Today’s hoteliers must embrace robust, innovative technology to satisfy guests and streamline every aspect of their business, from seamless payments to self check-in.
Guests expect convenience and personalization at each touchpoint, and forward-thinking hotels are leveraging the latest trends in modern, automated software to deliver just that. Hotels that fail to adapt risk falling behind their competition.
To help you stay ahead of the curve, here are five key technology trends shaping the future of hospitality, each designed to delight guests while driving operational excellence.
Seamless Payments
Every guest interacts with your payment process, so it’s important that this process be as seamless as possible to inspire confidence and maximize efficiency. With almost half of American adults making no cash transactions in an average week, hoteliers must adopt modern digital payment solutions to avoid guest complaints, minimize errors, and streamline the check-in/out experience.
Integrate a PCI-compliant payment gateway with your property management system (PMS) for frictionless payments you can manage directly within your PMS. When integrated, the payment gateway securely transmits the guest’s credit card details—or a tokenized placeholder—to the payment processor and issuing bank, returning the approval status to your PMS in real time.
A point-of-sale (POS) integration is also beneficial if you offer ancillary services such as spa treatments and on-site dining. By connecting your POS with your PMS, charges are automatically posted to the guest’s room for effortless, accurate billing.
Self Check-in
Since the pandemic, guests have learned to value the convenience of self check-in, choosing to bypass lobby lines and head straight to their rooms—or out on their adventures. Research shows that 73 percent of travelers prefer to manage their stay on their mobile device, from check-in to payment. Empowering guests with self check-in not only delivers a smooth experience but also frees your team to focus on the meaningful, personalized touchpoints that set your property apart.
It even minimizes the spread of germs. While the pandemic is behind us, seasonal illnesses remain common—and no guest wants a case of souvenir sniffles.
WebRezPro offers a comprehensive suite of self check-in tools that make the process a breeze for both guests and staff. Properties can automatically send guest agreements (like digital registration cards), requiring travelers to agree to terms and conditions and securely provide necessary details such as credit card information and photo identification in advance online. Guest agreements can include authorization for deposits, cancellation fees, and incidental charges, streamlining operations while protecting revenue. For added flexibility, it’s even possible to customize terms and conditions by unit type—for example, applying a different pet policy to suites versus standard rooms.
Properties can email guests a read-only copy of their completed agreement or offer convenient online access through the My Reservations portal. To ensure no booking falls through the cracks, the system also generates a real-time report of uncompleted agreements.
WebRezPro integrates with leading payment gateway and keyless entry providers so that all steps of the check-in process can be completed before arrival, delivering a truly contactless, convenient experience.
System Integration
Disconnected, siloed software holds your property back. Instead of empowering your team, it creates delays, errors, and missed opportunities by keeping critical information locked away. Modern hoteliers must invest in powerful, integrated systems to share crucial data across departments so the right person has the right information at the right time… so they can make the right decisions.
Your PMS is the central command center of your property, so it should connect with every supporting system. Beyond the payment and keyless entry solutions mentioned above, other essential integrations include:
Direct Booking Engine – Your PMS should come with a fully integrated, commission-free booking engine for your website so that direct online reservations flow into your system in real time, eliminating manual entry and reducing errors. Direct bookings are your most profitable channel—driving up to 60 percent more revenue per reservation than third-party sources—and they allow you to access valuable guest data. This data is the foundation for strong customer relationships and repeat stays.
OTAs – You may choose to leverage online travel agencies (OTAs) to expand reach. If so, your OTA channels also need to exchange data with your PMS for real-time synchronization of rates and availability.
CRM – A customer relationship management (CRM) system elevates guest communication by delivering consistent, personalized messaging based on comprehensive data. While your PMS captures essential reservation information, a CRM takes guest profiles and engagement to the next level—incorporating insights from website interactions, social media, marketing campaigns, and more. The two systems truly are better together!
RMS – A revenue management system optimizes your pricing strategy with recommendations powered by advanced algorithms that factor in seasonality, availability, competitor rates, and market demand. When integrated with your PMS, the RMS receives real-time data on your property’s rates and availability, then delivers precise pricing guidance in return. It enables you to automate rate adjustments and capture every revenue opportunity.
WebRezPro integrates seamlessly with over 150 leading software solutions in these and other categories, giving hoteliers flexibility to design their ideal tech stack.
Mobile-first Operations
Authorized staff should have access to your software anytime, anywhere via a mobile device. From managers referencing reports from home to housekeepers updating room status on the go, mobile access keeps operations running smoothly with real-time updates. This level of efficiency is only possible with a modern, cloud-based, mobile-first system. Without it, staff are forced to return to a central workstation to enter information, causing delays and missed opportunities to improve the guest experience.
A robust PMS even offers flexible layouts tailored to each device. With WebRezPro, for example, housekeepers can view their daily schedules in row format optimized for desktop or tile format designed for mobile—ensuring clarity, efficiency, and ease of use.
Automation & AI-driven Insights
Your PMS and other core systems empower you to automate routine tasks and eliminate manual—often duplicate—data entry. With the time saved, staff can concentrate on higher-value responsibilities that drive key returns for your business, such as nurturing guest relationships. After all, it’s much easier to deliver a warm, personalized welcome when your team isn’t distracted by entering reservation details on the spot.
In recent years, automation has advanced rapidly with the rise of AI. From guest engagement to revenue management and beyond, AI is transforming every layer of the modern tech stack, unlocking new levels of efficiency, personalization, and profitability. However, using it effectively requires a comprehensive understanding of your property’s goals and pain points. Conduct thorough research before adoption, as you would with any other new system.
Modern, dynamic software is no longer a nice-to-have for the forward-thinking hotelier; it’s a must-do. Hotels that adopt these trends gain an edge in efficiency, revenue, and guest satisfaction while those that don’t get left behind.
