AUSTIN, Texas — Oracle Hospitality and Skift’s recent research study, Hospitality in 2025: Automated, Intelligent…and More Personal, examines new consumer expectations driving change across the hotel industry. The study surveyed 5,266 consumers and 633 hotel executives across the world in the spring of 2022. Overall, the research showed that travellers want high-tech, low-touch hotel stays.

The study revealed the following findings:

Travellers are desiring contactless and self-service technology

  • 73 per cent agree that they’re more likely to stay at a hotel that offers self-service technology to minimize contact with staff and other guests; 38 per cent want a fully self-service model, with staff only available upon request
  • 92 per cent of travellers don’t miss being around other people while staying on a hotel property
  • 39 per cent want to order room service from their phone or a chatbot
  • 49 per cent are also looking for contactless payments (only five per cent want to pay in crypto)
  • 68 per cent of travellers are looking to personalize their journey even more by picking their exact room, floor and amenities, as well as pre-screening properties in the metaverse
  • Nearly 40 per cent of hotel executives see this unbundled model as the future of hotel revenue management

Technology helps combat labour shortages

  • 65 per cent of hoteliers said incorporating new technologies for staff best describes their strategy to weather labour shortages and attract talent
  • 96 per cent are investing in contactless technology, with 62 per cent noting a fully contactless experience is likely to be the most widely-adopted tech in the next three years
  • 54 per cent added their highest priority is to adopt tech that improves or eliminates the need for the front-desk experience between now and 2025

Travellers are looking for a home-away-from-home experience

  • 45 per cent said on-demand entertainment access that seamlessly connects to their personal streaming or gaming accounts is their number-1 must-have during their stay. Likewise, 45 per cent of hotel executives said in-room entertainment is likely to be implemented by 2025
  • 77 per cent of travellers are interested in using automated messaging or chatbots for customer-service requests
  • 43 per cent of travellers want voice-activated controls for all amenities in their rooms (lights, curtains, door locks, et cetera)
  • 25 per cent want room controls that auto-adjust temperature, lighting and even digital art

“The pandemic has established technology’s role in the guest and associate journey, and the industry is never going back,” says Alex Alt, senior vice-president and general manager, Oracle Hospitality. “Whether a hotel organization has two properties or 2,000, guests are looking for the highly digital, self-service experience they have come to expect in other parts of their lives, from banking to ordering food. For hoteliers to meet these demands, especially with constrained property staffing, they need systems that will enable them to quickly adapt, ‘plug in’ new services, and better and more efficiently serve a diverse group of travellers.”

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