The hospitality industry has been the backbone of any tourism-dominated country, and it has been one of those industries that have been labor-intensive. However, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the hospitality industry completely. Many hotels had to let go of their staff or severely cut the salaries of their employees to keep the business running. As a result of this, even smaller establishments are embracing technology to better tap prospective customers and generate higher revenue and margins from those customers while also maintaining excellent relationships with existing and returning customers.

For hotels, having a website acts as a value-adding and the first point of digital contact with prospective clients. They can check out amenities, room layout, reviews, and tariffs and book rooms directly through the website. This allows hotels to increase transparency in their tariffs and have better control over the client experience. Also, for any hotel, it is important that they are able to integrate their CRM with their website, as that gives them an exact idea about the availability of a particular room at the time of booking. Similarly, some fancy restaurants only allow for a sure occupancy and are known to be booked throughout the year. They often take appointments exclusively through websites nowadays, as this allows restaurants to be better equipped for the number of guests they are expecting on a particular day. Also, it also allows everyone a fair chance of getting a booking at their dream restaurant.

As Walt Disney wisely said, "People spend money when and where they feel good." The whole hospitality industry works on the premise that they are here to make the customer feel good. This starts with the customer's journey when they start searching for a hotel to stay in or a restaurant to eat in. Websites are optimized to rank higher in search engines, and some are even resorting to cross-search engine advertising because search engines are the first place people look for hotels, restaurants, cafes, and so on. As Smartphone penetration has increased in the market, so has social media usage. Restaurants, hotels, cafes, and bakeries have recognized this and are making extensive use of social media. Beautiful images of dishes, cakes, ambiance, facilities, and any other fun videos that encourage engagement are shared. All this encourages people to follow the business, and people remember the establishment when visiting there.

So a little investment in social media leads to astronomical results for the establishment. These establishments are also leveraging the power of social media to answer questions from people; thus making sure that people feel that they are being heard - which in turn further boosts the reputation of the establishment in people’s eyes.

New-age consumers are the ones who generally check everything online through their handheld devices. Having a mobile app thus gives a competitive advantage over everyone who is not investing in it. Generally, all hotels are registered with one hotel aggregator or another. That means they end up paying commission to them, which could be avoided or completely done away with in the long run if your hotel has its own mobile app. Customers can book rooms, check tariffs, and get discounts and other offers directly from the app. Another use case is online ordering. Ordering food from a Smartphone has become significantly easier. This has led to an increase in cloud kitchens. These cloud kitchens employ a lot of people throughout the value chain and contribute to the economy. None of this would have been possible without mobile apps.

Hotels, restaurants, cafes, etc. have realized the importance of having a desktop solution that helps keep track of rooms’ availability, monitor inventory, monitor budget, check client history and even payroll management. They are resorting to getting custom solutions built for them, which they can scale in the future and have various privacy safeguards that a white box solution could never match. This software is further integrated into their website or mobile app, which allows them to automate the process of booking rooms as per availability.

Fancy hotels across the globe have already implemented smart keys for doors. With some going even further and using Smartphone-activated doors (initially, it was developed as a response to the pandemic), and the general customer reaction to this change was generally positive; hence it stayed. This avoids the issue of hotel keys being lost in addition to providing a high level of security for the room occupant. Smart devices which leverage the power of WiFi are also being integrated into hotel rooms as a single app can be used to control all these appliances;, thus adding further convenience to guests of the hotel.

The hospitality industry has embraced technology to improve the lives of its staff, customers, and other stakeholders. As technology continues to evolve, so shall the industry to further improve customer experience and assist staff across different domains.

• Website design and development.
• Mobile app design and development.
• Digital marketing services include SEO.
• Desktop app design and development.
• Smart devices setup as per the establishment’s policy