Munich (July 30, 2021). Sustainability & digitalisation: one will no longer work without the other. Technology makes energy saving measurable, for example, just as travellers measure hotels by their “green” activities and book them accordingly. How much are the two big trends already intertwined? This is exactly what Chief Technology Officer Floor Bleeker of Accor, Andreas Ewald as Managing Partner of Engel & Völkers Hotel Consulting and Klaus Kohlmayr, Chief Evangelist of the revenue specialist IDeaS will discuss at the HospitalityInside Think Tank (HITT) on Monday, 13 September. Live in Munich and virtually.
All three experts have their own CVs, but come together under the keywords sustainability & digitalisation. Both words embrace a formula for success of the future, through which responsible action becomes measurable. The lever for this is once again cooperation in the form of finely tuned investments and concepts:
Technology ensures that operational costs fall, which enables the hotel tenant/lessee to pay more and thus convinces the investor to invest more. The drivers behind this are the new “green” consumers and the Internet of Things (IoT) – sensors that talk to each other.
It sounds like squaring the circle, but it can be done. In the future, technology will illuminate the information and booking behaviour of guests in a much more filigree way than before and is thus able to predict demand and customer needs more and more precisely. This results in new control and management possibilities in everyday hotel life: hoteliers can manage rooms and public spaces in a more purpose-oriented, process-friendly and thus cost-saving way. And sensors in the room (e.g. for light, heating, TV) increase customer service.
Data kisses investors awake
This discussion therefore starts with the guest and not the property, but the two are closely linked. If booking decisions of the guest turn out to be to the disadvantage of a hotel (because it is not “green” enough), then even a conservative investor will probably take notice, hotel real estate expert Andreas Ewald can well imagine. IT specialists like IDeaS are now diving much deeper into the world of data and are focusing – beyond the previous revenue management – on the networking of data from guest behaviour, hotel operations and the hotel building.
Floor Bleeker of Accor is also sure that completely new and more sustainable business models will emerge in this way, even if the location of the hotel and its prices remain other important booking criteria. The Chief Technologist of Europe’s largest hotel chain therefore remains sober in his observation: Sensors are now a dime a dozen and enable many gimmicks to playfully sweeten everyday life for the guest and also seduce the operator. But does that mean that all sensors have to be installed? No.
Technology is what makes sustainability possible and measurable in the triangle of property, operation and guest. That is why sustainability starts early, because it already forces those involved to act more responsibly and prudently from conception and planning onwards. Hotels will continue to have a long life cycle, while concepts will have to turn faster, according to the guests’ wishes.
This exciting discussion round concludes the first day of the HITT on Monday, 13 September, and builds the bridge to the second Think Tank day, which, after the strategic considerations, leads into the details of everyday life and implementation. / map
JOIN the experts:
Floor Bleeker, Chief Technology Officer, Accor; Andreas Ewald, Managing Partner, Engel & Völkers Hotel Consulting; Klaus Kohlmayr, Chief Evangelist and Development Officer, IDeaS
on Day 1 of the HospitalityInside Think Tank (HITT): 13 September at 16.30 h (CET).
THEIR HITT IMPULSE: How does Technology enable Sustainability in the Future? What are biggest technology innovations, ways to connect facilities and services with customers. What is Digital enabled Sustainability? What’s the role of IoT, the Internet of Things?
The big topic of the HospitalityInside Think Tank 2021:
SUSTAINABILITY & DIGITALISATION: THE CHANGE DRIVERS.
The Decade of Action: How Sustainability leads the agenda,
how Digitalisation enables it.
And here you go directly to the registration!
SAVE THE DATE:
HITT, the HospitalityInside Think Tank 2021
on 13/14 September in Munich,
LIVE in a relaxed co-working space and VIRTUAL,
in English language.
WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE SPONSORS OF THE HITT 2021:
Logos: companies / Top photo: Zhu Difeng stock adobe com