.jpeg)
This is the third article of our three-part Inflation Story series. You can read the first two articles here:
The Inflation Story: How A Global Economic Downturn Impacts the Hospitality Market
The Inflation Story: Key Challenges Hoteliers Must Address Today
An economic slowdown is looming large and the hotel industry is on its toes to prevent another disruption. In crucial times like these, technology can be a savior. Here are a few ways hotel tech can reverse the impact of inflation on your hotel business and develop a vision for the future:
It's 2022, and needless to say, technology is everywhere. From legacy hotels to conglomerates, 62% of all hoteliers want to offer an entirely contactless experience by 2025. This is a good time to adopt technology to enhance guest experience and be in tune with the changing industry trends. The first step you can take is to invest in a contactless guest app.
With MyCONECT’s custom guest app, you can offer mobile bookings, contactless check-in and check-out, digital keys, in-room controls, contactless service requests, and valet parking. Using the app makes the guest journey more convenient, reduces touchpoints, and at the same time, reduces the workload of staff. Since labor costs are high, sourcing staff is complex, and operational costs are skyrocketing, a guest app can be a great solution for modern hotels—you can reduce expenses, keep your staff happy, and offer your guests a memorable stay.
The application also doubles up as a staff app, helping you improve communication across departments, and ensuring they are in sync. From connecting with guests in real-time, and analyzing staff performance, to coordinating your team—the app simplifies the way you interact with guests and manage your workforce.
The pandemic made digital payment options a norm, and now there's no going back. Accenture estimates transactions worth $48 trillion will move from cash to digital by 2030.
As a hotelier operating a business during inflation, you have to remove any possible obstacles guests might face before making a transaction. But the issue is, the hotel industry is yet to embrace flexible, omnichannel payment methods. Even today, the industry relies heavily on customers’ buying habits to set up their payment methods, rather than going a step forward and starting a trend.
Staying ahead in the game can give you an unfair advantage over your competitors, much like Starbucks in 2020. Starbucks was already using an app-based payment method, way before COVID hit. And during the pandemic, it became the most-preferred way to pay for coffee, as contactless payment became a priority.
Following this example, you can create a flexible payment method for your hotel. Be it for booking rooms or ordering room services, guests should be able to pay quickly, and in any way they want, be it through cards, digital wallets, bank transfers, or BNPL. They should have access to these payment methods irrespective of which platform they use (website/app), and which device they use (mobile/tab/laptop). Reducing friction can help increase conversions and drive more sales.
At a time when trying to reduce costs across all departments, investing in tech might sound like a contradictory idea. Let's understand how you could use the inflation period to look deeper into your business and develop a future-proof strategy for its growth and development.
Inflation gives you a rare opportunity to dig into your business expenses, so you can cut off anything redundant and focus on the core. This is where technology comes into the picture.
Technology helps you automate key business processes, making things happen more seamlessly and faster than usual, at a reduced cost. By implementing hotel tech, you are investing in long-term savings for the business. The amount you spend on your tech stack will eventually pay for itself, thanks to the reduced expenses in the long run. When your profit margins are decent, you'll be in a position to reduce your room charges and charges for other services and take a step toward curbing down inflation.
The global economic downturn could be the right time to include innovation into the way you operate your business. Focus on building brand loyalists by offering subscription plans, make the guest experience smooth at every touchpoint, and use technology to offer curated services to your guests.
To stay updated with the latest news and trends in the hotel tech industry, sign up for the MyCONECT newsletter here.