Looking at the past few years, we must say the hotel and hospitality industry has again put the guts together and developed themselves through waves of change and uncertain adaptation of hospitality industry trends, innovations, and challenges.
However, everyone who has worked in hospitality companies in recent years knows the role of trends, innovations, and challenges.
In many situations, they turn into mini-clusters of activity when needed. Most of this activity is powered by technology.
Welcoming innovations and challenges are more crucial than ever to hotel operations in order to satisfy visitor experience.
As a result, we’ve compiled a list of 15 of the most current trends in the hospitality industry in 2022 and beyond.
Read them out and consider whether any of them are appropriate for your company to adapt. And if you perceive an opportunity, you can get ahead of the game and start making plans. After all, every advantage counts in the hotel industry.
Top 15 Hospitality Industry Trends, Innovations, & Challenges in 2022
Without further delay, here are the top 15 hospitality industry trends, innovations, and challenges in 2022 and in upcoming years:
1. Hospitality to provide a workplace environment
Working from home has become the norm for many employees and is expected to become more than a fleeting fad.
An increasing number of high-profile corporations, led by huge digital companies like Twitter, Facebook, and Amazon, have indicated that they will embrace a hybrid or flexible approach to working remotely, a shift driven by the worldwide public health issue.
Moreover, the percentage of workers who work remotely permanently is predicted to be 2x globally by 2021. That means that leisure visitors and locals seeking a change of pace are using hospitality facilities as makeshift offices.
It is an excellent trend to watch for hotels and F&B venues to capitalize on the direction and adjust their offerings to fit the requirements and wants of this growing demographic; plentiful plug connections, free high-speed WIFI, and superb coffee are ideal places to start.
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2. Smart hotels
Smart hotel is an emerging and latest technology trends in hospitality industry. In simple terms, a smart hotel has internet-connected gadgets that can communicate with one another via technology trends.
Smart hotel designs are linked to the “Internet of Things” concept and have become more popular since smart speakers, and smart hubs became common consumer items.
For example, a smart hotel may provide facilities to allow visitors to control the room’s temperature from their phone or speak to a smart speaker that holds the hotel room’s TV or other equipment.
In many cases, smart rooms will also automatically alter things like light bulb brightness or radiator temperature to maintain optimal conditions, which will enhance the experience economy more than ever.
3. Health and well-being adaptations
Because of the COVID pandemic, preventative medicine and self-care are unquestionably popular.
The wellness business is morphing into a flourishing trillion-dollar market, and hospitality venues, particularly those with existing spa facilities and wellness travel, are ideally positioned to take a major piece of the pie.
The hospitality business also involves health diagnostic technology and customized treatment plans delivered by experts.
It helps people with vitality, healing, stress management, emotional balance, and mindfulness. In addition to the usual beauty treatments, relaxation spa facilities, dining experiences, and better sleep are rapidly growing in demand.
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4. Enhanced guests’ digital experiences
Hoteliers are increasingly using apps to manage the services they deliver to their customers, and they can now control many facets of the visitor cycle and experience.
Since 2020, the future trends in the hotel industry toward digital and contactless services have accelerated and given hotels new limelight.
Consumers familiar with facial and fingerprint identification to unlock their smartphones and computers or check-ins and checkout will soon demand the same convenience in their hotel rooms.
5. Customization
Visitors today have already acknowledged the features and facilities of hospitality. This allows the hospitality system to offer customized audience-specific messaging, establishments, greetings, offers, personalized coupons, and promotions.
While customized AI-powered chatbots can be a valuable customer support asset during the booking process and in answering common questions, big data is used by technology platforms like CRM and CEM to establish one-to-one interactions between guests and hosts at scale.
6. Economic experience and essentialism
Customers want excellent modification, and the hotel needs a one-of-a-kind marketing strategy. It could lead to the removal of the travel agency and travel agents and the growth of the self-guided traveler.
One of the things that one should keep in mind is that travelers are less interested in displaying their money and prefer to spend carefully, meaningfully, sharing economy, and have a beneficial impact on the globe.
Niche hotels, adventurous vacations such as the best ski holidays in Europe, and relaxation retreats are in high demand, as are unique experiences that give back to local communities in meaningful ways.
7. Check-in through a mobile device
Offering a mobile check-in service or hotel website is most commonly associated with hotels and other forms of lodging, and necessary adaptation after the pandemic.
That said, even during more normal hours, mobile check-ins may provide customers with self-service and make arrivals a much faster portion of the customer experience.
You’ll need to give clients access to an app for this to work. Provide QR codes on business brochures and include a link on your website.
8. Asset management tactic
The asset-light strategy has gained popularity in the industry. Many hospitality businesses now provide their customers with a focus on their main business and increase economic efficiency.
However, this adds to the complexity and possibility of agency issues, which explains the creation of new types of employment like asset managers.
In addition, as the hospitality business has become more complicated, new job profiles have evolved. Simultaneously, the demand for mathematical skills (forecasting, budgeting, and so on) has grown.
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9. Promoting traveling alone
Many people have embraced the meditative advantages of spending time alone and venturing out into the big wide world unafraid, mingling, and finding friends to whatever degree suits them in the age of mindfulness.
Barriers between hospitality and travel are being dropped, interior design decisions are made to suggest a sense of comfort, and an informal atmosphere is being fostered to help solo travelers feel at ease.
This, combined with a less pronounced distinction between guests and locals, fosters a sense of hotel community.
10. Voice Control & Voice Search
Clients searching for and booking hotels and restaurants are increasingly using voice search, so you must adapt to this shift in behavior and make a concerted effort to acquire these customers.
This includes, among other things, clearly arranging your website content to appear in voice search results. Voice control can also be utilized to control electronics in hotel rooms, which improves the guest experience.
Smart speakers, for example, can answer guests’ questions and respond to voice commands to turn on lights and other gadgets in the room. This can also help decrease the number of surfaces guests come into contact with.
11. Sustainability all-round
“Sustainability” has reclaimed its place in the hotel industry as both a current and a trademark of recent years. However, it was one of the current issues in the hospitality industry 2021.
It focuses on making easy, eco-friendly adjustments such as replacing small bathrooms with larger, sustainable, local produce dispensers; using ethically produced bed sheets; reducing energy consumption with smart bulbs, among other things.
It also encourages vegan and vegetarian choices to have well-known environmental benefits and make their business travel full of solitude.
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12. Artificial Intelligence involvement
Artificial intelligence serves various purposes in the hospitality industry, the most important of which is improving customer service.
AI-powered chatbots are one example of this, which can be used for online customer interactions to eliminate long wait times and provide quick, intelligent solutions to questions.
Conversely, artificial intelligence also has other applications. For instance, some hotels have included the features of voice-controlled customer experience or tourist data collection. Meanwhile, AI can be applied to sort through data, automate process improvements, and so on.
13. Provide unique hospitality experiences
After the pandemic, providing the best hospitality experiences is one of the emerging trends in the hospitality industry. Many hotels are beginning to identify their brands by doing something unusual with their design, layout, or furnishings.
Travelers are increasingly seeking cool, unique hotel experiences, so whatever a hotel can do to add a novelty factor will be advantageous. Greater societal trends impact and inform all of these developments.
This is why hoteliers must consider moving away from the traditional and embracing the radical to sustain a thriving business.
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14. Virtual reality and augmented reality
“Virtual reality” and “augmented reality” are used interchangeably. They are emerging trends in the hospitality industry for gaming and entertainment, as well as attractions for hotel guests.
Virtual reality uses visual and auditory input to replace the real environment, whereas augmented reality overlays virtual components on top of the real world.
Virtual tours of your property and even sections of the location are available to customers who wish to test before buying. A hotel might employ AR to deliver information to guests, such as an interactive map.
15. Contactless transactions
Many of the most popular hospitality trends revolve around minimizing friction, with contactless payments being one of the most prominent examples.
Customers save time by not going through cash or entering their PIN when contactless payments are accepted. The introduction of Apple Pay and Google Pay has also eliminated the need to carry a wallet.
The coronavirus epidemic has increased demand for contactless payments, minimizing friction and improving the consumer experience.
Many consumers and employees dislike dealing with cash, so offering contactless payment options may be considered a need rather than a luxury.
Conclusion: The future of hospitality in upcoming years
Given the breadth and speed with which changes are occurring in the hospitality industry, it’s understandable that they can be daunting at times.
Conversely, revenue managers can use the correct strategy to make the necessary modifications to operations to maximize commercial success.
What is evident is that the proactive managers and enterprises that are open to and embrace change and have an intuitive awareness of how these hospitality trends represent unprecedented prospects for commercial growth will reap the greatest rewards.
Demographic shifts, advancements in hospitality technology, and the importance of senior management mentality and approach are driving these 2022 and 2023 trends.
Properties can chart a solid, profitable course forward by developing a fresh, wide strategy that incorporates all facets of hospitality for the modern market and a willingness to adapt beyond previous ways whose usefulness is waning.
As a hotel management company, we’ve witnessed firsthand how neglecting to do so and instead “sticking with what we know,” puts hospitality businesses at risk of falling behind their competition, which can swiftly become an existential threat.
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