As Hospitality Employees Shift to Other Industries, Hotels Respond with Shift to Automation
Consumer travel confidence and activity continues to rise and it’s a positive sign for hotels world-wide.
Over the past month, the hospitality industry witnessed an increase in weekday travel. STR reports that weekday room demand remains above 21. This demand increased by 16% on average over the recent four-week period.
Hospitality-related market segments continue to progress into recovery or peak status.
Next month, Las Vegas, a city considered a barometer for the hospitality industry, plans to re-open at 100% capacity. This with Wynne and Encore’s gaming floors already open at full capacity.
In a recent interview, Expedia’s CEO says travel is slated to come back “screaming”. Cities like New Orleans are also witnessing an increase in hotel bookings.
While increased travel is a positive sign for the hospitality industry, the industry still faces a workforce gap.
Frequent lockdowns and regular layoffs in hospitality prompted many former hotel staff to make permanent career shifts. As a result, hotels now face a workforce shortage as they continue to ramp up to meet accelerating consumer demand.
Specifically, industry reports highlight a 100,000 restaurant and hotel worker shortage.
To remedy this disconnect, hotels are leveraging robotics and automation. By reducing the manual work within operations, including accounting operations, these tools fill the employment gap.
Alongside integration and centralization, robotics and automation create opportunity to do more with less. Together they eliminate the redundancy traditionally associated with accounting and other operations. They also reduce the error that invariably causes more work for hotel staff.
This streamlined approach to accounting allows hotels world-wide to continue to run multiple operational tasks with reduced teams. By applying this philosophy, hotels can capitalize on the promising purchasing trends of hospitality consumers – a particularly important move as hospitality looks to rebound from a recession.
