What does our future look like? How may services evolve and change?

Many are arguing that the future will all be about the experience. People are seeking something stronger and better as they start to travel once again. 60% of people want to find stronger service levels and standards as they return to hotels. It does raise a question mark over many hotels which maybe were functional and practical rather than offered any real value add – what does the future hold for them?

Research is suggesting that weekly travel figures are showing that people are happy to travel into London for social experiences, for arts, culture & destinations but far less so for work. Weekend travel figures are almost back to 80% of Feb 2020 levels. This does support the arguments that the future will be determined by experiences. It also supports the argument that people will not travel for a bland experience.

Most hoteliers accept that it will still be a 2 year road to reaching 2019 levels but this will be determined by the return of the business traveller. The good news is that people are travelling for great hospitality which is encouraging but the view is that industry stands at the start of a major decade of change. Consumers are seeking advancement in design, in service, in food standards, in sustainability and operators need to meet these new expectations.

There are some interesting discussions taking place all across the industry:

· It is estimated that by 2025, the average person will have twice as many Smart devices as they do today. There are many who argue that this will mean that human interaction will become far less important as hotels will not need direct interaction with their guests. It is argued that new voice control technology will be one of the major game changers for the industry as guests will be able to open doors, order room service and more via their voice.

· The counter argument is that guests desire greater levels of personal service and that services many change but nothing will alter the importance of personal service. Guests wants a warm welcome and the human interaction. It may change and technology has the ability to improve personal service so it is important not to view technology as the only answer.

· With the lack of chefs, it is expected that there will be a major increase in the numbers of CPUs, dark kitchens and delivered-in models emerge.

· However, there is an increased focus on fresh produce and the farm to plate story really does resonate with guests.

· It is expected that by 2025, everything in hotels will be wireless with few sockets in rooms. It is even expected that glass will be digitalised and will become multi-functional; glass will be able to personalised, change in design or colour, even glass walls host televisions and streaming services. The glass can host the guests preferred colour, photographs or even be the scene of a picture of the perfect sunrise or beach.

· It is estimated that 20% of services will be undertaken by robots – room service, food preparation, clearing of tables, etc.

· It is forecast that strong digitalisation and use of new delivered in models will see a reduction in costs which equate to around 15%.