More personalized hotel experiences are being made possible through technologies that assist business travelers with hotel reservations, check-in and check-out, cashless payments and concierge support. Travel managers who can predict and proactively offer technology-enriched options for hotel stays reap the benefits of satisfied and productive travelers and more successful travel programs. Hotel program management choices that are informed by future trends also help greatly improve hotel attachment, data insights from reporting, duty of care and savings.
BCD Travel’s hotel program management experts keep up with the latest advancements by meeting regularly with suppliers, gathering insights from industry conferences and tradeshows, and polling travelers on their experiences. They examined some ways that technology can and will influence hotel stays for business travelers:
- Beacons and augmented reality (AR)
Location-based services can assist business travelers by speeding their way past the front desk – making check-in or check-out faster and easier. By combining AR navigation guide with self-check-in, the traveler might then follow a set of navigation arrows on their device to get to their room or find their way around their destination.
- Virtual services
Virtual concierges could work together with human staff to expedite guest services, like answering simple questions or quickly connecting business travelers to hotel staff for help; notifying staff of guest requests for bedding or room service; and even dispatching robots to make room deliveries.
- Cashless payments
Technologies that enable seamless and fast payment, including mobile payment for hotel services, are fast gaining importance for business travelers. Virtual and mobile payments not only make hotel transactions more secure, the transaction data also helps provide insights to decision makers.
- Traveler preferences
Over the next decade, emerging technologies will further transform hotel services to remember travelers’ specific preferences, like coffee machines that remember guests’ favorite flavors; in-room aromatherapy to induce relaxation and sleep; and holographic art options so guests can personalize their hotel space for the duration of a stay.
Want to learn more? Read The future of hotel experiences for travelers.
