The Impact of Digital Transformation on the Hospitality Industry

Since the inception of the World Wide Web, digital transformation has been a perennial. In the previous two decades, however, it has been a game of traditional agencies in the hospitality and tourism industry. Some people still prefer the old method of obtaining information from the agency, which only provides it to consumers who come in person. Service is unusually slow, time-consuming, and does not ensure that you will leave with your ticket or lodging booked. 

Customer behavior began to shift as the digital world evolved, having a significant impact on the hotel and travel industries. People expect a customer-centric experience, from selecting their location with a few clicks to receiving detailed information on the lodgings, such as customer service, available activities, and room characteristics, and so on.  

Many people believe that digital transformation can be accomplished simply by incorporating new technology into their existing organizations. Instead, this is referred to as digitalization. It is the process of transferring your company’s operations to the digital realm. Digital transformation, on the other hand, is a considerably broader concept. It’s all about doing things in a new, digital way. Forbes said in 2018 that there was a 70% chance that organizations would fail in their digital transformation process and would not achieve their initial goal. Every revolution necessitates a strategic strategy, and the digital transformation journey is no different. 

For their own personal usage, everyone possesses at least one digital device. People’s perceptions of knowledge have been influenced by technology, which has gradually established their habits. Hotel room reservations can now be made instantly using your hotel’s mobile app or website. If your hotel uses mobile-first hospitality management software, your guests will be able to do even more with their mobile devices, such as check in, order room service, select a room upon arrival, unlock your hotel room door keyless, and check out without having to contact with your front desk. 

A select few hotels take things a step further by providing virtual hotel tools and an augmented reality experience. Customers can visit the hotel, restaurants, and other attractions such as beaches, museums, shops, and cafes. These perks have long been utilized by hotels to differentiate themselves apart from their competition and demonstrate their ability to quickly adapt to new technology. 

The hospitality sector has embraced Internet of Thins (IoT) and taken it a step further by allowing their Property Management system (also known as hotel management software) to connect with their visitors’ own digital devices. 

Internally, it significantly improves hotel operations. There will be no more paperwork for manual check-in, and your hotel management software will keep cleaning and the front desk in sync. Built-in sensors for room light, TVs, and answering guest questions using in-room voice recognition have also been placed in hotels. These save hotel prices and expenses by relieving the front desk of a significant amount of work. 

Your hotel receives constant data flow from your clients, their true experience, and happiness, thanks to technology. By analyzing this data, you can better utilize your hotel’s methods and improve your hotel’s operations. It serves as a preference for future client stays, ensuring a personalized experience while allowing hotels to provide customizable packages that appeal to a similar customer group. 

The benefits of digital transformation in many traditional businesses will continue to evolve as technology advances. It’s because there are numerous advantages for both the enterprise and the customer. Many businesses recognize the advantages of digital transformation in the hotel industry, such as increased brand awareness, increased operational efficiencies, and improved customer experience. 

There are a variety of current emerging technologies, such as IoT, Virtual Reality (VR), digital housekeeping and concierge, and many others, that provide us with several benefits as customers or business owners.  

You may give a high degree of support based on your guests’ profiles and therefore enhance satisfaction. More customized guest experiences, greater operational efficiency, and increased income will all benefit hoteliers. 

You can better understand your consumer with the aid of data analytics, and you can learn more about their interests and likes. 

There will be no more long lines. Self-service solutions such as check-ins or even airport instruction can help reduce waits. Customers or customers do not have to wait any longer to check in or use services. 

Also, hoteliers may keep their clients up to date on any exciting offers or the recent news by providing them with access to information that is automatically updated. Hoteliers can not only build highly targeted digital marketing, but they can also track their results. 

You can go green and help the environment by implementing IoT. Printing fewer key cards, boarding passes, and documents can help reduce paperwork. Also, by heating the room only 30 minutes before the visitors return rather than keeping it warm all day, you wind up spending less energy. 

Your staff will be able to provide better service since they will have more knowledge about consumers, and you will have greater departmental collaboration and communication. Hotel firms are also able to design highly targeted digital marketing and track their results. 

For the hospitality industry, digital transformation opens a slew of possibilities. It has a significant and beneficial effect on traditional businesses. Some people continue to believe that there aren’t many opportunities for innovation in the hospitality and travel industries, but this is far from the case. 

If you’re in the hotel or travel business and haven’t implemented a digital strategy, you’re probably losing a lot of consumers to competitors that are more attentive to customer requirements and have established themselves as market leaders. Hospitality is one of the industries that has been affected by digital revolution. 

Advanced technology and innovations have transformed the way the hotel sector provides value to tourists across the world during the last 20 years. With all the possibilities, digital transformation is changing the industry, leaving some businesses in the dust. Customers’ behavior has moved at breakneck speed toward new, inventive experiences. 

Without a question, digital transformation is one of the most important drivers of industry growth today. But, since the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic breakout put the world on hold, the hotel industry, in particular, has been losing ground day by day. 

Consumers, on the other hand, continue to seek better solutions and unique experiences. With one-tap check-ins, digital concierge services, voice-activated devices, chatbots, smart in-room technologies, advanced analytics, virtual-assistant platforms, enhanced direct bookings, and more to come, the industry is rapidly adopting new technologies to exceed their expectations and digitize the customer journey. 

Many hospitality businesses are still making their way into the exciting new realm of digitization. To provide a more seamless guest experience, many hotels are automating and streamlining travel procedures, as well as developing the technical tools required to fully exploit data. 

Furthermore, given the rising dominance of millennials in the travel industry, hospitality firms should be prepared to curate and customize travel offers as well as implement a data-driven transformation. For reservations and more customized encounters, this generation of tech-savvy tourists likes to use apps. The cultural shift, as well as the long-term consequences of automation, machine learning, and perhaps robots, are unavoidable. 

Conclusion 

To be successful in the Travel & Hospitality industry, businesses must ensure that their customers have an extraordinary experience from the moment they begin researching and planning their vacation, whether it is for air travel, hotels, restaurants, or a luxury cruise. This is, however, easier said than done. 

Any system flaw – whether it’s related to inconvenient accessibility, operations, lodging, amenities, or anything else – can have a negative impact on a T&H business, including brand name loss. Customer sentiment analysis can help improve services in the travel and hospitality industry. 

Cigniti’s Domain Competency Group (DCG) of 450+ experts provides end-to-end testing for travel and hospitality-related digital apps (including e-commerce, digital platforms, departure control, passenger management, operations, fleet management, and so on) that improve customer experience, while our Hospitality TCoE provides deep product testing for restaurant service areas, including point of sale (POS) testing. We’ve also created test accelerators for ERP, test automation, performance testing, and web services testing, which include a modular framework and pre-built, reusable test assets, use cases, and business scenarios that help reduce testing costs, time, and effort. 

Need help? Talk to our digital transformation and hospitality sector experts to know more about the impact of digital transformation on the hospitality industry.