1. HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM MARKETING AND SALES
Hotels Future with
Technology
Trends Assessment
PENNY SWANSON AND KEVIN O’DONNELL
10/3/2012
This paper talks about the future of hotels and technology from a manager’s point of view. Where
technology has been in the past year, examples of the influence of technology on the hospitality field,
and where it will be in the future.

2. Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Sales 1
Hotels Future with Technology
Hotels Interactions with Technology
Hotels have been using different techniques over the years to catch the eyes of their
consumers. In the last year hotel managers have used technology to draw in customers and
revenue. A number of hotels have been renovating everything from room amenities such as
televisions, and beds to fitness centers and restaurants. Along with using technology to
renovate, hotel managers have been using mobile applications to draw in customers of the
generations X and Y. Hotels around the world have started using mobile applications to allow
guest to book reservations for dinners or the spa. One hotel simply put the link to download the
application in the signature of their email along with in a section of the newsletter and within
one month had over 400 downloads (O'Rourke, 2012). Consumers want to do what is easy and
most convenient so when offered the chance to make reservations on their mobile apps they
are going to be all for this because it is less time consuming and can be done on the go. A
Smartphone application to book reservations was just the first step in technology
advancements. One study from Seattle, Washington showed that hotels with mobile apps that
allow for customers to use their phones to order room service have seen an 18 percent
increase (O'Rourke, 2012). This allows both the guest and employee to skip the language
barriers, bad connections, miscommunications and background noises that may be present.
This idea takes a known form of communication and forms a new channel for the consumer to
use. Smartphones and other mobile devices are not the only source that hotels are using. A
few different properties are now providing guest rooms with tablets to help enhance their
experience with another form of technology. These tablets are allowing guest to change the
channel on the television along with regulate the temperature of their room (O'Rourke, 2012).
By giving guest these amenities they are giving them an entirely new level of experience that
hotels have to offer. The ever growing technology is allowing for hotel managers to go to a level
that has never been reached before, provide guest with experiences that older generations
never even imagined. Managers can take these applications and different technologies and
change them to meet the needs of different customers. Whether the managers aim the app at
guest who are looking to book for a wedding and show them different features such as room
block booking, and custom itineraries or to potential guest as a contest to show them the
application is not only useful but fun as well, this technology can and is being used by the hotels
to reach a wide variety of markets. Hotels and other businesses in the hospitality field can use
this trend of technology to catch the eyes of the younger generations and draw them into their
company. Hotel properties are seeing these technology advances as a massive revenue
generator that is often overlooked (O'Rourke, 2012). Hotels are slowing picking up on how
useful and helpful technology can be to their business. It is an example of the trickle-down
effect, at first only the wealthy can afford it but over time it moves down the line until the
general can afford it as well.
Hotel Advancements
With new technology mobile bookings can be one of the largest opportunities for
increasing a company’s revenue. Just like many other stores rely on mobile bookings similar to
dinner reservations. It is fast simple and not time consuming, the key things everyone wants

3. Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Sales 2
Hotels Future with Technology
when they are checking in to a hotel room. The basic way it works is guests who opt to try "fast
check-in" will give the hotel their smartphone number and download the Open Ways
application. Then, two or three days before their arrival, they will receive a text message
containing their room number and a unique and encrypted sound code that they will use to
unlock their hotel room door. The code will work once and then reset itself. One of the ways
that Open Ways makes the system attractive to hotel owners is that they upgrade existing hotel
door locks with an additional device that contains a microchip, instead of requiring the hotel
owner to invest in a completely new locking mechanism. The microchip listens to the audio
code that comes from the smartphone and the chip validates the sound. This new technology
has the potential to be the futures of all check-ins and hotel room keys (Haridasani, 2012).
The main decision comes again from that cost benefit strategy before you can make
money with your hotel mobile application you need to put it in your guests’ hands. The cost of
these decisions is the first thing to think about. The cost is something that may not be for
everyone because it can become pricey. Hotels don't see much cost savings from the changes
but expect that the moves will help them stand out in customer service along with attract the
younger generations X and Y. There are many factors in deciding cost as well. For example the
room keys that were plastic and never completely worked would be replaced by the customer’s
phone costing the hotel less for room keys. Another cost saver is the time spent having staff
from your hotel checking people in. Money upfront to give that freedom and accessibility has
the potential to reward you in the long run. Ease and accessibility are things customers look for
when checking in and staying at a hotel.
Fast easy and convenient is the new trend for the world. Most people today have a
smartphone capable to use this technology. Even guest who do not have smartphones have the
chance to use this new technology by receiving a text message and calling the number they are
able to access the key feature(Haridasani, 2012). This is a benefit to hotels allowing them to
market a larger group. This doesn’t mean in any way that this will be the only way to check in it
just is time for a change. This idea is very similar to the grocery store checkouts that now have
the self-checkout lines. New technology has allowed us to do automatic check out taking out
the checkout line and person to person engagement. The new systems cut down on one of the
big annoyances that customers have with typical key cards that use magnetic strips: the cards
sometimes demagnetize and stops working. Carrying your key next to your cellphone is often all
it takes to make one of these keys to stop working.
Although the potential for success is there with these new plans there is a side of
complications. Many believe that there are some service flaws and potential risks when using a
phone for all of this. First off if your phone is lost or stolen you cannot just go to the front desk
and ask for a new phone. Hotels generally send travelers their room number via text message
or email, a potential concern if someone else gets access to your phone could mean risk to all of
the hotel guests. M it can risk safety and personal information two very important items. There
is also the old fashioned group out there that believes that talking to someone when you check
in and anytime you have a question is part of the experience. So when targeting both older and
younger generations hotels just need to remember to change their marketing pitch to grab the
attention of the intended market at the time.

4. Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Sales 3
Hotels Future with Technology
Riding the iPhone
Until now, the only way to ride the rails was with a paper ticket that you had to hand to
the conductor. Though you could look up schedules and make reservations online that often
meant wasting precious moments standing in line at a ticket window. Not great for your blood
pressure if you’re minutes away from missing your train making and making you late for your
destination. You can book and pay for your e-ticket online, on a mobile device, or by using the
new Amtrak iPhone app. Once purchased, you’ll get an email with the ticket attached as a PDF.
Smartphone users can simply show that e-ticket to the conductor, who can then scan
it (O'Rourke, 2012).
The iPhone-based system will allow Amtrak customers to print tickets or access a special
bar code that conductors will be able to scan. On the back end, conductors will be able to keep
track of the passengers on board much easier than with the hole-punch system. By checking in
passengers electronically, conductors will be more efficient and cut down on mistakes that
were possible with the old, ticket-punching method. The iPhones used by Amtrak conductors
will have specially designed scanners attached and will include a company application that
keeps track of passengers, sends alerts to the engineers if disabled-person assistance is
necessary, and sends reports of maintenance needs to mechanics. With the new ticketing
system being electronic, customers also benefit. Currently if a change in reservations needs to
be made at the last minute, the customer would have to get a refund issued at a ticketing
window, and then get a new ticket issued. With the Amtrak iPhone app, however, customers
can make adjustments on the go, without having to worry about ticketing lines (Ogg, 2012).
This system set up with Amtrak customers is a great way to create smoother travelling
for people all over the world. Not only does it make it a smoother running system but it is
entirely full of informational updates on delays on high traffic volumes and arrival / departure
times. The iPhone system cost Amtrak $7.5 million — $5.5 million for the software
development and $2 million for the hardware, the company said (Ogg, 2012). Amtrak’s
smartphone app for passengers is currently available only for iPhones, but the corporation said
it was working on a version for Android devices, due for release by early fall. Users of other
types of smartphones can still load their tickets through Amtrak’s mobile Web site with the
ability to adjust their trip. This is an example of how mobile devices are playing a large role with
improvements in all areas of the hospitality and tourism field. Hotels are not the only ones who
are benefiting from the evolution of smartphone applications.
A Professional’s View
For the interview we interviewed Randy Christensen the General Manager of the Country
Inn and Suites in Little Chute Wisconsin. Randy has also been the Sales Director for Howard
Johnson Hotel and Country Inn and Suites before becoming the General Manager. We asked
Randy a number of questions asking his professional view on the role that technology plays in
the hotel business. Randy felt that it was important for hotels to keep up with technology
because people are making reservations and checking for hotels on the go from airports, etc.

5. Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Sales 4
Hotels Future with Technology
and with that type of market you need to take full advantage and be assessable. Randy
believes that it is important to keep up with technology and review your position with
comparison to your competitors on a yearly basis. Along with that he stated that typically
decisions based on technology updates are based on the brand standards. When asked if he
thought that smart phones played a part in what hotels do and how they operate, he said yes it
allows him to stay connected from anywhere. Wherever he is he has the ability to check rates,
availability, answer guest concerns and respond as needed instantly. Looking at the technology
trend of smartphones with hotels in the eye of a manager it shows what a huge role
smartphones play. They allow managers to be accessible when needed and for them to access
the information they need in a few clicks. When talking about his view on customers using their
phones to check into their rooms and as a key to the room he had an interesting view on this
concept. Randy believed that this special feature should be accessible only to elite or preferred
status members and not for the general hotel guest. His reasoning was that it takes away from
the customer service aspect of our industry and that face to face interaction with our guest is
extremely important. With that being said check in is their number one opportunity for that
face to face interaction and if they were to give it away to the mobile phone they would lose
that factor. Randy believes that technology is important however that it is not the main focus of
our industry, and that the industry will always be driven by customer service and you only have
one chance to impress people. Along with that Randy said that hotels should provide the
amenities that guest are used to and the best way to gain advantage over competitors is to be
visible in the community, and have a strong focus on customer service and resolving guest
issues quickly.
After researching this topic we believe that the trend of the evolving technology in the
hotel industry is impacting the industry and will continue to over time. As of now there a few
select hotels that are using mobile phones as room keys but over time we will start to see more
and more hotels using this feature as part of the trickle-down effect. It will create a smoother
experience for guest and employees. Over time the technology is going to evolve allowing for
more services to become available at the touch of a finger. Technology will not only be moving
forward with phones but other products as well. Hotels use technology to reach out to the
different generations and fit travels to their needs and over time they will continue to get
better at this. It is believed that in the near future hotels will have a total service model
(Talwar, 2012). Guest will be expecting their stay to be personalized and hotels will be making
sure that their every need is met by having the correct bedroom, customized pictures with
digital picture frames, the correct temperature settings, and more. With this being said we also
agree with Randy and that as big of a role technology does play, customer service from
employees plays a larger role. 93% agreed that ‘Highly trained staff backed up by technology
will be the key to delivering personalized service and experiences’ (Talwar, 2012). If hotels train
their employees to high standards of service and intertwine the new technologies that are
continuing to grow they will have an advantage over other competitors. Being successful is
about knowing what information from the past or present to look at taking that and pairing it
up with new ideas.

6. Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Sales 5
Hotels Future with Technology
References
Christensen, R. (2012, September 30). Technology in Hotels. (P. Swanson, & K. O'Donnell, Interviewers)
Haridasani, A. (2012, April 25). Mobile phone room key technology heads for Asia. Retrieved October 1,
2012, from Business Traveller: http://www.businesstravellerme.com/asia-pacific/news/mobile-
phone-room-key-technology-heading-for-asia
Kazmi, S. (2012, October 1). Unique Ways Hotel Business Centers Keep Tech-Savvy Guests Plugged
In. Retrieved October 2, 2012, from Hotel Business Review:
http://hotelexecutive.com/business_review/3159/unique-ways-hotel-business-centers-keep-
tech-savvy-guests-plugged-in
Ogg, E. (2012, May 7). Finally: Amtrak to use iPhones for ticket scanning. Retrieved October 1, 2012,
from GIGaom: http://gigaom.com/apple/finally-amtrak-to-use-iphones-for-ticket-scanning/
O'Rourke, T. (2012, October 1). Driving Revenue Through Your Mobile App. Retrieved October 2, 2012,
from Hotel Business Review: http://hotelexecutive.com/business_review/3158/driving-
revenue-through-your-mobile-app
Talwar, R. (2012). Hotels 202: Responding to Tomorrow's Customer and the Evolution of
Technology. Retrieved October 2, 2012, from Hotel Business Review:
http://hotelexecutive.com/business_review/2699/hotels-2020-responding-to-tomorrows-
customer-and-the-evolution-of-technology