Personalizing Guest Experience Through Technology

Abstract

As technology continues to drive the expectations of consumers, hospitality managers are faced with the need to perpetually upgrade their services in order to meet demand. Hoteliers have to stay current and informed if they are going to make smart decisions and accurately weigh the benefits against the costs. An in-depth study conducted through Cornell University by Dr. Rohit Verma, Dr. Spring H. Han and Lilia Karimi, has shown some surprising results regarding upcoming tech trends and their impact on the hotel industry in the days to come. Today's client clearly isn't just looking for access to email. Hotels must now cater to multiple family members with numerous different devices that rely on wi-fi signals for everything from secure financial transactions on their laptops to online games and video streaming for their children's tablets, suggesting that strong, reliable wi-fi is no longer an option for hoteliers. " When we looked at people's willingness to use new technology, " Verma said, " we used to ask, 'Is it their age influencing their readiness? Is it their education, their gender, or their income?' What we are finding now is that all of those demographic differences are going away. " Regardless of hoteliers' ability to keep pace, customers are beginning to expect these services and providers must be aware of their capabilities and their costs in order to ensure they make the appropriate choices for their establishments.