INTRODUCTION

The hospitality industry nowadays is one of the most promising areas. The hotel business has its origins in antiquity and continues to develop constantly since then. The changes are based primarily on scientific and technological progress and interethnic integration, as well as the needs of tourists, because the main task of hotels is to serve customers. Modern hotels should combine good comfort, manufacturability and original presentation of the interior.

Any hotel tries to become comfortable for its inhabitants, therefore the developers actively use high technologies that help to make life more convenient, to turn the stay into a full-fledged rest.

For guests, the hotel often offers interactive entertainment, electronic devices. The hotels have wireless internet, oversized monitors that can be used as a TV or for work. Clients can make video calls anywhere in the world. This is relevant if you miss your loved ones or run a business that requires you to be constantly online, planning a conference with partners located elsewhere.

Already now, you can pay for accommodation with one touch to the screen of your mobile phone, while the security of the transaction is guaranteed. Hotels try to make their guests sleep calm and healthy. For this, technologies are used that provide convenience and silence.

However, experts in the hotel industry believe, that technology will completely change the interaction with customers in this industry. Nowadays, all guests have different devices at once and expect to interact with hotels from a phone, a tablet, and a desktop computer.

Because of the spread of the virus and quarantine measures, many hotels all over the world didn’t have any guests and any money. Many hotel are ready to close or have already closed. More than half of the world’s population couldn’t move and were isolated. This led to an almost complete halt in travel, entertainment, and restaurant business, which has a profound impact on the hotel industry. COVID-19 transformed rapidly and radically the business travel market. However, as trips recover, data on current travel patterns will become much more important.

People who spend much time on the Internet tend to be socially isolated. Travelling for them is the way to get out of their comfort zone and to meet new friends and have useful communications. They can learn foreign culture, appreciate local cuisine, and have unique knowledge and unusual experiences.

Global digitalization is the basis of a new hospitality policy. In my opinion, contactless services that save time (online check-in, electronic concierge) will have a great future. Soon there will be no need for key cards; they will be replaced by devices like a mobile phone or smart watches.

Thanks to innovative solutions, it will be possible to provide more services of better quality than hotels of a similar class. At the same time, fewer personnel will be required to work effectively.

MAIN BODY

PART I

To my mind, there are some trends in the further development of the hospitality industry. One of them is globalization. Traveling to different parts of the world becomes more accessible and high standards of service regardless of location help to ensure the international hotel chains occupy a significant share of the market. Large companies expand their activities in different countries of the world, and the process of globalization becomes one of the largest in terms of its impact on the hotel industry (Frontdesk.ru).

Environmental friendliness has more popularity, which will undoubtedly be important for the hotel industry in the future. Greening hotels can be manifested in the natural materials in the decoration of rooms, for example, wood, organic bed linen and towels, as well as technological innovations: ionized cleaning systems, waste recycling services. Such hotels will allow not only to contribute to the environment, but also to take care of the health of the guests.

The hotel industry will protect the environment with a reusable towel program. Hotels will replace plastic cocktail tubes with biodegradable materials (for example, paper and bamboo). In the future, they will completely abandon the use of individual disposable plastic containers for cosmetics. Hotels will pay more attention to rational water use, using special shower heads and modern models of washing machines, and energy saving — in new hotels they will introduce motion sensors that track activity and turn off the account on their own if there are no signs of movement.

To ensure the highest possible level of comfort for guests, the hotel industry requires the introduction of the latest scientific and technical inventions, for example, biometrics or a mobile application to enter a room without a key. Mobile applications will give guests the opportunity to adjust the light, to open and close curtains, so that they can most conveniently independently create a comfortable living environment for themselves. Multilingual robots will greet visitors, provide information about hotels and city attractions, and help navigate. Such technologies will help maintain high standards of service and make hotels more attractive to tourists from all over the world.

The main requirement for a modern hotel is compliance with high quality standards. Saving resources to the detriment of the convenience of customers is simply impossible here, but finding a high-quality solution without compromising comfortable living is sometimes very difficult. In addition, in the issue of resource consumption of hotels, one has to deal with the strong influence of the human factor. For example, a guest can open a window or turn on the air conditioner for maximum cooling. The maid, despite the instructions, often forgets to return the temperature control to its original position. Implementation of automation systems can solve many of these problems and minimize unexpected costs (Yaroslav Tagiltsev, http://zvt.abok.ru)

Automated systems help to remotely monitor and control objects, increase comfort and information, extend the service life of equipment and also contribute to environmental protection. In the hotel industry, automation provides ample opportunities: from collecting data on the sanitary condition of rooms and coordinating the work of personnel to managing lighting, water supply, and microclimate systems.

The hospitality market is a highly competitive industry where a seemingly insignificant detail can both make a pleasant impression on a guest and cause negative reviews. Therefore, the management is made to spend a lot of time and effort on training and monitoring personnel, conducting regular inspections and increasing the number of employees. Long-standing hotels adhere to a traditional service system and employ more qualified personnel for management positions when needed. Finding experienced employees to work in a hotel complex that is just opening is a rather difficult task (https://www.forbes.ru/).

To solve this problem, you just need to look at the situation from a different angle. What if the hotel can simplify the interaction of the staff with the client and even respond to requests itself?

These are the fields of innovation that are very important for the future:

• modified design, manufacturing and construction processes (virtual architecture, digital manufacturing, parametric design, 3D printing)
• robots and automata
• intelligent systems for buildings and premises
• visual display and lighting systems
• innovative materials, consistency and energy efficiency
• communication, interactivity, infotainment programs
• services, process optimization, human-machine interaction
• feedback and monitoring systems.

It should be noted that the hospitality industry grows every year. It changes in accordance with modern trends, which are primarily based on information technology and innovation. Their aim is to meet individual needs of customers: location, modern technical equipment, use of environmentally friendly materials, independence, uniqueness of the interior. The future of the industry primarily belongs to hotels which develop in accordance with modern trends.

These trends are considered to be almost fantastic nowadays, but technology advanced rapidly in recent years.

The main trend in the hotel business is the maximum information about the hotel on the Internet on various thematic resources. The aim of this activity is to attract potential clients to the hotel’s website for direct booking. The influence of hotel aggregators has grown significantly recently, which provide direct booking prices and direct hotel contacts. A new strategy of focusing on direct bookings, together with a competent marketing policy, can significantly increase hotel profits.

We live in a digital age. It is necessary for hotels to offer a mobile-optimized application. It allows you easily check the availability and book rooms, read reviews, view hotel services and hotel photos. The notifications of the applications can promote the services of the hotels in an unobtrusive and delicate way.

However, using their smartphones, clients can have a digital key to complete the check-in process quickly and efficiently. In this way, guests will have instant access to their room. Key cards are replaced by applications on smartphones to simplify registration. It helps to avoid losing the key. Today, many brands do not use unnecessary subjects that burdens the client and actively use digital codes for smartphones that act as room keys (https://pro.villeroy-boch.com/)

It is important that hotels not ignore the modern needs of their customers. Therefore, hotels should provide modern services in order to remain competitive in this industry. Mobile technologies can help hoteliers to increase their profit by implementing a few simple things in their hotels. Hoteliers understand that the guest do not longer want to wait at the front desk. The Internet became an important part of our life and saves the guests’ time thanks to self-registration through kiosks and mobile self-service guest portals. This trend will have more popularity. Such services in the hotels will help guests to find out if their room is ready, to request a service or additional equipment in the room, to check their bills, to clarify their preferences and do many other things. Self-check-in will obviously help the staff. The staff will have enough time to pay full attention to guests on other issues that occur.

High technology became important for attracting hotel guests. Today, most hotels, apartments, resorts and hostels use such technologies that integrate various services to simplify the booking process and ensure the best possible experience for guests. Hotels study such innovative technological solutions to have better service for guests when they book a room in the hotel. More and more useful tools and functions for successful revenue management are constantly emerging in hotel software (https://lenta.ru/news).

 

One of the most visible trends in the hotel industry is chat rooms on the hotel website. It is a good business tool in order to improve customer experience. Instant messaging helps the guest make a booking decision.

Billions of people around the world use social media and their number grows every day. Advanced technologies allow people to reach an audience of various devices. Social media not only helps hotels to promote their hotel, but also makes it possible to simultaneously attract different types of tourists: young people, corporate business travelers, resort family vacationers.

It is difficult to maintain relationships with clients without professional skills nowadays. Technology constantly develops, and as hospitality technology providers keep up with these trends and demands, hotel staff need to keep up with these trends. Thus, today hoteliers strive for technological solutions for staff communication with their guests. Automated systems are now able to significantly better control the quality of room cleaning, track the time of checking equipment in hotels, and regularly conduct trainings for junior staff. This service ultimately improves the guest’s relationship to the hotel.

PART II

Robotic systems or butlers will be able to perform specific tasks whose aim is to speed up and improve the quality of the service. The concierge robot can be multilingual, and it will make it easier to communicate with guests from different countries. The functions of such a robot will include both greeting guests and providing information about the hotel, as well as additional functions such as reserving a table in a restaurant or searching for flights.

If people forget something while traveling, 3D printers will be available in all hotels to help people. As an additional service for the guest, 3D printers will be able to print household items, clothing and even computer or telephone parts in real time. Drawings for these parts will be available online. Theн can be both free and paid through a cloud function.

In the nearest future, hotels will have the opportunity to transform their space which is based on guest preferences. Such hotels will be able to use nanotechnology and automation, which is currently under development and. Futurologists believe that it will be available in the next twenty years. The hotel will be able to change the design, interior, lighting and the like.

Guests who have problems with sleep, will be able to use the inventions of the future to program their dreams. The development of technology is expected to allow every guest to «order» certain dreams in order to feel comfortable. Whether it will be a paid service and how diverse the content will be, futurologists do not specify.

Hotel SPA procedures will have the aim not only to help the body to recover, but also to live much longer. So, with the development of genetic medicine, it is assumed that the proposal of procedures that extend life will not keep you waiting.

As for the future of transports, it will include robotic technology that will take guests from a hotel to an airport without the need for a driver. There will be manned platforms, supersonic ground transport, covering tens of kilometers in a matter of seconds.

The guarantee of security and individualization of payments will be ensured through confirmation of biometric data. Scanning a fingerprint or retina of the eye will become commonplace when paying for services. It can be done both directly at the hotel and online.

Many dishes in restaurants will be cooked for each guest separately. It will depend not only on taste preferences of the guest, but also on the level of his health, diet and genetic predisposition to diseases. This will ensure not only the satisfaction of the taste needs, but also the requirements for a healthy diet.

The Westworld theme is considered to be used to create hotels with themed décor. Fully interactive, android-filled hotels that mimic the Renaissance or Wild West will attract guests who can feel like they are part of a big carnival in realized virtual reality.

Thanks to new technologies, millions of different scenarios are emerging — for example, guests can visit Africa or visit Machu Picchu in Peru without leaving the hotel. With augmented reality hotels, guests can turn their vacation into an adventure, drama or historical journey. Visitors to such hotels will be able to take an excursion not only to real-life places, but also to travel to fantastic worlds.

The hotels of the future will have the option of a full immersion effect, inviting guests to go to virtual worlds that we can only fantasize about now. Travelers will be able to find themselves in interactive locations in which the hotel itself will correspond to a specific fictional world. Guests will be able to interact with these worlds in real time or in virtual reality.

Travelers will even get the opportunity to take part in a sports event thanks to RoboPlay, a system in which you can control a surrogate robot that replaces a player on the field. Hotels will quickly follow this trend and will attract guests with the opportunity to be at any sports match through the HoloReal system without leaving their room.

When we speak about the diversity of the hotel industry, one cannot fail to mention themed hotels, for example, underwater or with open-air rooms with transparent walls, hotels in the style of a certain movie or TV series, for example, the Georgian House in London. Such hotels will allow the guest to completely immerse themselves in the atmosphere of Hogwarts. In the future, the number of themed hotels will grow and will allow everyone to “live” the day in their favorite movie.

The rooms in the future will be more technological and functional. For example, “smart mirrors” will combine the functions of a mirror, a TV and a touchscreen monitor. The guests in the hotel will be able to make-up or check their mail, watch news on a large screen. A mobile phone is connected to the room systems, and the guest can listen to music or watch movies. Simplicity and convenience of technology also play a big role: at the push of a button, you can turn off all the lights in the room. You need not look for a table lamp switch. You will not even have to get out of bed to set the desired temperature (https://www.forbes.ru/)

Digitalization will also change the organization of sales, and big data makes it possible to personalize the offer down to the color of a toothbrush. The choice of hotels will also take place online in many cases. As much information as possible about the object can be given not only by guests’ reviews, but also by virtual tours using VR and AR technologies. And for guests, reviews and photos in social media will become more and more important.

PART III

The collection of data by hotels and aggregators will make it possible to personalize the offer based on the guest’s previous experience (for example, interests, room temperature.). And the one who received an individual offer will be more loyal to the hotel and will rather stay in it again than look for another one.

Hotels will carry out great work to create functional loyalty programs. And then business travelers will accumulate points on business trips, and spend them on vacation. By creating a base of loyal customers, operators will increase the volume of direct sales through their own websites, applications, which will allow hotels to increase revenue not only in the room fund department, but also in other departments.

It should be noted that wealthy people look for in de luxe hotels, individual attitude and personal service. It is difficult to surprise them with silk sheets, gourmet dining, or a modern spa, but they will definitely appreciate the hypoallergenic bedding or menus tailored to their personal taste or diet.

Each person has a «rider». It concerns food preferences, favorite music and even taxi service. The task of a first-class hotel operator is to learn about the guest’s habits even before his arrival, in order to warn and anticipate the maximum of his wishes.

Today, it is difficult to imagine a hotel where thousands of daily business tasks are handled manually. The control systems are the brain of the hotel. We can not live without them. There are many types of electronic hotel management systems. When hotels choose one of them, they should ask themselves how adaptable it is to those innovative IT products that have already become necessary (https://vele-rosse.com.ua/)

Nowadays, the main innovation in the field of electronic control systems is such Internet technologies, when the user (hotel employee) directly accesses the web service and can get all the information about his hotel on the network.

The process of proliferation and modernization will undoubtedly lead to the fact that very soon there will be more such systems. Systems that can be obtained by subscription (SAAS technologies) will appear. This will be especially interesting for seasonal hotels (resort, ski). Such technologies will make it possible not to spend the owner’s money on the purchase of expensive software, but to pay small amounts of operating costs for the bookings sold. Thus, such systems will become available for hotels of any format, including mini-hotels.

Hotels will be made look for new ways in order to increase the attractiveness and availability of their services. Innovative distribution technologies in electronic booking systems integrated with hotel management systems and allowing on-line management of the booking process across multiple sales channels have revolutionized this segment.

The hotel should strive to access the widest possible range of sales channels. In which channels and when to sell is a matter of promotion policy, it depends on the season, the current hotel occupancy, and many other factors. In particular, it is primarily necessary for hotels focused on the business segment to present themselves in global and / or alternative booking systems. But it can be not only city business hotels, but also accommodation facilities of any format: country hotels, SPA-hotels on the coast, hotels for extreme recreation lovers wishing to attract clients with a certain level of income.

It should be noted that GDS is also an effective advertising tool: the hotel becomes known to more than 600,000 travel agencies around the world and appears in the most popular booking systems using the GDS database, such as Travelocity and Expedia. Plus, no other advertising channel compares on cost / performance criteria.

Hoteliers should think about  new formats and opportunities for hospitality. In this sense, Western colleagues reacted faster, and hotels began to be used to accommodate medical staff and those who arrived from dangerous regions, to conduct online events.

In the current context of an ongoing pandemic, it is necessary to adapt the crisis in one of the badly hit industries — the hospitality industry.

Hotels around the world tried so many tools to offset business losses and ensure the safety of those who can still travel. Good hotels say their success is based on anticipating guests’ desires. But, when the guests have many desires and they are in different spheres, it is very difficult to correspond to them. How hotels will cope with the transformation and whether they will have time to make changes fast enough to be called modern, we will find out in the near future (http://www.finmarket.ru/).

 

 

CONCLUSION

Technologies do not only improve the quality of guest experience, but can also positively contribute to streamlining processes and can improve hotels.

Recent outbreak of Covid19 made the hotel industry adapt to new standards to ensure the safety of its future guests. Along with the need to reduce personal contact, digital and “touchless” services become a top priority for hoteliers in the current health crisis.

Some years ago old-style luxury meant chandeliers and butlers, today it means a technology-driven approach. Smart hotels cater to the habits of their guests.

The high level of service and comfort that hotel guests expect to receive is provided not only by highly qualified personnel, but also by the building management system.

Contactless service is one of the most common ways for businesses to keep their businesses running during COVID-19. Many hotels try nowadays to move towards a «no-touch» service, with apps and robots replacing personnel, to reduce the risk of person-to-person transmission.

In fact, this concept was represented before COVID-19 and was available in hotels in many countries around the world. However, this concept has widespread popularity as a solution for hotels continuing to host guests.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has and will continue to have a huge impact on the hospitality industry for a very long time to come. The researchers predict that the hotel business will remain at a low recovery level until 2023. Some of these key concepts can help accommodations adapt to the new reality.

Influencer marketing is by far the most powerful way to reach an audience. Veiled advertising from the mouth of reputable travelers magically affects ordinary people. Professional travelers attract guests because they give their blogs the illusion of a personal appeal to each of the listeners or viewers and bribe with their seeming disinterest, building strong relationships with their followers.

Therefore, in order to start communicating with the target audience (i.e. your guests), it is important to target those who are able to influence the decisions of your guests. Direct communication with your partner bloggers is also very important, as they can provide you with information about your potential customers; what are their expectations, and what objects and services are they most passionate about. So, in general, approaching these Agents of Influence for your hospitality marketing is one of the most effective start-ups for your business.

Service loves details. And if we hone every part of the service to perfection, then guests will not be long in coming. But the main thing is not to forget: what is a sign of a wow service today will be what the guests are used to tomorrow. And, therefore, it will be necessary to re-anticipate expectations.

Experts believe that although the costs of developing smart room technology will be substantial, hotel owners will appreciate the benefits of building them. After all, the new technology will not only simplify a number of operations, but also add opportunities for sales and more efficient use of data from hotel guests. After all, in the end, we live in an age of service, when guests, all other things being equal, choose hotels where they feel more at home.

One thing is clear: «smart hotels» are already a fairly close future of the tourist business, and therefore ours with you. It makes sense to be the first to evaluate.