Blogs

Smart Hotels: A Win-Win for Hotel Owners and Guests

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Imagine you plan a trip and after a long and exhausting journey, reach the stay to be greeted with a virtual guide who helps you to your room that sets the ambiance just how you like it with a single voice command, exceeding your expectations. Feels like a tall order? Well, Smart Hotel Rooms, can bring this wish to life. What are Smart Hotels? Smart hotels leverage the power of IoT along with data analytics and edge computing to deliver guest experiences that are superlative in nature with intelligent bots, virtual guides, instant services-based devices, etc. IoT (Internet of Things) and other enabling technologies help create an ecosystem of connected devices that gather data and take actions based on insights generated by processing that data. For example, smart controls for the room, smart elevator, motion detection within common areas for lighting manipulation etc. Why Smart Hotels? Hotel owners are looking for options to re-imagine tourism and hospitality post the pandemic, to make the most of the huge influx of guests. One of the ways to achieve is by adding a digital zing to their experience like touchless room entry, instant verification and payment, automatic services, etc. Advantages for owners While creating a hassle-free customer experience is the endgame, Smart hotel rooms also deliver an impressive fleet of services with energy-saving options like automatic lights, temperature management, light intensity control etc. that saves expenses, and the environment in the long run, by being energy efficient and more eco-friendly. You know your hotel has the best customer experience when guests become regulars. With AI powered insights drawn from a combination of IoT data and data from customer preferences, custom hyper personalized options can be made available to guests to create a seamless experience that they would want to revisit. Intelligent devices working in an IoT ecosystem can provide an immediate response based on triggers. They can be of help in identifying emergencies like gas leaks, fires, theft, etc., using smart sensors which can be used by the hotel units to quickly take action. For hotel owners specifically, it helps avoid damages, downtime and extra costs that are incurred because of such incidents. Voice-enabled functions, instant service requests and more provide a great way to interact with guests, reducing the turnaround time and enabling service even during the times when staff might be unavailable. By streamlining and automating processes they become more efficient and productive, resulting in increased net revenue, and helping you achieve the targeted ROI. Smart hotels streamline and automate processes to avoid manual error and effort leakage. For example, if guests want to make a meal order, they can simply place an order through voice-enabled devices. The order straight goes to the restaurant without the need for an individual to monitor it. The same goes for reducing energy consumption with smart lighting, temperature control and more. Advantages for guests Who does not love personalized hospitality? Consider you visiting a hotel and they know what you would like to have as

Blogs

How AI is redefining the guest experiences in Quick Service Restaurants?

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) has changed the face of every business, big and small. The quick-service industry is no different. The benefits of AI are more evident in the quick-service world as this technology has unlocked new ways to leverage the extensive data sets generated with advanced AI tools. Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) that have implemented some form of digital transformation as a part of their business see a huge opportunity to offer intelligent engagement to their guests, compared to those unprepared during an unpredictable year. For the QSR industry, with annual sales touching $799 billion annually and the market size forecasted to reach $296.55 billion in the U.S. alone, AI solutions don’t just bring a potential for new financial success; but also offer concrete competitive advantages. After a year of uncertainty for the entire quick-service industry caused by the pandemic, it is encouraging to see how QSRs embrace AI and grow smarter during these turbulent times. Now is the time more important than ever for the players in the QSR space to foray into this quintennial technology to improve customer experience and save on costs. How AI will enhance the restaurant experience for guests Digital technologies are undeniably streamlining everything from ordering to inventory, simplifying work for people at every level of the operation. These technologies—especially those powered by AI, will cause massive implications for every aspect of the business, most notably for the workers and consumers. Restaurants and food joints can boost sales and delight customers by implementing AI technology. Quick service restaurants have always been open to new technologies and experimented with them. However, with the latest innovations, the industry will likely move away from legacy tactics like asking whether you want fries with your order to complex algorithms knowing that knows you do. These new tech trends can play a crucial role in aligning critical business operations. Let’s see how these recent tech trends can play a pivotal role in aligning essential business operations. Here are some existing and emerging examples. #1 Voice Ordering 27% of the global online population currently use the voice search feature, and nearly 40 percent prefer voice search over their smartphones when searching for nearby restaurants. With voice assistants growing in popularity, the tasks they can help users accomplish using voice-enabled ordering with Amazon Echo (Alexa) or Google Home APIs are reaching far and wide. Customers have been using virtual assistants to search for restaurants for quite some time. But, voice ordering via smart devices is a new technology gaining popularity where guests can order on the go, for example, while they are still reaching their destination. This technology has become more far-ranging, not just from the customer-facing front. Voice ordering could also be implemented at self-service kiosks or drive-throughs, allowing guests to place orders conversationally—maintaining a necessary social distance, a great safety measure in the pandemic age. Voice assistant technology could take a customer’s voice order and enter it in your PoS as with ordering via any other ordering channel you offer. Moreover, because it’s AI-driven, the voice
Blogs

Delivering return on imagination for travel and hospitality

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Seize the space with intelligent engagement The last year-and-a-half has upended the world of travel even more than it has other industries. The very nature of travel has changed – business travel has been replaced by virtual meetings and vacations by workcations. Customers are, more than ever, expecting a seamless, personalized experience throughout the journey with a spotlight on safety. Outside of pandemic-induced changes to the industry, millennials are driving demand for sustainable travel. Various functions such as loyalty management, pricing, and operations are being impacted by the changing environment and customer demands. These aspects demand a change in the way travel and hospitality companies function and manage their business. Many of these business changes will require underlying technology systems to be re-designed functionally and re-architected technologically. With strategic plans driven by leaders top down, many are wondering how to implement those and even how to plan them. They need a new form of transformation without increasing costs and making the best use of lean workforce and agile models.   Our approach Our approach to transformation is grounded in a view of both the company and the customers simultaneously giving a better Return on Imagination. We believe that companies need a fusion of strategy and consulting, experience and engineering-led with a product operating model to enable true digital transformation.   We believe that how you seize the space between now and tomorrow is everything. We come with fresh ideas backed with years of experience working with travel and hospitality enterprises that make the whole difference. We make Return on Imagination a core philosophy to evolving innovation.   With many years of helping companies through their digital transformation, we learned that a company that continuously invests in reinventing its operating model with as much enthusiasm as reimagining its customer journeys and experiences will survive the long haul. We are here to give you this opportunity to seize your space by implementing 6 imperatives for your business.   Read our IMAGINATION IN ACTION  
Intelligent traveler engagement driving customer delight
Blogs

Intelligent traveler engagement driving customer delight

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While every industry talks about customer experience, the travel industry is unique because the product that a travel company sells is an experience. For an airline, the seat is a product; for a hotel, the room is a product; yet the true product that a traveler buys is the experience – experience of a flight, experience of a stay and so on.

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