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Is automation the answer to hospitality’s labor shortage?

Michal Christine Escobar is Hospitality Technology’s Senior Editor, with a concentration on the hotel industry. She has more than five years of experience as a B2B journalist. She is responsible for the hotel beat at the magazine and often writes about AI, VR, IoT and other emerging technologies affecting hospitality.

July 8, 2022

Article originally published on Hospitality Technology

Shared by HGS inPress Coverage

Hospitality Technology

This summer has been unofficially penned as the season of “revenge travel,” a phrase referring to consumers’ increased willingness to spend more money on travel after 28 long months of lockdowns and restrictions. But as hotels and resorts prepare to usher in more guests, they also need to prepare for the industry’s new challenges, including continued labor shortages. Many technology companies are touting automation as the answer to this problem. But how can the hospitality industry find the right balance of automation and human touch to be able to provide guests with an optimal travel experience? To answer this question, Hospitality Technology spoke with Prakash Hariharasubramanian, Director of the Automation Practice at HGS.

Do hotel guests really want a contactless experience? When and where do they prefer human touchpoints?

Numerous survey results show guests wanting to have a more contactless experience in the hospitality industry post-COVID compared to pre-pandemic. According to a survey by Oracle, over two-thirds (74%) of consumers agreed they would be more likely to stay at a hotel offering self-service technologies – and this number is continuing to grow.