Executive Insight Q&A: How Technology Can Deliver Personalization and Loyalty

Our surveys of hotel guests and operators suggest that personalization is increasingly in demand. Can you speak to the integration of technology into the guest journey, and how personalization can be delivered? 

As hotels look for ways to differentiate their brand and cultivate loyalty, personalizing the guest experience helps build meaningful experiences and stronger relationships with their guests. Technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning can enable the delivery of real-time personalized recommendations for dining, excursions, and vacation packages based on the guest’s personal profile and travel history with the hotel chain.

With 5G technology, hotel operators should be able to deliver more personalized messages to their guests and get a deeper understanding of the guest journey. 5G and complimentary technologies such as edge computing can enable guests to proactively receive customized travel tips and recommendations based on individual preferences.

Offering guests an elevated and differentiated experience provides an opportunity to create an emotional connection to your brand. How do you see hotels using technology to enhance the brand experience? 

Many guests like to be entertained and surprised. Augmented reality powered by 5G could enable hotels to go above and beyond the standard experience, especially around guest entertainment. Through the use of sensors and video analytics, guests should be able to use augmented wayfinding to navigate large hotel properties prior to booking the stay and while they’re checked in.

While in their hotel rooms, guests could experience seamless TV, including on-demand screen casting, live, and mobile TV; enhanced gaming speeds to deliver near-real-time virtual experiences; and virtual exercise classes. 

With 5G, augmented reality is expected to change the face of hotel entertainment, providing unforgettable ‘x-factor’ experiences that guests will take with them and tell others about.

As labor costs and staffing challenges continue to impact hotel services levels, how are you seeing hotels improve operations with technology?

From an operations perspective, hotels can leverage advanced technologies like motion and temperature sensors and artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor room temperatures and lighting throughout the hotel, enabling efficient and sustainable energy consumption. New asset tracking capabilities can enable operators to easily locate equipment, luggage racks, and cleaning carts.  Leveraging robots, unified through a speedy 5G network, can be implemented for routine tasks such as cleaning common areas, security, delivery services, and guiding guests. 

The new data capacity will also transform the industry’s operational vantage from a macro perspective. In a 5G connected world, machines and nodes placed in the field should be able to provide massive amounts of data about industry, consumer trends, and supply chains that can be aggregated and analyzed in the cloud to provide near real-time insights to guide important business decisions.

How can mobile operations management enhance loyalty?

Convenience is often a top priority for busy personal and business travelers. Hotel operators are constantly seeking ways to streamline the guest experience with new digital tools and platforms. Leveraging the hotel’s mobile app on the guest’s phone, enhanced smart room technology can enable guests to conveniently control room temperature, lights, shades, TV, and other in-room amenities. Using voice assistant technology on speakers or a mobile app, guests can opt into ordering room service and book other hotel activities and services through voice-recognition. Technologies like augmented reality can give hotels a range of tools to illustrate their services and convey information, while providing new interactive experiences. 5G is the primary communications infrastructure that can bring devices, data, analytics at the edge, and opportunities for streamlining operations and costs.