For digital transformations, ignore technology

Consider your business case before your pick your technology was one of the key messages from the latest HOSPA webinar: Technology Resilience – Lessons Learnt in Digital Transformation.

Chaired by Ryan Haynes, director, Haynes MarComs and sponsored by Focus Group, the debate considered how to approach true digital transformation while future proofing IT investments.

Haynes opened with a series of statistics; “Fifty-seven per cent of hotels report revenue growth after implementing digital improvements, 82% see improved operational efficiency through transformation, yet only 20% of operators have a dedicated digital transformation budget, and fewer than 10% believe their systems are fully integrated. This fragmentation impacts everything from staff productivity to guest satisfaction.

“Meanwhile, AI adoption in hospitality is projected to grow a staggering 60% annually over the next decade, with potential to drive revenue uplifts of up to 17%, but only if hotels have the right digital foundations in place.”

Alessandra Leoni, head of hospitality, Focus Group, identified three things organisations needed in order to achieve success in digital transformation: the correct strategy, with the correct objectives and the correct people to deploy a solution and deliver it to the teams and guests. “If a new solution doesn't make life easier for the guests or for the teams or for the owners, then it doesn't create value,” she said.

Kevin Edwards, CEO, Hospitality Technology Advisory, said: “It all starts by understanding the business objective, not focusing in on technology.

“All too often, I come across organisations that approach me and say, for example, ‘We’d like to understand how we can leverage AI’. That isn't how it should be done. It should be focused on, what are you trying to do? Are you trying to drive additional revenues? Are you trying to create efficiencies within the operation, or are we looking at how we can improve guest satisfaction? Unless you start with that lens, everything that comes after is almost doomed to fail.

"Digital transformation is not a question for the IT team. It's a question for the business. It’s about having really clear engagement with the actual operation and the business people themselves, understanding what they're doing and understanding how they need to interact with systems.

“Change management and communication are everything when it comes to projects that have a technology strand to them. People are quite resistant to change, and as as an industry, we've had a reliance upon certain systems, where people have used them for so long that their inertia to change is a big deal. Once you get true stakeholder engagement and good communication going, people start to understand the benefits that other technologies can bring to their roles and help them fulfil a greater guest experience.

"All too often you get systems that are designed by people that sit at desks and look at monitors, but no-one considers how housekeepers or waiting staff are going to consume that data. Nobody really looks from the operator’s lens, and until you've got that engagement, you're never really going to  understand how you're going to deliver.”

Gemma Oakenfull, senior strategic account manager, Access Accommodation, agreed with the need for specialist knowledge, adding: “Hotels should look for vendors who offer that really clear understanding of hospitality, in particular accommodation. It's such an intricate part of the industry, so having that knowledge gives you a great starting point.

“It's a customer success plan which enables you to have regular reviews and programme management that you can bring and include third parties in, because a collaborative, proactive support methodology enables long-term problem solving and ultimately drives the success of your hotel stack.

“Teams that aren't siloed in their own products, that can really collaborate with third parties, will help drive the success of any hotel stack.”

When asked about the rise of AI, Edwards replied: “It’s all about having a measured approach. If you rewind back to the dot com boom, everyone jumped onto this bandwagon of the internet and those that did well had really clear objectives of why they were adopting it.

“And it's no different with AI. I boiled it down to three different strands: generative, agentic and analytical. And if you look at the generative, I’m not sure we have really good use cases which are driving opportunity for businesses, whereas, from an agentic point of view, in terms of automating processes, there's some phenomenal opportunity.

“So it shouldn't be all consuming, but it should be integrated.”