The first of its kind, The Hospitality Show is a bold new event for the entire hospitality ecosystem with one shared goal: operating hotels efficiently and profitably. Brought to you by The American Hotel & Lodging Association and Hotel Management, the event will bring together top industry leaders, senior executives of hotel brands, owners, operators, management companies and procurement specialists—and their teams—to discover, network and drive profitability.
Business accelerates when the right people are in the room, and this new weekly series of speaker interviews goes 1:1 with the industry’s best and brightest as they build the inaugural event to be held June 27-29, 2023 at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas.
In this installment, we catch up with The Hospitality Show Speaker Matt Koch, chief customer officer at Allbridge.
What issues are currently causing headaches for the industry?
Koch: We’ve entered a new, tech-driven chapter in the hospitality industry, which marks an exciting new era in which hoteliers are integrating technologies inspired by the same conveniences found in private homes. The industry knows that incorporating smart devices, home assistants, TV, and streaming packages, elevates guest experiences.
But with this growth come headaches, especially for property developers who must manage multiple PropTech vendors during the design and building phases of their property.
Properties typically rely on more than 30 different tech systems and vendors, complicating an already complex process. Consolidating this array down to fewer providers can reap rewards for a hotel’s PropTech structure. Doing so will provide new-found interoperability, speedier troubleshooting, and issue resolution, simplified support services, and more consistent guest experiences. It’s paramount that hoteliers follow a PropTech strategy that can deliver a strong infrastructure and the best tech to meet the needs of today’s guests.
What new trends do you see affecting the hospitality industry the most in 2023?
Koch: Having a strategy for managing IoT is no longer a “nice to have.”
Driven by the ubiquity of home smart devices and home-sharing platforms, like Airbnb and VRBO, hoteliers are finding that guests are seeking the comforts of home during their stays. Providing in-room smart devices or home assistants can help guests move comfortably through their daily activities.
For our customers and prospects, tech amenities are among their highest priorities–particularly due to the rise in contactless technology necessitated by the pandemic, and the increasing integration of smart devices in our daily lives.
Their guests not only expect these amenities to be present throughout their travel experiences but also seek convenience through solutions like mobile concierge messaging. Overall, they expect ease of movement throughout the property–aided by mobile check-in/check-out and keyless entry.
Integrating these contactless connection points throughout a hotel not only streamlines guests' experiences on-site but also increases peace of mind for COVID-weary travelers and employees alike.
What do you see as the biggest opportunity for the industry as we make our way through 2023?
Koch: There are several opportunities the industry is capitalizing on this year.
It begins with TV programming, which has proven to be an incredibly resilient feature for hoteliers. Despite the rapid rise of streaming services, US households still watch an average of three hours of TV per day. As such, when they are hotel guests, they expect to have access to prime TV packages so to remain competitive, hotels must continue to offer robust TV programming to entertain customers.
Despite its popularity, TV alone won’t cut it. With each household subscribing to an average of 4.7 streaming services, hoteliers plan to offer both TV and streaming because 73 percent confirmed that guests consider streaming options to be important. To support this, we recently announced a strategic partnership with DSI to broaden our footprint for DIRECTV installations in the hospitality market.
Another opportunity is to ensure the network infrastructure meets the needs of today's guests. Travel and property managers rank Wi-Fi higher on their priority lists than amenities such as entertainment options or in-room dining service. Most plan to upgrade their network in 2023 to remain competitive.
Share one key takeaway Show attendees can expect to gain from your session.
Koch: No offense meant to the great team at the Venetian but during my session on Thursday, June 29 at 1pm PDT for my session Hospitality Culture Drives Profit, where I’ll share news of our newest customer with Las Vegas’s newest, most complex, and most transformational property. Attend my session and tune-in to learn more.