Technology is Redefining the Meaning of Hospitality

By Abigail A. Lorden, Editor-in-Chief
Like many of you, the team at Hospitality Technology recently returned from HITEC, the hotel industry’s largest tech tradeshow. The supplier community turned out en masse to exhibit their solutions, many of which were new entries to the industry and touted a variety of mobile and cloud-based tie-ins. The hospitality industry overall is fully embedded in a service model transformation, brought on by the sweeping changes made possible by mobile devices. High-touch, for the first time, is truly merging with high tech. No longer are operators afraid to embrace technology for fear of alienating consumers; rather the race is on to offer consumers an interaction that is integrated with their personal mobile devices and preferences, be it to find a hotel, make reservations, map the property, and soon to enter and control the guestroom.

We at HT have just completed a new landmark body of research, the first annual “Customer Engagement Technology Study,” mailed with this month’s issue of the magazine. The study is comprehensive for both hotels and restaurants and tracks current and planned use for a variety of interactive technologies: mobile apps, tablets, social networks, digital displays, and more. The results are compelling. Both hotels and restaurants are fully embedded in a process to re-architect what it means to be hospitable. I encourage you to review the report and use it as a benchmark against your own organization’s plans.

To get even deeper insight into the trends and changes hotels are facing, we’re currently in the data collection phase for the third annual “Lodging Technology Study.” This report puts a laser focus on overall tech budgets and innovation priorities across the entire property and inside the guestroom. We’ve enhanced the study significantly this year and are currently in the data collection phase. Our readers in the hotel industry will receive an email invitation to participate in the study — please take ten minutes to share your perspectives. The report will be more insightful than ever before, and we look forward to mailing it directly to you in December. Thanks in advance for your support.