The saying goes, the only constant in life is change. If you want your hotel to survive, and to grow, not only do you need to keep up with change, but it is imperative that your property remains up-to-date with regards to technology and software. The pace at which technology and business practices are changing is becoming faster as each day goes by. Embracing new technology is no longer a one-time practice, but something properties should be examining on an ongoing and continual basis. However, this investment should pay off with improvements in guest satisfaction, operations, security, and revenue generation for your hotel.
Many hotels struggle with the decision to invest in new technology for their hotel. Cloud-based property management systems and other more recent hotel technology such as mobility sounds intriguing, but the decision to invest in new technology also carries uncertainty and anxiety. There are a few important reasons why investing in new technology for your hotel will pay off in both the short term, as well as in the long term.
Guest Satisfaction – Through the investment in cloud property management software, guests will be able to do more from the devices they are already familiar with. Guests can easily check-in and out, order additional amenities to their room, and have the ability to communicate with the front-desk staff all from their own mobile device via a mobile app. While this may not be something all guests utilize, the growing number of millennials and younger demographics are impacting travel decisions and creating more urgency for hotels to implement modern technology within their properties. However, this can be easily addressed by making the investment in a cloud-based PMS solution that will equip hotel staff with the tools needed to provide a more personalized touch, while providing better guest service that will encourage repeat stays and lead to more positive reviews.
Security – New hotel technology is built to offer protection from the types of data breaches of the past, while both meeting and exceeding the standards of the present. The new cloud property management systems provide a platform with frequent security updates to mitigate these security threats. While no one ever believes that their business will be targeted by an attack, the truth is that it happens more often than people would like to think, and anyone could be at risk for a breach. Investing in new, more secure technology to safeguard payment information and data, delivers a strong return on investment in protecting you from the cost of recovering from a breach.
Efficiency – With technology such as cloud-based hotel management software, you will be able to replace multiple systems with a single, centralized solution. Right now, you might be running your hotel business with an older property management system, spreadsheets, numerous integrations, as well as having to manually print daily reports for housekeepers to try and keep track of what rooms are turning over and which are stay overs, for example. Not only is this extremely confusing for hotel staff, but it is also highly inefficient and creates silos across the business. New hotel technology can allow you to wrap all of those disparate methods into one simple, easy to use system. In addition, upgrading to a more efficient, streamlined hotel management system can enable your hotel to do more without hiring more staff, helping to manage costs overall.
Opportunity – New hotel technology allows you to gain better visibility and control over your inventory. With a better view of your inventory you can easily leverage modern yielding controls, resulting in optimized rates and revenues. With the ability to automate the rate management process, less time is required to manually adjust rates, which provides more time to focus on operating your hotel. By investing in a more modern hotel management software system, the reservation process will be easier to operate for staff, with greater upsell opportunities as well. In addition, distribution and online booking become less time intensive to manage with a more modern, cloud-based hotel management system.
Can your property afford to continue using an outdated and antiquated hotel management system? Take a few minutes and request a demo of our true cloud property management software – you’ll be happy you did!
