What is Hospitality? 6 Best Tools to Elevate Customer Service

No two people are bound to the same meaning of hospitality.
For some, it means hosting fancy dinner parties and cocktail hours. For others, it’s inviting people over to watch the game with pizza and pretzels. Some might even think of it as having people over to do nothing in the same room at the same time.

But in a much larger sense, hospitality also exists outside our homes. The hospitality industry is a huge, sprawling industry that impacts people worldwide. If you manage a hotel, check out hotel management software to help make your daily operations run smoothly.

Sectors of hospitality 

The hospitality industry is a wide sector with a variety of businesses catering to travelers and tourists. It is an ever-evolving dynamic industry that plays a vital role in the global economy. It is typically divided into five sectors:

1. Accommodation

This sector encompasses all types of accommodations, including but not limited to luxury resorts, budget hotels, hostels, and bed and breakfasts. Hotels also offer a range of amenities besides stays, such as room service, fitness centers, and event spaces.

2. Food and beverage

All dining establishments, from fast food chains to high-end fine dining spaces, come under this sector. These businesses serve a variety of meals and drinks to customers with options for delivery and takeout. Food and beverage corners can be standalone or a part of hotels and other venues.

3. Travel and tourism

The travel and tourism segment of hospitality enables customers to plan and book their travel arrangements. It involves tour operators, travel agencies, and online travel booking sites. 

4. Meeting and events

The meeting and events sector is also known as MICE, short for meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions. It comprises businesses planning and coordinating events and meetings, such as event management companies, convention centers, and conference centers.

5. Leisure and entertainment 

This sector attracts millions of visitors annually and includes businesses that provide recreational and entertainment services to guests. Examples include theme parks, zoos, casinos, movie theaters, and sporting events. 

Why is hospitality important?

The hospitality industry largely relies on positive customer experience to remain operational. The friendly and generous treatment of guests is essential in a hospitality business to turn visitors into loyal customers. It also plays a vital role in the overall success of the organization. Providing guests with a positive experience encourages them to leave a good review and drive word-of-mouth marketing, which can bring new business and increase revenue.

In the case of hotels, hospitality includes everything from the initial greeting and check-in to the maintenance of guest rooms and the attentiveness and helpfulness of hotel staff. Hospitality in the hotel industry is critical because it significantly impacts a guest's decision to return to the hotel in the future. When guests feel valued and well taken care of, they are more likely to return to the same establishment and recommend it to others.

What is hospitality technology?

Technology in hospitality has revolutionized the industry, allowing everyday customers to book their hotel rooms, make restaurant reservations, and order food from the comfort of their couches. Well-implemented technology makes operations easier for both the customer and the business. Hospitality businesses can use the technology to prevent overbooked hotels, alert restaurant customers on the availability of their tables, and easily create kitchen tickets for orders placed online. 

Typically for restaurants, hospitality technology takes the form of restaurant POS software and restaurant management software. For hotels, hotel management software and channel management software are often used. Let's take a closer look at technology designed specifically for hotels.

Hotel management software

The best hotel management software helps hoteliers coordinate all aspects of their business. From guest check-in to accounting, hotel management software is intended to cover both guest-facing and back-office tasks. From check-in to turndown service, hotel management software ensures guests have the most enjoyable stay possible and that the staff can efficiently meet all the guests’ needs.

Functioning similarly to a property management tool, a good hotel management solution will provide end-to-end features to help a hotel run smoothly. In many instances, hotel management software will integrate with some, if not all, hospitality tools.

Channel management software

The internet has revolutionized the hospitality industry by making it easy for customers to book restaurant reservations and hotel stays from their homes. Entire websites are devoted to helping guests find and book the right hotel for them, so hotels are receiving bookings from potentially dozens of sources.

Channel management software consolidates all those bookings in one place so hotels can stay organized and avoid overbooking. Hotels can also use channel managers to gather valuable data based on customer activity across channels.

Unlike reservation software, channel management software is not accessible to the customer. Channel management platforms consolidate and organize reservations made across various platforms, including those made by travel agents and those contacting the hotel directly.

Concierge software

A hotel cannot function without guests, so ensuring those guests are happy and taken care of is a large priority of any hotel. With concierge software, concierges can easily organize guest requests, schedule activities, make reservations, and order any requested items.

Concierge software can also help create a central hub to coordinate schedules for various aspects of the hotel, such as the restaurant, room service, and spa.

Guest messaging software

Communicating with the guests and responding quickly to their queries via mobile phones is a great way to elevate customer service. Hotels can easily chat, text, or email guests from a centralized location with guest messaging software. Guests can choose the best way to be contacted, and a quick response from the hotel can ease any potential customer service issues before the customer gets upset.

Hotel reservation software

Making hotel reservations online has essentially become a norm. Creating that functionality for a hotel makes it much easier for guests and staff to add and organize reservations. Hotel reservation software provides the means to make online reservations available and ensure that rooms are not overbooked.

Hotel revenue management system

Dynamic pricing is the new way of selling out. A hotel revenue management system (RMS) allows the staff to find the best hotel room prices and update them accordingly. The software considers and analyzes historical data, competitor data, and demand signals to map out competitive prices for different hotel rooms. Hoteliers can use this information to make intelligent pricing decisions and increase profitability and revenue.

Roll out the red carpet.

The hospitality industry plays a vital role in the economy and is only getting more robust with technological advances. While emerging technology may have disrupted traditional business models, it has opened up many new opportunities. Technology has made it easier for companies to provide all stakeholders with a seamless experience by increasing efficiency, convenience, and customer satisfaction. Hospitality businesses must stay updated and adapt to these changes to keep thriving and live up to customers' expectations. 

You've established your hospitality business and have just the right elements to crush your competitor; check out how building brand awareness can help you maximize profits.