The hospitality industry has undergone radical transformations over the years. Initially, a ‘hotel’ implied a simple bed and board facility for weary travelers. Today, it could mean an uber-expensive, sprawling multi-million dollar property or someone renting out their apartment on Airbnb and anything in between. Hospitality has now come to possess diversified facets and hoteliers are looking to personalize the guest experience as much as possible.
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This has, obviously, been a direct influence of the technological revolution that has been changing the hospitality landscape at an accelerated rate, especially in the past decade. Technology has played a crucial role in shaping hotel and resort experiences the way we’ve come to know them today. In fact, changing consumer preferences and technological changes feed into each other and push new changes on both fronts.
Along with the sheer variety in the kind of hotels that one can stay at, one of the biggest harbingers of change in the way hotels are operated is software. It could be a simple Point of Sale software used at the restaurant, and accounting or invoicing software used at the reception, or an all-in-one property management system/hotel management software.
Hotels have started to realize that no matter what their size is, they will lose customers if they don’t get with the program. Customers want to be pampered, and modern technology allows hoteliers to do so readily.
A cloud-based hotel software is a game changer for any hotel, irrespective of size. As your hotel adopts a cloud-based HMS, you will be able to scale effortlessly and get real-time updates on several aspects of your hotel, from wherever you are.
The efficiency of all the processes and the productivity of your staff will increase exponentially once everything gets automated. Some properties might prefer an on-premise hotel management software, but with the cloud-based version, you don’t have to worry about security, server maintenance, and least of all rising overhead costs.
How the Hotel Industry has been Changed?
Here’s the lowdown on managing a hotel the conventional way (sans hotel software) and the modern way, using a property/hotel management system:
1. Track Training Effortlessly in Any and All Departments
Training is a vital aspect for staff in any department of a hotel. As hospitality is a service-oriented industry, staff requires specialized training. A hotel software makes it easier to track training in different departments.
2. Better Housekeeping with Mobile-Ready Hotel Management
Your housekeeping staff can know exactly which rooms are occupied, which ones need cleaning, and which ones can be made available immediately. And this information is reflected/shared with relevant departments so there is no need for paperwork or even a phone call from the front desk to notify that a room is ready.
3. Automated Bookings to help you focus on what’s really important
Your staff no longer has to make a note of individual booking. Most guests prefer booking from the hotel website or travel websites. So any bookings that you get automatically show up on your system. The entire process of booking is simplified on both ends.
4. Your Restaurant/Bar functions more smoothly with an integrated POS feature
If your property has either one of these, a hotel management system with a restaurant POS (Point of Sale) feature will boost its operations. Taking and/or placing orders, along with invoicing and payments are made simpler and faster. The restaurant staff can instead focus on delivering the best guest/diner experience possible.
5. Maintaining Customer Relations is now easier than ever
The CRM feature of a hotel software (if integrated) will store all the relevant guest details. The hotel can send them relevant emails and SMSes regarding promotions, special events, and offers. Personalized birthday and anniversary messages will help the customer know that they are an appreciated patron of your establishment.
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