COVID-19 pandemic has flipped our lives. Businesses all around the world are affected abysmally. Hotels were no exception to this.
During the first wave of this ill-fame virus, hotels have gone through a crucial stage of innovation. Many tech players have also stepped in to help hospitality establishments.
One of the best solutions that came out during this crisis is the ‘Contactless Hospitality’. And since then, it has immensely helped hotels as well as travellers.
However, many hoteliers were/are sceptical about it. They have various doubts and questions in their minds. And in this blog, I am going to address just that.
This blog will touch upon the ‘less talked about’ aspects of contactless hospitality along with what the future holds for this sought after technological solution.
Table of Contents
The Scepticism About Contactless Hospitality
Contactless hospitality solutions entered the industry on a great note. It was set to empower hotels to let guests select their room, check-in, avail all the services, make payment, and even check-out, with little to no human involvement.
This sounds perfect. Isn’t it? But, what’s the skepticism about?
Hospitality is a people-centric domain. Meaning, human touch/involvement plays a major role in delivering a great guest experience. Many hoteliers thought their property would lose that humane element if they incorporate a contactless system.
It’s a legit concern to an extent because the technology was new for both guests and hotels.
Therefore, many hoteliers couldn’t foresee how contactless technology in hospitality is going to be beneficial.
A real-life experience
Now, if you’re thinking it’s just my assumption about hoteliers, then it is ABSOLUTELY not.
I have been in close contact with many hoteliers throughout my blogging career, talking to them about various aspects. Let me share one incident with you.
During the initial days of contactless hospitality, I was interviewing several hoteliers about their take on the tech. While many were enthusiastic about it, there was one hotelier from Malaysia who actually sounded a little annoyed by the whole idea of going contactless.
He said and I quote:
Contactless hospitality? What? Are we really eliminating humans? How guests are supposed to feel walking inside our hotel? No one to talk to; no one to ask for help. This is not how hotels work. This whole shebang of contactless isn’t going to work out. Even if it does, I don’t see it benefiting us in the long run.
At least, I am not going to count on it. We have a safe atmosphere at our hotel. We sanitise every corner of our property and abide by all the regulations. There are no second thoughts. We are sticking to our way of hosting and serving guests.
The Reality of Contactless Solutions for Hotels
Like I said in the beginning, “I completely understand the concerns surrounding this new tech in hospitality”. But, I cannot deny the fact that it is highly misunderstood.
Contactless solutions for hotels are here to make the lives of hoteliers, staff, and guests easier. I tell you why.
Ever since COVID has made our lives difficult, people are inclined towards safety over luxury (if not all, then at least the majority of them).
Not just that. People have also a notion that they should take charge of certain things of travel to make it safer. And staying in a hotel comes under that.
This is where contactless technology in hospitality comes into the frame.
Now, talking from a hotel’s perspective. Contactless solutions give hotels enough room to make their guests experience better.
Imagine, there’s a line at the frontdesk. People are waiting to check-in. Guests are also sitting in the lobby. The hotel staff is finding it difficult attending to all the guests. Plus, there are chances of compromising social distancing.
Does that look like a great hotel scenario?
But, what if you have a system that makes everything touchless? Guests can walk straight into their rooms and check out, with little to no human involvement. Seamless, right?
When you have such solutions at your property, you get more time to focus on other aspects of a hotel and make the entire guest journey satisfactory. Moreover, it helps you space out your hotel’s daily operations, making them seamless.
What Does the Future Look Like?
Contactless hospitality solutions are here to stay. Period.
The COVID-19 graph is flattening as people are getting vaccinated. Many feel that the need for any sort of contactless solution isn’t relevant now.
But that’s not the case (even if you feel otherwise). Contactless systems aren’t solely meant to be for COVID times. The sole purpose of it was and is to give guests the power to have the desired hotel stay. And to a great extent, it is happening.
Furthermore, the majority of the travellers today are millennials and Gen Z. What’s special about them? This set of people are more concerned about safety and prefer things that are digitised and are inclined towards a contactless hotel experience.
Here are some stats from a survey:
- 80 per cent would be inclined towards a hotel app that offers seamless check-in, check out and information about the hotel.
- 73 per cent would download and use an app that would enable them to open the door of their room.
- More than 40 per cent would like to order food and request room service through an app.
Therefore, if you think that this sought after hotel technology is going to fade, then I must tell you, it’s not happening anytime soon.
Rather, contactless hotel technology is going to give hotels a competitive edge.
Conclusion
It is not the COVID pandemic, but the hospitality industry that is ever-evolving. Because guests’ preferences keep changing, and hotel and related industries keep on innovating to stay abreast.
Right now, the number of young travellers is supremely high. To meet their demands, hotels need to incorporate things that these travellers prefer like offering a contactless guest experience.
The relationship between contactless technology and hotels has its own set of pros and cons. However, the benefits it presents outweighs all the negatives.
From the very get-go, it could be seen how hotels were able to bounce back and operate with the help of such solutions. And today, if you see, those hotels are doing great in the market.
Contactless hospitality solutions are the future. They are going to further evolve in the years to come and that is a fact. Hotels that are going to adopt it are certain to witness better business and bottom line. Meaning, hotels that understand the importance of contactless solutions in hospitality are going to reap long term benefits.
What do you think? Do share your views in the comments section.
