3 Things That I Learned at HTNG North America 2016
I recently attended the HTNG (Hotel Technology Next Generation) North America Conference at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort—side note for conference organizers --great place to hold your next conference. For the uninitiated, HTNG is a global trade association dedicated to enhancing the deployment of technology in hotels. The conference was full of inspiring speakers especially Henry Harteveldt, who spoke about The Three I's Impacting Hospitality Technology, what guest expectations are and the brands that are setting the bar for innovation. The conference also offered an opportunity to sit in and be part of work groups that are shaping best practices and standards across various themes like door lock security, above property systems, and countless other topics. A big reason for Proxce joining HTNG was that it allows a small company like us to have a voice at the table to help shape the next generation of hospitality.
I was able to immerse myself in understanding the successes and challenges facing Hospitality IT professional on a day-to-day basis. I like to break things down into more bite size bits to better understand how I can make an impact on the industry. Here are three thoughts that came out of the conference for me:
· Security is a big concern—more specifically—guest data and payment data security. No one wants to be the next headline on the New York Times for a data breach. There was a lot of scrutiny over bridging the physical and the digital together and how we can protect our brands but more importantly our guests.
· IT is having an opportunity to shine within their respective hotel groups. More and more brands are looking towards digital experiences to round out their product offering. This could range from mobile check-in and keyless entry to robots that deliver items from housekeeping or the front desk. IT has gone beyond keeping the PMS up and running and has become an integral part of the hotel front end and backend experience. IT is overlapping all departments within the organization and showing significant impact on the bottom line in many different ways.
· Innovation has come to the hospitality industry. One of the conversations I had with a senior IT professional was around how the hospitality industry is behind other industries as it pertains to technological advancements. I have had the opportunity to work in many different industries and would say that it is not that the hospitality industry is behind, but that mobile technologies are now available for hotel groups to take advantage of to bridge the gap between the digital and the physical. There are a lot of really smart startups that are looking at the industry from different lenses and helping to solve some real issues that have been facing the hospitality industry for some time. Technology is also moving faster and no industry is set up to keep up with the lightning fast pace. This is an opportunity to partner with these innovative companies that are bringing real solutions that solve problems to your guests. From mobile phones to wearables to virtual reality—the way guests interact with brands is changing at a pace we are trying to all keep up with.
To sum up the conference, the hospitality industry has an opportunity to take the guest experience to that next level and immerse itself in the mobile revolution. Guests are looking to blend the digital with the physical and be in control just as the way they are in social media settings. Small technology companies are popping up and helping to solve some of the day-to-day challenges we are facing. My recommendation after hearing from thought leaders in the industry is that it is time to embrace these smaller companies with innovative ideas and spend time and resources to explore the Hotel of Tomorrow.
written by Christopher Munz, SVP of Sales and Marketing, Proxce