Tech Talk

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Definitely Doug 6/9/23: Hotels Fighting Trafficking: The Role of Technology
Posted: 06/09/2023

This week I want to address an important issue for the hospitality industry, albeit one that technologists have not historically had on their radar. They can potentially play a significant role in addressing the issue, which is human trafficking, and more specifically sex trafficking.

In my last column, I reviewed some key trends in autonomous mobile robotics for hotels, and dove into three categories of delivery robots in more detail – room delivery, food delivery, and heavy-lift robots. This week I will round out the topic with several other robot types and applications, as well as general guidance for evaluating, acquiring, and adopting mobile autonomous robotics. If you have not yet read part one, I recommend going back and doing so before continuing below, as some of the introductory material is important background to what follows.

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Best Practices for Hotel & Resort Operators in Pool Season 2023
Posted: 05/25/2023

With the arrival of warmer weather and summer fast approaching, hospitality operators are gearing up for another pool season. This year, technology is at the forefront of driving booking revenue and taking operational efficiency to the next level. Modern technology platforms (such as hospitality’s newest technology category – the Property Experience Management System or PXMS) are providing brand new capabilities that unlock new strategies and approaches to filling the pool with satisfied guests.

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The Growing Role Technology Plays in Hotels and Restaurants
Posted: 05/25/2023

In the past few years, hotels and restaurants have grown into hubs for entertainment, leisure, and human connection. In an effort to best serve their guests, operators have begun rethinking their technological investments and working to adapt to recent shifts in consumer preference and operations. To ensure that guests have the best on-site experience possible, brands are increasingly looking to new technologies to make their experiences more convenient and comfortable. Advanced property management systems (PMS) and point-of-sale (POS) systems can increase operational and staff efficiency, while also meeting changing customer expectations for a high-value but relatively low-touch experience.

This week I will return to a topic I have covered before, because it has, within the last 12 to 18 months, become one of the hottest-growth categories in hospitality technology. That topic is autonomous mobile robots – specifically, ones that can move around the facility as well as perform specific tasks. Many of these products were launched pre-Covid but were often seen at the time as more of a marketing gimmick than a legitimate operational solution.

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Can Real Innovation Come Without Disruption?

02/22/2016

by Ron Strecker

If you’re like me, your inbox has included recent cover stories, emails and blog posts about disruption. Some have spoken about embracing disruption, others have offered ideas on how to minimize it. Regardless how you feel about it, the amount of disruption in our industry is going to increase.

Last year at this time I established three key principles for my finance and technology teams to incorporate into their daily routines and strategic planning. The first two principles are support and partnerships. This goes back to a basic premise of the hotel business. Finance and technology should always focus first on supporting operations in the daily interaction with our customers.

The third principle I conveyed to the team was innovation. Everyone can be an innovator. It doesn’t matter what their role is or even what department they work in. Innovation is finding a better way to complete a task or complete a goal. A decade ago this idea might have been referred to as continuous operational improvement, or COI.

For example, let’s say you have the latest property management system on the market which can produce a multitude of filtered reports on the fly. These reports can be displayed, converted to PDF and emailed, or even exported to Excel. Printing these reports and re-entering the data into a spreadsheet is not innovation. Generating an Excel export file linked to a pre-designed template is somewhat innovative. But wouldn’t it be more innovative to get accustomed to the new system report? And who needs to print anything today?

If the challenge comes from trying to compare actual data from the PMS with the daily budget information residing in another application then innovation can go one of two ways. Developing a spreadsheet template linked to Excel exports from each system is a tried and true method but can be a problematic. The more innovative approach would be a PMS with workspace set aside to house a daily budget for reporting.

These are samples of ways we all innovate every day and these innovations are not viewed as disruptive. In fact, we are happier and feel a sense of accomplishment. Technology has been driving us to rethink how we do things for a long time.

Your PMS is likely light years ahead of what was in use 20 years ago, but are you leveraging all of the features? Why not? Because we often want the software to adapt to the way we have always done things. We become the roadblock to letting the software fulfill the promise of change.

This is where disruption comes in. Experience shows real innovation requires a commitment to let the past be the past. Take the time to really absorb how a new system works. Reflect on how you can leverage the software to improve the way you do business. Don’t be burdened by how things are currently done, or how the layout of a report is different.

If you buy into the promise of the software’s transformative potential, then the only thing standing in your way is disruption. Everyone impacted by the new software will go through some level of disruption, starting with training on a new application while still working in the old one.

Innovation equals change. It might be a little change or it could be a major change, but if things don’t change for the better then you failed to innovate. Human nature tends to resist change and some actually fear change. Or do we fear the disruption part of change?

Disruption doesn’t need to be feared, it needs to be managed. It requires forethought into identifying how things will be different. It means identifying the things we will stop doing. The inclusion of all stakeholders into this conversation will give them the opportunity to embrace the change. Disruption will still happen, but it won’t be as frightening.

So what are your plans for change this year? Are you going to install a new or updated software package? Will the change be transformative? Is the team prepared for disruption? Or will the change only result in gripes about how the old system was better.

The technology sector knows hospitality is ready for disruption. Creative solutions in the form of hardware and software show up every day. The companies who will be leading hospitality tomorrow are those embracing disruption today. These new solutions will be more effective if we can disconnect ourselves from how we have always done business.

This year is already shaping up to be one of change. Are you ready to be disruptive?

About The Author

Ron Strecker
CHAE, CHTP

Ron Strecker, CHAE, CHTP is an independent consultant, author, and speaker with over 35 years of senior financial leadership roles. These roles span a broad spectrum of hospitality brands, ownership types, and management companies. His expertise in finance is matched with a strong understanding of technologies in use today throughout the industry. RWStrecker1@gmail.com