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Merging High Tech With High Touch to Create a New Hospitality Paradigm
Posted: 03/23/2023

One of the key challenges facing today’s hoteliers is that of high tech vs high touch. Does technology conflict with personalized service? Is it possible to offer both during the same visit? And can hotels that utilize technology in favor of human interaction achieve guest loyalty?

Business travel is picking back up and families may be taking their first or second real vacations since the pandemic cancelled so many plans just a few years ago. To ensure that guests have the best on-site experience possible, hoteliers are increasingly looking to new technologies to make their stay more comfortable than ever. With an advanced property management systems (PMS) and integration platforms, hoteliers can increase operational and staff efficiency, but also meet changing guest expectations for a high-value but relatively low-touch experience. We looked ahead to see what changes we expect to see sweeping the hospitality industry this year.

Long-term readers of this blog know that I rarely focus on a single company or product. My goal is to help readers understand new and emerging technologies, when and why they might be useful, and what to consider if you are buying them.

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The Future of Hotels
Posted: 02/21/2023

Hotels have always been a high-touch low-tech business. Today, and into the foreseeable future, hotels are moving away from the pure ‘people serving people’ model towards a more high-tech low-touch business, and doubling down on digitalization. In the paragraphs below, I envision ways in which tech can innovate and enhance the guest experience throughout the guests’ 6 stage hotel journey: Imagine-Book-Stay-Report-Recommend-Return.

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Definitely Doug 2/10/23: Planning for June
Posted: 02/10/2023

The question I have heard most often in recent months is “where are you going in the last week of June?”. As most readers are aware, two trade shows featuring hotel technology are scheduled during the same dates that week. Many of you are still undecided which to attend. Knowing that your decision will be based at least in part on where others are going (hoteliers and exhibitors both), I decided to try to get some real data that I could share.

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HSMAI ROC Recap: Grabbing Revenue by the Horns in Houston

07/17/2018 Tagged as: HITEC Houston, HSMAI, Revenue Optimization Conference, ROC 2018

by Jason Smith

More than 600 hospitality professionals gathered in Houston in late June for the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International’s (HSMAI) Revenue Optimization Conference (ROC) Americas.

The day officially kicked off with an opening general session, emceed by Dr. Kelly McGuire, SVP of revenue management for MGM Resorts International. Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist for the Economic Outlook Group, shared his geopolitical and economic forecast for the coming year, citing tariffs imposed recently by the United States, increased cyberattacks, and the high likelihood of a recession in the near future as some of the biggest concerns for the travel industry. He urged hoteliers in attendance to be proactive about pricing and to have game plans in place for plausible unfavorable scenarios such as company-wide technical disruptions, and a decreased number of internationaltravelers to the United States.

The opening general session also featured a “Think Like an Owner” panel, in which hotel executives shared their perspective on revenue management.

Another highlight of conference was the two-part interactive session, “No Bull: The Great Debate,” in which presenters debated two timely topics for the hospitality industry: the role of AI and the effectiveness of loyalty programs, respectively. Live polling and candid comments from audience members made for engaging discussions of both subjects.

Throughout the day, a host of breakout sessions delved into AI, loyalty, and other key issues for hotels and revenue optimization, including personalizing paid advertising, leveraging social media, harnessing metrics and analytics, and maximizing non-room revenue opportunities.

For the third year in a row HSMAI’s ROC Americas drew more 600 attendees. In addition to plentiful education and networking opportunities, the conference showcased 42 partner companies serving the revenue management industry, including consultants, technology vendors and companies providing products and services in revenue management, execution, and reporting.

The day ended on a high note with an entertaining game of “Revenue Feud,” inspired by the television gameshow Family Feud.