Paris, 1st March 2001 � Leading developers of
hi-tech products and services for the hospitality industry, shared their
outlooks on the future of hospitality technology at Eurhotec 2001, the
IH&RA�s 6th European Hospitality Technology Conference, held in Paris
from 19-21 February 2001.
Technology that supports customer relationships
is where the next wave of innovation will be seen, said Caroyn Viens, from
IBM Travel Related Services, sketching a scenario of the travel experience
of the future:
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A WAP phone that allows remote check-in and in-flight
movie selection before arrival at the airport;
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in-flight video-conferencing with colleagues on other
planes;
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voice-activated GPS equipment rental cars;
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hotel scanners that identify the guest upon on arrival
allowing instant key delivery and customised information on the guestroom
TV;
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automatic transfer of hotel e-folio to the guest�s
corporate expense report;
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WAP phone notification of flight re-scheduling information
to the traveller, his/her home and office;
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bio-metric scanning to pass customs at the airport.
This could be happening sooner than anticipated,
said Viens, as the technology on which they are based is already being
experimented with. IBM is currently testing a �travel card� that will allow
a personal digital device to receive a boarding card electronically within
ten seconds of check-in.
According to Michael Hartmann, director of industry
marketing hotels for Siemens ICN, the Mobile Internet will be the Next
Big Thing to impact the business world. With the proliferation of non-PC
Internet devices, business travellers are no longer tethered to a computer
to access the Web. The challenge for hoteliers, said Hartmann, will be
to spot alternative revenue opportunities because if a guest has mobile
Internet access, he won�t use the hotel infrastructure. For example, with
a wireless LAN, the hotel could play the role of an Internet Service Provider
and provide a portal � earning a percentage of the transaction fee. To
be successful, he emphasised, hotels must be �embedded� in strategic partnerships,
eg. with airports, rail networks, and other providers in the travel chain.
The mobile Internet is indeed on the horizon,
agreed Peter Agel, CEO of Trust International, based in Germany, where
mobile Internet users are predicted to outnumber those relying on telephone
access by 2003. Services in the M-business environment will differ from
existing Internet services, he insisted.
Success factors include having an online real-time
distribution network, a big range of e-distribution partners, and a truly
global presence. Most important, he said, will be multi-media content management
that allows the customer to buy-what-you-see. �It�s the services that will
count in the future, not the IT,� he insisted. �E-commerce and M-commerce
will change the hotel managers perspective from the local to the global.�
Inter-connectivity of in-room devices was tipped
as the technology development of the future by VingCard Elsafe�s VP of
Marketing, Erik Olsen. He said it is only a matter of time before air-conditioning,
locking, minibar, TV, phone, safe and energy systems will be connected
via a central server to key hotel departments, such as front desk, kitchen
and engineering. This type of connectivity could, for example, make it
possible to alert guests checking-out that they have left passports and
tickets in the room-safe. It could also be used to ensure that, in the
event of a fire, guest room doors are simultaneously opened and evacuation
instructions are issued.
In the ensuing debate, chaired by Jean-Paul Nichols,
VP Marketing, Cendant Corporation Hotel Division, panellists made the following
onservations:
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Technology will only �stick� if it is customer-centric
and if it helps the hotel to improve guest retention
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The speed of the evolution of M-business will depend
on the user-friendliness of the devices involved
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Hotel that take the outsourcing option (eg using
ASPs) will need to build strong relationships with their service providers
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There is a pressing need not only for greater staff
training but more guest education on what technology can do
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IT competence will be a standard part of the skill-set
of the next generation
EURHOTEC 2001, the annual European Technology Show
and Conference of the International Hotel & Restaurant Association
(IH&RA), attracted a record 1850 participants and 81 exhibitors of
tech-based products and services.
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