Hotel Management Industry – Journey from Basic to Luxury Services
The hotel management industry is a diverse service. It needs to incorporate all the segments of hotel management. These include housekeeping, accounting, catering, hotel administration and marketing. The hotel management industry had started in the 17th century when the American business owners used inns for travelers. However, as time went by the needs of the travelers and guests became complex and varied. The hotel management industry became a lot more expensive since the travelers were willing to pay more in exchange of better facilities and a lot of luxurious services.
Luxury became a thing associated with the hotel management industry. At hotels the guests were treated like royalty. The kind of treatment once associated with the court rooms and exclusive for dignitaries became mainstream. The journey from cheap services to 5 star hotels was completed with the advent of 20th century.
Technology further improved the industry on basis of providing super luxurious facilities. The guests were able to enjoy facilities such as high speed elevators, escalators and the development of the building itself. The improvement in design was made possible with the use of technology. Hotel technology became a separate subject itself. This technology became a new trend in most highly developed countries such as Japan and the western nations. These included the following:
- Contactless Payments
- Hotel Robots
- Chatbots
- Hotel Virtual Reality Tours
- Mobile Check-In
- Voice Searches
- Cyber Security
- Smart Hotels
- Service Automation
- Facial Recognition Technology
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Augmented Reality (AR)
- Guest Apps
- Big Data
Moreover, there is also a lot of opportunity for the IT industry as the hotel management also requires the installation of software. There are a number of software which are deemed necessary for the functioning and management of hotels. Technology has worked like a backbone in the revival of the hotel industry in the post pandemic time. The hotel industry suffered a lot due to the pandemic. But now it is coming back on track.
Conclusion
Hotel industry has flourished a lot since the advent of the industry back in the 17th century. It has come from providing cheap services of basic nature to becoming providers of luxurious services. Treatment of guests like royalty and pampering you like a rock star have become the reason hotel industry is distinguished from the other. The technology has also proven itself as a boon for the industry in terms of salvaging it from the crunch of the pandemic.
