The use of digital signage in the hotel industry has exploded in the past decade. Hoteliers have used it to modernize their facilities and to save time and money updating information that changes on a frequent basis.
Hotel digital signage 1.0, if you will, has primarily been used for functional purposes:
- Wayfinding / daily events – Daily printed readerboards have been replaced by digital screens which can easily be updated through a content management system or data driven from the property management system. Larger hotels have implemented interactive touchscreen “wayfinders” to help guests navigate the property.
- Meeting room signage – Similar to large readerboards, small digital screens outside each meeting room post the event details.
While plenty of digital signage is still being installed to inform guests about the hotel and its daily activities, increasingly, digital is being used to elevate the experience – what I’ll call hotel digital signage 2.0.
Here are some of the latest strategies:
Attract: Sometimes it’s hard to stand out among the crowd, so some hotels have taken it to the next level.
- Incorporating digital outlines in the guitar-shaped building, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla., has created “The Guitar Hotel Light Show.”
- Resorts World Las Vegas has an LED façade that covers 100,000 square feet of the building’s exterior, showing both static and moving images, promoting events and providing ambient entertainment.
“Wow factor” lobby:
The Damac Paramount Hotel in Dubai has a lobby guests won’t soon forget. Los Angeles-based designers StandardVision installed a multiscreen immersive experience in the hotel’s lobby, depicting various ambient scenes, from ocean waves to cityscapes to floating gears.
Entertainment/attraction:
- Perhaps taking a cue from the popular immersive Van Gogh exhibitions, the Lumen Hotel in Lisbon has created a projection-mapping attraction called “Light of Lisbon” for its outdoor patio, using the building’s architecture as the canvas.
- The 50-foot LED globe in Resorts World Las Vegas is both an attraction and an advertising platform.
Art:
- Why be content with one painting when you can have rotating artwork digitally? There are offerings from companies such as Niio, which will stream art and NFTs to any screen.
- The LINQ Hotel in Las Vegas features data-driven art by world-renowned digital artist Refik Anadol.
Advertising: Venue owners in desirable locations with high foot traffic have realized that their building can be monetized with digital out-of-home.
- The Moxy and AC Hotels (two hotels under one roof) recently unveiling a 15,000 square-foot LED spectacular for advertising. The hotel is in a prime location across from the Los Angeles Convention Center and Crypto.com Arena.
- The Pendry West Hollywood uses LED ribbons as part of the architecture as well as a large screen on one end for promotion and advertising.
- Some hotels are adding electric vehicle charging stations to their premises and companies like Volta have built screens into these stations to reach captive audiences.
Meeting rooms: Small digital signs outside meeting rooms are common in hotels who have a strong meetings business. The next evolution could be using LED screens – which are dropping in price and increasing in resolution – inside meeting rooms as a permanent installation. The Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa in Victoria, British Columbia, has installed a 63-feet (19.2m) wide by 9 feet (2.7m) tall direct-view LED video wall in its main ballroom, which is sure to be a selling feature to event planners. Read the case study.
Virtual concierge: With staff shortages, hotels can provide virtual concierge services through a tablet or touchscreen. Next-level: Using artificial intelligence and voice recognition, technology companies are developing life-like avatars that can interact with guests and answer questions from a sophisticated knowledge database.
Employee communications / dashboard: Corkboards and static signage in back-of-house spaces can be replaced with dynamic content and messages to staff, including dashboards displaying the number of rooms booked, housekeeping status, upcoming banquet orders, etc.
Of course, restaurants and spas are using digital menu boards and even self-serve kiosks in high-traffic or unattended locations. READ MORE: The Evolution of Digital Signage in Bars and Restaurants
Attend Digital Signage Experience, Nov. 17-19 in Las Vegas
The top event to learn about the latest in digital signage is Digital Signage Experience (DSE), taking place Nov. 17-19 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. There’s also a digital signage installation tour planned for Nov. 16, the day before the trade show, to the following venues:
- Fremont Street Experience (LED canopy)
- Circa Resort (world's largest sportsbook)
- The LINQ Hotel + Experience (Refik Anadol installation)
- Resorts World (LED facade and giant sphere)
During the show, there are several sessions aimed at helping hotel owners and operators use digital signage to elevate the experience, such as:
- DSE 2022 Opening Keynote with Refik Anadol, New Media Artist, Director and Pioneer in the Aesthetics of Data Machine Intelligence
- DV-LEDs: What You Need to Know
- First Impressions: How to Transform Lobbies into Experiences
- Come Fly With Me: Travel Industry Leaders Respond to the Pandemic by Investing in the Future
To learn more about the DSE show, visit DigitalSignageExperience.com.
To obtain a free exhibit hall pass or 20% off any conference pass, use the code HOTELM20.
David Drain is the Digital Signage Experience director of event programs at Questex. He has been involved in the digital signage industry since 2007 when he co-founded the Digital Signage Association.