Latin America. One of the most innovative sectors is that of hospitality where we will see four emerging technological trends -and in some cases surprising-, that are reshaping the industry in this digital era where demands and relationships with customers have changed. Let's know them with specific statistics and their meaning.
Trend No.1: Wi-Fi Infrastructure Review
The metrics are:
- More than 75% of all active online adults access the Web through mobile devices.
- More than 72% of professionals have chosen a hotel based on the Wi-Fi experience and 21% base their choice "frequently" on the Wi-Fi experience.
- In addition, more than 40% of professionals choose Wi-Fi as their essential daily priority number, above sex (37%), chocolate (14%) and alcohol (9%).
What does it mean? It's not surprising to see high priority Wi-Fi access among guests. Today, guests travel with 2 to 3 personal devices (whether a smartphone, tablet, or laptop) and anticipate access to a high-quality Wi-Fi network. Quality availability, reliable Wi-Fi connectivity is no longer a benefit, it is an expectation.
Wi-Fi connectivity should be robust, allowing customers to use the Internet in the same way they do at home, but access should also be transparent and intuitive. Comfort is key for guests, and any bottlenecks will have an impact on the experience, the brand, and of course, guest satisfaction scores.
What is the goal? It's creating a wear-free experience. A philosophical shift in how guests view Wi-Fi availability has also caused hotels to reevaluate service offerings. Historically, hotels could charge significantly for Internet access. That's changing as guest expectations have changed as well.
Trend No. 2: Improved technologies for rooms
The metrics are:
- 56% of hotels said room technology upgrades were a priority in 2017
- 36% of room upgrades are to reinforce bandwidth in the room
- 65% of hotel guests accessed the Internet within 7 minutes of check-in
What does it mean? As far as technology was concerned, the rooms were predominantly known for flat-screen TVs and on-demand content for purchase. These are still available today, but room amenities are evolving: the hospitality industry is focusing more intensely on supporting the habits and demands of its guests, or delivering an "experience as if they were at home."
First, hotels are improving bandwidth availability and distribution to more effectively support the consumption of high-quality content and the devices customers carry with them.
The strategy of the mobile-centric industry has extended to providing guests with "smart controls" to set up their rooms and access to services on the hotel property with their smartphones. As big hotel brands like Hilton, Marriott and Starwood embrace this functionality it is sure to emerge as an industry-wide hotel standard amenity.
In the future, smart controls will allow guests to customize their rooms in advance through the hotel's central app, such as room temperature pre-setting, light preferences, even mini-bar selection. Personalized and value-added services, similar to intelligent controls, are the path to the future of hospitality.
Trend No. 3: Leveraging Contextual Data
The metrics are:
- 30% of location-based location technologies in 2016.
- 75% of hotels and resorts plan to take advantage of location-based services in the coming year.
What it means: Data obtained from mobile contracts is invaluable assets for a property and a brand.
Wi-Fi analytics provides visibility into network and application performance, allowing properties to easily identify and mitigate potential inferences that negatively impact the on-site mobile experience for guests.
Analytics also delivers detailed, actionable intelligence related to customers and their mobile interaction behaviors back into business. Leveraging this data is imperative for the brand to better understand its guests and improve and personalize its guests' experience.
Location-based analytics data provides a means to create an integrated guest experience. Although still a developing technology, location-based data is becoming a valuable tool for hospitality in the future. The opportunities are endless and still unexplored: from having an understanding of where guests are in a property, to being able to offer promotions and services based on their location, to increasing operational efficiency at the hotel and beyond.
Trend No. 4: Increased security measures
The metrics are:
- The average cost for each security breach in the data is USD $7 million, of which USD $4 million corresponds to losses in sales and business reputation.
- Computer security received about 12% of the total IT budget for 2016; a budget increase of 25% over the previous year.
What does it mean? Cyber security, defense against hackers and cyberattacks is a critical consideration for all businesses. Attitudes towards investing in IT security are changing and will receive more and more funding in the future. This is no different in the hospitality industry; in fact, considering that businesses typically offer public and open Wi-Fi networks for guest use, security is a critical priority.
Not to mention, as payments become increasingly mobile, enabling secure transactions and protecting data privacy are in greater demand. Overall, guest privacy and the security of guest information are growing challenges especially over Wi-Fi.
By Rubén Sánchez, REGIONAL DIRECTOR LATAM, Extreme Networks.
