Six future trends in the hospitality industry
Every new imaginable technology that is able to be integrated into a property, has been future at hotels all around the world! From robot butlers, self-washing windows, transformer bedrooms, swimming pools with underwater speakers to 3D-projection for conference halls, underwater rooms, bubble bedrooms, neuro-programming of dreams and many more! Here are some of the technologies that are mostly integrated.
Using a smartphone as a door key
Nowadays, very few hotels are using traditional keys, as they have been replaced with cards. But using cards to open your hotel room, sometimes it can be quite annoying as you have to keep the card somewhere safe while you are outside the hotel, and it can be easily forgiven at the hotel room while you are going out. With the development of technology, more and more hotels are offering a phone app, which can be downloaded to your phone and guests can open their rooms using the app. This technology is currently widely spread at hotels around the world!
One future technology that is currently tested for unlocking the hotel door is guest’s face recognition. Developing this technology seems logical as most of the smartphone is unlocked with face recognition. Currently, this technology is available only at one hotel in Hangzhou, China the hotel name is FlyZoo and it is owned by the tech giant Alibaba.
Robots can be found in some of the hotels next to the reception desk! The robots are used for self-check-in at the hotel or to provide information about the hotel, hotel services, local sights and which restaurants in the vicinity to visit! But this technology is still developing and you cannot fully rely on robots, their work is always monitored by a human. The robots are used mainly for a marketing ploy to show to the guests that the hotel is allegiance to tech.
Interestingly, there are not examples if robots cleaning hotel rooms. The hotels are not trusting robots to vacuum clean or to do any other cleaning job at the hotel. Even in the most technologically advanced hotels, the rooms are continued to be cleaned manually.
Internet of things
The internet is widely used at hotels not only for doors but also for all other object in the room thanks to the connectivity with apps. In a modern hotel, you can use a remote control to manage the TV, lights, curtains, air conditioning, alarm clock, music player, mattress functions and also the coffee machine. For the convenience of the guests, some hotels have installed tablets in their rooms to manage and control all of those objects!
- Lobbies
Some of the hotels are starting to turn their traditional lobbies into co-working areas or meeting spaces. This is due to the changing needs of the guests while on the other hand, it helps the hotels to benefit financially by transforming the lobby to something else
.
The most common situation while entering a hotel in recent years has been to see areas occupied by people with laptops. The background of those people is from almost any imaginable industry from designers, freelancers to lawyers and other professionals.
- Healthy living
It is not only fashionable but also most of the people are starting to live a healthy life! A survey claims that 80% of people today focus more on their physical and emotional state than three years ago. This involves not only eating healthy and sport but also people are starting to monitor their sleep and trying to meditate, so-called living a balanced life. And the hotels are trying to adapt to all of those needs required by their clients.
- The environment
As people are more informed about the environment thanks to all the different information provided by different sources, almost everyone is trying to be environmentally friendly as possible and to protect the environment. Researches show that 66% of young people are willing to pay more for a product if its manufacturer takes a responsible approach to the environment.
Most of the hotels are trying to be environmentally friendly as possible. For example, some hotels have installed smart thermostats, which turn off the heating when the guest leaves the room. Once the guest returns to the room, the system heats up to a comfortable temperature as quickly as possible. As a result of the smart thermostats, it declines the energy use of the hotel, and the environment-friendly system turns out to be profitable.
- Pets
Modern travelers are closely attached to their pets and they don’t want to leave them in their hotel while they are on vacation. This means that more hotels are becoming pet-friendly.
Some hotel chains are gladly welcoming guests with pets, and the pets are treated almost as well as their owners.