Hotel Online Special Report


Check In Kiosks: 
Coming to a Hotel Lobby Near You?
This article is from the Fall 2005 issue of Hospitality Upgrade magazine.To view more articles covering technology for the hospitality industry please visit the Hospitality Upgrade Web site or to request a free publication please call (678) 802-5307 or e-mail.
By Jerry W. Sheldon
 
Although behind the airlines and retailers at this point, self-service kiosks in hotels are on the rise and we expect to see continued acceptance in a variety of hotel and resort formats in the coming years. 
 
Every year IHL Consulting Group produces a kiosk report tracking self-checkout systems, ticketing, check-in and food ordering kiosks.  One of the key arenas for potential growth is the hotels and lodging sector. According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association there were a total of 47,598 U.S. properties at the end of 2004.  At this time we are in the infancy of kiosks among these properties, though every year more stories of new implementations or ongoing trials are heard with 2005 being no exception.  At the end of 2004 we were able to document approximately 450 installations (in chains such as Marriott, Sheraton, Starwood, Hyatt and Hilton) in the United States which puts the current market penetration at less than 1 percent.

Clearly hotel check-in kiosks are at a much different place on the adoption curve than self-checkout in retail or airport check-in kiosks.  But the good news is that consumers are demanding these machines in more and more places and those properties that deploy the systems can see some of the same tremendous benefits.  Self-checkout and airline kiosks started off slowly but recent statistics show that up to 40 percent of grocery traffic now goes through self-checkout units in stores with the technology, and as many as 70 percent of domestic airline passengers now use airport check-in kiosks.  This customer acceptance is going to lead more and more hoteliers to install kiosks for check in and other resort functions.  Some other key trends that will drive the adoption are the following:
 
Staffing shortage?  Following the events of Sept. 11, the economy as a whole and the travel industry in particular experienced a significant downturn which slowed what had been robust development.  As the economy has improved, business travel and hotel occupancy rates have been on the rise for the past two years.  As a further confirmation of the growth to come, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics adds that hotel, motel and desk clerks are expected to experience above average job growth through 2012, which is a positive industry indicator, but states the expectation of future staffing shortages.  Shortage of key personnel is always an opportunity for kiosk technology.
 
Can the consumers cry be heard?  Consumers are embracing self-service technologies in other walks of life but particularly in travel.  While you do not hear current hotel chains who have implemented kiosks speak in terms of ROI, they are quick to highlight how much their customers like trading a 15-minute wait in line for a 45-second check-in experience.  A loyal customer may be hard to put a dollar figure on, but practically speaking, they�re invaluable. At the end of a long trip, travelers want to be able to check in as fast as possible.  And often, after fighting huge crowds along the way, these travelers enjoy just quickly checking in and getting to their rooms.
 
Wi-Fi availability?  Even though Wi-Fi has been a priority to date, IT budgets are limited.  During the recent downturn and now economic recovery, many hoteliers spent heavily on technologies that add amenities.  One of the clear winners is in-room Wi-Fi access. Much of this funding that was set aside for creating Wi-Fi access is being loosened up for other projects like kiosks.
 
IT infrastructures have been updated?  Many hoteliers have recently updated and consolidated disparate property management systems throughout the organization which previously posed both technological and implementation challenges for adding kiosks.  Integrating Web-based operations to the central property management system provides the ideal situation for kiosks to be used in an effective manner for check in and other functions.  Without this integration, many kiosk implementations provided another set of headaches that hoteliers just didn�t want to deal with before reducing these disparate systems.
 
Customer incentives to drive adoption?  Hotel kiosk implementation holds the exact same potential that airlines capitalized on a few years back.  Once the systems are in place, and once a compelling reason for using them is established in the mind of willing consumers, then they will enjoy the widespread usage seen for airline and retail self-checkout systems. 
 
Airline check in integration � is it the Holy Grail?  I can think of no greater driving force for the widespread adoption of hotel check-in kiosks then the advent of CUSS.  CUSS stands for common use self service and is a set of rules that allows a single check-in kiosk to support the ticketing requirements for multiple airlines.  The beauty is that instead of each airline having a unique system, multiple airlines share usage of a single platform.  For hotels looking to integrate their check-in kiosks with those of airlines (a real plus for customers) they can now have a single point of integration for multiple airlines, thus servicing a broad swath of their customer base. 
 
Although behind the airlines and retailers at this point, self-service kiosks in hotels are on the rise and we expect to see continued acceptance in a variety of hotel and resort formats in the coming years.  Systems that can tie together the entire travel itinerary from hotel, rental car and airline check in will provide added benefits to the traveler that can help ease the travel experience and improve communication among travel partners.
 .

.
Jerry Sheldon is the vice president of technology for IHL Consulting Group. He can be reached at [email protected].

###

-
©Hospitality Upgrade, 2005. No reproduction or transmission without written permission.

Contact:

Geneva Rinehart 
Managing Editor 
Hospitality Upgrade magazine 
and the Hospitality Upgrade.com website
http://www.hospitalityupgrade.com
[email protected]

.

Also See: Moving into Compliance Mode; Realizing the Benefits, Cutting the Costs / Dorian Cougias / March 2005
What Hoteliers Need to Know About Flat Panel and HDTVs / Jake Buckstead / March 2005
10 Trends Affecting Hospitality IT in 2005 / Bradford Iverson / March 2005
Searching for Bookings? Optimize / Dr. Matthew Dunn / August 2004
Instant Messaging: Age Is Everything - Expectations of Immediacy, Productivy and the Rise of IM / Elizabeth L. Ivey / August 2004
Baby It's Cold Outside the Firewall / Michael Schubach / April 2004
High Wired: The Hotel Room of the Future / Kelly Stanford / April 2004
We're Not In Kansas Anymore; Differentiating your hotel through technology / Mark Haley / January 2004
Understanding the Power of Customer Relationship Management / Neil Holm / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / November 2003
The Case for Self Service in Hospitality / Marvin Erdly and Amitava Chatterjee / Hospitality Upgrade
Magazine / October 2003
Five Questions to Ask Online Distributors / Michelle Peluso / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / October 2003
Surf's Up - Internet Marketing for Destination Properties / Marvin Erdly and Amitava Chatterjee / Debra Kristopson / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / October 2003
Wireless Changes Everything; So, do ya want a latte with that or what? / Jocelyn Valley / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / June 2003
Customer Awareness or Customer Beware? Data Security in a CRM-Obsessed Industry / Elizabeth Ivey / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / June 2003
Your Magnificent Selling Machine Would you Prefer Your Hotel to Get: the Web Hit or the Phone Call? / Robert Camastro / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / June 2003
Tradeshows & Economic Soldiers / Dan Phillips / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / April 2003
Hotel Telecommunications in the 21st Century / Geoff Griswold / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / March 2003
The ABCs of CRM  / Mark Haley & Bill Watson / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / March 2003
Getting the Most out of Your IT Investment / By: Clay B. Dickinson / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / Fall 2002
The Role of Paper in a Digital World / By: Bill Fitzpatrick / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / Fall 2002
The Rotten Pineapple (international symbol of hospitality) / By: Steve D'Erasmo / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / Fall  2002
Focusing on Labor Can Improve More Than Just Cost / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / Summer 2002
Attention Hotels - An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure / Elizabeth Lauer Ivey / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / May 2002 
HOSTEC - EURHOTEC 2002 - Room for Improvement / Christel Dietzsch / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / Feb 2002 
Technology and the Human Touch / Dan Phillips / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / Spring 2002
Wireless Technology:  Where We Have Been, Where Are we Going? / Geneva Rinehart / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / Spring 2002
Effective Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Implementations / John Schweisberger and Amitava Chatterjee, CHTP / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / Fall 2001 
What's Up With Call Accounting Systems (CAS) / Dan Phillips / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / Fall 2001
Technology Dilemmas: What have IT investments done for you lately? / Elizabeth Lauer / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / Summer 2001
Full Circle from Centralized to ASP - The Resurrection of Old Themes and a Payment Solution / Gary Eng / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / Summer 2001 
A High Roller in the Game of System Integration / Elizabeth Lauer / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / Spring 2001 
CAVEAT EMPTOR! Simple Steps to Selecting an E-procurement Solution / Mark Haley / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / Spring 2001 
Your Bartender is Jessie James and He Needs to Pay for College / Beverly McCay / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / Fall 2000 
Choosing a Reservation Representation Company / John Burns / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / Spring 2001 
Understanding and Maximizing a Hotel�s Electronic Distribution Options / by John Burns / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / Fall 2000 
The Future of Electronic Payments - From Paper to Plastic and Beyond / J. David Oder /  Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / Summer 2000
Timeshare Technology Steps Up / by Elizabeth Lauer / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / July 2000 
Biometric Payment: The New Age of Currency / by Geneva Rinehart / Hospitality Upgrade Magazine / Mar 2000 

 


To search Hotel Online data base of News and Trends Go to Hotel.Online Search

Home | Welcome! | Hospitality News | Classifieds | Catalogs & Pricing | Viewpoint Forum | Ideas/Trends
Please contact Hotel.Online with your comments and suggestions.