Throughout the years, technology has become more widely used, to the point where industries must implement them to their fullest potential to ensure success. Whilst technology is continually evolving to cater for us as everyday consumers, we must equally evolve with the ever-changing technologies as an industry. This will ensure a smoother and easier experience for our consumers; not to mention the fact that a lack of technological advancement within organisations will lead to us becoming increasingly less relevant. At this time, technology cannot be part of our USP, it must become and remain an intrinsic part of our business model. As an industry, we must ensure that we are at the forefront of these technological changes.
We can see the exponential growth in the use of technology in the past few decades, particularly through its increased use by generation Y and Z compared to earlier generations. With practically everything being done right at our fingertips with a mere tap or click, it is clear to see that these digital natives are becoming increasingly more demanding in terms of desiring more implementation of technology within the products and services they consume. This demand seems to grow at an exponential rate as the years go by, something that we can note from the evolution of the iPhone, for instance. Both the design and interface have changed tremendously since its birth, and the majority of consumers will not accept anything less.
The question for us, however, is: how can we successfully implement technology into our respective establishments? How can we possibly know what consumers want in this sense?
In our evolving world, becoming ever more technologically advanced as time passes, more technologically focused roles such as the data scientist become essential. We must realise this information and utilise it. Perhaps we could look at merging the role of the hospitality professional and the data scientist into one, thus resulting in multi-functional roles within establishments. Perhaps this will not be possible for everybody; nonetheless I still believe that all hospitality professionals must have knowledge and skills beyond that of their actual job description. Moreover, people with differing skills and knowledge working together will certainly greatly benefit organisations due to the valuable insight they can offer.
Moreover, the utilisation of technology will allow organisations to better understand and cater to their current and prospective consumers through a variety of innovations. For instance, sensors will show us how consumers are feeling throughout their experience. In analysing this data, we can assess the positives and negatives of our offerings so that we can tailor the experience accordingly. Another example is the use of AI to create chatbots which can effectively respond to consumers in a timely manner. By shifting this responsibility onto AI, employees will also have more free time which they can use to innovate their offerings even further.
Nowadays, it is not just about the experience and qualifications that one has that matters. Rather, it is the ability to think outside the box and do things differently that sets one apart. Thus, it is imperative that we begin to understand and embrace the use of various technologies within the hospitality and tourism industry, and the advantages we can garner from them as organisations, if we are to stand out and prosper.
