The hotel technology landscape, like that of many industries, has changed dramatically in recent years, and for many franchise companies, it represents the most obvious opportunity for differentiation and enhanced guest satisfaction.
Cloud-based property management systems, text messaging platforms, and artificial intelligence were just a few of the key trends identified by a host of brand C-level executives who discussed some of their latest technology initiatives with LODGING.
Below are some highlights of what several leading franchise companies (listed in alphabetical order) have been doing recently from a technology standpoint.
BWH Hotels demonstrated its commitment to sustainability by announcing a collaboration with
Tesla to bring electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to properties throughout North America, as well as plans to expand internationally. At the start of this year, BWH began installing Universal Wall Connectors at selected hotels. The recently launched charging stations are designed to seamlessly charge any North American vehicle model.
According to BWH, travelers will be able to filter hotel results on the company’s website to those that include Tesla electric charging stations (in addition to properties with existing EV charging stations) ahead of booking travel to the property.
Choice Hotels International earlier this year closed its last data center, completing the five-year migration of its entire system infrastructure to the cloud. Now fully on Amazon Web Services, Choice can update its hotel-facing operations and management tools more efficiently and more completely layer in the power of artificial intelligence and other cloud technologies to help hotel owners drive profitability and enhance the guest experience, according to the company.
The migration involved decommissioning more than 3,700 servers with over 300 applications retired and more than 250 applications migrated. It concludes a five-year process and represents a significant milestone in Choice’s continued legacy of technology innovation, according to Brian Kirkland, chief information officer, Choice Hotels.
“It’s the entry point for where we want to be and where we want to go. It’s a prerequisite to do all of the modernization and transformation things that we want to do. So, there’s a lot of capability now that we can take advantage of in the cloud. We can spend less time on migrating and more time on modernizing,” he said.
Kirkland went on to provide some specific examples of the benefits.
“We’re seeing, for example, the volume of traffic go up on our websites, but the cost doesn’t go up at the same scale. That’s because we’re moving to better processing chips, we’re moving to [Amazon’s] spot instances, and we’re moving to the technologies that drive those costs down. So even though we’re seeing volume and demand increasing—and integration expanding significantly with partnerships and platforms—we’re managing that in a cloud environment and in a cost-effective way. We’re not seeing that cost overrun that other companies have seen,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Choice recently signed an agreement with Oracle Hospitality to extend its AI-powered merchandising solution Oracle Nor1 to the company’s portfolio of upscale hotels to help them capitalize on incremental revenue opportunities. With applied AI built into the system, each hotel can present targeted offers via its mobile app or digital marketing channels to have the highest probability of conversion, according to the company.
Choice Hotels’ Radisson Americas brands have used Nor1 eStandby Upgrade for years to provide additional pre-arrival upsell opportunities based on attributes such as room views and floor level, food and beverage preferences, parking, and myriad other products and services guests value.
“We are constantly looking to make sure we’re on top of the latest modern technology that our partners provide, and leveraging Oracle’s cloud is important to us,” said Kirkland.
As further proof of its commitment to technology, Choice recently kicked off Mastery 2024, its ninth annual week-long tech innovation summit where more than 500 company technologists come together at Choice’s Scottsdale, Arizona offices to learn and drive innovation through a series of gamified trainings and workshops.
Hilton, for its part, is planning to expand its mobile messaging platform to its more than 7,000 Hilton properties worldwide by the end of 2024. The system—developed in partnership with Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Kipsu—enables messaging via the Hilton Honors app, SMS, WhatsApp, and other messaging channels. The digital messaging capability makes possible a two-way, immediate exchange between guests and hotel teams to answer questions, address concerns, arrange experiences, and more, according to Hilton. The company further added that in 2023, 3,618 Hilton properties using Kipsu facilitated over 10.5 million conversations with nearly 70 million messages, leading to 70 percent of guests who used messaging indicating that it improved the overall satisfaction of their stay experience.
Michael Leidinger, SVP and chief information officer, Hilton, reinforced the company’s commitment to mobile messaging.
“We really have decided to double down. It is all about being able to communicate with our customers, meeting them where they are and in the channel of their choice. More and more often, our customers want to leverage messaging,” he said, adding, “it’s all about how we’re able to expand that and support the need to drive frictionless travel experiences.”
Leidinger noted the company’s mobile messaging deployment has reached roughly 5,000 properties already. He also emphasized the importance of partnering with a third-party company such as Kipsu as opposed to trying to build its own platform internally.
“That has really allowed us to accelerate the deployment,” he said, further adding that the guest messaging system is designed to take a large burden off hotel team members, enabling them to focus on the “deeper, more meaningful interactions with customers.”
Another area of deep focus for Hilton has been the rollout of a cloud-based hotel Property Engagement Platform (PEP). The new PMS was co-developed by Hilton and HotelKey and is “very flexible and very scalable,” according to Leidinger. The platform’s ability to speed computer-based transactions at the front desk is helping to reduce guest wait times and increasing the amount of time hotel team members can dedicate to providing personalized service, according to Hilton.
Leidinger noted that the PEP has been deployed at more than 3,500 hotels, and the company expects to have it in all its properties globally by the end of 2026. He noted that because the new system is cloud-based, it will integrate with the company’s new messaging platform, as well as other technology offerings.
“It’s all part and parcel of delivering that property solution that allows guests to communicate with the hotel and allows the hotel to service that guest on property during their stay,” said Leidinger.
IHG Hotels & Resorts remains focused on its IHG One Rewards mobile app, which was launched in 2022. In early April, the company announced an expanded partnership with Google Cloud AI designed to fuel new customer experiences. Slated to launch at the end of 2024, the new feature will be a GenAI-powered travel planning capability that can help guests plan their next vacation directly in the app, according to Jolie Fleming, IHG’s chief product & technology officer.
“We are constantly working to improve the app and add new features,” she noted.
Fleming further noted of the expanded offerings, “Our goal is to provide guests with access to features that help them dream, book, stay, and manage their loyalty, reinforcing our commitment to enhancing their overall experience.”
In addition, the company has leveraged the power of AI in a handful of other ways, according to Fleming.
“We’ve embraced AI to redefine hospitality and elevate guest experiences. From automation to content generation, AI plays a pivotal role in streamlining operations and enhancing guest interactions,” she said, further adding, “we are seeing the power of AI in assisting our people too. We’re leveraging AI so that employees can be more efficient and devoted to the service of guests.”
Fleming specifically touted products such as its AI-powered Digital Concierge, IHG Voice for call automation, and its proprietary ChatGPT tool known as Juno, which, Fleming noted, “showcases our commitment to innovation in internal operations.”
IHG has also expanded its partnership with Salesforce to enhance its CRM platform. Fleming noted its standardized CRM “will ultimately help us drive guest loyalty, unlock efficiencies, deeper personalization, and foster innovation.”
Fleming also touted the value of guest-facing technology products such as digital check in, digital check out, and guest text messaging via Kipsu.
Finally, the company in April launched Apple AirPlay at 60 of its hotels, allowing guests to connect and stream while in their rooms.
Fleming underscored the company’s overall commitment to technology. “One of our top priorities is making sure guests have a booking and stay experience that is customized to their individual travel needs, as we anticipate the rapid advancement of technology in various industries.”
Sonesta International Hotels Corporation has been progressing on three specific technology projects as part of its One Sonesta initiative, which was introduced in 2022 following its acquisition of Red Lion Hotels & Resorts. Sonesta went from 200-plus hotels to some 1,200 properties and needed to consolidate and enhance several of its technology platforms.
One of these three projects has been the development of a new CRM (customer relationship management) system aimed at helping improve the guest experience, according to Jeff Knowlton, chief information officer, Sonesta.
“We partnered with PwC to build an industry-leading CRM with a Salesforce backend so we can really get our guest data in front of our employees,” he said.
In addition, a new website combining Sonesta.com and Redlion.com went live in March and now provides consumers with one booking engine. The company also incorporated Red Lion’s Hello Rewards loyalty program into its TravelPass rewards program.
Knowlton added the company will still be “adding a ton of different features and functionality” to those three initiatives “throughout the rest of this year.”
He further stressed the importance of disseminating data. “One of the big things that we’re focusing on is how do we get all this data we have from a CRM perspective in front of our employees,” he said, specifically in reference to guest-facing technology solutions for areas such as the website and loyalty programs.
Finally, Knowlton emphasized the importance of broadband, pointing out that the company is in the process of replacing and upgrading WiFi at 170 of its hotels over the next 18 months.
“It takes a lot to get streaming within hotels and to make sure we have the right bandwidth from a TV perspective. If we can keep it simple and just make sure we have great WiFi and great TV content with streaming, then that’s half the battle with our guests,” he concluded.
