The Lasting Tech Trends That Fad-Averse Hoteliers Are Pursuing Now
Photo Caption: Check-in kiosks at a CitizenM hotel in London's Shoreditch neighborhood. Source: CitizenM.
Skift Take
It's never been easy for hoteliers to decide which tech investments to make. The pandemic has tightened budgets and workforces, making the choices even tougher.
If you've ever stayed in a hotel whose guest rooms still had iPod docking stations, you have an intuitive grasp of why hotel executives are nervous about investing in guest-facing technology. Some technologies are faddish, and it isn't easy to know which ones will deliver a high return on investment.
"How many of us remember years ago — long before the pandemic — when NCR sold us self-check-in kiosks for something like $55,000 a unit?" said R.P. (Raman) Rama, president of Sarona Holdings, an investment company that owns 25 hotels worldwide. "The guests hardly used them. With many technologies, it's a matter of timing and changing consumer preferences."
Several industry experts echoed Rama's thoughts last week in Dallas at HITEC, the Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference run by HFTP, the association of Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals.
It's easy to second-guess hotel investment decisions when you don't have to deal with a split-ownershi
