The Ultimate Guide to Future-Proofing Your Hotel

Hospitality is probably the most ever-evolving industry. From technology and operational methods to traveler preferences, everything keeps on changing.

There was a time when excel sheets were becoming all popular and every hotel was using it.

BUT, if you turn the pages of history, you would see that it didn’t take technology much time to replace it.

What’s next?

Hotels that could see this change coming were prepared and opted for all the latest technologies quickly. And the rest had to struggle and eventually switch.

This is how it works and is going to be working the same way for years to come. Meaning, that future-ready hotels are going to have a great advantage in this industry. 

Now, “Is your hotel prepared for the next wave of transformation?” is the question that needs to be addressed.

The Importance of Being Forward-Looking for Hotels

Hoteliering isn’t an easy job. You have to constantly keep a keen eye on what’s happening in the industry to deliver top-level services to your guests. 

Let me tell you about this with a small example about a hotelier cousin of mine who had a bad downfall.

(Changed the name to Shivani to keep safe her privacy)

Shivani was a hospitality enthusiast. Back in 2012, she was running a famous backpackers hostel called “The Den” near the Mawlynnong village in the East Khasi Hills district of the Meghalaya state in North East India.

The Den was the bee’s knees among backpackers, solo travelers, and bikers back in those days. But then in 2019, Shivani had to shut The Den because business was going super low and eventually hit the rock bottom.

When I started writing this blog, I had this section in mind already. So, I decided to have a colloquy with my cousin and gather a few points.

Here are a few points in Shivani’s own words about The Den’s downfall:

1. The very first thing that affected our business is that we neglected market analysis. I was a little rigid and always thought that things are going to be great throughout. However, I failed to notice that the preferences of travelers were changing every year.
2. The Den was a beautiful abode. BUT, it wasn’t tech first. You all may find it funny and silly, but we didn’t have a property management system or anything technological. We were on excel. And I regret it. Really!
   I have a piece of advice for all the hoteliers out there. Accept it or not, technology is crucial (the right set of technologies, to be precise). You just cannot scale without it.
3. Our hoteliering practices, especially mine, were old school. See, sometimes you feel that being old school is what makes you authentic. But it doesn’t work all the time.
   Travelers today aren’t the same as they were a decade ago. They want internet, comfortable rooms, complimentary breakfast, etc. Budget traveling is rare nowadays; people want facilities even if it costs them a few more bucks.
4. Another mistake was that we never had a strategy. We never strategized how to price our rooms, what amenities to include, etc. There were times when we offered way too much to our guests at a minimal price. Wish I could go back in time and tell those guests, “hey, you need to pay 2000 extra for that.”
5. We didn’t have a roadmap. We were just operating and living in our small happy world of serving guests. We never thought about how we would want The Den to look like or become a few years down the line. And it was a BIG mistake.

How to Future-Proof Your Hotel?

Future-proofing your hotel is basically about keeping abreast of all the happenings in the industry. And there are certain elements that you need to incorporate ASAP.

Let’s look at everything that can future-proof your accommodation business.

1. Streamline and automate operations

I cannot emphasize enough on this point. We are 2022 and if hotels are still around from one department to other, then there’s something really wrong.

This is a tall straightforward statement but true.

If you want to offer a great guest experience, you need automation. And that can happen when you leverage the power of technology.

There are various management systems that automate your hotel’s operations end-to-end.

For example, someone makes a booking at your hotel website, and in a manual scenario, you have to track that booking and update it on your system, excel sheet, or register. But if you have an automated system, the room inventory would get updated without leaving any space for error.  

Not to mention, the major benefit is your hotel staff is now left with more time that they can utilize to communicate with guests and offer great hospitality.

2. Move your hotel to the cloud

Now, I say move your hotel to the cloud, I don’t mean using a slingshot and landing on an actual cloud. Rather, I mean to leverage the power of cloud technology.

A cloud-based property management system is a great example of this. It runs on SaaS (Software as a Service) platform and offers an easy way to manage your operations.

To be more specific, all it requires is a browser and a favorable internet connection. Every function is executed and the information is stored in the cloud.  So, cloud hotel software does not need any IT personnel or department for maintenance.

Not to mention, with the cloud, you can manage your hotel operations from anywhere at any time.

Want to know more about the cloud? Here are three articles you might want to read:

• Why Should Hotels Move to Cloud PMS?
• Cloud vs On-Premise PMS for Hotels: Which is Preferable?
•  How Cloud Can Enhance Guest Journey at Your Hotel

3. Ace your hotel distribution game

When it comes to selling rooms, it goes beyond emails, travel agents, phone calls, walk-ins, and even booking from your website. You as a hotelier have to explore varieties of channels and see from where you can acquire reservations.

Simply put, you need to have a strong distribution strategy in place which revolves around a mix of channels through which you sell hotel rooms.

Now, the concept of hotel distribution is vast and requires you to understand various aspects of it. Be it about OTAs, direct bookings, pricing strategy, or maintaining rate parity, you must get your hands on everything. 

4. Create a pro-employee and pro-guest culture

For a hotel, irrespective of the shape, size, and type, to become future-proof, it is important to create a culture that is employee-centric and guest-first.

Why so, you ask? Because technology, strategies, and everything else works only when your people are happy.

Hotel staff who are valued as a whole person and not just an employee always delivers. Satisfied staff means satisfied guests, and this leads to profitability and scalability.

So, what does the culture look like at your hotel? Something similar to what is mentioned above?

If yes, you’re doing great.

If not, it’s never too late to care about your people.

5. ALWAYS stay true to your budgeting

Budgeting is a critical part of a hotel’s overall success.

But how is it related to making your property future-proof?

Well, the way I think of it is that no matter what you incorporate into your hotel, you need to have a budget for it. Anything that affects your budget is something that might hamper your accommodation business. (https://artandhistory.org)

In simple words, what I mean by this is that you have to know how much money is coming in and going out of your business.

For example, you have analyzed and understood that your hotel would need to invest in a lot of technological elements. But do you have the budget to deploy all of them? If yes, great. If not, you might want to consult your finance personnel and check what you can afford right now, for what you should wait.

If you want to learn more about hotel budgeting, here’s a detailed piece of article.

6. Keep a finger on the pulse to check for trends

Whenever you decide to become forward-looking for your accommodation business, you must start checking on trends.

When I am saying trends, I don’t just mean travel trends, but technological and operational trends as well.

For example, is your hotel equipped with a marketing automation tool to send timely emails to your potential and existing guests? If no, then this is something you might want to incorporate.

Now, you can top this up with compset analysis, which is basically evaluating your competitors’ services and products in order to strategize your accommodation business’ growth.

Simply put, you get a clear picture of what you are up against, what you’re missing out on, and where you’re leading.

7. Timely analyze your hotel’s performance

Before you could make your hotel all great, you have to first understand how your business is faring.

What does the popularity of your property look like in the industry?

What is the occupancy rate of your property?

How much investment do you make every year — on marketing, operations, technology, etc.?

And is your hotel making enough revenue?

These are just some of the surface-level questions you need to find answers to. If you have them, then you’re pretty close to understanding your hotel performance.

All in all, analyzing the performance of your hotel or auditing helps you develop a much-needed trust in the market and ensures that your hotel business is free and fair from all types of frauds, losses, and everything in between.

8. Double down on revenue management

There’s this hotel that has the same pricing throughout the year. And on the other hand, there’s another that sets room pricing based on demand.

Which one is more likely to make a better profit? The former or the latter?

You know the answer.

Hospitality revenue management is a crucial element for any hotel to scale and stay competitive for years to come. It uses demand-based variable pricing that empowers your hotel to make better revenue throughout the year.

If you have not yet leveraged the power of revenue management, it is high time to do so.

We have been doubling down a lot on it from the very get-go. You check out our repository of revenue management to learn more.

9. Incorporate contactless solutions

There’s a huge misconception that contactless hospitality solutions came into the frame only because of Covid. It’s not true at all.

We at eZee have been offering contactless solutions way before the pandemic hit. But why would we do that? Because eZee could see that there was a huge segment of travelers that wanted hotels with contactless services.  

Basically, travelers wanted more power — they wanted to select their rooms, check-in without waiting in a queue, make payments through their phones and check out as easily as possible.

Now, the question is whether this is going to be there a few years down the line.

And the answer is an absolute yes because travelers’ preferences have changed through the years and people are going to be game for hotels with contactless solutions.

10. Leverage Open API

Open API (application programming interface) is a publicly available software intermediary that lets two applications connect for a specified task. You can also say that it is a middleman that helps two applications communicate and function in sync.

But why do hotels need to leverage open API?

Let me help you understand this with an example:

Hotel Rooftop Velar has recently deployed a hotel PMS. Impressed by the capabilities of the system, the hotel has decided to opt for a hotel booking engine integration. Now, this is where open API comes into the picture.  The hotel booking API that is used to integrate the booking engine with the PMS makes it possible for the hotel to update room inventory automatically every time it receives a reservation through the booking engine.

So, what happened here is the hotel made all its systems work in sync and what open API has done is it bypassed the tedious and lengthy process of integrating all the systems.

Want to know more in detail?

Here’s a blog for you: Everything About Open API in Hotel Industry.

11. Rely on DATA. Please do

The hospitality industry is data-rich and the key to maintaining a competitive advantage has come down to ‘how hotels gather, manage, and analyze this data.

But is data really that important? ABSOLUTELY YES!

Data gives you the ability to predict what the industry is going to witness in the years to come. It makes you and your hotel prepare for it to boost profitability.

Let’s take the example of future demand data.

Future demand data gives you insights into your source market to see how demand develops. Meaning, it enables you to predict how many guests will stay in each room during a given period.

When you have such kind of information at hand, you become better at strategic planning to future-proof your hotel, keeping your hotel business as competitive as possible.