Hotels and resorts have finally reopened across the United States, but with strict COVID19 safety rules in place. While smaller hotels are coping with fewer staff and limited technology operations, upper scale hotels and resorts need to think of the long term.
Hotel & resort owners have to, as they saw, ‘go back to the drawing board’ and rethink the entire hotel guest experience. Since human interactions must be kept to a minimum, hospitality managers must look towards technology to assimilate a guest experience powered through automation.
Integrating technology in hotels and resorts requires professional expertise and finesse to understand each asset’s unique tech needs. Professional hospitality technology managers recommend what is known as a “technology gap analysis” to begin the intricate process of building a cost-efficient & robust hotel technology system.
What is a Hotel Technology Gap Analysis?
A professional hotel technology gap analysis is a leading edge process to identify where gaps are in the guest technology experience. This is also where hoteliers can identify the differences between their property’s existing infrastructure and “what tech renovations” must be performed to ensure a consistente journey for every guest.
The tech gap analysis identifies serious concerns for modern hoteliers including data privacy, cybersecurity, compliance to PCI rules, compliance to FCC rules, and perimeter security rules.
Technology gap assessments must be a constant occurrence depending on the speed of innovation and ever evolving demand of travelers for more automation.
Hotels and resorts reopening after COVID19 lockdowns are finding great assistance from identifying the areas of critical concern that automation can address. Implementing COVID19 rules in hotels, resorts, and country clubs becomes easier with technology assisting and staff monitoring the entire asset through mobile & tablet devices.
At AHT Inc. we have a four step professional process whereby we analyze assets in accordance to prevailing technology compliance rules, COVID19 safety rules, and for possible tech liabilities.
(i) identifying an asset’s essential technology needs in the current scenario,
(ii) determining the ideal renovations for future-proofed tech integrations,
(iii) presenting a complete health report of property technology systems & technology stacks, and
(iv) Budgeting and vendor planning to achieve cost-effective renovations & upgrades
Why Its Essential to Conduct a Technology Gap Assessment of Your Hotel After Re-Opening
As life looks to return to a new normal, hotels and resorts must enact strict measures to see the compliance of COVID19 safety rules. A professional technology gap assessment can be extremely helpful in identifying multiple touch points that need management through technology.
Due to the incurring situation, hospitality managers have fewer choices, and tech seems to be the correct answer. Mass deployment of cost efficient technology including websites, mobile apps, self-check-in, and thermal scanners is already making breakthroughs in hotels that have reopened.
The Westin Houston Medical Center Hotel identified that surface sterilization was simply essential. The hotel deployed two UV-sterilization robots to ensure staff have technology assistance to completely neutralize rooms for infection. Similarly, the 6 largest casino hotels of Las Vegas will now carry thermal scanners and screening in a unified decision by the members.
Conducting a professional technology gap assessment for hotels and resorts not only identifies the technology that must be upgraded, but also provides deeper insights into guest behavior. Hoteliers can instantly identify revenue opportunities, guest inconvenience, moments of delight, and areas of energy conservation etc. through an elaborate tech analysis.
After re-opening guests will not have great confidence in staff interactions. Hence, it will be necessary to instill trust in travelers through regular information delivery, assistance through chat services, and management of their entire experience through mobile technologies.
The integration of digital menus by MyMenusOnline allows restaurant and hotel guests to simply scan a barcode to access the menu. In their recent article, HotelNewsNow also hinted at the popularity of touch payment systems in hospitality.
Hotel and resort owners will find that conducting a technology gap analysis will not just enhance guest experience, but also the morale & service quality of staff. The technology gap assessment also identifies crucial aspects that save staff effort and time. Predictive maintenance systems and mobile based cloud-PMS tools are some of the popular staff technologies in modern hospitality.
The technology gap analysis primarily gives the owner a macro view of the entire guest technology experience. From their first interaction to goodbye, the assessments breaks down the effect of every tech interaction that the guest had with the hotel.
One aspect that a professional gap analysis identifies is the essential need to manage the experience of the guest, on a continual basis. The synchronization of different guest room technology to the maintenance & compliance of systems is all identified through a technology gap assessment.
Conclusion
Hotels and resorts aim to deliver a consistent, yet delightful experience to each of their guests. It is essential that they have ready insights and information of the latest technology, in addition to how it helps their properties. Technology gap assessments are proving to be the most efficient way to optimize your budget and enhance revenue opportunities during the COVID19 pandemic.
For more information feel free to contact our HFTP certified PCIP hospitality managers through out contact us page.
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