Business Benefits of Smart Hotel Technology
A key trend in the hospitality industry is the rise of smart hotel technology. This advanced form of tech is powered by the Internet of Things (IoT). State-of-the-art hotel applications offer features that allow Internet-connected devices, such as smartphones or tablets, to communicate with sensors and systems within your hotel, not only benefitting the guest experience but improving hotel operations and financial results as well.
Increase Security & Profits
IoT-enabled door locks are a form of smart tech that allows guests to unlock their guest room door using an application on their smartphone. These digital or mobile keys deliver greater convenience for guests and also provide added security, eliminating the need for plastic key cards that may be lost or stolen. Mobile keys also help boost profitability by saving hotels an average of $1,000 per month in discarded RFID keycards, plus driving an average 7 percent improvement in guest satisfaction scores. All this leads to greater loyalty and repeat business.
Cybersecurity is another hot topic among your guests. In fact, 80 percent of consumers decide whether to do business with a company based on their reputation for data security. A hotel application that incorporates smart mobile pay functionality provides an added level of security over using chip cards. When guests order F&B through the app, mobile pay instantly captures payment and protects vital data through using advanced methods of encryption in place of card numbers. A great side bonus is that by offering round-the-clock access to ordering and payment capabilities – your guests often spend more.
Achieve Greater Operational Efficiency
Smart hotel technology can also deliver a boost to staff efficiency and capital expenditure management. Consider that just one leaky toilet can cost as much as $1,200 per year, and that doesn’t include the added expense from water damage that occurs before the leak is discovered. When your hotel app integrates with automated preventative maintenance solutions, you can track the lifecycles of equipment and proactively identify potential problems, helping you better manage the repair and replacement of high-cost assets. Integrated housekeeping solutions empower more efficient management of routine and ad-hoc tasks, helping to ensure nothing slips through the cracks when it comes to the management of daily room statuses.
With staff constantly on the go around your property, hotel applications that offer live chat, texting and easy collaboration tools enable communication among team members no matter where they are on property. These forms of smart hotel tech allow your staff to accomplish more with fewer people, giving you a crucial advantage in light of the hospitality industry’s ongoing labor shortage.
Improve Sustainability & Reduce Costs
For 58 percent of your guests, it’s important that your hotel demonstrates a commitment to environmental sustainability.
Smart hotel technology can help satisfy that expectation and benefit your business by ensuring that certain devices are only used when they’re actually needed. For instance, smart hotel rooms can be set up so that IoT-enabled sensors detect room occupancy and make automatic energy-efficient adjustments, such as dimming or turning off lights and reducing the room temperature when it’s empty. Those same sensors can notify housekeeping that a guest or meeting room is vacant and ready for cleaning.
Ultimately, smart hotel tech can help reduce lighting usage by 50 percent or more, and HVAC system energy costs by up to 45 percent, saving your hotel costly operating expenses over the long term.
Future-proof Your Business with Smart Hotel Tech
As smart hotel technology becomes more ubiquitous throughout the hospitality industry, hotels that choose to implement these solutions will benefit greatly through more efficient workflows and a return on investment of up to 75 percent.
Would you like to experience the business benefits of smart hotel technology at your hotel?
Sources:
[1] “How Much ROI Can Hoteliers Make with Digital Keys?” OpenKey, 24 Aug. 2020, https://www.openkey.co/2020/08/24/hotel-digital-key-roi/.
[2] “Shred-It's 2021 Data Protection Report.” Shred-It, 2021, https://www.shredit.com/en-us/data-protection-report-2021.
[3] Ibid
[4] “2021 Customer Engagement Study.” Hospitality Technology, 17 Dec. 2021, https://hospitalitytech.com/customer-engagement-study-2021?utm_source=omeda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=BONUS_HospitalityTechnology&utm_keyword=&oly_enc_id=8919F8521589B4S.
[5] Energy Savings Tips for Small Businesses: Lodging. Energy Star, https://www.energystar.gov/buildings/resources_audience/small_biz/lodging.