Use of Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning in the Hospitality Industry

From developing hyper-personalized guest experiences to determining unrecognized revenue opportunities for the greater good, AI empowers innovation and growth. It does this by filtering information and deducing patterns into deeper actionable insights.

According to technology Thought Leaders, today’s innovative technologies, such as, artificial intelligence, robotics, mobility, etc. unleash revenue generation potential for hotels. This is being accomplished, in part, by allowing them to focus more intently on giving their patrons the best ever guest experience possible. This, in turn, is diligently designed to create a repetitive business. Nowadays, it is mainstream to see automated check-in counters at hotels which allows the front-desk employee to focus more on other important tasks. Hotel chains are also using mobile apps for check-in kiosks, offering guests everything from making reservations for lunch/dinner to a quick scan of local activities and amenities without leaving the room rendering an amazing in-room experience. These features are predominantly catalysts to delighting the Millennial customer base.

A big part of the opportunity for marketers is how AI will help us fully realize personalization—and relevance—at scale. With platforms like Google and YouTube reaching millions of people everyday, digital ad platforms can, finally, achieve communication at scale. This scale, combined with customization possible through AI, means we’ll soon be able to tailor suggestions and campaigns to a consumer’s intent in that particular moment. We’re imminent to a point where campaigns and customer interactions can be made more relevant which will be end-to-end—from planning to creative messaging to media targeting to the guest experience and much more. We will also be able to take into account all the signals we have at the customer level, so we can consider not only things like a consumer’s color and tone preferences, but also purchase history and contextual relevance. And all of this will be optimized on-the-go, in real time.

All hotels of the current and the future generations need a connected platform which is constantly acquiring, contextualizing, processing and analyzing customer data on the go, and turning it into actionable and predictive insights for generating a superior guest engagement and experience. Such a process (AI) will enable hotels to leverage all the data (inside hotels) coming from across the front to back offices.

Role of Machine Learning in Hotels

The Revenue Management principles remain the same regardless of underlying software which is utilized in the hospitality industry. Nevertheless, a tangible quality shift started in the hospitality industry as machine learning and data science-based techniques were introduced in revenue management software. The machine learning entails training and building statistical models using data inputs to classify input items or forecast the output and continuous values. Normally, there are two commonly used types of machine learning implementation: supervised and unsupervised learning. The former requires a historic data-set with labeled output values to base predictions on the new data. The latter uses unlabeled data to find a connection between different attributes.

Personalized recommendations powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies can improve the experience of business travelers at every stage of their travel journey. These features are especially fortunate in the hotel space, which is plagued by non-compliant bookings! It is pivotal to erect a transparent communication channel between your services and the guests which can be tracked seamlessly for customers to use it later. As a hotelier you may not wish to get deep into technology, but having an understanding of the futuristic technologies like AI and ML will definitely make you the king of the ring!

Few hotels utilizing AI and ML in their rooms

1. Hyatt Hotels:

One of the most futuristic hotels in the world is undoubtedly Hyatt! They began using Facebook Messenger in November 2015 to answer guests’ queries, let them make reservations and check availability, uses its customer relations staff to help guests on the platform. Hyatt told in a seminar, “creating and deploying a Facebook Messenger bot is something that we will explore in the future.” Hyatt is an early adopter of a new form of customer service for hotels: using Facebook Messenger to connect with guests, because in today’s world, the key to being relevant is engaging with consumers on the platforms they are using (which is mostly social media)!

Hyatt was highly interested and partnered with Conversocial, a Facebook marketing partner, to test the app as a new customer service channel. With Hyatt, for example, people can make reservations using the app, or they can simply engage in a live chat with the Hyatt team to ask free-form questions, like whether there is availability around particular holidays or about any ongoing offers including hotel’s amenities. Long-story-short, the bot installed on Facebook Messenger assisted Hyatt to boost their sales, hotel bookings, and solving customer query.

2. Radisson:

Artificial Intelligence services are now available at Edwardian Hotels-owned Radisson Blu where the guests can request the services of an AI-enabled voice assistant by a simple voice-query. The bot can report on hotel amenities, give directions and tips, and even receive guest complaints in a matter of seconds. This AI-backed assistant is designed to deliver exceptional experiences to the guests who prefer a digital brand interaction. Another property of Radisson owned hotels have partnered with Trilyo, AI Hotel technology partner, to activate their rooms with voice assistants.This activation was easy and cost effective because no hardware installations were required. This rendered an amazing in-room experience for the guests via hyper-personalized recommendations and provided varied services ranging from ordering room service to calling the concierge for booking a table in the restaurant.

3. Henn Na Hotel Tokyo:

The Henn Na Hotel commonly known to the people as the ‘Weird Hotel’, Tokyo’s Henn Na Hotel is highly depend (In a positive way) on robotics which also includes AI and Machine Learning. With androids and dinosaur-like robots the hotel check guests in at the front desk without any hassle. These robots are capable of basic conversations in Japanese or English. There’s also a miniature robotic personal assistant in each room which provides local entertainment and drinking recommendations. Apart from these, the hotel’s facial recognition system unlocks your room door instantly & the ‘Radiant Panel’ air conditioning system can easily adjust the entire room-temperature according to your body heat!

4. Eccleston Square Hotel London

The hotel is housed within an historic 19th-century Georgian building, the in-room features of this luxury boutique hotel in London are decidedly 21st century. Standout ‘tech-treats’ include bathroom mirrors that conceal flat screen TVs, fully adjustable massage beds, and Smart Glass shower walls that magically morph from frosted to transparent with the single press of a button. They are being able to remotely control the lights and music player via touch-sensitive keypads. The guests also receive a personal iPad that enables them to make various requests rendering an out of the world in-room experience from ordering room service to booking hotel beauty treatments.

5. The Hotel Silken Puerta América:

The Hotel Silken Puerta America outclass all architecture standards. Each and every 12 floors in the rainbow-colored tower has been carefully designed by nineteen top-notch architects from across the globe. In an unprecedented endeavor, each floor showcases an individual architect’s vision. The world class concepts are materialized in designs in such a way that the white caves and red lacquered walls looks ethereal! Five flexible spaces on the ground floor offer 1000-person capacity for meetings and events. The hotel offers 315 guest rooms for their exclusive guests.