Nearly half of hospitality operators flag this one issue – are you one of them?

For many hospitality businesses, servicing guests comes with increasing pressure. Keeping the fun, inviting atmosphere alive remains the same, but so does the weight of keeping operations afloat amid shrinking margins, stretched teams and rising guest expectations.

 

The sector’s challenges are nothing new but have intensified for operators over the past year, causing strain behind the scenes. VAT and national insurance rises, coupled with increasing inflation, have driven costs up, and staff shortages have continued to surge since the Budget.

 

Teams are being pushed to do more, quicker and with less.

 

Recent insights from a survey, from Access Hospitality, of hospitality operators show exactly where the strain lies.

 

Nearly half say their biggest operational challenge when running their business is identifying recurring issues that impact service quality. These hidden or unknown issues can snowball into bigger disruptions, increasing staff frustration, impacting the guest experience and ultimately profit.

 

Training or coaching staff and managing staff scheduling are other main themes that follow behind. Over a third of hotel businesses cite housekeeping scheduling as their biggest strain.  Even everyday but essential tasks like handling overwhelming admin remain a big pain point for many.

 

This is where operators say the biggest strains are on their business

Rank	Operational strains	% of hospitality businesses
1	Identifying recurring issues to improve service	48%
2	Training or coaching staff	42%
3	Staff scheduling	41%
4	Providing consistent feedback	39%
5	Overwhelming admin	34%
6	Housekeeping scheduling	33%
7	Automated review responses/support	32%

 

The insights reveal that most operational pressures come from people and processes. Behind every busy Sunday roast service or big event, operators know each operational task has to align to keep staff morale high and guests happy.

 

In every hospitality business, these challenges persist daily. Each little task adds to the strain on employee morale and on the systems helping them do the work.

 

And with nearly half of businesses wanting better visibility into business performance, they need a strong operational model that gives their team the freedom to do more.

 

How smart AI technology can help operators spot problems before they happen

That’s where technology, particularly AI-driven insights, is making a difference in helping operators preempt problems. It’s tech that feels invisible but gives you results that stand out.

 

Access Hospitality’s next-generation tool, Access Evo, takes away the guesswork, from employee sentiment tracking to real-time alerts for performance drops, helping operators avoid surprises so they know exactly what’s coming.

 

It brings together the entire operation into one seamless platform with a tailored dashboard that delivers real-time insights from multiple software tools, enabling smarter, faster decisions and measurable ROI. From creating more effective stock management to smoother ops, recurring issues and improvements are spotted sooner – including those you didn’t know existed.

 

Over 4 in 10 operators recognise staff scheduling as one of the biggest strains. However, Evo Copilot’s understanding of natural language allows operators to ask questions, such as ‘Will we need extra staff this weekend?”, saving an average of 6 crucial minutes per query.

 

Recurring issues are another main strain felt by operators, but Access Evo’s predictive insights spot these problems, delivering profit opportunities and meeting staffing needs before they can impact service. It handles the data, helping you make the right call in the moment with no delays, so you can focus on what matters most: keeping guests smiling.

 

Finally, everything is in one place, giving operators time back with 15-minute searches transforming into a 10-second response.

 

Champa Magesh, Managing Director of Access Hospitality comments, “Almost half of operators say they’re struggling to spot recurring issues before they affect service quality.

 

With Evo Copilot, we’ve seen teams save over 45 minutes of admin time, a strain that was felt by over a third of operators and cut login time by 60% – small changes that give more hours back every week.

 

These new AI tools will be a transformative moment for the industry. They will redefine how hospitality businesses manage their operations – delivering not only significant cost savings and reducing the biggest strains, but also something far more valuable – time.”

 

Find out more in the Access Hospitality AI in Hospitality Report