Marriott recently tested beacon technology in 14 hotels, becoming the first hospitality brand to use the low-cost transmitters that have been gaining popularity in other industries.
Beacons offer indoor positioning through Wi-Fi and allow companies to offer more personal experiences with consumer context.
Shazam will use it to offer personalised song recommendations, Virgin Atlantic uses it to send its Heathrow passengers information on phones, and Rolls-Royce uses it to give museum goers multi-sensory experiences.
Technological adaptation in hospitality is at an interesting period of transition. Early adapters are using digital, increased mobility and devices to deliver tailored and better experiences – for guests and event attendees. Others are still trying to keep up with customer’s extensive use of technology and devices.
In an industry steeped in legacy-based systems with multiple stakeholders, the transition isn’t easy and most brands are trying to adapt and keep up with consumer demand.
So what trends can we expect to shape the hospitality industry, particularly in the MICE segment, this year?
- Social media integration
Last year, W Hotels in New York City offered a “Social Media Wedding Concierge” to guests booking the venue. For US $3,000, the concierge would create hashtags, live tweet the wedding, upload pictures to Pinterest and Instagram and perform a range of other functions.
Social media integration has moved from a ‘nice to have’ to an absolute priority for most brands. In hospitality, it is no longer just a channel to tackle or pre-empt negative reviews.
The increasingly cohesive role of social media in a property’s MICE strategy will see more venues using real-time functions across other online functions to replicate the speed and continuous presence of social media dialogue. The function and purpose of social media will increasingly focus on tactics that will generate revenue, as well as build brand advocacy.
- Real-time access
From online shopping, to travel and even insurance, people are used to getting all the information they want from anywhere – without having to talk to anyone. This trend has been slower to infiltrate into hospitality, but venues are now catching up.
Increasing use of real-time functions that allow conference organisers to quickly perform online updates on social and web will gain popularity – and give them better control of their event.
The challenge for the industry will be in converging information from multiple stakeholders into central platforms, without giving away their competitive edge.
- Cloud technology’s impact on cost
The increasing use of cloud as a platform to store data and run ‘software as a service’ (SaaS) technologies that integrate information will result in a reduction of hardware and resource management costs – particularly at a property level.
While backend integration, be it WiFi or convergence into singular SaaS platforms, is an investment in time and money, the results are realised through better customer engagement.
Backend integration has enabled managers to move out from behind the desk and walk the floor with tablet devices, monitoring different platforms real-time and engaging in more meaningful discussion with guests and visitors – online and in the physical space.
- Big data
A whitepaper published by the International Association of Exhibitions and Events highlights how, as big data tools become cheaper and more readily available, event managers will be able to deliver better products and services – having mined information collected on customers, the community and events.
Merging and analysing data collected from multiple sources such as SaaS platforms, social media, newsletters and other functions will help brands deliver more personal experiences – on a screen or at the property.
The challenge will be in balancing the action on data within parameters of the law and customer expectations.
- Increased consumer control
The levelling effect of technology will see more people experienced in managing events and, events becoming easier to manage.
Cloud based tools, more simplistic website design, easier to execute webinars and other advances will result in people across different hierarchies of an organisation becoming more involved in planning functions.
Increasing consumer control in hospitality will follow the transformation seen in other industries such as travel where software platforms like Expedia and TripAdvisor have enabled instant access to information, allowing consumers to compare and pay.
As hospitality has done with AV and production in recent years, we can expect to see a leaner and more outsourced approach to its technology and IT functions through 2015 and beyond.
