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Imagine a world where hotel operations flow seamlessly. A world where your team members have the time and ability to elevate guest experiences by anticipating needs and delivering hyper-personalized service. And because of that experience and service, your guests are inspired to return again and again.
This is the next evolution in hospitality, with hotel automation taking center stage.
In this guide, we’ll help you understand and embrace the transformative power of automation in hospitality, from reshaping service norms to revolutionizing guest engagement.
In a nutshell, automation in hospitality leverages technology to streamline and enhance your hotel operations. It includes various solutions, from automated check-in and check-out processes to using AI for personalized guest messaging and upselling. It handles repetitive tasks – reducing manual work and boosting efficiency – so that you and your team members can focus more on those human touchpoints that truly make a difference in guest satisfaction.
Explore how leveraging the right technology can help propel your business forward as we dive into the specific processes and advantages of hotel automation solutions.
Imagine a bustling lobby with guests eager to begin their stay. Instead of enduring long lines and tedious paperwork at the registration desk, hotel automation transforms the experience into an efficient, seamless process. Mobile check-in solutions, tablets, and self-check-in kiosks allow guests to breeze through check-in effortlessly.
Advanced features such as credit card authorizations, ID verification and fraud detection automate guest information verification, helping to bolster security and reducing the workload on staff. This streamlines operations and allows guests to start their vacation fun sooner.
With 67% of hotels experiencing staffing issues, we’re willing to bet that you already feel this pain deeply. Hotel automation can be a game-changer for your staffing efforts and overall productivity.
As an example, consider your housekeeping department. With limited staff, coordinating schedules and room assignments can become a logistical nightmare. However, with an advanced hotel operations management solution, housekeeping can receive updates on when rooms turnover and are ready for cleaning. You’re able to accomplish more with fewer resources while strategically allocating the resources you have to maintain high service standards.
Your hotel gathers mountains of data every day – booking patterns, guest preferences, customer feedback, you name it. AI-powered hotel automation solutions integrate with your PMS software or CRM and put that data to work, quickly processing, analyzing and extracting valuable insights.
These insights let you identify trends and drive revenue growth through optimized revenue management strategies and tailored marketing campaigns that speak to specific guest segments. For example, if you notice a drop in summer weekend bookings, AI can analyze the booking patterns and guest demographics at a granular level during those periods. Through analysis, AI can pinpoint potential reasons for the drop, like increased competition from nearby hotels or changing preferences among your target customer segments — insights you can use to create tailored offers and promotions more likely to convert, fill vacant rooms and maximize revenue during these periods.
Let’s say a couple books a room at your hotel for a romantic anniversary celebration. Instead of entering the hotel and experiencing a one-size-fits-all approach, they’re greeted by name upon arrival. Their preferences, such as room temperature and pillow type, are ready in advance, along with a bouquet of flowers and a complimentary bottle of champagne. That’s the power of hotel automation at work.
Because key information has already been recorded, stored and integrated into your hotel system, you can more easily anticipate needs and delight guests by offering personalized experiences that enhance customer satisfaction, foster greater loyalty and encourage repeat visits.
With 93% of travelers’ booking decisions influenced by online reviews, customer feedback is crucial for your success. A contactless checkout solution can automatically prompt guests to leave reviews on popular third-party sites, such as Tripadvisor and Google.
Furthermore, automation empowers you to take swift action on feedback. Issues are flagged in real time, allowing your team to address them quickly and prevent similar issues in the future. Instant room vacancy alerts improve housekeeping efficiency, leading to happier guests, improved rankings, increased bookings and higher ADRs.
The innovative breakthrough of hospitality and AI for guest messaging offers myriad benefits, including allowing visitors to use their preferred forms of communication – such as SMS and WhatsApp – without the need for app downloads.
AI improves real-time guest communication in several ways, such as:
When integrated with your hotel PMS, AI-powered guest messaging also helps drive ancillary revenue by monitoring customer chats and intelligently detecting opportunities to offer relevant upsells. It provides a personalized, proactive approach that increases customer satisfaction by offering tailored upsell solutions that align with guest interests. And it allows you to delight guests and increase revenue without feeling pushy or intrusive.
For instance, within a conversation about an upcoming stay, AI may respond with, “I see you’re interested in checking in early. We offer an early check-in add-on that guarantees access to your room by 10 AM for an additional fee. Would you like to proceed with this option?” Or, “Since you are eager to explore the city, why not enhance your experience with our “City Explorer Package”?
The Copthorne Tara Hotel London saw an increase in guest satisfaction and drove £10,000 per month in ancillary revenue with Canary Upsells automated solution.
Automation in hospitality can also help you save some serious cash. All those manual tasks that eat up your team members’ time and resources can be seamlessly managed automatically, allowing you to cut down on labor costs while still providing effective service.
AI predictive maintenance tracks equipment performance, preventing costly downtime and extending the lifetime of your assets for long-term profitability. Energy usage is also improved with automation, activating lights, heating and cooling systems only when necessary. And automated inventory management helps prevent overstocking and reduce waste.
Hotel automation not only saves costs but also minimizes environmental impact by enhancing energy usage. Digitizing guest communications reduces paper waste by eliminating the need for paper-based processes like invoices and receipts. Mobile key technology reduces plastic waste by replacing traditional key cards with smartphone access, helping contribute to a more sustainable future.
With demand for self-service on the rise, another advantage of hotel automation is that it increases guest satisfaction by providing round-the-clock availability. The digital check-in options mentioned above allow exhausted travelers to check in and head straight to their room with their mobile key, even if they arrive in the wee hours of the morning.
Chatbots and virtual concierge services can provide instant recommendations and assistance at any time a query is made. And during emergencies or urgent situations, automated systems can further enhance convenience and responsiveness.
In the journey toward embracing hotel automation, three significant challenges loom large: cost, implementation and data security. Let’s take a closer look at these obstacles and some strategies to overcome them.
Let’s start with the elephant in the room: cost. It’s no secret that upgrading your hotel’s technology infrastructure can require a significant upfront investment. From installing new systems to training staff, the expenses can quickly add up.
Partnering with the right hospitality automation provider gives you access to expertise and the appropriate resources to optimize the implementation process and maximize your ROI. In addition, automation doesn't require an all-or-nothing approach. Tailored solutions can start small by automating small parts of your tech stack, such as guest messaging or check-in processes. You can then scale up gradually. This type of phased approach allows cost-effective management and demonstrates automation's value before full implementation.
The 2024 Lodging Technology Study highlights the lack of skilled technology expertise in hotels, affecting over half of hoteliers. Navigating this shortage can be daunting, from hiring knowledgeable staff to managing technical issues.
However, partnering with an experienced hospitality automation provider can help overcome this hurdle. They offer industry experience and dedicated support, and can manage every step of the implementation process, ensuring a smooth transition. With ongoing support and maintenance, hotels can leverage their providers’ expertise to bridge the skills gap and maximize the benefits of automation without requiring extensive in-house resources.
With nearly 31% of the hospitality industry reporting a data breach in their company history, safeguarding guest data against cyber threats is critical. Even as paper forms become non-PCI-compliant, increased use of digital systems raises data security concerns. This is particularly important given the costly ramifications of CCPA and GDPR violations, and negligence with personal data jeopardizes customer trust and loyalty.
Partnering with a reputable technology provider offers robust security measures, such as encryption protocols, firewalls and regular audits. The right provider also helps address the issue of human error – the leading cause of cybersecurity incidents – by providing staff training and compliance assistance.
There’s no doubt that automation in hospitality will continue to evolve, including even more capabilities for AI in hotels, more ways to use analytics to improve guest experiences, and likely even more ways to integrate with emerging technologies, such as augmented reality for greater guest engagement.
But one thing will remain unchanged: hospitality is ultimately a human business. It’s about connection and relationships. Hotel automation should be viewed as a tool to enhance, not replace the human touch. Both now and in the future, the key benefit of hotel automation is that it allows hospitality businesses to streamline operations and frees up staff to engage in more meaningful interactions with guests.
Automation in hospitality is not something to fear, rather it’s something to embrace as a means to elevate your guest experience and empower your staff. By partnering with a dedicated team of hospitality industry veterans to understand your portfolio’s needs and workflow, you can navigate the future of automation with confidence, ensuring that your business maintains a warm, human-focused culture at its core.
Are you ready for the next evolution in hospitality? Request a demo to see how Canary can help you automate at scale.
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