Hotels Can Maintain Traditional Experiences, But Also Modernize By Leveraging App Services
The hospitality industry can integrate digital tools and app-based services without losing the personal, human-centered experiences that guests value. Hotels that find the right balance between technology and traditional hospitality can improve convenience while preserving brand authenticity. Modernization through apps does not have to come at the expense of genuine connection.
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Key takeaways
Hotels can use app services to streamline guest experiences without replacing human interaction.
Digital convenience and traditional hospitality are complementary, not mutually exclusive.
Strategic technology adoption helps hotels stay competitive while maintaining their core identity.
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App services are reshaping the hospitality landscape even as many hotels are slow to adopt it. But ensuring that hotels maintain a human touch while integrating easy-to-use apps into their service offerings is still very much a priority. There is a high demand for seamless guest experiences, but hoteliers have to come to terms with finding the right balance between automation and personalization. Apps can be invaluable, but hotels should be utilizing it in conjunction with in-person services.
Apps can be invaluable, but hotels should be utilizing it in conjunction with in-person services.
How can hotels effectively deliver a superior guest experience without sacrificing the human touch by leveraging app hubs?
During an Experts Talk roundtable discussion about the hospitality industry ahead of AAHOACON 2024, Calvin Tilokee, CEO and creative director of Revpar Media, weighed in with his thoughts about the use of apps and the symbiotic relationship between technology and human interaction in the hotel industry.
Below are a few key takeaways from his perspective:
- The importance of seamlessly incorporating app services, while preserving the human touch, recounting a personal experience at a resort where both elements complemented each other effectively.
- Advocating for technology to supplement rather than replace human staff, citing examples where human intervention proved essential in resolving issues faced with technology-driven solutions.
- Tilokee highlighted the significance of ensuring that technology seamlessly integrates into the guest experience, emphasizing the need for chatbots to function flawlessly alongside traditional service channels.
- The necessity for hotels to prioritize guest preferences and convenience when implementing chatbot solutions, ensuring that technology enhances rather than detracts from the overall guest experience.
- As technology continues to evolve, hotels must remain adaptable and continuously refine their chatbot QC processes to meet evolving guest expectations.
Tilokee aptly highlighted that success lies in recognizing that app services should complement, not replace, the human element, and the hospitality industry should embrace this philosophy.
Success lies in recognizing that app services should complement, not replace, the human element, and the hospitality industry should embrace this philosophy.
— Calvin Tilokee, CEO and Creative Director at Revpar Media
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About the author
Calvin’s passion for hospitality was cultivated in his teenage years which led to obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Hotel & Restaurant Management from the University of Eastern Shore. During a 20 year hotel career, Calvin has amassed a diverse skill set spanning multiple brands and markets, including Hilton, Marriott, IHG, Starwood, and Independent properties. Experience at select service, full service, suburban, city, luxury and waterpark hotels from New York City to Los Angeles has given Calvin a unique perspective and skill set. Calvin's passion for people has also led to co-founding Lighthouse Strategic Advisory. Lighthouse focuses on helping women & minorities realize their dream of hotel ownership.
