Evolving Technologies to Drive Competitive Advatage in Hotel Industry

Evolving Technologies To Drive Competitive Advantage in Hospitality Industry In today's fast paced competitive and cut-throat marketplace where no other quote would be more apt than 'Survival of the fittest', tour & travel companies, travel agents, hotel distribution companies, hotel chains, airport transfer and car hire companies are grappling with how to bring convergence between their brick and mortar and the emerging technologies that are multiplying and growing as if they are coming from an assembly / production line. The debate over "high-tech" or "high-touch" is largely a thing of the past in the hospitality industry as emerging technologies drive unprecedented change in the way hotels operate and serve customers. It is clear that investments in technologies can generate greatly improved operating efficiencies, higher hotel revenues and enhanced guest services. The pace of change, however, has been so extreme as to leave many hotel organizations uncertain about what types of technology to adopt and the best ways to create a seamless integration of systems company-wide. Today the technology life cycle provides a model to assess how and when companies and individuals adopt new technologies. Pioneers are generally the first to acquire new technologies and take the greatest risk. A second category of technology users -- leaders -- adopt relatively unproven technologies, but the risks are known and accepted. Obsolete technology at the other end of the spectrum may seriously impair a company's ability to compete. In terms of costs and benefits, the best balance appears to be with the leaders who invest significantly less than pioneers and incur reduced risks, yet their technology investments can yield similar benefits. Finding a balance in technology investment is critical today for hotel operations, as it helps to fulfill the desire of operators to improve the guest experience and also gives a potential to improve