The Technology of the Future in Hospitality

Susana Garrido Nov 26, 2020

The current state of affairs has shown us how quickly reality can shift, forcing us to either adapt or stay behind.

This is however not the first crisis that the hospitality industry has experienced. Two examples of the most recent ones include the world financial crisis triggered by the housing market in the US in 2008, and the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano which disrupted the whole airline traffic in Europe ten years ago. It is true that this time, the pandemic has been more global than even the 2008 financial crisis. Those crises shocked the travel and hospitality industries and even though the sparks that started them were quick to start, the effects were long-lasting.

The truth is that the hospitality industry has proven to be highly impacted by different events, but also very resilient at the same time.

Travelling is considered an economic power engine for more and more areas and to illustrate it, it contributed approximately 1.3 billion to the global industry during 2019. Moreover, travel and especially “taking a holiday” are increasingly considered as a universal need and as a solution for the ever-increasing fast paced lives we live nowadays.

The strength and resilience of the industry is contrasted to the amount of companies that are left behind and do not make it through. But at the same time, we realize that there are other companies that not only survive, but they also thrive during turbulent times.

What makes these companies so different? And more importantly what makes this current global situation so different?

Some companies and industries are known to be at the forefront of innovation, and some others tend to lag.

The current situation has highlighted the role that the speed of implementation plays in the survival of any company, and in this case, the main implementations came in the shape of technology oriented solutions to replace in-person contacts and experiences.

Suddenly, the whole world has shifted to its “virtual version” and everybody feels more connected, but a bit lost at the same time. It is the time now to look at what other companies are doing.

At Les Roches, the new circumstances have brought new needs in the communities that we serve and even though these unprecedented times have brought challenges, we still believe in a brighter future and a total recovery for the hospitality industry.

This recovery will surely be hard, but we believe that technology will play an even stronger role in our new reality.

We have all been very diligent in keeping ourselves up to date with the current changes and trends, but now, these trends and updates have become a must.

The travel and tourism industry is also swiftly shifting to adjust to the new normal. How can we know whether we are experiencing a structural change and not just an adjustment with a “best before” date on it?

The key question here is to discern which current technology will stay and that will be determined by habits and behaviors that will shape the hospitality industry in the near future. The changes do not come only in terms of technology, but they have also encouraged individuals and organizations to come up with new ways of finding customers and developing products. The lost jobs have prompted more and more individuals to turn to entrepreneurship as a way to compensate for the salaries they are not earning anymore.

What better way to start a company than to do so with the help of all the tools we have recently learned to use in our daily routine nowadays? At Les Roches we are firm believers in how technology and innovation, if successfully applied, will strengthen the hospitality industry. If we integrate all the things we have learned, we could enjoy a brighter future for those companies and individuals that know how to grow during challenges instead of staying away from them by playing it safe.

At our Marbella campus we are already equipping our students with insights of how the hotel room of the future will be. Our students have the opportunity of practicing first-hand how this room works and how the experience of the guests will be.

In the upcoming months we are launching a dedicated platform to help all those students and entrepreneurs who are looking to turn their own technology-based idea into a reality.

We are turning our campus into an innovative experience for our students, who will be exposed to all new trends allowed to breathe and live technology while following their studies with us. Several companies are expected to bring their latest innovations for our students to test, research on and give feedback. The goal is that the future leaders of the hospitality industry decide and get familiar with what they will see (and would like to see) in the hotels of the future.

This very moment in history could be remembered as the turning point for generations to come. Let us make the most of it. Probably the best way to remember history is to be part of it. Let us make history in hospitality.