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There has never been a more opportune moment for hotels to embrace the power of artificial intelligence (AI). After all, AI brings a host of benefits to an industry where competing priorities constantly challenge professionals. Just consider this: a staggering 82% of hotels are grappling with staffing shortages and soaring turnover rates (in fact, only 62% of vacancies were filled in December). Yet, the demand for a personalized, high-touch experience remains stronger than ever.
With recent advancements in AI, this cutting-edge technology is perfectly tailored to cater to your unique business needs. So, without further ado, let's delve into the practical ways you can reap the rewards of AI in your hotel right now.
At a high level, AI helps guests make bookings and hotels better their business. But dig a little deeper, and you’ll find that, when used in the hospitality industry, artificial intelligence has a hand in many more aspects of the guest experience and business operations than you’d ever imagine.
Modern AI technologies put the power in the hands of your guests, allowing them to easily research and book according to their preferences. The result is a personalized, efficient and cost-effective booking experience that is here to stay.
Some common traveler-facing tools that integrate AI into the booking process are:
Ideally, hotels leverage the advantages of AI before, during and after guest stays. After all, great guest experiences are personalized at every touchpoint.
Below, we’ll discuss AI advantages that can help hotel operators improve customer services and maximize operational efficiency.
Certain hotel processes are well-suited for automation, such as mobile check-ins and scheduling wake-up calls. Others necessitate a human touch.
AI-driven guest messaging is perfectly suited to customer communications and mobile concierges, and you can scale it as needed without compromising the human element.
Modern AI assistants, like the solution adopted by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, answer repetitive guest questions almost instantly via text message, freeing up staff to deliver more timely, personalized attention as needed. These tools immediately engage a staff member if the request requires human attention.
Automation in hotels can optimize resource allocation, enhancing customer satisfaction. By leveraging data-driven insights, AI systems predict peak periods, adjusting staffing levels accordingly. This strategy not only saves time and money but also ensures that hotel staff deliver exceptional service during busy times, catering to individual preferences.
For instance, if a hotel faces high demand for housekeeping services at specific times, AI enables scheduling extra staff to swiftly clean rooms, enhancing guest satisfaction and streamlining operations.
A properly staffed hotel is better equipped to deliver quality customer service consistently. However, with the ongoing labor shortages in the hospitality sector, hotels often struggle to assemble well-rounded teams. Leveraging AI tools can identify the ideal staffing levels, empowering you to maximize your resources effectively. Here are a few examples:
Schedule your team according to demand and staff availability. For example, AI platforms can predict when you need to place more staff on hand during busier nights so you can deliver greater service without exhausting your team.
Managing responses for multiple guests with a short-staffed team can be challenging. Your front desk staff is balancing various responsibilities like check-ins, check-outs, and other guest requests. AI Guest Messaging tools can alleviate this burden by handling guest inquiries and prioritizing urgent messages.
Interested in learning more about how AI can help you supercharge your hotel operations? See why brands like Wyndham are rolling out Canary AI across thousands of hotels. Schedule a demo today.
Customer experiences are shaped on multiple fronts; traditionally, they’ve been dependent on 1-to-1 human interactions. By adding AI-powered tools, hoteliers can empower their staff and deliver on the promise of highly personalized guest experiences travelers now expect—while maintaining a human touch.
Examples of this are:
Ideally, your crystal ball extends beyond your Pace report. But when your psychic powers start to run thin, AI’s advanced data analytics can help glean insights surrounding anything from revenue strategies to expense optimizations.
Here are several ways artificial intelligence can enable more accurate or responsive predictions in your hotel:
By allowing AI to harness guest data, you unlock more opportunities to segment and target your hotel marketing efforts. Generative AI can help brainstorm and develop new email campaigns. It can also identify customer segments most likely to engage with certain offers and promotions, increasing your opportunities for conversion.
Or, when words fail you, tap AI to help you generate compelling marketing content for offer-specific pages on your website.
AI-driven smart room technology can support optimal energy management by monitoring and controlling HVAC systems and lighting in response to factors like occupancy levels. This not only fosters environmental sustainability but also leads to significant cost reductions.
To get the best AI-powered tools for your hotel, there are a few things to consider.
AI can automate tasks traditionally performed by staff while eliminating human error. But artificial intelligence is much more than just “robots,” and implementing AI doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing endeavor. There are many ways humans can use AI to be more efficient.
Take guest messaging platforms as an example. When the Canary AI assistant can’t answer a question, it’ll redirect the message to your team. The goal is to strike the perfect balance between automation and personalized service for your hotel.
Shoe-shining machines excel at polishing footwear, but you wouldn’t buff your silverware with them. Like most tools and services, artificial intelligence also has its limitations.
For example, AI’s ability to detail potential food allergens on tomorrow’s brunch menu is contingent on the accuracy of the data it pulls from. Outdated menus that don’t list all the ingredients would render AI useless in this scenario. Therefore, human oversight in AI remains crucial.
Understanding the intricacies of these systems means recognizing their unique capabilities and shortcomings. Many people worry about AI replacing humans when, in fact, humans are becoming more important in handling AI.
Ethical AI implementation demands a commitment to eradicating discrimination and biases. Adversarial testing is key to identifying and eliminating potential biases or errors — you’ll need a human touch for this, too. As guardians of guest experiences, your venue and staff are responsible for upholding transparency and accountability within the AI technology framework you use.
Learn more about the ethical use of AI in Canary’s ebook on artificial intelligence.
Selecting an AI vendor suited for the hospitality business demands a nuanced approach.
1. Evaluate and assess. Evaluate the tool's infrastructure, information-sharing capabilities, and compatibility. How easily can your organization implement it? And who will be able to access and use it once live?
2. Consider your industry. Seek a custom-built AI model tailored to your industry. Canary AI, for instance, is a hospitality-specific model improving guest experiences through real-time data. By using property-specific knowledge and data from hoteliers, it personalizes guest recommendations, streamlines operations, boosts revenue, and enhances guest experiences.
3. Select a reputable brand. Finally, consider the vendor's enterprise reach and global scale. In hospitality, AI is still a nascent market, so it’s important to partner with a tried and tested vendor who can cover multiple use cases as your business grows and scales.
When testing and comparing the latest AI developments, it’s more important to prioritize what makes sense for your hotel than it is to “keep up with the Joneses.” Following a healthy mix of industry publications and hospitality tech channels can help you define your most important criteria for implementing AI in hospitality.
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