Technology in the Hospitality Industry - Essay Example

Technology in the Hospitality Industry By Author’s Name Name of Class Name of School City/State 28th November 2016 Technology in the Hospitality Industry Introduction Historically, hotels have been slow in the adoption of technology because it was viewed to add costs to the already low-profit margins. Over the past few years, they have been a steady increase in the number hotels that are adopting new technologies so that they can increase their competitiveness. This transition has seen most hotels shift from the cash register to automated ordering systems and online reservation systems. Small and upcoming hotels that assess customer’s preferences before adopting any technology are likely to do well than those who do not evaluate the customer’s needs. According to Piccoli et al. (2001), competitive advantage that is brought by technology requires a lot of commitment from the entire organisation because it needs continuous upgrading. They further add that hotels should conduct a proper evaluation of competitors, internal and external factors and consumers because when they combine it with technology, they will get many opportunities that will enable them to improve the quality of the service offered and customer satisfaction. Information technology is important to organisations because it helps them to manage their information and to make the right investment decisions. Balancing Consumer Needs and Technology Some hotels are adopting new technology without considering customer’s expectations and needs and it does not lead to substantial gains. According to Kotler et al. (1999), consumers always go through five stages before making a decision to purchase a product whether they conduct the purchase online or offline. In order for the hotel managers to adopt the right technologies, they must consider the five stages in consumer decision. The stages are consumer need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision as well as post-purchase behaviour. These stages should be evaluated before adopting any technology in the hospitality industry so that managers can be able to balance it with the services they offer as described below. Consumer need recognition. Hotel managers should understand that customers of different age, nationality, educational background and gender have different search patterns (Hallab and Gursoy, 2006). Hotels should ensure that they have Wi-Fi connections in their rooms because this is a must have for most young people and business persons. Search engines, for example, Google search engine, which is one of the best search engines helps the consumers to get the information that they need. In the tourism industry, for example, technology can be used to examine the tourists’ movement and to carry out marketing research. For instance, Lau and McKercher (2006) used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to keep track of tourist’s movements in the various destination. GIS helps tourism marketers to better understand the consumer’s behaviour and enables them to come up with strategies that aim at improving consumer’s experience. The mobile technologies enable the managers to offer location based services and to keep a constant interaction with the tourists. Hotels should offer digital conference facilities so that they can attract consumers who are going to a conference. Hotel operators should ensure that they invest in digital apps such as room service and check-ins that personalise the guest's experience. Information search. By understanding the consumer’s behaviour and their information search behaviour, the hotel managers can be able to develop, improve their search engines as well as customise their websites so that they can meet their customer’s needs and expectations. According to Zins (2007), the internet is an important source where consumers get information. Managers should ensure that they use the internet to attract most young people and the educated consumers who prefer the internet. However, they should consider the mature and some senior travellers who still prefer to use printed brochures to get information about hotels and other services (Lin, 2005). According to Lee, Soutar, and Daly (2007), most travellers prefer to use the internet together with offline sources of information when planning a trip. This, therefore, means that the managers should not solely rely on the internet but they should make offline sources available. Evaluation of alternatives. Most consumers use the internet to evaluate different alternatives available in the market. In the hotel industry, for example, they compare and contrast opportunities offered by the different hotel and travel agencies. According to Buhalis and O’Connor (2005), potential travellers use Meta Search Engines such as Kelkoo to identify and evaluate different offerings according to their preferences and requirements. This, therefore, shows that travel agencies in the tourism sector should meet the consumers’ preferences and requirements before using these search engines because failure to do so will make the consumers choose their competitor's product. Since most consumers prefer the information content to vary across various levels in the Destination Marketing Organisations (DMO) websites, the managers should ensure that they offer different types of information. This is important because consumer’s needs and behaviours are likely to change at different stages of travel. Hotels can also be able to deliver services at the hotels more easily by use of robots and infrared sensors. Robots not only make hotels staff’s work easier but they also offer guests a good experience. Infrared sensors help in minimising housekeeping disruptions by detecting body heat within a room. This will make the cleaning staff detect when the room is occupied thus minimising disruptions. Consumer’s purchase decision. Many customers buy various products through websites, their views about the website’s image and usability affects their decision to buy directly (Chiang and Jang, 2006). It is, therefore, important to consider the customer’s perception when coming up with a website because this will ensure its success (Bai, Hu and Jang, 2006). Hotel managers should consider the nationality of potential customers because it affects their preferences (Chan and Law, 2006). A study carried out by Lu and Feng in 2006 showed that Chinese domestic tourists use front desk service, the size of the room and housekeeping services to determine the standards of a hotel. Other studies showed that experienced Chinese internet users focused on online security and electronic word of mouth when making online reservations instead of relying on hotel branding (Kim, Ma, and Kim, 2006). Some customers for example business travellers will opt to go to hotels that offer e-commerce and other IT applications that will suit their needs even if they will have to pay extra costs for these services (Yeh, Leong, Blecher and Hu, 2005). Hotel managers should critically evaluate customer’s online behaviours so that they can offer services that give them a competitive advantage over their competitors. Hotels should adopt the use of smart room keys, which enables the guests to open their room doors by simply swiping their phones. Other hotels adopt the use of fingerprint activated room systems and iris scan system. These methods reduce the time guests could have wasted picking the room keys at the front desk. Consumer’s post-purchase behaviour. Travellers and other consumers in the hospitality industry always share their experiences after they go back to their homes. There are various digital review sites that enable consumers to express their feelings and to even rate their experiences, for example, TripAdvisor (Thevenot, 2007). Bad experiences shared by consumers will create a poor reputation for the hotel or other products. This, therefore, means that the managers in this industry should ensure that they offer the best experiences because many potential consumers use these online sites (Buhalis and Kaldis, 2008). The hotel should ensure that their guests get all the entertainment that they need through their phones, as this will improve their experience. Consumers use various social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to express their feelings and experiences. Managers should closely monitor what consumers say about their brands online because this will greatly influence the reader’s perception of a product or a destination. They should modify the products they offer using the customer’s specifications and keep a constant interaction with them on social media platforms. Conclusion As described above, adoption of technology in the hospitality industry without considering customers’ perception and expectation does not lead to substantial gains. Hotel managers should critically evaluate the five stages that consumers take when purchasing a product or choosing a hotel. They should offer online reservation systems as well as front desk services and housekeeping services because consumers, for example, those of Chinese origin may prefer front desk services to online services. They should evaluate consumer’s post-purchase behaviour, which they express on social media platforms such as Facebook and other review sites such as TripAdvisor. Managers should ensure that they offer the best services and products using technologies that are in line with customer’s preferences and expectations. References Bai, B., Hu, C., & Jang, S. (2006). Examining E-Relationship Marketing Features on Hotel Websites. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing Buhalis, D. & Kaldis, K. (2008). eEnabled Internet Distribution for Small and Medium Sized Hotels: The Case of Athens, Tourism Recreation Research. Buhalis, D., & O’Connor, P. 2005. Information Communication Technology Revolutionizing Tourism. Tourism Recreation Research. Chan, S., & Law, R. (2006). Automatic Website Evaluations: The Case of Hotels in Hong Kong. Information Technology & Tourism. Chiang, C., & Jang, S. C. 2006. The Effects of Perceived Price and Brand Image on Value and Purchase Intention: Leisure Travelers’ Attitudes toward Online Hotel Booking. Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing. Hallab, Z., & Gursoy, D. 2006. U.S. Travelers’ Healthy-Living Attitudes’ Impacts on their Travel Information Environment. Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing. Han, Y., Hu, C., Bai, B., & Jang, S. 2005. Marketing Hospitality and Tourism Education on the Internet: An Analysis of e-Relationship Marketing Features. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education. Hu, C., Han, Y., Jang, S., & Bai, B. 2005. e-Relational Characteristics on Hospitality and Tourism Program Web Sites. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research. Kim, W. G., Ma, X., & Kim, D. J. 2006. Determinants of Chinese Hotel Customers’ e- Satisfaction and Purchase Intentions. Tourism Management. Kotler, P., Bowen, J., & Makens, J. 1999. Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Prentice Hall Lau, G., & Mckercher, B. 2006. Understanding Tourist Movement Patterns in a Destination: A GIS Approach. Tourism & Hospitality Research. Lee, J., Soutar, G., & Daly, T. 2007. Tourists’ Search for Different Types of Information: A Cross-National Study. Information Technology & Tourism. Lin, L. 2005. Internet as a Distribution Channel of Travel Information: A Case Study. Consortium Journal of Hospitality & Tourism. Lu, Z., & Feng, Z. 2006. Post-Purchase Evaluation of China’s Star-Rated Hotel Service Quality: A Content Analysis of Guest Reviews on Third Party Hotel Booking Websites. China Tourism Research. Piccoli, G., Spalding, B. R., & Ives, B. 2001. The customer-service life cycle: A framework for improving customer service through information. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly. Thevenot, G. 2007. Blogging as a Social Media. Tourism and Hospitality Research. Yeh, R., Leong, J. K., Blecher, L., & Hu, W. 2005. Analysis of e-Commerce and Information Technology Applications in Hotels: Business Travelers’ Perceptions. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research. Zins, A. H. 2007. Exploring Travel Information Search Behavior beyond Common Frontiers. Information Technology & Tourism. Read More

In the tourism industry, for example, technology can be used to examine the tourists’ movement and to carry out marketing research. For instance, Lau and McKercher (2006) used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to keep track of tourist’s movements in the various destination. GIS helps tourism marketers to better understand the consumer’s behaviour and enables them to come up with strategies that aim at improving consumer’s experience. The mobile technologies enable the managers to offer location based services and to keep a constant interaction with the tourists.

Hotels should offer digital conference facilities so that they can attract consumers who are going to a conference. Hotel operators should ensure that they invest in digital apps such as room service and check-ins that personalise the guest's experience. Information search. By understanding the consumer’s behaviour and their information search behaviour, the hotel managers can be able to develop, improve their search engines as well as customise their websites so that they can meet their customer’s needs and expectations.

According to Zins (2007), the internet is an important source where consumers get information. Managers should ensure that they use the internet to attract most young people and the educated consumers who prefer the internet. However, they should consider the mature and some senior travellers who still prefer to use printed brochures to get information about hotels and other services (Lin, 2005). According to Lee, Soutar, and Daly (2007), most travellers prefer to use the internet together with offline sources of information when planning a trip.

This, therefore, means that the managers should not solely rely on the internet but they should make offline sources available. Evaluation of alternatives. Most consumers use the internet to evaluate different alternatives available in the market. In the hotel industry, for example, they compare and contrast opportunities offered by the different hotel and travel agencies. According to Buhalis and O’Connor (2005), potential travellers use Meta Search Engines such as Kelkoo to identify and evaluate different offerings according to their preferences and requirements.

This, therefore, shows that travel agencies in the tourism sector should meet the consumers’ preferences and requirements before using these search engines because failure to do so will make the consumers choose their competitor's product. Since most consumers prefer the information content to vary across various levels in the Destination Marketing Organisations (DMO) websites, the managers should ensure that they offer different types of information. This is important because consumer’s needs and behaviours are likely to change at different stages of travel.

Hotels can also be able to deliver services at the hotels more easily by use of robots and infrared sensors. Robots not only make hotels staff’s work easier but they also offer guests a good experience. Infrared sensors help in minimising housekeeping disruptions by detecting body heat within a room. This will make the cleaning staff detect when the room is occupied thus minimising disruptions. Consumer’s purchase decision. Many customers buy various products through websites, their views about the website’s image and usability affects their decision to buy directly (Chiang and Jang, 2006).

It is, therefore, important to consider the customer’s perception when coming up with a website because this will ensure its success (Bai, Hu and Jang, 2006). Hotel managers should consider the nationality of potential customers because it affects their preferences (Chan and Law, 2006). A study carried out by Lu and Feng in 2006 showed that Chinese domestic tourists use front desk service, the size of the room and housekeeping services to determine the standards of a hotel. Other studies showed that experienced Chinese internet users focused on online security and electronic word of mouth when making online reservations instead of relying on hotel branding (Kim, Ma, and Kim, 2006).

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