IoT technology has become prevalent in most industries today. It offers smart, convenient, and cost-effective solutions that attract global industries to adopt this terrific technology. The hospitality sector is no different when it comes to IoT. Besides, the hospitality industry is the one that benefits the most from IoT technology.
By creating a network of digital devices used for multiple operations, hospitality enterprises with IoT provide an enhanced guest experience to guests at optimized expenses. So let us look at it with a deeper lens and see how IoT is reshaping the trends for hospitality and how it benefits this industry.
What are the Modern Day Expectations of People Leveraging the Hospitality Sector?
The hospitality industry is one of the biggest industries today, with total revenue of $4,548.42 billion in 2022. The numbers show that people love to leverage this industry, be it for leisure, travel, or work.
However, consumer behavior has significantly changed over the last few years, especially after the Covid 19 pandemic. The use of modern IoT technologies and devices such as Alexa, Siri, etc., have made people used to living a convenient and tech-supported life.
Unlike before, more people today use modern technologies for the simple chores of their lives. In addition, they expect the same service their machines provide from the hospitality industry when they go outside.
So restaurants, hotels, resorts, casinos, cruise ships, and others need to adopt the required IoT solutions in their workplace to deliver a higher customer experience.
How is IoT Relevant in the Hospitality Industry?
The hospitality sector is best positioned to benefit from IoT technology in enhancing customer experiences and simultaneously reducing operational costs. Numerous tasks are to be fulfilled in the hospitality sector as soon as the guest arrives and until they leave. Hence, with the adoption of IoT, all these mundane tasks can be automated, and staff can focus more on providing the guests with a personalized experience.
Benefits of IoT to Hotels and Restaurants
- Automation of HR, front desk, and housekeeping jobs.
- Managers can spend more time enhancing the quality of operations and interacting with customers instead of dealing with monotonous tasks.
- Scheduled maintenance of the property that results in lesser disruptions at work.
- Accumulation of customer data such as their likes, dislikes, preferences, and spending patterns
- Higher satisfaction ratings by customers as with the data collected, you can provide them with a customized and personalized experience.
Benefits of IoT to Guests
- Elimination of check-in and check-out queues.
- Easy to locate hotel amenities with in-house navigation.
- Customized food and drinks offered, as per the collected user data.
- Personalized rooms set up according to the guest’s liking.
- Automatic water temperature setup in bathrooms.
- Digitally controlled lighting and other devices in the guest’s room.
How is IoT Redefining the Works in the Hospitality Sector?
IoT technology substantially powers the hospitality sector with effective measures to deliver their guests an exceptional experience and gain better ratings for their organization. Let us look at how:
AI-Powered Systems
IoT systems consist of thousands of sensors and devices. These devices enable the hotels to become truly smart and exhibit unique features such as automated check-ins, inventory checks, room customizations, etc.
Overall the system manages the tasks of a front-end manager that gives them the time to make the visit of guests personalized.
Technology-Driven Sanitisation
Keeping the hotels, restaurants, and cafes clean and hygienic is crucial in the hospitality industry. With IoT-led technologies, sensors and digital devices are employed that monitor the sanitary needs of a hotel.
Moreover, certain AI-trained bots can single-handedly manage the sanitization drive by cleaning the rooms of hotels.
Location-Based Information
Messages and crucial location-based information can be provided to the customers by delivering messages related to different services of your hotel when they are in close proximity to those areas.
For instance, a guest passing by the gym will be notified on their phone about the gym services they can avail of in that place. In addition, information related to local transport can be delivered through this system.
Wayfinding Technologies
This is an extremely useful technology that gets high appreciation from the majority of the guests. Hotel properties are widespread, and guests often get confused about finding the ways to their destination.
By leveraging wayfinding technology, the floor will automatically guide you on different paths you can take to reach the different places of the resort or hotels where you are staying.
Smart Room Customization
IoT technology is best suited to transform your normal room into a smart room using its digital devices. Installing the appropriate IoT devices, you can set your room for
- Customized Lighting
You can choose the colors for the room and modify the hue and light temperature as per your suitability.
- Automatic Room Temperature
Smart thermostats enable guests to have a convenient and comfortable stay without worrying about making readjustments of temperature time and again.
- Adjustable Windows
The windows of your hotel room can be fully adjusted using the application or a manual button without the need to make any manual effort.
- Smart TVs
Smart TVs have become a common requisite in all good hotel rooms of the present times.
- Digital Food Menu
The digital food menu offers guests choices of food menus accessible on a digital device. It can even store your preferences for the next visit when you come.
- Controlled Water Temperature
Valves and sensors are now available in washrooms of hotels that control and maintain the desired temperature of the water for the guests.
Better Monitoring
Monitoring becomes a cakewalk when you have the support of IoT-enabled devices. IoT devices can automatically monitor the industry’s operations and validate in real-time whether everything is going smoother. If they detect any interruption in processes, they can notify the managers to take appropriate action for the situation.
Surveillance and Access Control
IoT makes it easier to access devices through an integrated solution. Generally, all IoT devices are connected through a series of networks controlled by a single base station. So fulfilling the requirements of guests through your digital devices can be streamlined with effective and fast results using IoT technology.
Better Personalization with the Guests
A significant benefit that IoT offers to the hospitality industry is making the experience personalized for the guests. The IoT smart devices keep collecting user data in multiple forms.
The collected data can be utilized to generate key insights that can help provide guests with things of their liking and deliver a more profound experience of living in your smart hotels.
Predictive Maintenance
The costs to run hotel operations significantly drops with technologies like IoT. The sensors and devices installed at the premises ensure the seamless working of each system.
However, if there is any little fault in the system, the sensors will notify you, and you can get the equipment replaced or repaired more quickly, saving yourself severe future repair charges.
What are the Use Cases of IoT in the Hospitality Industry?
IoT has become a trendsetter for most industries today, and hospitality is no different. Many hotel chains have taken steps to welcome IoT and enjoy its benefits. Here are a few to mention:
- The Marriott hotel chain has incorporated Samsung and Legrand to build smart hotel rooms.
- Le Meridian Goa, Calangute is the first hotel in India that is fully IoT based and is making extraordinary profits by making this move.
- Other than it, many European and American-based hotels such as Hilton, Hyatt, Four Seasons, and more have adopted IoT technologies.
How Can You Be the Part of Change?
Guests love to have a customized experience that uplifts their mood. The hospitality industry can effortlessly provide the ultimate guest experience and save on operational costs with IoT technology. So striking two aims with one arrow is a pretty good deal that justifies the oncoming demand for IoT in hospitality.
So it is better to become a part of the change sooner than others to build higher credibility and position in the market. If you are interested in transforming your hotel, restaurant, or cafe with IoT-based technology, then consult our Intuz team for the right and needed IoT solutions.
