When we look at the subject of the hotel industry of the future, we inevitably ask the question of the customer experience. In recent years, with the emergence of Airbnb and all the other platforms for renting and booking accommodation between individuals, hotels are trying to transform themselves to resist this resoundingly successful competition. The goal is to regain attractiveness, seduction, and modern discourse, especially with the younger generations. To satisfy the changing demand, all professionals agree on the themes to be considered: design, welcome, services, offer, and personalization… In short, a new experience must be designed by rethinking the value proposition.
How to improve the visitor’s experience?
Tourism is a sector that is expected to grow globally in the coming years and is whetting appetites. DNA reports on the collaboration between Marriott, Samsung, and Legrand in the design of a hyper-connected hotel room. The brand wants to transform the room into a destination and multiply services. For more interactive “destinations” than ever, Cityzeum mentions a multitude of technological developments: digital concierge, robot butler or waiter, walls covered with touch-sensitive tablets, a television in the mirrors…
Will robots and digital technology replace humans – or is it even desirable?
Conversely, other professionals are advocating for a space of almost total disconnection. In Le Monde, Cyril Aouizerate, a philosopher and co-designer of the trendy Mama Shelter brand, calls for an ecological and friendly hotel of the future: large common areas to encourage encounters, yoga classes and bike loans, organic bathroom products, furniture made from recycled materials, and a cuisine centered on local products…
A friendly and human welcome for events
Event organizers are looking for and proposing venues with services that integrate new technologies, but what clients want and retain in the end is above all the conviviality and the human welcome that they have found there. In Switzerland, this human, friendly and authentic hotel business already exists, and it is even its best asset. It is therefore likely that Swiss professionals will not abandon it in favor of the digital world.
In any case, the solutions that will last can only be co-developed. It is from a constructive dialogue between customers, hoteliers, suppliers, and specialists in new technologies that the real innovations that will transform the hotel in the long term will be born. As already mentioned, the main goal is to improve the well-being of those who stay there.