Travel & tourism is a $1.2 trillion industry with incredible growth possibilities. Much of this growth will happen thanks to tech and, in particular, mobile applications.
In this article, we are going to go through all of the possible integrations tech and tourism can have. Biggest hotel chains worldwide have already created their apps: Hyatt, Mariott, Hilton, and others have already digitized their business. What is your hotel waiting for, then?
Let’s begin this article by talking which business processes can be enhanced with an app in the hospitality business:
- Guest communication;
- Guest community management;
- Reviews & pain points tracking;
- Guest services order;
- Door locking (with the help of NFC modules);
- Staff communication;
- Booking management;
- Housekeeping & logistics.
Let’s get through the main points more detailed.
Guest communication
First of all, we all need to assume that the primary success indicator in the hospitality business is the guest’s happiness (except for the owner’s revenue, of course). An excellent way to increase it is to talk to your customers! But what if there are hundreds of visitors and only one receptionist?
A chatbot is a solution! Integrate it into the app we can build for you. What can chatbots do? Well, you can make it answer a list of frequently asked questions, such as:
- When does the breakfast begin?
- How do I get to the city center?
- How do I connect to another room?
- What is the room service menu?
- When is the check-out time?
- And many, many others.
If a chatbot is not of any help to your customer, it can redirect the question into an online communication system that is connected to your reception desk.
What is more, after your guest has checked out, you may ask for a review through the chatbot you already created!
Guest services order
An app that you build for your hotel can help with this problem, too. For sure you’ve heard an incredible number of complaints from your receptionists that have to accomplish several tasks at the same time. They need to check-in your guests, answer phone inquiries, sometimes they even have to serve breakfast! At the same time, they need to help your guests with room service or other additional services booking available at your property.
With an app, it will incredibly easy for your guests to order the services they need. What is more, the booking will directly advance to the people who are in charge of this service, whether it is a restaurant or a SPA center in your hotel.
Door locking
Traditional Magstripe locks do not look fancy any more! These also need to be continuously updated and repaired, making the maintenance costs much higher. This is where the mobile-based door lock comes in.
What are the advantages of such a solution, except for the loweri maintenance costs? Well, you will not need to replace the key if it is lost or stolen — it resides on your customer’s phone! Your staff will not need to spend their time on hotel card management. This also means that they finally will be able to focus on luxury services for your customers.
It is also possible to integrate parking and elevator access into your hotel’s app.
One crucial point about the smartphone-based door locks is that your customers’ smartphones have to be enabled with a PIN or a fingerprint security element.
Staff communication, logistics, and housekeeping
We decided to unify these points into one because they all are connected to the part of your hotel that is not visible to your guests. So yes, the app you build for your hotel with Messapps can integrate team chats and housekeeping schedules. We will solve this problem by creating a second part of the app, which will only be available to you and your employees.
If your hotel serves breakfasts, or there is a working restaurant, you will have to deal with food logistics, and that is also where an app can help! Messapps can integrate grocery lists and delivery times into the “employee-only” part of your digital ecosystem.
Booking management
Finally, a tremendously important part of your hospitality business is the booking process. Your guests regularly book rooms through different booking platforms; however, some of the bookings can happen on your website. Your hotel management app can include booking possibility for your guests, as well as a booking management suite for your team.
Messapps can create an app that will be linked with most popular booking platforms, and all bookings will fall into the app used by both you and your team. These will also be sent over to your corporate inbox. You will also have the possibility to modify, change, or delete bookings directly from the app.
Conclusion
Overall, it seems that technology will continue to improve the guest experience at most hotels and hostels. An incredible number of different digital tools are already available for the property owners. However, creating a unified app for most of the needs your guests and your team might have is the path to simplifying a lot of business processes, and thus maximizing your revenues!
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