Technological solutions come to the rescue of the hospitality industry
BY AKSHAY NAYAK
By all accounts, technological solutions and digital innovations have always come to the rescue of the hospitality sector which is driven by people.
“With digital innovation playing a large role across the globe in recent times, organisations have been encouraged to fast track their offerings and operations to leverage the power of technology,” says Vinay Deshpande, Senior Vice President and Head of Digital & IT, Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL).
He adds: “As the pandemic brought to the fore the increased focus on safety and hygiene and the need for social distancing measures, organisations have further adapted technological innovations to enhance safety protocols.”
To reinstate consumer confidence in hospitality services, hotel companies have equipped themselves with all the SOPs in place, right from launching global/national safety programmes that are standard across leading brands to harnessing technological aid wherever necessary like digital check-ins to QR-coded food menus.
In order to further strengthen the safety standards, IHCL has developed I-ZEST: IHCL’s Zero-Touch Service Transformation. On the other hand Accor, across its brands and hotels, has implemented ALLSAFE, its cleanliness and prevention label representing some of the most stringent cleaning standards and operational protocols in the world of hospitality.
“The programme developed and vetted by Bureau Veritas is designed to reassure our guests with an all-encompassing set of procedures responding to consumer behaviours and expectations about a safe, seamless experience,” said Nilesh Patel, Director of IT, India & South Asia, Accor. Furthermore, the French hospitality major has made F&B solutions available for the guests through an ordering system; a food menu and other service details that are available on the TV screens of their room, and QR codes for digital menu access on smartphones.
Lemon Tree Hotels too is assuring fool-proof safety to their guests and employees with their Rest Assured safety programme in place. They have adopted digital solutions wherever possible, such as the development and deployment of digital menus, house rules and directories of service.
The homegrown hotel company’s QRestro app allows guests to scan a QR code and access the entire menu of the coffee shop/in-room dining and also pay through the same platform post the consumption of the meals.
Nikhil Sharma, Market Managing Director, Eurasia, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, adds that, at Wyndham, they have introduced a new mobile app that offers a contactless digital solution.
“We are working with our partners to digitise where possible and ensure enhanced hygiene measures are in place utilising Wyndham’s Count on Us programme – a long-term hygiene initiative,” he says.
Similar has been the approach by The Park Hotels. The Park Bangalore, for instance, has ensured technology innovations with renewed protocols including contactless thermal digital screening while guests enter the hotel premises, easy contactless check-in and check-out process.
While front-end technological measures are promising enough, negligence in back-end activities like the flow of contaminated air, water, etc. throughout the hotel building, can pose a potential threat to the guests and the employees.
Hence, for seamless back-end functionality, modification in HVAC systems with new-age tech additions became a necessity.
“The air-filtration system needs to be more effective and robust to improve the overall air quality. This can be achieved by using things like pre-filters, micro-filters, negative ion generators, HEPA filters, MERV filters,” informs veteran hotelier Rattan Keswani. “New modified HVAC designs play a vital role in controlling the contagion spread through the channels/ducts.”
At IHCL, I-ZEST has been developed by implementing an additional digital layer to IHCL’s existing IT systems. “We have simply further enhanced our operational systems and re-architected them to adapt to I-ZEST’s zero-touch digital transformation processes,” says Vinay.
With all the tech-enabled functions in place, what truly remains irreplaceable in the people’s industry is the warmth and human care element.
“In hospitality, nothing can ever replace human interaction. There is a focus on adopting more and better digital solutions for various processes but that is helping in augmenting the personal touch rather than replacing it completely,” concludes Keswani.
