According to research from McKinsey, the hotel industry is lagging in digitalization compared to other sectors. The hotel industry seems reluctant to change since all the processes are solid and have been working well for so many years. However, if the pace of change outside the hotel industry is faster than inside, the growing need for change is like filling a balloon with more and more air until it bursts.
Hotels are masters in finding excuses outside the hotel for why things did not go as planned or why there is no need for a change. The weather, delays, unforeseen events, the economy, lack of time and staff, too expensive, not invented here, and an endless list of excuses. All excuses point to something outside the hotel and something that the hotelier could not do anything about.
Change starts with innovative hoteliers
"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything." is a famous quote by George Bernard Shaw. Change starts in the innovative hotelier's mind. There is a better way to do things, and the hotel could become even more successful. The question is how to get from the current state to the future. Following the same processes and procedures will not take the hotel to a new future. The hotel needs to do things differently to get there, which is why some things must change.
The future could be much better
It is too familiar that different roles are stuck in old habits and is reluctant to change. It takes an effort to change, but the world on the other side is much brighter and opens up new opportunities for personal and business growth. Change is much easier than people imagine and takes less effort than expected.
Revenue management
Wouldn't it be great if revenue managers could spend the time creating strategies instead of manually collecting and moving data from one system to another?
Marketing
Wouldn't it be great if marketing managers could direct the marketing dollars to segments that spend more while they stay at the hotel instead of blindly experimenting by trial and error?
Sales
Wouldn't it be great if salespeople could easily follow up on the room nights the travel managers promise (estimate) in the corporate agreements instead of just accepting "fait accompli" when the deal is up for renegotiation?
General Management
Wouldn't it be great if the commercial team aligned toward the same goals instead of always having to negotiate between the different roles in their silos?
CFO
Wouldn't it be great if the budget process was faster and less complex and simultaneously created a more reliable budget instead of sending the figures back and forth and negotiating for months?
Group management
Wouldn't it be great if the reports were correctly consolidated, timely, accurate, and complete instead of having the accounting department working hours or days and waiting to get the essential information?
It is not complicated
People generally do not want to change. People are happy in their comfort zone even if the situation is far from optimal. In hotels, people are well aware of the necessity to change. They even desire to change and are willing to participate in and support it. Hotel people have the knowledge of how to change and the ability to implement change. Finally, once the hotel has implemented the change, hoteliers will have new standard operating procedures to reinforce the change to be sustainable over time. It is that easy, so why wait to create a better future?
