Automation and innovation seem to be the future of the hospitality industry. As hotels inch towards normalcy after the novel coronavirus ravaged the hospitality industry worldwide, experts believe that contactless interaction and social distancing are the new normal. 

To discuss the ever increasing role of technology in the post covid19 world, the renowned technological professionals from the hospitality sector gathered to deliberate and share insightful ideas and thoughts around the integration of technology in hospitality on the fourteenth panel session of BW Hotelier Indian Hospitality Awards 2020. 

Titled ‘IT In The Post Covid Era’, the panel session was moderated by Harish Chandra, CTO, Sarovar Hotels. Joining the panel were Ashish Kale, Senior Director of IT Operations APEC (Asia Pacific Excluding China) Marriott International; Vinay Deshpande, Senior Vice President and Head of Digital & IT, IHCL Mumbai; Nilesh Patel, Head of IT, Accor Hotels India & South Asia; Hemant Khattar, Director Information Technology, South Asia Radisson Hotel Group. 

Opening the session, moderator Harish Chandra said: “The IT leaders have assembled today to highlight the best practices being adopted and the ways and means to assure the travelers and guests and to win the sentiments of the customers to remain in business.”

On what technological oriented steps have hotels taken to ensure the safety of the guests and staff, Vinay Deshpande said: “There are several measures being taken and some that I can quickly highlight is that there are mandatory temperature checks and smart sustainable solutions have been employed for cleanliness and hygiene. In a more technological aspect, I and my team have created to address such specific concerns as a digital intervention tool called I- Zest.”

Speaking of I-Zest created by IHCL and comparing it to other technological solutions available, Vinay said, “Many solutions are available in the market, many of which are untested solutions which are expensive so we decided to approve of a building in–house mechanism with the help of a startup which helped us fill the gap and that’s how we architected the solution. There is a seamless transformation of information between our transaction system and the digital layer that we built and I think that is the key to our success.”

Enumerating the use of the IT solution generated by IHCL, Vinay said that the hotel has created a completely digital and contactless system wherein the guest can complete all the check- in, check -out and other payment formalities contactless. 

When asked about the efforts and initiatives undertaken by Marriott, Ashish Kale said, “While monitoring the situation in China, we quickly anticipated the wave of this problem. One of the first steps we undertook was to approach the vendors for rebates. We did so because we wanted to contain costs and save people’s jobs. Another initiative we took was to approach the internet bandwidth providers to reduce the amount of bandwidth as that makes up for a significant amount of cost for the hotel when put together.”

Speaking of the Bonvoy Application which the Marriott group had instituted a year and half back, Ashiah said, “We had created an app through which the guests could check in and check out from the room. 50 percent of our hotels are using this contactless technology today which is really seamless and can use a mobile key to conduct the procedures. They can even chat with the associates and operators downstairs, and can get room service so it’s really a blessing in disguise.”

“I would say our focus for the next 6 to 8 months is to really get all our hotels in the Asia Pacific basically keyless entry ready”, he added. 

Underlining the steps that Radisson undertook, Hemant Khattar noted, “To enable the work from home culture, we rolled out data secure networks. We also launnched an online delivery module for which we contacted apps like Easy Diner which already have a lot of base with respect to databases and technology. Other than that we also evaluated and created QR based menus, contactless payment mechanisms”. 

Emphasising on the need for the availability of historical databases, Khattar said, “We need to have some kind of data to analyze which rooms are sold more, which rooms are sold frequently, etc.”

Moderator Harish Chandra remarked that the role of information officer is changing now that there are so many innovations are happening in this regard. 

Highlighting the measures taken at Accor, Nilesh Patel said, “Customers trust us in incorporating the top level safety and standards. So, we have enhanced our safety and hygiene measures by launching a safety level program worldwide. This consists of 16 riding principle commitments, 35 actionable guidelines and 200 SOPs. So the first thing about the contactless hospitality industry is the need to embrace technology and automation.” 

Speaking about the changing costs and price points, Nilesha remarked, “Thanks to our partners who have been kind to give discounts but today’s scenario on how much discount and rebates totally lies with us.” 

Speaking on similar lines about incurring costs, Vinay noted, “ While one may have great plans, we must keep in mind the cost, especially in these times is all the more important and that’s something we must follow wherein we evaluate each of the different angle and how much cost and ROI when we choose and implement.” 

Agreeing with Vinay Deshpande, Hemant Khattar said, “These kinds of new technologies are good but they come with a price and during this time at the time of the pandemic, the cash flows are very controlled. There are companies who have utilized their already spent capex on facial recognition systems by using their existing camera and software.” 

Nilesh Patel too had a similar opinion regarding the costs involved in incorporating new technology. He said, “At this point even if we invest in technology, it should be a short term contract so that the vendor doesn’t have to send you an expensive equipment.”