The Think-Tank was the third to be convened by IH&RA following similar gatherings held in Singapore (1997) and Nice, France (1998).  This year�s event was held to coincide with EURHOTEC '99, the IH&RA's annual hospitality exhibition and conference.  It brought together 45 industry executives, technology experts, suppliers and academics to identify the global forces and information technology trends shaping the future of the hospitality industry, and help the industry prepare for these changes proactively.  Preliminary findings were outlined at EURHOTEC '99 by Daniel Connolly, assistant professor in hospitality tourism management at Virginia Polytechnic & State University in the United States.

What is holding the industry�s development back, Think-Tank participants concurred, is the �skills gap� -  the failure of its traditional craft-based focus to produce high-calibre financial managers. It is also plagued by an erosion of brand loyalty and high staff turnover.  Where technology is concerned, Connolly observed, hospitality is hampered by the predominance of legacy systems which are hard to update and often incompatible, and the tendency to see technology as an increasingly costly support function rather than a strategic enabler. �Hospitality leaders must recognise that the entire business model for the hotelindustry is defective and needs to change,� he affirmed.

Industry leaders must seize opportunities provided by technology so as to create, rather than be led by, the future.  Some of the most important trends which the industry must take on board were identified by the Think-Tank as follows:

• Internet will be the transactional channel of tomorrow;
• The basis of competition will be �time to knowledge�, ie. the speed at which companies transform data into knowledge to gain competitive advantage
• The value of the brand is being eroded as customers increasingly select hospitality products based on destination, situation or experience criteria. The hotel must become a packager, or �inntegrator� of value-adding products, services and experiences.

The Think-Tank highlighted several implications for hotels advancing into the age of knowledge management :

• Competitive advantage no longer rests on �location, location, location�, but �knowledge, knowledge, knowledge�;
• The focus must be on seeking and collecting the right data and using it throughout the organisation;
• There must be recognition that information is perishable and be constantly updated;
• Every contact with the guest offers potential for information exchange;
• Data acquired must be used to learn what the guest wants and to anticipate his/her needs so that the guest stay embodies a new kind of magic
• Data should be shared across businesses with marketing partners;

There was a consensus among participants that tomorrow�s consumers will have a clear idea of what they want and the price they are prepared for it, will not tolerate error, and will use personal smart agents to make their hotel selection and booking.  Tomorrow�s hospitality manager, they predicted, will be more business savvy, more likely to have come from outside the industry, financially driven and technologically enlightened.

Connolly outlined potential scenarios the hospitality industry should envision if it is to stay at the forefront of change and anticipate the future before it happens.  Among the visions he asked the industry to imagine were:

• The hotel as a multi-use facility (like a shopping mall) with multiple concepts, both competing and complementary, and a range of products and services including retail, office rental and meeting facilities, video-conferencing, health, recreational and educational amenities in addition to lodging;
• Several hotel brands under one roof run by the same owners/managers;
• A hotel without staff, ie. completely automated, or, conversely,technologically sophisticated hotels without computers;
• Fully configurable and customisable hotel rooms;
• Widespread use of smart cards and electronic wallets that identify guests, and paperless payment systems
• The ability for hospitality providers to forecast 50 years into the future

The International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IH&RA is a global network of independent and chain operators, national associations, hospitality suppliers and educational centres in the hotel and restaurant industry in more than 150 countries.  As the voice of the industry it represents, protects, promotes and informs its members to enable them to achieve their objectives.