10 HOSPITALITY TRENDS TO LOOK OUT FOR

Jambo, 

INTRODUCTION

Hoteliers Beware! 
Everything is changing with time at a very fast pace, every hour, every day of our lives and with no doubt, we must equip ourselves and learn to adapt with current new trends by ensuring our premises and our services are up to date and more hospitable with the same...

Here are 10 Hospitality Trends To Look Out For;-

1. Local Experience 

There's more desire for tourists and travelers to enjoy local experiences. Many people want to experience the euthentic way of life in the location they visit.

So in order to achieve this, hotels and restaurants need to provide local products and services whilst engaging the traveler to take part in the same, thus enhancing better guest experience.

2. Sustainability

Guests are increasingly getting concerned with environmental issues and if the hotels they've checked in are ethically based and promoting eco-friendliness - Are they recycling, using energy savers, solar applied systems, where do they throw their waste, do they have automatic taps that turn themselves off immediately after the user is done, are there automatic switch offs' for lights and aircons systems in the guest rooms, etc.

3. Personalisation

Today’s travelers want hotels to provide them with personalized experiences tailored to their preferences. This fact is extensively covered within the industry, but why should hoteliers care? Study shows that hotels that take the time to create unique experiences customized to their guests’ preferences generate increased revenue per guest and strengthen brand loyalty.

Most guests want to be treated as individuals rather than any other anonymous walk in. They want to be personally greeted(majority of them even want to be addressed by their names) by the hotel staff upon arrival and mostly in between their stay(because you are already in rapport).

4. Smart Hotels and Restaurants 

Smart Hotels make use of internet enabled devices which are capable of sending data to one another. From your mobile phone or via giving a voice command you can easily control everything in the room, from curtains and windows(open or close), background music, deam or switch off lights, set on a wake up alarm, open or close doors via a simple voice command control, etc.

Many hotel groups are now offering mobile check-in and digital concierge services, with guests being issued with high tech cards and to some extent, some of them even detect their presence and unlock doors before they even reach it.

At business meetings and conferences, travelers expect hotels and conference centers to have high quality tech equipment and knowledgeable support staff with technical know-how.

https://youtu.be/2g7Ws_78PRs

(press and hold or double click the link above to watch a smart hotel set up) 



5. Artificial Intelligence

This improves guest service and experience, used for online customer interaction, removing lengthy waiting time whilst providing swift intelligent responses to questions.

Some hotels have introduced Al and voice controlled customer care service or tourist information hubs with their facilities - Restaurant booking chatbots, etc. 

https://youtu.be/91cFDrL91O8

(press and hold or double click the link above to watch a Chatbot Hotel Booking demo) 

6. Bleisure Travel By Millennials

'Bleisure' is the name given to trips which combine business travel with leisure activities. It's very popular especially among millennial generation. A traveler may initially visit a location to attend a business meeting or conference but then extend their stay to turn it into a holiday.

In order to feel included, they want spontaneous services, excellent access to information, fast communication, etc and mobile phone apps are the way to go. Please them with easy check-in and gourmet dining experience at reasonable prices and they will resonate and actively promote or recommend you on social media platforms.

https://youtu.be/89fx5jfJMmQ

(press and hold or double click the link above to watch get more info on Bleisure)


7. Augmented Reality

It's way much better than a photo, the entire range of food that you see in Menu AR is at three dimensional images of the real dishes. You can even see the texture of the Food or Beverage, their ingredients and size before ordering, It looks so real. 

https://youtu.be/f978S_J5Elo

(press and hold or double click the link above to an augmented reality menu) 

8. Virtual Reality

Hotel virtual reality tour basically show cases or gives you a 360 Tour of the outlet and it's facilities, making you see and feel as if you are already there even before you set foot inside.

https://youtu.be/tjKVWItRW34

(press and hold or double click the link above to watch virtual reality set up)  

"After you open the link above, do a practical, by twisting or rotating your gadget(this one your using right now) to experience the real feel of virtual reality."



9. Healthy Organic Food & Beverage and Well Being

Nowadays people are becoming more aware of things they put in their bodies, leading them to go to hotels and restaurants that serve healthy food and beverage...

Guests also prefer or want well equipped fitness centers, pool and spas so as to be physically engaged even if their away from home during their stay at a certain location.

10. Social Media Platforms: Destination Promotion and Real Time Damage Control

The explosion of social media is causing hotels to become more involved in destination and self promotion, with many featuring guests images, videos or tweets on their websites.

At the same time, these platforms are also used by dissatisfied guests who can easily complain on TripAdvisor, Facebook, Yelp, Twitter, etc so hoteliers must be able to quickly respond, engaging with the said guests whilst responding to their complaints in order to maintain a positive guest relation and drive future bookings.

https://youtu.be/DRD71boSgL4

(press and hold or double click the link above to watch an social media illustration)


Conclusion

No matter how large or small the impact of a trend nor how long lasting it turns out to be, the outlets that gain the most are those that adapt their guest experience to it the fastest. Some create ripples in the industry - others tidal waves!

Hope you've gained from this read! Let's connect on LinkedIn.com as Kennedy Gitahi

We are hoteliers and hospitality is our business!

Regards...