Self-Service Technology Within the Hospitality & Tourism Industry
Self-service technologies in hospitality and tourism
organizations have begun to flourish with the introduction of new hardware and
software technologies that provide speed, convenience, consistency and control
to users. The need for such technologies has become evident with the
introduction of a new generation of travelers who use technologies for most
aspects of their lives.
The introduction of such technologies offers a vast array of different advantages and opportunities to organizations looking to save on different financial and operational factors such as labor costs and human error. This site will provide a perspective that will properly convey what exactly a self-service technology is and how it affects the hotel industry. It will also explain the different strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that self-service technologies have on the hotel industry.
The introduction of such technologies offers a vast array of different advantages and opportunities to organizations looking to save on different financial and operational factors such as labor costs and human error. This site will provide a perspective that will properly convey what exactly a self-service technology is and how it affects the hotel industry. It will also explain the different strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that self-service technologies have on the hotel industry.
What is Self-Service Technology?
“This evolution of services is somewhat similar to the past experience in the agricultural and manufacturing industry where human labor has been relentlessly replaced by automation” Essentially, self-service technology is any sort of technology that eliminates the need for human interaction in order to complete a business transaction of some sort. In other words, self-service technologies reduce the need for person to person communication to provide speed and efficiency. Self-service is a rather new trend to the hospitality and tourism industry only beginning to take off in the past two decades. Examples of self-service technologies are self-check-in kiosks for airlines and hotels; online bookings and reservations; and mobile apps. The goal of self-service technologies for hospitality and tourism organizations range from increasing guest satisfaction to reducing labor costs. Perhaps the largest significance of self-service technologies is catering to the new generation of travelers that have overtaken the market majority. |
Self-Service Technologies for Millennial Travelers
The self-service technology craze has been on the rise due
to the vast percentage of travelers ranging between 18-34 years of age,
otherwise known as Millennials. This generation was raised with technology
therefore the need for appropriate mediums of technology are needed in almost
all sectors of their lives. Studies have shown that millennial traveler’s
desire luxury accommodations are status driven, want to socialize and are
willing to pay more to satisfy their needs (Business Wire Staff, 2014, n.p.).
Generating High Customer Satisfaction and Increasing Revenue Simultaneously
The main purpose of introducing new self-service technologies coincides with guests desires to be in control of every aspect of their experience. For example, new kiosks systems in hotels allow guests to check-in and check-out on their own time while using IT concierge services to plan their daily activities. The usage of such systems enables the guest to have a full control of their stay from start to finish.
Business travelers have strict itineraries that need to be adhered too. New mobile apps allow guests to have a transparent view of hotels amenities and services with one touch of the screen. According to Hospitality Times, 70 percent of business travelers and 53 percent of leisure travelers are using their mobile devices to access travel-related information (Hospitality Times Staff, 2013, n.p.).
The heavy participation in online self-service technologies offers all sorts of hospitality organizations the opportunity to have full-service marketing without affecting the budget. This is a new ways to provide guest satisfaction while increasing brand awareness. Inherently, this leads to increased revenue in the organization. Self-service technologies provide more visibility and purchasability to previously under used services:
Check-in kiosks allow guests to view current deals and upgrade possibilities. Unlike humans, technology has no discrimination in that it will offer every guest the opportunity to upgrade.
Mobile apps increase convenience and spending with guests. Hotels that have embraced mobile app technologies have seen a 15 to 25 percent increase in revenue from room service, mobile ordering and hotel amenities (Short, Taylor, 2014, n.p.)
Acceptance of new self-service technologies is occurring in nearly every sort of hospitality organization from hotels and restaurants to airlines and taxi companies. With changing demographics of travelers, hospitality and tourism organizations have limited time to initiate the necessary changes before seeing it effect revenue.
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Business travelers have strict itineraries that need to be adhered too. New mobile apps allow guests to have a transparent view of hotels amenities and services with one touch of the screen. According to Hospitality Times, 70 percent of business travelers and 53 percent of leisure travelers are using their mobile devices to access travel-related information (Hospitality Times Staff, 2013, n.p.).
The heavy participation in online self-service technologies offers all sorts of hospitality organizations the opportunity to have full-service marketing without affecting the budget. This is a new ways to provide guest satisfaction while increasing brand awareness. Inherently, this leads to increased revenue in the organization. Self-service technologies provide more visibility and purchasability to previously under used services:
Check-in kiosks allow guests to view current deals and upgrade possibilities. Unlike humans, technology has no discrimination in that it will offer every guest the opportunity to upgrade.
Mobile apps increase convenience and spending with guests. Hotels that have embraced mobile app technologies have seen a 15 to 25 percent increase in revenue from room service, mobile ordering and hotel amenities (Short, Taylor, 2014, n.p.)
Acceptance of new self-service technologies is occurring in nearly every sort of hospitality organization from hotels and restaurants to airlines and taxi companies. With changing demographics of travelers, hospitality and tourism organizations have limited time to initiate the necessary changes before seeing it effect revenue.
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