For hotels, staying competitive will require them to connect their booking engines, applications, and websites more closely to the overall guest experience. New technologies like AI and VR will revamp the "wow factor" for hotel guests.

FREMONT, CA: From the way hotel brands are innovating today, it can be already observed where the industry is headed. With more operators optimizing their booking engines, appliances, and digital platforms, each user is getting benefitted through more customized guest experiences. By leveraging guests’ mobile devices for more self-service, convenience, and comfort, hotels can be much more advanced and proactive in preparing for their guests’ digital expectations.

The Gap between Hotel Technology and Consumer Expectation:

Consumers want to know what is in the immediate vicinity of the hotel—places to eat, possible activities, and how they can earn rewards through their stays. They want to obtain the best airline, hotel, or rental car package and gain the most points during their stay. And they want rich and fast-loading content and a seamless path to purchase.

Caution While Taking an Approach to Travel Technology:

Hotels and other brands tend to take a “middle of the road” approach to travel technology. The procedure is changing among hotel brands as guests themselves develop new and rising expectations for digital experience.

Hotel guests do not care as much whether a booking platform has the right name. But they are concerned about the optimization approached of the platform for their mobile device. That is why customers download mobile applications, which cater specifically to new digital expectations. Unless hotels become more innovate and proactive with guest technology, they will all lack the decisive edge to slingshot their business in the sector.

Bridging the Gap between Hotel Technology and Consumer Expectation:

Some operators provide a great example of using technology to bridge the gap between guest experience at the hotel and user experience on mobile. From the hotel’s social media “command center” customer engagement in real-time can be monitored.

Hotels and the Future of Travel and Loyalty:

Ultimately, customer expectations for hotel and travel technology are the same across the board. Each of the expectations wants hotels to make their life more comfortable and less stressful while they are traveling. Customers expect personalization and “next-generation” booking capabilities that indicate their familiarity with e-commerce trends. Contemporary mobile users are caring less about basic information and more about efficient, fast-loading content and great experiences, both online and offline.