No algorithm can replace empathy

AI is there to help create the best possible experience for the guest, was the message from today’s webinar hosted by HOSPA and supported by Agilysys: Beyond Revpar: How AI Is Reshaping Guest-Centric Revenue Models.

Duncan Osborn, senior business development management, EMEA, Agilysys reassured attendees, who might have grown up watching the Terminator movies, that: “AI isn't a frightening prospect. It's not a beast that we need to control or anything like that. It's not going to take over our world.”

Instead, he said: “AI is not there to replace people. Hospitality is at heart is a people business and it always will be.” What AI could do, he said, was take on repetitive administrative work and allow employees to spend more time interacting with guests.

“What AI gives you is the the ability to have those answers quickly, ensure our teams have precise information at fingertips,” he said. This could mean a receptionist knowing immediately that a returning guest had dinner booked, a massage scheduled and a golf tee time and being able to discuss those arrangements during check-in and how, for example, changes to the weather forecast might change those plans.

Osborn said: “The best hospitality organisations that will benefit the most aren't necessarily those who you know automate the most tasks, it’s those who are really using AI to to amplify their people. No algorithms can replace empathy and workflows can replace authentic hospitality.”

Duncan Cameron, founder, Wynter Hospitality, took a similarly pragmatic view, calling on hotels to only consider AI once they had identified a business need. He said: “You have to start with what's the problem and what are you trying to solve, and then let's work out how AI can can help you.”

One of the biggest opportunities he identified was understanding the guest more comprehensively.

Traditional hotel systems contain valuable information about previous stays, restaurant spending, preferences and activities, but that information could remain fragmented across different systems.

Cameron described an example where the hotel had introduced a simple pre-arrival web form to collect information about guests, including logistics and marketing preferences. The information was then fed into the PMS and combined with existing guest-profile data to create a much richer picture of the individual guest.

He said: “When somebody checked in, we could have that conversation: ‘Welcome back. Oh, you're a vegan. We've got some really great vegan dishes in the restaurant tonight. You haven't booked’. We know they haven't booked. ‘So can I book you in there? We've got a table at 8 o’clock'.

“It helping the teams make better decisions. It's helping spotting opportunities for either missed revenue or opportunities for additional revenue coming up. It's helping staff and managing staff. It's helping staff make decisions better and it's helping managers use their staffing capacities better.”

Osborn concluded: “AI is there to simplify your role, whether you're a GM, whether you're a receptionist, whether you're financial director, AI is there to remove a lot of that mundane work that takes you away from guest interaction.

“It gives you the chance to really understand your guests properly. The answer to that's not found in automation. The answer to that is found in giving you the ability to have the best knowledge you can have about the guests.”