{"id":43628,"date":"2019-11-25T11:55:06","date_gmt":"2019-11-25T11:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/2019\/11\/25\/kuwaiti-expert-on-transforming-the-hospitality-sector\/"},"modified":"2023-10-02T15:19:12","modified_gmt":"2023-10-02T14:19:12","slug":"kuwaiti-expert-on-transforming-the-hospitality-sector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/2019\/11\/25\/kuwaiti-expert-on-transforming-the-hospitality-sector\/","title":{"rendered":"Kuwaiti expert on transforming the hospitality sector"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Anita Lobo, named as IT Person of the Year at the 15th Hotelier Middle East Awards, talks to Intelligent CIO about how the latest technological trends are benefiting customers in the hospitality sector. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anita Lobo\nis an award-winning IT expert who has built a strong reputation for creating a\nresilient environment that has the capabilities to deal with the requirements of\nthe future as well as the demands of current customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is the\nCluster Manager at the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn, one of Kuwait\u2019s most-popular\ndestinations which is part of the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) which\nemploys 10,000 people worldwide and operates 5,800 hotels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lobo\u2019s\ncontribution to technology has not gone unnoticed. At the 15th Hotelier Middle\nEast Awards she was named IT Person of the Year in recognition of her work in\nthe hospitality sector and her ability to utilise new technology for the\nbenefit of hotel guests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an exclusive interview with Intelligent CIO <\/em>she discusses how current IT trends are impacting on the hospitality sector as it strives to adopt to the ever-changing demands of customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Anita Lobo – Cluster Manager at the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn in Kuwait <\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What IT\ntrends are currently influencing the hospitality sector? What technologies are\nhotel operators looking at?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our\nindustry is extremely competitive. It is imperative to\nkeep up with the latest trends, technological or otherwise, to deliver\nan excellent customer experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think\nevery industry is catering to the Millennials and so is ours. Though the\ncurrent majority of our guests today are tech-savvy travellers, this\ndemographic group are the early adopters of technology, who want personalised\ninteractions, fast communication with easy check-in and great experience.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social\nmedia channels are a key factor in this group choosing a hotel. There is no\ndoubt that a millennial that has had a great experience at a hotel, would in\nreturn promote a business on these channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the\ninteresting phrases that has come up associated with the Millennials is the \u2018Bleisure\u2019\ntraveller, wherein a traveller may initially visit a location and extend it to\nturn it to a holiday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other\ntrends that are influencing the hospitality sectors would definitely be robots;\nsome hotels have introduced a robot concierge service\nwhile others are entirely robot-staffed. \nIt is a very interesting concept as these machines are often equipped\nwith Artificial Intelligence. They can be used to carry out complex tasks and, of\ncourse, improve customer interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me,\nVirtual Reality is going to be the biggest game changer. The whole idea of\nusing technology to digitally alter an entire surrounding, and using that\ntechnology as an experience to allow guest to have a digital version of their\nhotel rooms before booking, is simply mind blowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think\ntoday operators are looking for a smart hotel having\nseamless connectivity across platforms and devices, e.g smart rooms\nwhich automatically adjust to brightness, temperatures etc. Another example\nwould be mobile check-ins and digital concierge services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are\nthe latest advances in technology that have enhanced experiences of your\ncustomers?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, with\ntechnology, bookings for rooms or any other hotel services can be done on\nmobile devices.  A customer can compare\nprice, product and name it on their devices – everything literally is at their\nfingertips on their smartphone devices. There are so many apps just available\nfor them to help make choices.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take for\nexample, location-based technology. There are so many of us that use location-services,\neither driving or walking. Businesses are using it to attract customers at a\ngeo-location with offers, which customers are getting on products and personalised\nservices that enhance their travel and stay experiences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technology\nhas made an impact on consumer travelling habits. Any business, not only hospitality,\ncan reach customers using technology. They can instantly reply to their\nqueries, instantly confirm a reservation, make payment on-line etc.  I cannot think of a business that does not\ncome with an app of its own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How have\nyou been able to utilise technology to improve customer services?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most\nimportant role of technology is that it increases the speed of customer\ninteractions.  It makes personable\nservices effective.  Take for example, data\nanalytics which are so important nowadays. How else would we know about our\ncustomer\u2019s behaviours and preferences?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We would\nwant them to keep coming back to us by knowing what their expectations are,\nunderstanding their problems so we could resolve them quickly and provide\ntailor-made services.  This way we ensure\nwe build a loyal customer base and improve revenue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social\nmedia is another way to improve customer services.  It is one of the greatest inventions\ntoday.  It\u2019s fast, transparent, simple\nand the most cost-effective way that we can communicate with our customers, be\nit through blogs, post or Twitter.  The\nbest part is that communication channels are open 24\/7 without any middle-men.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How have\nthe technology requirements of your customers changed over the last few years?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With technology,\nour Industry is also changing. From Baby Boomers to the current Millennials, the\nuse of technology differs with each generation. With the advent of technology,\nmany activities that were earlier performed by humans have been replaced by\ntechnology.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take the\nsimple example of hotel check-in. Some hotels today have already adopted kiosk\nand mobile check-ins and done away with reception desks.  They no longer have to wait in queue for a\ncheck-in or even get a room key which is replaced with a mobile key. Even\npayments are done automatically using e-commerce.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a hotel\nroom, a guest can control the temperature, lighting and TV through a mobile app\nnow.  Some hotel rooms are also equipped\nwith voice- activated requests for room services. Providing environmently-friendly\nservices is another area that all businesses including ours are focusing on,\nbesides mobile keys and replacing papers for e-newspapers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently I\nsaw a video in a hotel which showcased a robot which actually prepared an\nentire meal from a choice of sauces to spicy tolerance all at the push of a\nbutton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, at\nthe Horeca event held in Kuwait, one of the stalls was showcasing concierge and\nhousekeeping bots. They are already making an entry in this part of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are\nthe main technological challenges in the hospitality industry?<\/strong> <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In today\u2019s\ncompetitive world, our customers have several alternatives. Keeping customer\nretention and loyalty can be a challenge. It is important to us to have a loyal\ncustomer base. Then there are the ever-changing technologies that are costly. Deployment\nof these technologies frequently is not really possible due to cost factors. An\nefficient hotel technology must be fast and acknowledge any guest request\ninstantly.  For a seamless guest\nexperience, responsiveness in technology is also critical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the\nhospitality sector facing up to an increase in cyberattacks how can\ncybersecurity be ensured?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hotel\ninfrastructure must be equipped to secure guest devices and IoT devices\naccessing hotel networks. Strong policing and protocols should be adopted. All\ndigital interactions with guests must be reinforced with security and privacy\nrules. Customer data should be protected in the most secure way possible.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anita Lobo, named as IT Person of the Year at the 15th Hotelier Middle East Awards, talks to Intelligent CIO about how the latest technological trends are benefiting customers in the hospitality sector. Anita Lobo is an award-winning IT expert who has built a strong reputation for creating a resilient environment that has the capabilities […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":25301,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4576,6,15963,106,332,13],"tags":[10724,10725,10726,403,10727,5883,10728,10729,233],"class_list":["post-43628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hospitality","category-insights","category-kuwait","category-mobile","category-software","category-top-stories","tag-al-thuraya","tag-anita-lobo","tag-crowne-plaza-holiday-inn","tag-hospitality","tag-hotelier-middle-east-awards","tag-hotels","tag-ihg","tag-intercontinental-hotels-group","tag-kuwait"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43628"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91251,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43628\/revisions\/91251"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}