Hospitality: Back to the Future

I am more of a ‘90s kid (shudder – grunge) than an ‘80s kid (so much cooler – Gremlins); nevertheless, I was old enough in 1985 to feel kind of lied to by Michael J. Fox once 2015 rolled around. Where are the flying cars, McFly? Despite that disappointment, the future is definitely here in 2018 and it’s accelerating at a rate of change that is necessitating that companies prioritize technology strategy. Maybe we don’t have flying cars, but we have self-driving cars and the implications for business are steadily gaining steam. Among the takeaways from our cover story on the 2018 outlook:

• Increasing labor costs will drive self-service options and automation.

• AI is here and behind pretty much everything. (I saw Terminator: Should we be worried? Where’s Linda Hamilton when you need her?)

• If you haven’t figured out your mobile strategy yet and made it integrated and cross-channel, you need to…yesterday.

As always, HT’s advisory board pulled no punches when painting a picture of hospitality in the coming months...and I learned how to say “close the curtains” in German. Thanks, Simon!  Other topics the advisory board weighed in on:

Leadership: “As IT leaders evolve into business leaders, IT will become more strategic versus being the department that keeps the lights on.” – Nelson Garrido

Connected Everything: “It wouldn’t surprise me that our grandchildren won’t carry a device, but rather engage with the Internet of Things through ubiquitous voice assistants.” – David Starmer

Third-party Delivery: “The cost of selling on delivery marketplaces will start to decline. Mostly because Amazon wants the loyal customer more than the money for delivering food and will eventually cut costs to merchants so they can take over the market in one massive swipe.” – Joe Tenczar