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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HITEC 2021 Tip #1: You NEED to Attend

07/07/2021 Tagged as: attend, Dallas, HFTP, HITEC, hotels, pandemic, recovery, technology

by Ron Strecker

When HITEC takes place on September 27–30 in Dallas, it will have been 27 months since the last in-person HITEC. For many, this annual event offers the opportunity to visit with most of your current vendors in one location. It also creates an opportunity to meet vendors offering creative solutions you have been searching for.

The pandemic has been a challenge for all of us, and it has driven many to rethink how we do business while meeting heightened guest expectations. The technology vendors are at the forefront with a variety of changes to meet these new expectations. Why would you miss an opportunity to see all these changes in person?

More importantly, the number of changes in the technology space since HITEC 2019 has been significant. There have been countless mergers and acquisitions, some of which sound like matches made in heaven. Someone should build a guide for any vendors from 2019 that are here in 2021, but under a different company logo.

Aside from the trade show, there are numerous educational opportunities for key members of your team. HITEC and HFTP's 2021 Annual Convention are taking place at the same time in Dallas, which doubles the opportunity for educational sessions crossing technology and finance. Look at the sessions being presented before deciding to register for an exhibits-only pass.

Plan your time well at the show and consider bringing others in the organization to help divide and conquer. Here is a short list of who could benefit from attending:

Corporate leadership – CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, CROs, CMOs, CCOs
Property leadership – GMs, DOF/Controller, DOS, etc.
Department Heads and SMEs (Subject Matter Experts)

Your group may leave with a short list of items worthy of including in the 2022 budget.

The show floor will be full of vendors offering all kinds of software, hardware and services. Below, you will find some helpful tips on how to evaluate just the software side of the show’s offerings. The most dramatic changes have come courtesy of the continued migration of legacy apps to the cloud, joining the onslaught of new cloud-only applications.

One way to prepare is to stand back and assess your technology solutions across the enterprise. Do you have a current list of all applications in use? If not, you should. It will likely show a few you have never heard of, and other applications no longer needed.

You may not be able to change a few things i.e., chain-mandated central reservations and property management systems. But everything else should be a candidate for review, especially considering changes over the past two to three years. You may find one vendor’s solution taking the place of two or three currently deployed.

I find it useful to separate the primary applications into three categories. I included a few of the common applications under each category.

RMS – Revenue Management Systems
- RMS, PMS, POS, S&C, CRM and all those tools used for online marketing, benchmarking, and data intelligence.

EMS – Expense Management Systems
- Inventory management/COGS, WFM (time and attendance/labor management), preventive maintenance/asset management, HCM.

FMS – Financial Management Systems
- General ledger, accounts payable, payroll, treasury management, FP&A.

In upcoming pieces, I will delve deeper into each of these categories and some recent developments to consider. So much has changed and more changes are on the horizon. Keeping up can be a challenge but hopefully these tips will aid you in focusing on what is important.

This will be my 25th consecutive HITEC, when you include 2020’s Cyber HITEC, and 38 years since my first HITEC in 1984 held in Hyatt Regency Chicago’s exhibit hall. My memory of that event was checking in to the hotel using an NCR kiosk, only to stand in line at the concierge to pick up my electronic key.

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