HT Reveals Most-Read Stories of the Year
As we prepare for the year ahead, let's take a moment to revisit the most-read stories of the year on hospitalitytech.com. Here, HT counts down the the 21 most-read articles -- 20 stories + one infographic.
21. Metaverse Hospitality Leads the Charge in Virtual Travel with Three New Digital Hotels
While the COVID-19 pandemic changed tourism forever, it also exacerbated the move into the digital world for the industry. Enter the Metaverse and web3. This ‘embodied internet’ blurs the lines between the physical and digital worlds, delivering experiential interactions for users. Tampa-based Metaverse Hospitality (MH) is tapping into this new frontier of technology and seamlessly blending the travel experience within the virtual realm. They are the builder of the first hotels in the Metaverse and the leading company onboarding hotels and restaurants to web3 technology. Read more here.
HT's 10 Most-Read Stories of 2022
10. How Wireless Edge Can Maximize LTE & 5G
9. Nevaya Signs Partnership for Hospitality with Google
8. 5 Casino Marketing Strategies for Attracting More Travelers
7. 2023 POS Software Trends
6. MURTEC Content Hub
5. 2022 Top Women in Restaurant Technology Winners
4. The 2022 Guest Room Experience: What a Guest Wants, What a Hotel Needs
3. 2022 Customer Engagement Technology Study: Embracing Digital Transformation
2. 2022 Restaurant Technology Study: Making Magic Happen
1. 2022 Lodging Technology Study: Redefining the Guest Experience
20. Trend Report: Hotel Workforce Automation Boosts Productivity
With staffing at an all-time low and travelers returning in droves, hoteliers are dealing with customer service nightmares. Conversational AI and automation technologies could be the industry’s savior. Read more here.
19. Socially Conscious Hotel Booking Platform Launches 2.0 Model
Sustainability matters to today’s traveler. Kind Traveler, a socially conscious Give + Get hotel booking platform that empowers travelers to positively impact the communities they visit, launched a 2.0 model earlier this year. The new platform is optimized to make giving back easier than ever with a custom API and booking engine, new features, 45 new hotel choices, 20 new charities for local positive impact, multiple room categories to book, special perks, tree planting options at the time of booking, voluntourism opportunities and a tangible positive impact report with every booking. Read more here.
On the HT-NEXT 2021 Content Hub, you’ll find highlights from our educational sessions, thought leadership from the lodging industry’s most innovative operators and solution providers, and a Solution Center with links to our event sponsors’ resources. Tour the Content Hub here.
17. INFOGRAPHIC: Less Contact, More Revenue
Today’s hotel guests are looking for more than a friendly face at the front desk and clean room during their stay. They expect a personalized experience, not only at check-in and check-out but also at all of the touchpoints in between. Read more here.
16. The Future of Data Technology in the Restaurant Industry
What’s next for data technology? This article discusses the impact of technology and analytics on day-to-day operations, current challenges and revenue opportunities. Read more here.
In 2022, HITEC took place at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, June 28 to 30. HT was on the scene covering the event’s hotel-centric news. Find all the stories here. Be sure to check out: A Hotelier’s Perspective of HITEC
14. Make the Move to Mobile-First Restaurant Operations
Evolution. It’s the watchword in the hospitality industry as savvy restaurant operators strive to meet changing customer expectations, encourage customer loyalty, grapple with rising food and labor costs (not to mention labor shortages), and maximize efficiencies at every touchpoint while sharpening their competitive edge. But paper-based solutions won’t support such evolution — and neither will more traditional, stationary solutions. Find out how cloud-based solutions and platforms can help restaurant operators become more efficient and profitable. Sponsored by Tabit. Read more here.
13. Operations Management Platform Sparks 50% Boost in Task Completion Rates
Today’s restaurant operators face a host of challenges, from maintaining food safety and sanitary standards; to labor scheduling, rising labor costs, and task management; to ensuring smooth operations whether supervisors are present on the premises, or not. But rather than continuing to struggle with these obstacles, some players harness an operations management platform to incite positive changes, such as a 50% increase in task completion rates and faster food labeling with 100% accuracy. Sponsored by Jolt. Read more here.
12. Technology Trends That Are Transforming Restaurants
Innovations such as off-prem, predictive analytics, AI, IoT, and SD-WAN offer restaurants unprecedented opportunities for growth. Leading operators share how the restaurant industry is being disrupted by new technology trends, and how they’re preparing/training for future challenges. Read more here.
11. Leisure Travel and Hospitality Booking Trends in 2022
After 2020 and 2021, there has been pent-up demand for travel. For this report, Lucidworks surveyed consumers in the U.S. and U.K. who travel for leisure at least once a year to understand how brand loyalty, budget and booking options influence vacation planning, and how brands can capitalize on pent-up wanderlust. Takeaway: the search bar reigns supreme in the digital experience as travelers look to book rooms, flights, cruises, and activities on as few sites as possible. Read more here.
10. How Wireless Edge Can Maximize LTE & 5G
This whitepaper shares insights for implementing wireless edge networking, including: how wireless WAN uniquely addresses the reach, reliability and agility requirements of today’s hyper-connected and cloud-dependent hospitality businesses. Plus, how it can enable must-haves, pop-up initiatives, kiosks and more. Sponsored by Cradlepoint. Read more here.
9. Nevaya Signs Partnership for Hospitality with Google
The guest room experience is an essential part of the lodging experience. This story is about how two companies are coming together to empower consumers who ‘bring their own device’ (BYOD) and cue up their preferred content. To that end, Nevaya, a hospitality guest experience SaaS company, entered a global agreement with Google to provide Chromecast devices in hotel rooms. Guests can quickly and securely stream their content to in-room TVs during their stay, while hotels will simultaneously save money (on purchasing content for their TV system) and also drive ancillary revenue (via room-service and F&B spending). A win-win! Read more here.
8. 5 Casino Marketing Strategies for Attracting More Travelers
2022 has been a year of clawing back to normal, especially for casinos. In this thought leadership column, Whit Kinser, digital strategist at CMG Local Solutions, writes that casinos must become more strategic with their marketing efforts to win back market share. Step one: Market beyond the gaming floor. Read more here.
HT's 2023 POS Software Trends Report: Leveraging Data & Analytics dropped just last month, but this perennial trends report remains on many technologist’s must-read list due to the importance of the POS on the enterprise. Included in this comprehensive report: restaurant operators' plans for POS purchases, business drivers impacting investments, top features and functionalities, and priorities for leveraging data. Vendors too recap their 2022 accomplishments and reveal their new features coming in the year ahead. If you haven’t already bookmarked this report, do it now, here.
MURTEC 2022 returned to Las Vegas, and it was amazing to be back together with our industry friends, old and new. ICYMI, we captured the key takeaways from each of the stellar sessions as well as some thought leadership in this video hub presented by Fortinet. Read more here.
5. 2022 Top Women in Restaurant Technology Winners
Sponsored by Tillster, the Top Women in Restaurant Technology awards were presented at MURTEC in Las Vegas on March 9. This year’s class includes tech leaders Checkers and Rally’s, UNO Restaurants, Inspire Brands, bartaco and GoGoGuest, to name a few. Check out the ‘22 winners here. And while you’re at it, nominate a Top Women in Restaurant Technology for HT’s 2023 awards. Nominations are due January 6, 2023.
4. The 2022 Guest Room Experience: What a Guest Wants, What a Hotel Needs
To find out how the guest room of the future might evolve and what a hotel stay might look like in the near future, HT spoke both with hoteliers and industry experts. (For starters, free & robust Wi-Fi.) Here’s what they have to say. Read more here.
3. 2022 Customer Engagement Technology Study: Embracing Digital Transformation
Articles about consumer insights always grab a lot of eyeballs. But consumer insights and technology? Yes, please! After the massive tech adoption spurred by COVID-19, there's unprecedented demand for innovative tools that allow customers to drive their own travel, lodging and dining experiences, including self-service, contactless transactions, messaging apps, food delivery, mobile ordering & payments, and more. Read more here.
2. 2022 Restaurant Technology Study: Making Magic Happen
Always on the most-read list, our 24th annual Restaurant Technology Study did not disappoint. Tech budgets are increasing, with integration, mobile transactions, and digital engagement leading the way. Check out the full study here: https://hospitalitytech.com/2022-restaurant-technology-study
And without further ado, the most-read story of the 2022 is one based on HT’s exclusive research.
1. 2022 Lodging Technology Study: Redefining the Guest Experience
The 2022 Lodging Technology Study was released in December 2021, and hoteliers returned again and again throughout the year to this report to access its important data and help them navigate critical business decisions. After the holidays, we’ll be releasing our 2023 Lodging Technology Study! Keep an eye out for it to drop both on our website and in HT Alert Newsletter! (And if you don’t get our eNewsletter, sign up for it here! You’ll be the first to know about our newest research reports, awards, event information and more!)