Live from America

The HITEC show, held a couple of weeks ago in Chicago, is not only the biggest show for hospitality technology in the world, but the longest-running. This year marks the exhibition's 30th anniversary, putting the first one back in a time when a television in every hotel room was still revolutionary stuff.

The fact that HITEC has been running for 30 years is indicative of how seriously technology is taken in the US hospitality industry compared with Europe.

The equivalent show over here, Eurhotec, has been going for just three years and is significantly smaller.

There are many reasons for this difference. The fact that the American hotel industry is based so much more on chain hotel companies means technology has always been required to keep those chains linked up. Another factor might be that European hospitality companies are still generally lacking in knowledge and traditionally shy of using technology.

Whatever the reason, the HITEC show gives a chance to look across the Atlantic at what the issues are and what, inevitably, will eventually end up over here in some shape or form.

Restaurant technology

It looks like the restaurant industry may finally start catching up with hotels when it comes to technology. In the past, restaurant technology hasn't been popular with customers - it was expected in fast-food outlets, but not "proper" restaurants.

This year, however, due partly to the proliferation of technology in people's lives generally, HITEC has devoted a section exclusively to restaurants and food service.

"This is something our staff has been planning as a response to industry requests," says Wendy Zurstadt, chairman of the HITEC Advisory Council. "We picked Chicago as the ideal place to launch this new section since so many food service industry corporate headquarters are located within a few travel hours of the city."

In the US there are increasing numbers of online booking systems on offer, and there's no doubt that the same principles will eventually catch on here. The technology is there to make it happen, and is just waiting for the diners to catch up.

An interesting development in the US is frequent-diner schemes, essentially the kind of loyalty schemes that hotels have relied on for some time. "A frequent-diner programme, if structured properly, can provide management with insightful information relative to what, when and how frequently customers make purchases," says Michael Mitchell, manager with Andersen's technology integration services in Boston. "In turn, the creation of a reliable customer database provides direction for more targeted marketing programs that can result in reduced promotional costs and strengthened customer relations."

How this would go down in Europe is debatable. It obviously relies on frequent visits to large restaurant chains but a variation of it is inevitable.

Security

The terrorist attacks of 11 September have heightened the USA's sense of security. Hoteliers in particular have begun to look seriously at improving their security, not just to protect themselves and their property but perhaps to take the opportunity to update systems they knew were out of date.

"The events of 11 September have made us take every possibility as a serious threat," said Mark Hurewitz, general manager of the Southgate Tower hotel in New York recently.

"It has raised our awareness. Employees and guests are much more tolerant of security measures. Before, it was ‘Why do we need this?' Now it is ‘Well, we understand.' It's a mind shift in the right direction."

HITEC saw a significant number of exhibitors showing off computer-based security systems controlling access points, room locks and closed-circuit camera set-ups, along with the usual safes and guest-controlled security.

It will be interesting to see how long the understandable interest in security lasts and how much of it will cross over to traditionally more security-conscious Europeans.

Vending machines

The traditional image of vending machines is of the coin-in-the-slot type, but huge advances in "smart" technology means this image is seriously outdated.

Stand-alone, unmanned machines can now dispense food and drinks with the swipe of a room key. They can be connected to the property management system and charged to the final bill.

That principle can also be applied to helping guests with general information and even dispensing towels and toiletries. It can be used for hand-held wireless systems carried by staff to order guests a drink, for example.

And, says Michael Kasavana, professor in hospitality business at Michigan State University, it could go a long way to solving some of the staffing problems faced by the industry worldwide.

"For decades vending equipment has been a hidden or auxiliary operation in the hospitality environment," he says. "Few operators have noticed vending machine reliability, efficiency or opportunity. As the labour market remains tight, replacement of staff with sophisticated unmanned distribution technology may begin to appear more attractive."

Vending machine technology, or v-commerce as it has become known, is big business in the US and is making headway in Europe. Done well it can genuinely increase the service available to the hotel guest and will become more and more noticeable in the next few years.

And the rest…

The subjects touched on above are just a brief glimpse of what's going on in the US, and what's starting to make an impact here. There are, of course, plenty of more futuristic things to speculate about.

Computers embedded in our clothes, for example, will mean even more information about your guests. There's even genuine 3-D TV being developed which should make those video-conferencing sessions a bit more interesting.

Internet

No look forward in hospitality technology can be done without mentioning the Internet. It is still the single biggest thing to happen to the industry since a telephone turned up in reception. But while integrating its technology into the hotel industry continues, there is a concerted move to treat it as the business tool it has always been.

For example, hotel groups have been offering available rooms on their Web sites for some years now, but only recently have they begun to look at the pricing structures surrounding it. There have been enough examples of customers being confused by differing rates offered through different media that big players have begun to take notice.

In the past couple of months, Starwood, Cendant and Six Continents have all issued online guarantees declaring that if you book through their Web sites you will get the lowest rate available on the Internet for their hotels.

"In today's economy of shrinking budgets, we understand the value of online price comparisons," says Tom Seddon, senior vice-president of strategic services, Six Continents Hotels. "But that's what this initiative is about - restoring guests' confidence that they will always get the best possible rate when booking directly with us, ultimately instituting their continued return to our brands."

Of course, the cynics among us might say they should have been doing this for at least five years. Each group also provides a long list of conditions for this claim that make interesting reading but in principle it shows they're finally beginning to catch up with the true masters of the Internet - airlines.