The New Vanguard: Hoteliers' Essential Skills for the Digital Age
The hotel business is evolving quickly—very quickly. If you happen to be a hotelier yourself today, there's a good possibility you know that firsthand yourself. Technology's not a luxury; technology's the foundation on which we're building that business. The bad thing about that, however, is that that's not so much about replacing that human touch that's so second nature to hospitality. It's about determining the right spot where technology complements that which comes so naturally to human beings.
So what is the secret to success as a hotelier, you may ask, in this new world order? I'll distill it to three competencies that will set you apart.
1. Be Interested in Technology (Even When It Becomes Picky)
I know—keeping up with technology is like trying to drink from a firehose. Yesterday, AI and then another day, another software platform, and before you know where you are, yet another "game-changing" bit of tech to work to navigate. The thing is, though, that the very best hoteliers are not always the techiest ones. They're curious ones, though, and ones that want to innovate.
Keep this in mind: what worked five years ago won't work today. The business changes, and so do we, inside of it. The hotel room is a tech firm today, whether or not we want to accept that fact or not. The problem isn't learning to coexist alongside tools versus attempting to fight them. Begin incrementally, test one new system, and recall—everyone's a newbie sometime.
2. Be More Human, Not Less, by Using Technology
This begins where things really take flight. Where everyone's going on and on about AI and automated things, stuff really begins to happen when technology frees up our people to just do one thing—interacting on a human level with guests.
Consider your front desk staff. Instead of typing up and processing paperwork, wouldn't it be fantastic if they spent that time making your visitors feel special? What if your housekeeping staff had access to instant information on guest preferences so that they could make each room uniquely theirs? What if your concierge was ahead of the curve and knew something a guest is going to want before they even ask?
That's where technology is your secret weapon. It handles the details so your employees can create that magic that's still being talked about years down the line by the customers. It's not remembering that guest's name—it's remembering how to make their stay a special one and how to have the tools to back it up with that kind of thinking.
3. Let Data Lead Your Decision-Making (But Don't Neglect Your Instincts)
If you're like most hoteliers, there are a lot more software systems operating on your behalf—15 or 20 or a dozen or so more. It's daunting, but there's the promise: that information tells an amazing story about your guests and your business.
The best hoteliers know how to go beyond gut feel (experience still plays its part) and base decisions on information. They monitor things that might otherwise pass unnoticed by traditional means using business intelligence tools. They monitor not only their guests' experience from arrival to departure, but from the date they began researching their hotel to many days subsequent to that they have checked out.
The key, however—isn't that you learn more. It's that you translate that information into actionable intelligence. What is your guest actually communicating, then, by behaving in the manner that they are? What can you learn from outside of hotel industries? Amazon wasn't built to be Amazon by studying only other bookstores.
The Bottom Line
The future of hospitality isn't human touch versus technology, but one of blending and integration of both to create something that's better than what each could have done individually. Hoteliers who understand that will not only survive the digital revolution, they'll lead it.
Your customers desire efficiency, yet they want to feel heard and respected just the same. Technology enables you to do both. The issue isn't whether you do them or not, but when you'll be able to incorporate them into your customers' and employees' service. The times are a-changing, and that's a good thing. The ones who adapt well, remain curious, and never forget why hospitality's so special will find that they're not just catching up, they're paving the way for the rest of us.
