Over the past few years, cloud computing has transformed businesses from across the world, irrespective of their industry. Today, the demand anytime, anywhere access has skyrocketed, and cloud computing is delivering just that — all you need is an internet connection with good bandwidth.
Now, businesses don’t have to burden themselves by storing data in traditional in-house servers; rather, they can opt for a cloud service that would store their data in secured data centres.
Talking about the hospitality industry, cloud computing has done wonders here as well — it has reshaped the structure of the industry. The hospitality industry which was once in control of the rich international chains is now levelled, all because of this sought-after technology.
Not only the big hotel chains but today, even independent and small hotels have strong management tools within their reach. There are several benefits of using the cloud and they have helped several hotels across the world to strengthen up their business — from increasing operational efficiency to lowering the management costs.
Furthermore, cloud-based services are now replacing the old and traditional systems at all levels. Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), Software as a service (SaaS), and platform as a service (PaaS) have all become the first choice of cloud computing services for many hospitality businesses. And they are all charged up with the amazing benefits of cloud computing.
So, let us take a look at some of the major benefits of cloud computing in the hospitality industry and also, clear some doubts over adopting this technology by hotels.
Hoteliers Can Cut Huge Business Costs With Cloud Computing
There are a lot of advantages of cloud-based software and it is the first and foremost thing which you should implement in your hotel business. Why? Because it will help you to bring the cost down by a significant percentage.
By making use of cloud computing, as a hotelier, you pay only for what you demand. It specifies that your upfront costs are kept low as you are only paying for the computing power and cloud storage which your hotel actually needs.
In the hospitality industry, Cloud Computing is a mixture of PaaS, SaaS and IaaS. It operates on the model of Use, Builds, and Migrate.
Additionally, cloud computing can benefit hoteliers by bringing down costs like energy, hardware and operations. The need for hardware overload in your hotel is brought down, because of which your electricity bills are also reduced by a huge margin. Cloud computing in the hospitality industry also shortens the project time resulting in costs cutting and higher productivity. Hence, if you shift your software services to the cloud, your hotel business would witness a significant number of opportunities.
Cloud Computing Leads To Improved & Enhanced Guest Experiences
The two main purposes of an efficient and effective hotel PMS are:
offer the hotel staff the best set of management tools
assist you to ensure the top-notch guest experience
And this is where cloud computing comes into the scenario. An added advantage of cloud computing is that it frees your staff from their otherwise fixed terminals and lets them work independently and even more efficiently.
Being on the cloud also means that hotel check-ins can be done from smartphones or tablets and not only through the hotel front desk. That’s not all, other benefits of moving to the cloud include increased in the speed at which the guests access the products and services, thus only creating seamless hotel experiences for them.
Direct Bookings Are Made Easy With Cloud Computing
There was a time when hotels used to payout huge commissions for bookings to the online as well as offline travel agencies. However, with the increasing inclination towards the use of cloud computing in the hospitality industry, they don’t need to always rely on travel agents all the time.
Hotels can upgrade their hotel website with cloud-powered services such as web booking engine that can be integrated to the hotel PMS. Also, one of the major benefits is the real-time update — it makes the process much smoother and cheaper, and saves a lot of time. Now, hoteliers can focus more on the aspects that would better guest experience and increase the revenue of the property.
Cloud Computing In Hospitality Industry Makes Working Remotely Possible
When you as a hotelier is not present in the property, managing the operations gets a little tougher. However, when you put your hotel process and management on the cloud, it provides you with the flexibility to access it and work on it from any part of the world — all you need is a steady internet connection and a smart device (a laptop, or a computer, or mobile phone or tablet.) Gone are the days when you had to be worried when there is a server downtime and your absence in the property.
Outlook
What we gave you are just a few of the top advantages of cloud-based software and about cloud computing in the hospitality industry.
The cloud computing space is evolving at a rapid pace and with time it’s just going to get bigger and better. When it comes to the benefits of cloud computing in the hospitality industry, the list includes enhanced guest experiences, massive reduction in costs, faster services and their seamless access, software and service security, and more flexibility.
Therefore, if you are a hotelier and if you have still not explored the powers of cloud computing, then it’s high time you consider moving to the cloud.
