How Augmented Reality is Transforming the Hospitality Industry

In recent years, augmented reality (AR) has emerged as a vital marketing tool, allowing businesses to
change the way customers perceive the environment they are in. The technology is extremely valuable
to the hospitality industry, because hotels are essentially selling a physical environment, which can be
enhanced through AR.

Here, you learn how augmented reality is changing the hospitality industry for the better.

What is Augmented Reality?

Augmented reality serves to alter a person’s perception of their physical surroundings, through the use
of computer technology. Augmented reality is often compared to virtual reality (VR), but while VR
replaces the real-world environment with a completely virtual one, augmented reality enhances the
real-world environment in real-time.

The technology itself can be deployed in a number of ways, including through smartphones, tablet
devices or headsets. Essentially, augmented reality introduces digital components into reality, rather
than replacing the reality itself. This often occurs by overlaying information over a live picture of a
physical environment.

As a result, augmented reality can be used to add physical graphics to an environment when viewed
through a device, alter the appearance of the environment itself, or make the environment more
interactive.

Why is Augmented Reality Becoming Important in the

Hospitality Industry?
Augmented reality has emerged as an important concept within hospitality management in recent
years, because it allows hotels and other related businesses to enhance the physical environment they
are selling (i.e. their hotel and its rooms), or enhance the experience of exploring the surrounding area.

Another of the key explanations behind the rise of AR in the hotel industry is the amount of information
guests tend to ask for, both before they arrive and once they are there. Augmented reality technology
can make a lot of this information readily available to customers at all times of the day, improving their
entire experience.

Moreover, the importance of technology within the hospitality sector has increased in line with the
shift in target demographics. Today, millennials are the dominant consumer generation and they are
also more likely than previous generations to utilise digital technology and buy things like virtual
reality and augmented reality devices.
Examples of How to Use Augmented Reality within the
Hospitality Industry
Below, we explore some of the most effective uses of augmented reality seen in the hospitality industry
so far.

1. Interactive Hotel Rooms

One way in which hotel owners can use augmented reality to boost their offering is through the use of
interactive elements within hotel rooms. An example of this is seen with The Hub Hotel from Premier
Inn in the United Kingdom, which has started using AR in conjunction with wall maps placed in its
hotel rooms.

By pointing a smartphone at the map, guests are able to see additional information about local places
of interest, enhancing the use of the map itself and potentially making their stay more convenient and
enjoyable.

Example: Augmented Reality Florence Travel Guide – Italy

2. Gamification
Pokemon Go was one of the first mainstream examples of augmented reality hitting the gaming world,
but its success has led to an increase in usage of the technology. The hospitality industry is now getting
in on the action, using AR games to improve the overall experience of staying in a hotel.

Hotels are often able to make their location an important part of an established AR game. However,
there is also the potential to develop their own apps, which can make exploring the hotel or local area
more enjoyable.

3. Augmented Hotel Environments

Many hotels are seeing the benefits of using augmented reality to make the hotel environment more
enjoyable to spend time in. For example, Holiday Inn created an augmented reality hotel experience,
which allowed guests to point their smartphone and see realistic virtual depictions of famous celebrities
in the hotel.

Meanwhile, Best Western experimented with augmented reality and Disney stars, allowing children to
see themselves alongside characters from Disney films, and other hotels have used AR apps to allow
guests to virtually redecorate.

Augmented Reality Quest at the Best Western Kelowna

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4. Beacon Technology
Finally, beacon technology is connected to the concept of augmented reality and works through
Bluetooth, allowing marketers to send information to customers when they are in specific locations.
This technology is potentially invaluable to hotel owners and we are already seeing examples of its
effectiveness.

Starwood Hotels, for instance, used the technology to send a virtual key to guests, allowing them to
unlock their door through their phone. Others have used beacons to send maps and other information
at opportune moments.

Virtual Reality & Artificial Intelligence

Would you like to learn more about other digital technologies which can benefit your business? Have
also a look at the articles “How Virtual Reality can Enrich the Hospitality Industry” and “Using
Artificial Intelligence in the Hospitality Industry”.

Hotels and other companies that exist within the hospitality industry are increasingly getting to grips
with the concept of big data, and the numerous ways it can help them to generate more revenue and
deliver a better experience for customers. In this article, you will find out more about what big data is,
why it has become so important, and the various ways it can be leveraged for the benefit of hotels,
resorts and other hospitality companies.

What is Big Data?

Big data is the phrase used to describe the extremely large sets of data that come into a business on a
day-to-day basis. The data can be extremely varied and may come from a wide range of different
sources. Within hospitality management, these data sets are most commonly associated with customer
behaviour and interactions.

For data to be classed as ‘big data’, it needs to be too large in volume to be processed via traditional
data processing methods. Crucially, it can be used within the fields of both predictive and behavioural
analytics, and can help companies to identify key trends or patterns, which can then inform their
business practices.

5 Ways Big Data Can Benefit the Hospitality Industry

1. Revenue Management
Through a combination of the data they gather themselves, and information available online, hotels
can use big data to assist them with a revenue management strategy. In particular, it allows them to
carry out predictive analysis, allowing hotel owners to more accurately anticipate levels of demand for
hotel rooms.
Examples of the kind of data that may be useful here include past occupancy rates, current bookings
on the system and various key performance metrics, as well as external data, such as information about
when school holidays are, or when local events are happening. Once big data has been successfully
used to predict demand, those within the hospitality industry can take steps to optimise room rates, in
order to maximise revenue and profit.

2. Targeted Marketing
Hotel guests are extremely varied, ranging from business travellers to families, and from those
operating on a budget, to those looking for something special for a honeymoon. In addition to helping
with financial management of a hotel, big data can also help those in the hotel industry to more
effectively target their marketing content.

Indeed, big data provides marketers with the ability to identify the best opportunities for their particular
business, and target key demographics much more specifically, especially through online advertising.
This can also include both location and time-specific marketing, which can allow hotels to reach
customers at the time advertising will be most relevant to them, or in the place where they are most
likely to want to see it.

3. Customer Experience
Another way that big data can be of great use within the hospitality industry is in relation to
the customer experience that hotel companies provide. Big data can help hotel owners and customer
service teams to spot significant trends in terms of customer opinions, learning about their strengths
and weaknesses in the process.

This may require the gathering of service usage data, feedback from customers on social
media, reviews posted on websites, and other related information. Fortunately, the hotel industry is an
area where customers are happy to let their opinion be heard, although gathering data from various
sources and analysing it can be challenging. Once done, however, it can allow hotels to understand
what customers like and where improvement is needed.

4. Additional Services
Hotels have a variety of interactions with both current and potential customers, providing an
opportunity to gather large amounts of data. When collected and analysed carefully, the data can be
extremely revealing, providing information about not only the services that customers use, but also the
services that they request or ask about.

This can help hotel owners to make decisions about new services to introduce, as well as services that
are no longer required. For example, a hotel might opt to refurbish their gym if customers are regularly
asking about machines they do not have. Furthermore, big data can be used to inform decisions related
to partnerships with other businesses, with possible examples including OTAs, local taxi firms, and
nearby bars or restaurants.

5. Competition Scouting
Finally, big data can also be used to get a clearer idea of competitors and to see what other companies
operating in the hospitality sector are offering their customers. In the internet age, there are a vast array
of places to go to learn customer opinions, including review sites, social media, internet forums and
travel publications. All of this data can potentially be gathered and processed to find the trends that
matter.

As an example, it might be that a competitor is being regularly praised for their restaurant menu, or
alternatively, they may be regularly criticised for their customer service. Knowing this information can
help a hotel to capitalise on its rivals’ shortcomings, but also to learn about where its rivals are actually
outperforming them.

Big data is a key concept to be aware of within the hospitality industry, and can help hotel owners
and other business leaders to identify important patterns and trends. As a result, it can help to
improve revenue management, optimise marketing efforts and enhance the customer experience
that is being delivered.

Reporter:
CATHY FAYE P. PEDROSA
MSHM