Insta-perfect moments and personalized experiences are now the buzzwords in the travel industry. Over the last few years, travelling has become an increasingly “seamless” experience. Just as hospitality gurus aced these expectations, COVID-19 hit the travel industry. 2020’s most unprecedented event changed the way business was done. Although “seamless” has managed to stick around in the playbook, “contactless” is the new cool.
The hospitality industry has begun its shift toward contactless technology solutions. However, this development was slow-paced. Premium properties around the world have offered privileges like digital room keys for quite some time now. But COVID-19 has accelerated this trend by creating new demand. Hoteliers are now looking for ways to minimize the spread of infection while maintaining a utopian customer experience. Contactless technology checks in at this converging point.
The Rise of Remote Services:
Online check-in and check-out are the newest addition to hospitality’s growing needs in the post-pandemic times. These features form an important part of the contact-free guest experience. By ensuring your guests and staff are safe, hoteliers can lead by example. Moreover, by allowing guests to enter their details before their arrival helps to save time. No one likes to wait in the line at the front-desk after they have landed from a long flight. It also minimizes exposure to physical touchpoints. Also, when it comes to check-out, instead of waiting to drop off the key, guests can just leave the property with a simple tap on their smartphone – it’s that simple.
To further reduce guest-to-guest contact and ensure a risk-free environment for its staff, properties are now providing as many ‘remote services’ as possible. Tables are generously spaced in dining rooms to follow social distancing norms. Most hotels are even promoting in-room dining and entertainment options. Customized packages like video games and movie night are a great way to personalize the stay and upsell complementary services.
The Future of Contactless Transactions
The hotel industry has primarily been focused on human service. But as trends are changing, guest behavior is also evolving. Hence, it is no surprise that contactless guest experience is here to stay. Hospitality experts and statistics prove that the future of payments is contactless. According to Air Transport IT Insights, 74% of airlines are offering mobile touchless payment options for all airline services – from booking to arrival. Moreover consumer brands like Apple and Google have also invested in digital wallets to their mobile products. Travellers across the world have already begun to embrace digital payment solutions such as Google Pay and Apple Pay to simplify their payment process. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated this trend urging more hoteliers to adapt their behaviour and adoption technology.
Touchless Solution offered by Hotelogix
Keeping up with the present day situation, Hotelogix is investing in innovative ways to deliver a hands-free experience to guests. Hotelogix has integrated with Xperium to allow guests to check-out from the comfort of their rooms. Guests can use their own personal devices to clear dues and complete the room check-out process without stopping at the front desk. Hoteliers have gained a positive reputation by helping guests jump busy check-out queues.
The Contactless Check-Out process is extremely user-friendly. On the day of departure, guests receive an email from the hotel to initiate the Contactless Check-Out process. Hotels also have the option to customize their mails from the Xperium Console. Once the guests reach their dashboard (on Xperium), they simply have to click on Self Check-Out. This start the check-out Process without any hassle. A screen with a detailed breakdown of the outstanding charges and bills appears next. Once the guest has settled their dues online using Hotelogix’s integrated contactless payment services, they are free to select the check-out option. Both the front desk staff and guests are notified via email once the check-out is successfully completed.
‘Contactless Check-Out’ works completely in sync with Hotelogix PMS. This new feature also ensures that changes in room and housekeeping status are updated on the front desk dashboard instantly. Hotelogix’s Contactless Check-Out enables hotels to adhere to their strict check-out policies. With an option to configure the time window (from the Xperium Console), you can allow check-out ‘only during fixed hours’. To ensure a smooth end-to-end check-out experience, Hotelogix has a number of payment gateways pre-integrated.
The main objective for most hotels in the post-COVID is revival. To get ahead of the game, hoteliers need to start learning and adopting technological solutions. Investing in hospitality tech not only streamlines operational tasks but also helps to deliver an enhanced guest experience. When compared to the traditional way of “doing things”, adopting technology has its benefits – both from a budgeting as well as impact standpoint.
