THE NEXT EDITION
INNOVATIONS & TECHNOLOGIES Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport #37 2018 Winter Edition 41 CHATBOTS IN HOSPITALITY, INFLUENCERS AND STARTUPS Future Digital Thinking – part of the Travel Tech Show at WTM A session on Future Digital Thinking in Hospitality at WTM saw Expedia Affiliate Network talk up “chatbots”. Nuno Castro, Director of Data Science for EAN, said chatbots should be exploited for the next evolution in hotel discovery: “For hotel search you put in your dates and a destination and get a set of results. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s worth trillion in the US alone but the formula has not changed in 10 years. Chatbots could provide a warmer approach to hotel search.” SUPPORTING STARTUPS Tips from the coalface for the startup community made for a mix of highs and lows during the Travel Tech Show. Newbies including Eco Companion, Sujester and Hotel Bonanza featured in the Genesys “Meet the Innovators” session, where they shared their journeys so far, as well as some milestones along the way. Max Sinclair, Founder of ecotourism business Eco Companion, gave the audience his five key takeaways for starting a travel business. His advice includes filling the team with “Rockstars and Rising Stars” – which means people with huge experience to help you make decisions and people who will do the “grunt work”. Sinclair stressed the importance of starting with the “why” when setting up a business to help focus on what you’re trying to achieve. He also described Instagram as the “hot new channel” saying it was tipped to hit a billion users by the end of the year and, as part of the Facebook family, not likely to go anywhere: “People think you can’t convert from it but stories on Instagram are hugely powerful to drive traffic and you can get conversion.” During his session, he also described highs and lows in Eco Companion’s journey such as getting funding but then over-investing it: “It’s one of the most common things startups do. You believe with every pound you invest you are going to get more back.” Other sessions were devoted to travel influencers, with Traverse sessions providing tips on how to diversify. South African Tourism Hub Head UK & Ireland Tolene van Der Merwe introduced the Diversify or Die session stressing how hard it now is to cut through the noise and get a message to target audiences. “The need to diversify in how you use your social media channels is absolutely vital. We’re increasingly seeing people want to live in the now, so channels such as Facebook Live and Periscope are as much a part of the strategy of influencing now.” Travel blogger Macca Sherifi of An Adventurous World also urged influencers to think about what would happen if their biggest channel went bust: “It could happen. Could you survive?” eco companion Nuno Castro Director of Data Science, Expedia Affiliate Network
