Backend operations in the hospitality industry are obviously important, but at the end of the day they are not what guests and visitors will remember your establishment for. They will remember things such as how helpful and accommodating the staff were, and how efficiently services were delivered. But if your staff are bogged down by routine tasks, how can they focus on these more important things?
This is where automation comes into the hospitality industry. Repetitive manual tasks are handled by technology instead of humans, freeing up time for staff to better focus on delivering a great experience in their guest-facing roles.
This article will look at what automation solutions are currently available and what benefits they bring to the table.
Examples of hospitality automation
These are just some of the areas where automation is currently being used by hotels and other establishments.
- Procurement and Inventory Management: Automation solutions from firms such as Future log are quicker, less error-prone, and overall just more efficient than people when it comes to ordering, handling invoices, and keeping track of inventory. They can even do the latter in real-time.
- Hotel property management systems: These give managers an overview of reservations and admin tasks that need doing, allowing them to assign work and delegate responsibilities a lot more efficiently.
- Chatbots: These are one of the most well-known examples of automation used today, and they are a convenient way to answer frequently asked questions on your establishment’s website.
- Revenue management software: This aims to improve the profitability of hotels by automating and optimising their dynamic pricing strategy.
The benefits of automation for the hospitality industry
Many leading hospitality brands are already implementing automation solutions, and the following reasons will help you to see why.
- It makes routine operations more efficient: A lot of time in the hospitality industry, like in many other industries, is taken up by completing repetitive, time-consuming tasks. For example, if you are a hotel and you list your rooms on several different websites, you have to update which rooms are available every time somebody makes a reservation.
However, letting automation take this off of your hands leaves you more time to focus on pleasing your guests.
- Track tasks and eliminate duplication and errors: Big establishments such as hotels may have hundreds of staff. It is not always clear who has done what jobs, or who should be doing them.
Automation allows for much more accurate tracking of completed and pending tasks as well as who they were assigned to. This means everybody knows what they are expected to do and prevents tasks being duplicated.
- Go green and impress guests: Automation does not only directly benefit the staff. Movement sensors to switch on lights and air conditioning in rooms are an automation solution that guests will appreciate, and it also saves energy. This makes it better for both the environment and the hotel’s profitability.
The travel, tourism and hospitality industry worldwide is undergoing an automation revolution, and with benefits like these, it is easy to see why. As AI improves, it is likely that the move towards automation will continue, taking care of basic operations and freeing up time and resources for businesses to deliver unique experiences for their guests.
