siliconindia | | April 20199tality industry is utilizing these new age technologies to revolutionize customer experience. Managing cus-tomer expectation across 360-degree touchpoints requires knowledge and in-depth understanding of their likes & dislikes which translates to tons of data. As a result, hospitality brands are investing in technologies and skilled professionals to run the business. As predicted by Gartner, by the end of 2022, one out of every five workers engaged mostly in non-routine functions will be using AI for day-to-day manual tasks. AI has enabled the hospitality industry to garner insights about customers. Customer purchases, travel choices, journey patterns & itinerary, location preferences, hotel rating inquiries, and payment methods are being taken into account to understand the customers better. Big data solutions are also coming handy to manage 360-degree touchpoints and huge tons of data. Running campaigns on target demographics with razor-sharp precision, smartly managing room inventories and pricing intelligently to be aligned with market conditions has never been easier!Another technology that is defi-nitely making hospitality experience better is IoT. With this in use, guests are now enjoying facilities like con-trolling certain room features right from their mobile or the tab provided by the hotel. Smart keys to the rooms, location services for car pick up & drop or ordering food, predictive re-pairs, and maintenance information generated from the in-room devices and appliances or voice assistants are making the experience great for both the guest and the hotel staff. The use of Voice & Natural Lan-guage Processing (NLP) technologies has also grown manifold in recent times. Interpreting questions posed and coming-up with smart contextu-al answers is therefore a part of the service now. On the other hand, Ma-chine Learning has made voice plat-forms like Siri and Alexa much more user-friendly. Being increasingly adopted at the hospitality sector, soon they'll help guests control the room temperature, contact the housekeep-ing staff, and view the room service menu either from their smartphones or by speaking to these virtual as-sistants. Along with AI, NLP, and data solutions, Augmented Reali-ty has also made the right kind of noise. AR-powered signage can be used to enhance the customer expe-rience by routing them to check-in counters, breakfast location or safest emergency evacuation.But where there are revolutions, there are barriers too! There might be lack of infrastructure, security concerns or the complex interactions between multiple stakeholders, which are coming between the complete use of technology. But no one can deny that these potentially disruptive innovations are much needed given the unlimited value they offer to the ecosystem in terms of both customer and business experience.Technology by itself doesn't en-sure a great experience. It needs to be in the hands of skilled and knowl-edgeable individuals who can ensure their right usage. Human interactions help one build a lifetime worth of connections, build relationships, and create memories. The use of technol-ogy will just be there to provide you a hassle-free, comfortable experience avoiding the middle layers, as well as unnecessary delays and losses. The warmth of a human relationship, and the efficiency of staff to mean-ingfully deal with complex situations that cannot be easily automated, will stay irreplaceable. What one needs is a perfect combination of both the digital revolution and the good old human touch! What one needs in the hospitality industry is a perfect combination of the digital revolution and the good old human touchAnil Goel
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