This post aims to take you on a short trip to the future of the hospitality industry.
The hospitality industry is not only about hotels, dining in and lodging. It is a wide platform of various fields of the service industry.
It comprises lodging, entertainment, event planning, transportation, cruise lines, food and beverages, recreational sports and many other services. In this article, we discuss the future of the hospitality industry.
We are talking about future developments in the hospitality industry in terms of innovation, technology and more.
From magnificent innovation in the hospitality industry like Driftscape to the visionary futuristic hospitality innovation in YUselect; there is a lot to rejoice in the hospitality industry.
So, please read on.
The Hotel smartphone apps will be a rage in the future
Millennials are the fastest-growing target segment for the hospitality industry (They are already over 30% of the population).
And Millennials are found mostly on smartphones and social media. isn’t it? (pun intended!)
A few reports mentioned the below statistics about the usage of smartphones and mobiles. And these are from the surveys done in 2017/2018.
These figures are expected to be higher in 2022 and beyond as per the trends.
- 35-45% of travel agencies use social media for bookings.
- 40-45% of people use mobile phones for payment of hospitality costs. Mostly in restaurants.
- Within the hospitality industry, 35-45% of the bookings occurred online in 2018.
- To engage with customers, 90% of the hospitality industries are utilising social media.
- Up to 70% of the population tends to go for reviews.
The hospitality industry future is set to be impacted by these trends giving way to more smartphone-based services and greater social media engagement.
Hotels are taking it a step further by allowing the guests to control their rooms and access services. In some hotels, guests use smartphones as room keys.
Also, guests can adjust lighting, temperatures and change channels on TV.
So look out for Contemporary Hospitality Apps that are going to shape the future of the hospitality industry.
Information Technology thus holds the key to the future of hospitality and social media will have a big role to play to define the steps.
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality are the next big things in hospitality
Yes, AR and VR are certainly going to be shaping the hospitality and travel industry future.
The Beacon technology and augmented reality are push form of marketing initiative riding high on technological innovation.
In 2021, it is expected that virtual reality is going to blow everyone’s mind.
Prospective customers can see themselves in your spa or hotel through virtual reality. Event planners, travellers can take a tour of your hotel, suites, pool and other areas. Marriott is already doing it.
Plus, Marriott has a lot of other innovation in hospitality to offer.
Augmented reality would be more important now after the Covid pandemic.
Through Virtual reality and Augmented reality, the guests would be able to enjoy places and culture in an enhanced manner.
That too even from the comfort of the room or by walking down the road of the locality.
Augmented reality would help to enhance the feel leading to better customer satisfaction.
This would include Gamification, interactive and augmented hotel environment to name a few.
Another rapidly growing trend using augmented reality is beacon technology.
This allows two-way communication between the guest’s phone and small beacons set around the hotel. They can be used to push the guests to use hotel services with promotional offers sent to their phones directly.
The Hotel industry is embracing technology to come up with Innovative Hotel concepts to amaze the customers.
Read on to know more about what’s in store for the hospitality industry in future.
Well, we have just begun.
Let’s continue taking a sneak peek to the future of the hospitality industry.
The Hotel services will get smarter in the future
We already have ‘Siri’ and ‘Alexa’ in smart rooms.
The hotel rooms and services are going to get smarter using a lot of top hospitality innovation.
Fasten your seat belts to have enhanced service experience in the future.
Technology, innovation, creativity will find themselves on the same page in future to come up with amazing things.
Let’s have a look at the 1-minute video about the future of hospitality shared by Chief innovation officer of EHL, Switzerland.
Isn’t that interesting?
While this might be something that looks like a fictional movie but it can soon be a reality.
So, how’s the future of the hospitality and travel industry going to be?
The hospitality industry is growing at a pace more than almost all other industries.
With the passage of time, the hospitality industry has transformed itself into a multibillion-dollar industry.
Expect a slew of innovations to come up to keep amazing customers.
Sustainability will be the future of Hotels
Millennials are driven by social responsibility.
If reports are to be believed, most of the Millenials would stay in hotel rooms that are committed to sustainability.
Green tourism is on the rise and the hotels are using more and more recyclable products.
We are set to see the hospitality industry focusing more on sustainability and social responsibility in the future.
And the customers would love hotels for embracing the green culture.
Moreover, sustainability is not only environmental but also social and economical.
A bigger commitment to these is already evident among hospitality companies and is set to increase further in the future.
Organic Food and Stay Well Rooms will be more popular
Farm to table is a novel concept that is already quite popular.
Post COVID-19 this is set to reach new heights in the future.
Expect to have organic and fresh food on your table during your hotel stays in the coming years.
Similarly ‘Stay well hotel rooms’ would get more popular.
Stay well rooms contain wellness facilities and oriented towards healthier living.
Amongst the gradual dwindling condition of the economy worldwide, the hotel and hospitality industry has kept on going with adding something or the other to make the people happy.
The agenda is to make people happy with providing the best of luxuries and amenities.
This clearly ascertains the fact that the hospitality industry has a lot to offer and has a long way to go.
The Hotel of Future is something like Driftscape
Most people, when they travel, don’t spend their time in their hotel room.
Instead, they’d rather go exploring.
There’s Driftscape – a futuristic hotel idea that allows you to stay inside a “flying glass pod.”
Driftscape’s room pods are connected to the primary stationary hub but are detachable so guests can fly to a specific location. According to the HOK team, it’s known as a drone hotel.
With this design, it allows travellers a whole new way to explore the area.
Isn’t this interesting and novel? What an amazing hospitality innovation indeed.
HOK is a Canadian-based firm, which won the 2016 Radical Innovation Award – a hotel that looks for imaginative hotel designs.
Now, this is part of the bright future of the hospitality industry.
The hotel will have 10 to 15 flying pods that are affixed to the primary hub that includes the main lobby, restaurant, bar and lounge.
The pod will detach from the key part of the hotel, and the artificially intelligent system ensures the flight plan is followed automatically.
Guests can sit back and watch the world go by. Once the flight plan is over, the pod returns to the hub for reconnection.
Every pod has a dashboard with a camera so guests may take pictures as they fly around.
If Driftscape does become a reality, the cost would be the same as a luxury car rental.
Conclusion
Isn’t this great. The future of hospitality is filled with innovation.
If you look at the various Sectors of the Hospitality industry, you would come to know that the global economy is heavily dependent on how the hospitality industry performs in the future.
Everything and everyone is improvising. The hospitality industry is the fastest-growing of industries.
Because it is a myriad of different services, it has a wider aspect and scope to enhance and improve its operations.
Future can bring up a virtual concierge which can allow guests to tour the local places and landmarks.
Robots are already serving as receptionists in a few hotels. Automation is set to take a centre stage in future in the hospitality industry.
Think of possibilities and you will find them all in range. The future of the hospitality industry will have a huge intervention of technology.
Look out for more trends of the hospitality industry and that will help us all imagine where the hospitality industry is heading towards.
The future is bright indeed.
So, what else can we expect to see in the hospitality industry in the near future?
Don’t be surprised when you walk into a fast food outlet and meet a smart-looking interactive robot to welcome you.
