CORONAVIRUS
272 | A New Digital Reality: Hotels turn to technology to redefine guest engagement
CORONAVIRUS
As the U.S. lodging sector begins to get back to business amid the coronavirus crisis, technology will play a much bigger role in operations than before the outbreak paralyzed the industry.
Technological solutions in operations and guest management were emerging in hotels before the COVID-19 pandemic. But experts say the next generation of tech is quickly dawning as owners, operators, employees and guests face a new digital reality in light of health and safety.
This episode of Lodging Leaders focuses on what might be ahead as hoteliers begin to rethink how technology can help them run leaner and cleaner operations as well as interact with guests who expect value despite the health threat.
Hotels that don’t embrace new technology today will be left behind when the industry gets back to business.
Resources and Links
- LodgingStream: A Brave New World conference
- Parshant Jain of Simplify Reality
- Raj Singh of Go Moment
- Jordan Hollander of Hotel Tech Report
- Adam Harris of Cloudbeds
- Bryan Tubaugh of Focus Hospitality Management
- Doug Tutt of Virgil Holdings, the parent company of Hcareers
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301 | The Road Warrior Ahead: Business travel will come back ‘with a vengeance,’ say experts
Global business travel is a $1.4 trillion industry. The Global Business Travel Association calculates the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 resulted in a loss of $113 billion in business travel spend in hotels, airlines and other sectors of the travel industry. But all is not lost. GBTA, industry analysts and travel management companies see some green shoots of hope for 2021 as the COVID-19 vaccine rolls out and corporations put some of their people on the road again. This report is part of Long Live Lodging’s ongoing coverage of the coronavirus crisis and its impact on the hospitality industry.
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300 | 2020 Hindsight: Lodging Leaders reviews hot topics, gives sneak peek of what’s ahead
Long Live Lodging, an online multimedia news organization that covers the hospitality industry, found itself tossing aside its plans for news coverage late in the first quarter of 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. and devastated the hospitality industry. The year turned out to be ground-breaking for Long Live Lodging, which developed the industry’s first live digital conference, and its podcast, Lodging Leaders, which increased its followers through timely, credible and balanced reporting on trends and issues driving the industry during the historic year. The company also won international recognition for its coverage of the COVID-19 crisis and its work as a whole. Long Live Lodging is a startup media company, formed in 2019, with Lodging Leaders, which was founded in 2015. In today’s report, we celebrate the podcast’s 300th episode. Podcast founder and co-host Jon Albano and co-host Judy Maxwell have a free-wheeling conversation in which they review the top podcasts of 2020 (Can anyone say ‘fair franchising’?) and give a brief preview of what the media organization plans for 2021.