In this digital age, can hotels stay on top of technological updates to keep their guests happy? Take those heavy, boxy clunky televisions that are soooooooooooooo 2006! If you check into a room, wouldn't you rather have a modern-day flat screen high definition television?
I read about technology challenges facing the hotel industry on Blizzard Internet Marketing. Read here about tech challenges in the hotel industry.
The article was a summary of The BITAC Tech & Operations 2007 conference which included this excerpt:
The bandwidth debate was especially spirited. Basically, guests are using dramatically more bandwidth to do things like:
Download music and video.
Watch TV (Slingbox was called Evil)
Use VOIP like Skype or Vonage.
Use VPN to conduct business.
Apparently, when a few (or few dozen) guests start doing this all at once, they use up the available bandwidth, slow down the network, and complain with righteous indignation.
What are hotels doing about it?
Trying to prioritize certain usages (like VOIP and VPN)
Upgrade their entire network infrastructure… an expensive proposition
Choose between hiring a housekeeper or buying more bandwidth
Give away a low-level of bandwidth and charge a premium for true high-speed
Pray that high-speed cellular becomes common among travelers
This need to re-tool and meet customer expectations reminds me of a quote I heard the other week regarding trends - it was about trends in the non-profit arena but it will impact for-profit companies, too.
Big companies will get bigger, the small will survive and the middle will get squeezed out.
Here is where the concept of "economies of scale" plays a role.
The cost of upgrading wiring, furniture and etc in a resort or hotel chain must be enormous. However, a small, tiny independent bed and breakfast may be able to absorb the cost. The other advantage is customers may not want a mom-and-pop bed-and-breakfast in the mountains to have the latest digital upgrades and toys.
But the mid-size chains, or an owner of several franchises, may feel a pinch if an investment is made and tourism drops in the foreseeable future.
This scenario reminds me of the road-side motels I saw as a kid, and still do on occasion, where motels have signs outside advertising "Color TV" among their amenities. You wanted to stay away from those places.
So now is it upgrade to the latest digital devices or watch your customer base slowly erode?
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