On November 20th, VinHMS had the pleasure of hosting an exclusive event in the historic city of Hue, Vietnam, to welcome the IT Managers from Meliá International. The evening was a perfect blend of professional engagement, cultural immersion, and networking opportunities, set against the backdrop of Hue’s rich heritage.

Introduction to VinHMS

The event commenced with a comprehensive introduction to VinHMS. Our team showcased our latest hospitality technology solutions designed to enhance guest experiences and streamline hotel operations. We highlighted our commitment to innovation and how our products can support Melia International’s objectives in the ever-evolving hospitality industry.

A Royal Culinary Experience

Guests were treated to an exquisite dinner featuring traditional Hue cuisine, renowned for its delicate flavors and artistic presentation. The meal was accompanied by live Royal Court Music, a UNESCO-recognized Intangible Cultural Heritage. This immersive experience allowed our guests to appreciate the historical significance and beauty of Hue’s royal traditions.

Exciting Prizes Lucky Draw

Adding an element of excitement to the evening, we hosted a lucky draw where attendees had the chance to win exclusive products sponsored by VinCSS. Congratulations to the lucky winners who took home these innovative security solutions!

Strengthening Partnerships

The event provided an excellent opportunity for VinHMS and Melia International’s IT Managers to strengthen relationships, exchange insights, and explore potential collaborations. Engaging discussions centered around enhancing guest experiences, implementing cutting-edge IT applications, and addressing security challenges in the hospitality sector.

Looking Ahead

We extend our heartfelt thanks to all attendees for making the evening memorable. VinHMS looks forward to continuing our partnership with Melia International and working together to drive innovation in the hospitality industry.

Nestled along the banks of the Perfume River, Hue is Vietnam’s former imperial capital, a city rich in history and cultural heritage. Our CiHMS team has had the privilege of exploring this incredible city while working with local hotels, and we were captivated by its timeless charm. Known for its impressive architecture, tranquil landscapes, and unique traditions, Hue captures the essence of Vietnam’s royal past. As the seat of the Nguyen Dynasty from 1802 to 1945, Hue was the political, cultural, and religious hub of Vietnam. The city’s historic Imperial City, a sprawling complex of palaces, temples, and gates, was the center of imperial life. Today, as a UNESCO World Heritage site, Hue continues to preserve and celebrate Vietnam’s royal heritage, inviting travelers to explore its majestic palaces, serene tombs, and refined culinary scene.

Echoes of Imperial Grandeur: Iconic Landmarks and Spiritual Symbols

One of the crown jewels of Hue is the Imperial Citadel, an impressive architectural marvel that served as the heart of the Nguyen Dynasty. As we walked through its grand gates, we could almost feel the echoes of history reverberating through the intricate palaces and temples. Enclosed by sturdy walls and moats, the citadel contains intricate palaces, pavilions, and temples, each showcasing the grandeur of imperial life. As you wander through the vast courtyards and admire the elaborate details, it’s easy to imagine the opulent ceremonies that once took place here.

Beyond the citadel, the Royal Tombs of the Nguyen emperors offer another glimpse into Hue’s imperial past. Visiting these tranquil spaces, we felt a deep connection to the legacy of the Nguyen Dynasty, surrounded by serene gardens and the beauty of intricate architecture. The tombs of Emperor Tu Duc and Emperor Khai Dinh are particularly noteworthy. Tu Duc’s tomb is surrounded by tranquil gardens, embodying traditional Vietnamese architecture, while Khai Dinh’s tomb blends Vietnamese and European influences, resulting in an elaborate and visually stunning site. To fully appreciate Hue’s imperial history, visiting these beautifully crafted tombs is essential.

Another iconic landmark is the Thien Mu Pagoda, which overlooks the Perfume River. Standing by the pagoda, with the gentle breeze from the river and the sound of temple bells, we were struck by the profound sense of peace that this spiritual site offers. This seven-story pagoda, the tallest in Vietnam, stands as a symbol of Hue’s spiritual heritage. The serene setting of Thien Mu offers a peaceful escape from the bustling city, inviting visitors to pause and reflect. The beauty of the pagoda lies not only in its architecture but also in its significance as a religious and cultural emblem of Hue. As you explore these landmarks, you’ll begin to see how Hue’s deep history and spirituality are intertwined.

A Symphony of Culture and Taste: Hue’s Legacy and Bold Cuisine

Hue’s cultural heritage extends beyond its architecture to its traditional arts and music. During our stay, we had the opportunity to attend a Hue Royal Court Music performance, and it was a mesmerizing experience that transported us back to the days of the Nguyen emperors. Hue Royal Court Music (Nha Nhac Cung Dinh Hue), recognized by UNESCO as part of Vietnam’s intangible cultural heritage, was once performed exclusively for the royal family. Today, visitors can experience these haunting melodies at cultural venues, where the music transports listeners back to the time of emperors. This unique art form is a reminder of Hue’s role as a cultural center, where art and tradition flourished under imperial patronage.

The royal cuisine of Hue is another aspect of its rich cultural legacy. We couldn’t resist indulging in the exquisite dishes, and every bite was a reminder of the culinary sophistication that once graced the imperial tables. It was an experience that connected us directly to Hue’s royal past. Many dishes were once crafted for the Nguyen emperors, featuring delicate flavors and intricate preparations. Banh Khoai (crispy pancakes) and Nem Lui (grilled pork skewers) are just a few of the royal dishes that continue to delight visitors. To truly experience Hue’s culinary heritage, dining at a traditional restaurant that specializes in royal cuisine is a must. As you savor these dishes, you’ll taste the sophistication that once graced the imperial table, offering a sensory journey through Hue’s storied past.

The culinary scene in Hue is as bold as its history, with dishes that reflect the city’s cultural influences. We found ourselves savoring Bun Bo Hue at a local eatery, where the vibrant flavors of the broth mirrored the rich culture that surrounds the city. Bun Bo Hue (spicy beef noodle soup) is one of the most famous local specialties, known for its bold flavors and aromatic broth. Another must-try is Com Hen (clam rice), a humble yet delicious dish that captures the essence of Hue’s riverside traditions. For a true taste of Hue’s culinary refinement, royal dishes like Che Sen (lotus seed sweet soup) and Nem Cong Cha Phuong (peacock spring rolls and phoenix pâté) showcase the elegance of the imperial court. These dishes, with their elaborate preparation and symbolic meaning, provide a glimpse into the sophistication of royal banquets. As you enjoy the flavors of Hue, you’ll discover the city’s rich blend of history and culinary artistry.

A Timeless Journey: Where History, Culture, and Culinary Delights Converge

Hue is a city where history, culture, and culinary traditions come together to create an unforgettable travel experience. As a team, we were amazed by how seamlessly each element of the city intertwined: from its majestic landmarks to the delicate notes of royal court music and the bold flavors of its cuisine. From exploring the majestic Imperial Citadel to savoring the delicate flavors of Hue’s royal cuisine, the city invites travelers to step back in time and immerse themselves in Vietnam’s imperial heritage. And just as you finish exploring one layer of Hue’s history, another awaits, whether it’s the tranquil tombs, the haunting court music, or the flavors that tell a story of royal grandeur. For those planning a visit, the best time to explore Hue is during the spring or autumn, when the weather is pleasant and the city comes alive with cultural festivals. Hiring a local guide can also enhance your experience, offering insights that make the journey through Hue even more enriching.

As the hospitality industry approaches 2030, it faces rapid changes driven by evolving guest expectations, technological advancements, and a growing focus on sustainability. To remain competitive in this dynamic environment, hospitality businesses must adopt strategies to future-proof their operations. The next decade offers significant opportunities for hotels to leverage new technologies, adopt sustainable practices, and meet the rising demand for personalized, tech-driven guest experiences. 

In this article, we’ll explore key trends shaping the future of hospitality and how hoteliers can prepare for the road ahead. 

Key Trends Shaping the Future of Hospitality 

Several trends are emerging that will reshape the hospitality landscape by 2030. These trends focus on improving guest experiences, boosting operational efficiency, and embracing sustainability. 

Personalization and Smart Technology 

Guests increasingly expect personalized services tailored to their preferences. By 2030, hotels will rely heavily on AI and data analytics to deliver customized experiences, from room settings to personalized service recommendations. Advanced hospitality management systems will be critical in gathering guest data and offering real-time insights to optimize service.

Sustainability as a Core Business Imperative 

Sustainability is becoming a core expectation rather than a trend. Hotels will need to reduce their environmental impact by adopting energy-efficient technologies and waste reduction strategies. Implementing sustainable practices not only cuts costs but also appeals to eco-conscious travelers. Hotels that embrace sustainable hospitality solutions will lead the way in this movement.

Contactless and Digital Guest Experiences 

Guests are demanding seamless, contactless interactions, including digital check-ins, mobile room keys, and contactless payments. These solutions offer convenience, safety, and efficiency, making them essential by 2030. Hotels can achieve these goals by adopting contactless solutions integrated with hospitality management systems.

Smart Infrastructure for Operational Efficiency 

Hotels will increasingly adopt IoT (Internet of Things) devices to monitor and manage energy use, automate room controls, and optimize resource management. This shift toward smart technology will not only enhance operational efficiency but also help hotels reduce costs while improving guest comfort.

The Role of Technology in Future-proofing Hospitality 

Technology will be the backbone of future-proofing hospitality businesses, allowing them to remain adaptable and competitive in a rapidly evolving market. 

Advanced Property Management Systems (PMS) 

Cutting-edge property management systems will help hotels manage bookings, room allocations, billing, and customer data with greater efficiency. These systems provide real-time monitoring, enabling faster decision-making and better guest service. Learn more about the evolution of PMS in Introducing the New Hospitality Management System: CiHMS and Its Journey from the Start. 

AI and Automation 

Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation will drive efficiency in guest interactions and hotel operations. From AI-powered chatbots that handle guest inquiries to automated housekeeping schedules, these technologies will reduce labor costs and improve service quality. 

Sustainability with IoT Integration 

Sustainability will remain a key focus as hotels integrate IoT devices to manage energy consumption, monitor water usage, and reduce waste. Smart hospitality management systems will help hotels achieve their sustainability goals while lowering operational costs. 

Why Sustainability Is a Competitive Advantage?

Sustainability not only benefits the environment but also offers a competitive advantage for hotels. Eco-conscious travelers are increasingly choosing to stay at hotels that prioritize environmental responsibility. By adopting sustainable practices, hotels can reduce costs, attract more guests, and enhance their brand reputation. 

Sustainable hotels benefit from tax incentives, government grants, and positive guest reviews. Travelers are willing to pay more for eco-friendly accommodations, and hotels that embrace sustainable hospitality will stand out in the marketplace. 

Preparing for 2030: Opportunities for Hoteliers 

By 2030, the hospitality industry will be dominated by hotels that embrace technology, sustainability, and personalized guest experiences. Future-proofing your business means investing in smart infrastructure, adopting eco-friendly practices, and using advanced technology to meet guest expectations. 

Hotels that prepare now will be positioned to thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape. Implementing advanced hospitality management systems like those offered by The Future of Hospitality Management System Is Here Yet will give hoteliers the tools they need to succeed in the next decade. 

The technology revolution had allowed the hospitality industry to evolve and transform completely from their traditional operation model into a personalized seamless customer-oriented experience, starting right when the customer journey begins. The epidemic has sped up the implementation process as well as the intervention of customers’ acceptance, opening a new chapter of the contactless era in hospitality.

Pre-check-in allows hotels to comply with strict COVID-19 regulations on distances and hygiene while making customers feel safe and secure.

How does pre-check-in actually work? Why isn’t pre-check-in frequently offered enough? Are you planning to introduce this technology to your property? Let’s cut the queue and dive down into what this technology is really made of.

The ultimate guide to hotel pre-check-in

Hotel Pre-check-in, what is it?

Pre-check-in allows the hotel guests to proceed with their check-in process on their mobile devices prior to their arrival. Hotels usually activate the pre-check-in functionality on their app 24 hours ahead.

Hotels can activate pre-check-in functionality on their app 24hrs ahead.

Pre-check-in is the latest feature developed for our CiHMS Guest App, a part of our CiHMS PMS. We specially designed this functionality to simplify the checking-in process for staff while offering guests the flexibility to handle the check-in in whichever way they indulge.

Guests have to fill in their contact details, their reservation information and provide personal identification documents. A full-face selfie can be mandatory for verification, it automatically syncs this data to the guest profile on the hotel’s database and enables guests’ facial recognition as soon as they arrive at the lobby.

Depending on the hotel’s preferences and policies, guests can also select the desired vacant hotel room, early check-in or late check-out request, luggage storage payment, other added-value hotel packages such as spas, meals, city tours, etc.

Once completing the check-in procedure, guests may receive their room’s number and digital room key right on their app’s confirmation screen, or choose to pick up their room key physical card at the front desks. Many hotels prefer not to offer guests room numbers until they physically make it to the lobby, in order to give flexibility to their rooms’ allotments.

What are the benefits of pre-check-in?

Your guests just love it

A Data-Driven Look at Hospitality’s Recovery in 2020 report had shown 71% of consumers are more likely to stay in a hotel offering self-service tech. Imagine after the long commute to your destination, the last thing you would want to do is get in line and do all the paperwork onsite. Not ideal for anyone in particular. Say goodbye to the long busy waiting queue at the front desk, get instant access to the hotel room upon arrival. It’s definitely convenient.

Online check-in gives guests the freedom and comfort of checking in at their own pace.

Hotel staff adores it

The pre-check-in reduces the administrative workload for the front desk staff tremendously, much faster with group pre-check-in. A pre-check-in functionality integrated into your hotel PMS, like CiHMS deliver reliable automation, smooth synchronization, and alleviate labor shortage issue with delightful traveler’s experiences. Guests are asked to provide their expected arrival time, which allows hotels to better plan and allocate hotel staff’s availability to welcome guests.

Improving customer relationship

As the pre-check-in has done the majority of the work, like collecting guests’ ID, contact details, booking information, etc., your staff can focus on connecting with the customers at a much higher level, taking time to actually understand their personal needs and expectations, overall, better cater to your guests with exceptional comfort.

A great way to upsell or cross-sell

Guests might be skeptical during the booking process where they often compare prices, features, hotel services before making the final decision. However, they are most inclined to purchase a room upgrade, spa treatments, city tours, pick-up service, set meals closer to their arrival date. The decision-making can proceed much faster at home rather than at the busy front desk.

Social distancing compliance boosts guest confidence

Pre-check-in is the perfect solution to keep your hotel in check with the social distancing regulations. It limits physical person-to-person interaction to a minimum, making guests feel safe and secure. Hotels might integrate contactless/cashless payment or facial recognition technology to take this up a notch. With a cloud-based hospitality management solution like CiHMS, this can easily be done.

With Pre-check-in, guests may proceed cashless payment with facial recognition technology integrated right on the hotel app.

Any disadvantages to putting into reconsideration

Less human contact and interaction

While the advantage of pre-check-in is allowing guests to feel safe and secure by avoiding physical contact with hotel staff altogether, it can’t help create the invisible untouchable personal bubble surrounding guests throughout their stays. For business travelers, things can be tough as they have been used to communicating and exchanging stories with hotel employees on their trips in the past. Many would prefer the traditional check-in process, as they truly enjoy human interaction.

Unstable internet connection

Similar to any hospitality contactless technology, it is required to have sufficient good quality internet coverage across your properties. Otherwise, the cloud computing hospitality management solution won’t be synchronized and unable to work properly. Making sure no internet disruption and an outage is significantly important in implementing pre-check-in technology.

New software investment and comprehensive training for the front desk

Your current hospitality management might not offer pre-check-in functionality, merely because they haven’t started with the development yet. Looking out for a new pre-check-in software installation might be messy, expensive, and simply insufficient for your current hotel operations at the moment. Leveraging whether this upgraded feature is worth the process.

Should you or should you not?

Pre-arrival is an essential touchpoint in the customers’ journey. It happens to be the first impression guests have of your hotel even before they get there. Offering guests, a pre-check-in service shows your efforts and intentions in delivering complete customer satisfaction and tapping in personalized customers’ experiences proactively.

Hospitality is known for its competitiveness, if you fail to keep up with the comparable competitors in the area offering the latest technology there is, most likely, your guests will choose them over you in a heartbeat. Being a highly customer-centric industry, adopting innovative technologies to deliver experiences that your customers are happy with, as their demands grow.

It might surprise you how easy it is to get started with pre-check-in. There is a wide range of hospitality management solutions offering this feature as an added feature in their system. Ask your hotel PMS providers for this option, or contact our team to book a demo to discover the possibilities of contactless pre-check-in for your hotels.

24 February 2022 , Meliá Hotels International, is set to become one of the largest international hotel brands in Vietnam through a new collaboration with the country’s largest domestic hotel owner, Vinpearl. Melia first entered Vietnam back in 1999 with the opening of Meliá Hanoi. Since then, Meliá has expanded its market domestically and in the Asia Pacific, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand.  

While taking over the management from VinPearl, Meliá had decided to continue the collaboration with VinHMS as the hospitality management solution provider for the Meliá Vinpearl hotel chains and resorts in Vietnam.   

The cloud-based hospitality management solution CiHMS is a product developed by VinHMS – a Vietnam technology company specializing in developing and providing digital transformation solutions that are globally certified by international standards. CiHMS is a complete solution for all hotel operation needs, powerful and highly integrated. The advantage of CiHMS is its exceptional stability, quick implementation with simple setup & installation in a short time.   

Main features of CiHMS Property Management Solution

CiHMS is fully equipped to optimize and manage all your business operations seamlessly. Real-time synchronization throughout the system from your front desk to maintenance & housekeeping right on your staff’s mobile devices. Multidimensional and multimedia integrations along with facial recognition technology, OCR technology, or QRMenu – the future of FnB boosts hotel’s performances while limiting physical interaction between customers and hotel employees to a minimum, ensuring customers feel safe and secured in this sensitive time of COVID-19 outbreaks. The latest feature – MICE connects the reservation system banquet department to organize meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions, enabling hotels to centralize all these functionalities on just one single platform.   

The hospitality management solution – CiHMS is always up-to-date with the latest technology, ensuring Meliá meets operations and business’ constantly changing needs. In addition, CiHMS is extremely safe, highly reliable and secured, and is certified with PCI/DSS level 3. VinHMS was the first member of HTNG – Hotel Technology Next Generation Association in Vietnam.   

Up to now, VinHMS has successfully implemented the hospitality management solution CiHMS for 40+ hotels domestically, including Vinpearl, Naturekey, Andochine, and more. Moreover, other digital transformation solutions such as CiAMS – Asset Management Solutions, CiTravel – Hotels Management solution for SMEs have been deployed simultaneously for varied clients across the nation. “All digital transformation solutions provided by VinHMS aims for breakthroughs and feasibilities, striving to help Vietnam enterprises close up the technology gaps and compete with the international businesses”, said Mr. Hoang Nguyen – CEO of VinHMS. “Although the recent COVID-19 pandemic made such a huge impact on the hospitality overall, it was a perfect time for the industry to kick-start their digital transformation journey, to ease out the operations expenses, boost up your room occupancy, revenue as well as customer experience.”  

Information:

VinHMS is a technology company with talented engineers and dedicated business experts specializing in high-quality technology solutions and services to help businesses achieve their strategic goals with optimized resources. VinHMS currently provides various operations management solutions, such as CiHMS – a platform that manages all operational needs of hotels & hotel chains, CiTravel – a complete hotel management system for small hotels, CiAMS – asset management solutions for enterprises, and more. 

Source: https://english.thesaigontimes.vn/melia-vinpearl-expansion-powered-by-the-complete-hospitality-management-solution-cihms/ 

According to the latest statistics from Google Destination Insights, international search volume for Asia hospitality increased significantly in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. This trend continued into 2023 and 2024, with the Asia Pacific region experiencing robust growth in the hospitality sector. In 2023, the region saw a strong recovery driven by domestic demand and the return of mainland Chinese tourists. By 2024, hotel investment in Asia Pacific remained resilient despite global economic headwinds, with significant interest in markets like Japan, Australia, and Korea.

This growth signals a robust recovery for the tourism industry, which is becoming one of the leading economic sectors in the region. The positive impact on the hotel sector is evident as hoteliers adapt their operations to the new normal.

A significant increase in international searches for Asia hospitality confirms that hoteliers must be ready to welcome international guests back soon. Statistics generated from Google Destination Insights highlight this trend.

Hotel operations: The concept

Hotel operations encompass organizing, managing, and arranging all hotel activities, from human resources to revenue management and hotel checklists. Effective hotel operations are fundamental to a successful hotel, requiring hoteliers to understand their business thoroughly, excel at problem-solving, and work under high pressure.

How to improve your hotel operations

With rapid advancements in digital technologies, traditional hotel operations models are becoming obsolete. Overwhelmed front desks, constant housekeeping requests, and in-room services on standby amidst ongoing labor shortages prompt hoteliers to seek optimal hospitality management solutions. These solutions aim to fill labor gaps, speed up conversion rates, and improve revenue efficiently.

Manual paperwork still exists in traditional hotel operations, unexpectedly slowing down the entire system.

Manual paperwork still exists in traditional hotel operations, it slows down the entire system unexpectedly.

The indispensable hospitality management solution – CiHMS

CiHMS is the leading cloud-based hospitality management solution on the market, that advances your hotel operations and drive your total revenue at its full capacity. This hotel PMS serves as the centralized system, empowering hoteliers to perform day-to-day functions, and manage crucial administrative tasks and reservations. The system enables hotels to streamline processes within departments in real-time, synchronize simultaneously and monitor hotel operations status at ease.

Integrated with a Central Reservation System, CiHMS handles all bookings and reservations across all distribution channels, automatically generates detailed reports for hoteliers to keep up with the hotel operations in real-time, updates room status and occupancy rate in order to strategically come up with a business pricing strategy in time, striving to maximize your revenue. CiHMS is also integrated with a Distribution Channel Manager to connect your booking system with hundreds of OTA channels globally. Synchronize room rate, allotments, and availabilities across the platform, avoiding unnecessary human data entry errors.

The powerful hospitality management solution, like CiHMS, has everything your hotels have been looking for in terms of operations. It automates the daily operations procedures such as pre-check-in, check-out through the mobile app, submitting and processing customers’ requests right on the system, delegates and distributes tasks automatically to help you and hotel employees to focus on your guests.

Mobile devices in hotel operations

According to the statistics from Digital Vietnam 2021 by We Are Social và Hootsuite, Internet Users in Vietnam have increased to 551,000 users between 2020 and 2021. With the current growth rate, it is much easier to approach potential customers through Digital Marketing, such as applying social media networks trends in hospitality marketing strategy.

Look out for the latest social media trends to capture and convert all your potential customers without spending a lump sum on advertising.

When your hotel operations run at full capacities, the workloads resulting from these operations shall escalate, and data storage is expanding by the minute. Manually performing tasks and procedures will no longer make sense. It only creates chaos with unavoidable human errors, unable to update the current workload’s status, seemingly losing track of management. Those are a few of the originated reasons for the introduction of cloud-computing technology in hospitality.

Thanks to this technology, hotels can access and update directly on the hotel management system right from their mobile devices, whenever and wherever they are. With the conveniences, portability, and extremely friendly user interface, hotel employees can even check-in / check-out for guests as needed. All changes are synchronized immediately, easily interact with guests, enhance their experiences tremendously, engage customer trust and strengthen your brand reputation. This also gives such a professional vibe, builds customers’ loyalty genuinely, and effortlessly promotes your guests coming back for a future stay.

Cybersecurity in hospitality

Many hoteliers have underestimated the importance of this matter. Cybersecurity has become the most critical challenge for the hospitality industry in this modern era. Due to the characteristics of the hotel sector, a great deal of travelers’ personal data is involved regularly, and guests have occurred to question the privacy protection policy at any hotel they visit, especially regarding their transaction information. Apart from credit card leakage, cybersecurity frauds go as far as WiFi network’s security being compromised. Taking advantage of lacking cybersecurity, attackers can gain access to all guest’s private devices, such as mobiles, laptops, tablets, etc.

Cybersecurity issues have constantly alerted hoteliers to take this into consideration seriously.

Even the big chain hotels like Hilton, Marriot, and Trump Hotel had confronted the attacks not once, but multiple times. These damages hotels financially outrageously and their brands horribly. For the recent attack, Marriot had to pay a fine of 18.4 million British pounds for losing over 500 million guests’ data worldwide. It alerts hotels to start taking cybersecurity seriously, then how to ensure to protect your guests’ data discreetly and store them tightly secured? Join our April Webinar with the topic on DATA PRIVACY PROTECTION IN THE HOTEL SECTOR, live at 10 am on April 21st, 2022. Register now at this link to hear the experts’ opinions and recommendations on this issue.

Based on the latest research of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the sudden drop of 49.1% in the global tourism venue in 2020, make up for a loss of 4,5 trillion US dollars, projected to rise 31.7% for the year 2022 as the results of re-opening borders for tourisms ever since the epidemic broke out. Although the traditional hotel operations might still work occasionally, they might not maximize hotel capacities while the tourism industry resumes its high peak. Is it worth sticking to the old school? Or be brave and ride the new trend with the cloud-based hospitality management solution like any other hotel? The solution “grows you grow” with great flexibility and ridiculously functional while staying exceptionally convenient. CiHMS – the only cloud computing hospitality management solution you don’t want to miss. Contact our team for a demo and unlock your property’s full potential.

If we have briefly talked about AI technology in hospitality in the previous blog, in today’s blog we shall be digging a bit deeper into how AI application in the hospitality industry and its potential to manage hotel operations efficiently.

Robots in the move

The majority of robots in use today are performing human tasks precisely, especially after the pandemic outbreaks to reduce unnecessary physical contact to a minimum and ensure guests stay safe and secured while keeping the current labor force at bay. Vietnam has only applied robotic technology to the manufacturing industry and is skeptical of the service industry, plus the initial upfront investment in robotic technology ain’t nowhere near affordable. Hence, putting robots into your business daily practice eventually gains competitive advantages over your competitors. Guests shall be curious enough to find the need in visiting your hotels and try out your services, boosting your revenues and profits tremendously.

The applications of AI can be seen in hospitality easily through having robots serving in public areas, delivery services, etc.

In-room voice assistant

We all might have been familiar with voice recognition technology such as Siri, Google Assistant, or Alexa – the virtual assistants developed by Amazon, which have been making life at home a lot more comfortable: from browsing the web, weather, checking the time, setting timers, turning on TVs, changing the light brightness level to just about anything you can imagine. Bringing voice assistance technology into the hotel room to enhance guest in-room experiences significantly.

According to a recent study from Juniper Research, it shows 8.4 billion mobile users shall be interacting with the virtual voice assistant in the year 2024. This technology plays an important role in connecting hotel employees with their guests. Simply input their requests via the in-room virtual assistant integrated equipment. Thanks to AI technology, these virtual assistants can communicate and confirm guests’ requests before filing them onto the system to get them to queue up.

Once successfully filing these requests, the virtual assistant shall be following through with a set of procedures given by the hospitality management solution, like CiHMS. The request then gets filtered and direct to the related department to be carried out promptly. It cuts down the human labors time in delegating tasks, communications, and more. You’ll be surprised how easily these tasks get sorted out.

Bringing virtual voice assistant experience into hospitality makes guests to settling in easier in a much more comfortable way.

Room occupancy maximization

Thanks to the support of AI technology, the room rate, and room management can easily be solved, such as Insufficient room inventories and unable to optimize room occupancy to an optimum rate due to an overhauled reservation system. With machine-learning ability, AI can help hotels to be in control of targeting the ideal audiences, arrange the room reservations adequately, limit the time gap between two bookings of the same room, and lower the risk of having an empty room stand-by. Mobile friendly allows housekeeping staff to attend to room service requests quickly as soon as the guests are checking out, and update the room status simultaneously across the system easily with the cloud-based hospitality management solution, like CiHMS.

Optimize room rate and room occupancy forecast

Marketing and Sales Departments can quickly get the promotional campaign, available discounts for membership, etc on the hotel management system. The hospitality management solution integrated with AI technology shall automatically detect the price pattern, and match it with current hotel operations and labor force to start “learning” the hotel inside and out to have a hotel room occupancy forecast ahead of time. It allows the system to come up with a strategic operations plan based on the data analyzed from the campaign, and suggest the optimum room rate for guests. The system can also recommend a proper advertising campaign on social networks, one of the surging and well-loved trends in hospitality, to target and convert potential leads into actual customers.

Reports regarding room rate management generated from the machine-learn process of the AI technology can easily be found in the complete hospitality management solution, such as CiHMS. For instance, once in a while, your guests are in need of postponing their reservation due to whatever personal reason it might be, either their flights are delayed or canceled from bad weather, as soon as you update this information onto the hotel PMS, the room status shall be synchronized across the system, as well as on OTA channels. AI technology lets the hotel run short promotion packages for these outstanding rooms on all booking platforms, search engines, social networks, etc. to get this room filled as soon as possible. Make sure no room is left vacant while maximizing hotel revenue at its best.

AI boosts hotel room occupancy rate and maximizes reservations across OTA channels.

Be in check with the room rate strategy from the competitors, monitor your hotel pricing plan, and catch up with the trends to optimize your room occupancy and rate effectively, all thanks to the artificial intelligence found in the powerful Room Rate Management System within our cloud-based hospitality management solution CiHMS.

Personalize guest experiences

Integrating the AI in the hotel management system shall enable customers’ data such as their spending preferences and behaviors during their stay to be stored and analyzed by a set of algorithms. It may recommend guests to take a questionnaire or survey, collecting an adequate amount of information to gather customer insights and use them to deliver an exceptional personalized guest experience in their next stay like: suggest appropriate room packages within their financial budget, favorite value-added services, meal plans and more. The customers feel appreciated and well taken care of, while hoteliers can maximize their profits by successful upsell and cross-sell without being oversold.

Applying AI technology in the hospitality industry now can be found in leading hospitality management solutions on the market, like CiHMS. Be up with the innovative technology on the market and customers’ expectations set your hotels apart from the others. A step up with a future trend, and a step closer to a smart hotel model.

The vaccine passport concept has gained popularity in the new normal, and become essential for any traveler in order to enter a foreign country without following through with the mandatory quarantine procedure. Ever since its first introduction, the vaccine passport has brought new light and hope to tourism and hospitality in particular, and the economics worldwide in general. In Vietnam, we have implemented the vaccine passport very early on, as the government’s efforts in reopening the border, retrieving the economy post-pandemic.

What is a vaccine passport?

A vaccine passport is a vaccination certification also known as an immunity passport for those who have had at least 2 doses of COVID-19 vaccines (according to the International health regulation on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases). It is a special pass that determines a healthy individual who does not contain any contagious disease and owns a privilege to obtain a travel visa entrance to a foreign country.

Vaccine passports can be issued in paper form, card, or digitally through an app. In order to get a vaccine passport, a resident has to comply with the followings:
• Fully vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines
• Negative with SARS-CoV-2 virus certified by an authorized health organization with a laboratory test of RT-PCR/RT-LAMP within 72 hrs before or a COVID-19 antigen rapid test 24 hrs prior to the departure time.

Vaccine passports have been introduced in recent times and receive major concern regarding whether or not it’s the ideal solution.

The benefits of vaccine passports

As stated by the ICAO’s report, the number of international passengers has decreased by 60% in 2020 compared to 2019. Many air flights have suffered through this sudden drop.

According to the UNWTO Travel restrictions report, 46 destinations (accountable for over 21% of destinations worldwide) had to close their borders and stop welcoming passengers. Which, 26 destinations have not reopened their border yet ever since the end of April 2020. 55 destinations (approximately 25% of the total destinations worldwide) have been extremely selective in opening the border up for tourism. 112 destinations (accountable for 52% of the world’s destinations) request PCR testing and COVID-19 antigen rapid test results upon entrance.

In order to recover the domestic and international economy, apart from being in control of the current epidemic situation, applying vaccine passport brings the great benefits:
• Accelerate the downturn of the economical industries post-pandemic. Establishing the travel and economic business exchange activities in the new normal.
• Relaxing strict social distancing policies, resuming public services, manufacturing, and businesses.
• Achieving herd immunity allows nations to lift all public restrictions on public gatherings, and activities.
• Saving time, crazy expenses, and labor in mandatory quarantine procedures upon immigration entrance.

Vaccine passport speeds up the immigration process and cut down the financial burden on the nation.

The disadvantages of vaccine passports

COVID-19 vaccines have been speedily administered to billions of people worldwide, the government has carefully considered acknowledging immunization certification as the key to opening their borders and resuming economic activities, relaxing the strict social curbs. The argument for implementing such has raised massive attention due to the following concerns:

Personal privacy is the trade-off?

Vaccine passports sparked the debates on being immunization proof for international travel. While digital health certificates safeguard the reopening and fast-track economic growth, valid concerns on protecting the privacy of personal health from private institutes and organizations who have been trying to process and collect these data for their own misused purposes. Upon the possible security breaches, the implementation of vaccine passports should ensure a protection measure has been kept in place.

Balancing the economic growth and COVID-19 control

Governments worldwide are in a dire dilemma of consciously protecting their citizens’ health status while struggling to salvage their economy. After countless social distancing and hard lockdown strategies, to pick up the downslope economy, the COVID-19 vaccines campaign seems to be the only way out to many countries. Nonetheless, this does not guarantee COVID-19 is controlled. The recent wake of the COVID-19 outbreak in China is putting a number of their cities completely shut down, closing all borders trying to contain and wrap up this crisis. The negative impacts of this COVID-19 wave on the China economy resulted in great disruption.

The modern form of discriminatory

Socially speaking, the vaccination certification helps to accelerate the economical aspects such as retail, hotels, tourism, manufacturing, etc. However, it somewhat unintentionally creates a two-tier society based on individual health choices. A vaccine passport is subject to indirect discrimination, granting the liberty of travel and public availability to the one who is certified. Governments in developing countries have been racing against vaccine coverages, trying to minimize this invisible discrimination. Meanwhile, in underdeveloped countries where the vaccines supply is moderate, this unspoken discrimination might last for some time.

The current COVID-19 vaccines supply has been a burden, resulting in the uneven distribution of COVID-19 vaccines around the world. High GDP countries are having the “priority” to get vaccinated compared to others, granting their citizens the freedom of travel and access to public facilities promptly, making the discrimination prominently clear. Although it’s a temporary matter, this issue has become a political issue in the US, receiving backlash from the medically vulnerable group of people.
Vaccination Passport Expiration Date barriers

Apart from being discriminating, the expiration date of vaccination certification has been announced while the world is still deep in the argument about the 3rd booster dose. It created an invisible barrier for not only the international travelers but also imports & exports, airplanes, shipping, etc. industry as well.

Indirect discrimination is triggered upon vaccine passport implementation.

Tourists have to pay expensive fees to complete laboratory lab tests if the regulation on 270 days till the expiration of the vaccine certificate is passed despite which type of vaccines they took.

Tourists have to pay upfront multiple laboratory lab test fees to get their vaccine passport renewal once the regulation on 270 days expiration of vaccine passports is passed despite whichever vaccines you took. After the 2nd dose of COVID-19 vaccines or COVID-19 Recovery certificate, tourists are allowed to enter those countries’ accepted vaccine passports program with a negative result of COVID-19 testing, 72hrs before entry for PCR testing, and 48hrs prior to with COVID-19 antigen rapid test.

Ms. Jenny Southan – the Founder and CEO of Globetrender – a forecasting travel trends company said: “Vaccination expiration date has negatively affected the tourists’ mental state. While the economy is experiencing a downturn, this definitely is not a smart move”. She strongly stated the more tricky and complicated traveling documents get, the slower the tourism and hospitality recovery in the year 2022.

Vaccine passports in Vietnam

In Vietnam, a vaccine passport is only accepted for those who are vaccinated with approved doses by WHO (World Health Organization), the FDA ( the United States Food and Drug Administration), the EMA (European Medicines Agency), and the Vietnam Minister of Health emergency approval guidance – said Ms. Le Thi Thu Hang – the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press conference on October 10th, 2021.

Ms. Hang believed vaccine passports are a feasible strategy to actively restart the national economy. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had collaborated with the Ministry of Health to publish temporary guidelines and instructions to approve vaccination certification and COVID-19 recovery certification for foreigners, and announce these approval forms to 44 nations and territories.

Vietnam vaccine passport is accepted in 19 countries around the globe.

The Ministry of Health had issued an official form and procedure for issuing the vaccine passport, effective on December 20th, 2021. Vaccine passport certification shall be encoded into QRcode, which will expire within 12 months after the initially created day. The government had approved piloting international tourists using a vaccine passport to enter Phu Quoc and Kien Giang Province at the very beginning of this program, then expanded to the rest of the nation later on. Vietnam’s vaccine passport has been approved in 19 countries across the globe including Australia, Belarus, Cambodia, Egypt, India, Japan, Maldives, New Zealand, Palestine, the Philippines, Saint Lucia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the United Kingdom., USA, Iran, and Malaysia. Vietnam also loosened their entrance COVID-19 testing requirement by accepting vaccine passports with a PCR negative 72hrs before the departure time or a 24hrs negative result of COVID-19 antigen rapid test.

Travel post-pandemic comes with both opportunities and challenges for all businesses. In the competition for a market share of international tourism during the “living safely with COVID-19”, you’ll miss your chance of being one step behind the others. The vaccine coverage has rapidly escalated over the last quarter, Vietnam has officially opened its international tourism as of March 15th, just in time for the neighboring countries to reopen their tourism again. The opportunity cost of hesitating at this phase is way above our head, narrowing the economic growth in the long run.

The acceptance of vaccine passports globally has opened up a new era post-pandemic. This encourages travelers to favor the contactless trend, Staycation trend, wellness travel trends to the nature-oriented areas/countries, etc. Hoteliers have to continuously keep up to date to stay afloat, ready to transform and adapt to the new normal. CiHMS – the ultimate hospitality management solution for your hotel will help you “stay in the game” – ready to rock the upcoming travel season.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) was first introduced at The Dartmouth Conference in 1956. Initially, its potential in business and operations was not fully recognized due to its developmental stage. Fast forward to today, AI has become a cornerstone in various industries, especially tourism and hospitality. This article explores how AI fits into hotel technology and whether it can completely replace human roles in the sector. Let’s dive into today’s blog and get this sort out with CiHMS.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

AI encompasses a broad range of computer science focused on creating smart machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. This includes learning, memory, and decision-making. Core elements of AI include machine learning and big data. Common examples of AI in daily life include virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot, email spam filters, and personalized recommendations on platforms like Netflix.

AI technology has been surrounding human beings for the last decades without us acknowledging it.

Why does AI matters?

The tourism and hospitality industry has faced numerous challenges in recent years, including labor shortages and the need for enhanced guest experiences. AI has emerged as a crucial solution to these challenges, helping to alleviate labor shortages and streamline operations.

Hotels were shutting down as the result of the social distancing curbs across the country, hardly meeting 20% occupancy compared to the previous period. As a matter of fact, even well-thought-out plans and scarcity marketing policy such as half-price room rate promotions, buy 1 get 1 extra night off for free, etc. didn’t seem to work out. Hoteliers had to come up with budget cuts and excessive laying off to survive through the pandemic. Consequently, the labor shortage has become a major issue for the industry alarmingly. AI technology has become the optimal solution amidst this chaos.

Contributing to relieving the labor shortage crisis, AI technology has helped hotel employees to executive tasks in a much shorter timeframe.

Thanks to AI, your front desk shall no longer have to be hesitated among welcoming a long-line of guest check-in, picking up the disturbing phone ringing, determining whether or not to answer the series of questions from the guests standing by, or your colleagues. All the phone calls shall be routed to the relevant departments based on the algorithm of past phone calls. Guests can proceed with online check-in right at the phone and skip the front desk. All housekeeping requests are synchronized across the system. Perspectively, with AI technology as a back-bone, hotels are getting very close to the smart hotel model – the ideal hotel model of the future.

Applications of AI in the hospitality

AI has revolutionized hotel operations by automating tasks and improving efficiency. For instance, AI can handle guest check-ins, route phone calls to appropriate departments, and synchronize housekeeping requests. This reduces the workload on staff and enhances the guest experience. AI-powered systems are also used to forecast room occupancy rates and optimize pricing strategies, maximizing revenue.

• Robots: Used for delivering room service, cleaning, and providing guest information, reducing physical contact and enhancing safety. For instance, Hilton Hotels introduced “Connie,” a robot concierge powered by IBM’s Watson AI. Connie assists guests with information about hotel amenities, local attractions, and dining options, providing a unique and interactive guest experience.
• Predictive Analytics: AI forecasts room occupancy and helps in strategic planning to maximize profits. AI algorithms analyze data from various hotel systems to predict when maintenance is needed, preventing equipment failures and reducing downtime.
• Personalization: AI analyzes guest data to offer personalized experiences, improving guest satisfaction.
• Real-Time Translation: Solutions like CiHMS offer real-time translation chat via QR Service Center, supporting more than 103 languages, enhancing communication with international guests.
• Analyze guests’ data to elevate their experience on future stays.
• And more can be found throughout hotel operations that CiHMS shall go into more details in the later blogs.

Challenges and Considerations

Despite its advantages, AI is not without flaws. Complex algorithms and machine learning models can still make errors. Additionally, the financial investment required to implement AI can be significant, making it crucial for hotels to balance costs and benefits effectively.

Conclusion

AI is now an integral part of the hospitality industry, driving operational efficiency and enhancing guest experiences. Solutions like CiHMS have demonstrated significant improvements in hotel performance and revenue. As AI continues to evolve, its role in the hospitality sector is expected to grow even further.

Thanks to AI’s high reliability, safety, and security, CiHMS has delivered exceptional growth for hotels’ revenue and performances. Interested in our solution? Contact our consultants to dig a bit deeper into CiHMS.

Up to February 2022, mobile users worldwide have reached 7.26 billion users, accounting for 91.62% of the world population. 4.15 billion are currently active on their social networks with an average usage of 145 minutes per day. The high usage tendency has proven its impact on travelers’ decisions through the social network, setting itself as a new influential trend in the hospitality industry. Hotels have been adjusting their management to take advantage of this social trend by promoting their marketing campaign. Then, where to start and how to grow your audiences on social media to effectively boost your hotel’s revenue?

The growth of social trends in hospitality is invincible, driving sales and revenues like never before

Connecting people through social network channels

According to the Digital 2021 October Global Statshot Report done by We Are Social and Hootsuite, the social network users have gained 400 million users, which is equivalent to 9.9% growth in the last 12 months to exceed 4.55 billion users in October 2021. In Vietnam, there were 68.72 million Internet users national wide, making up for 73.7% of the nation’s population who have been frequently active on their social networks.

Blogs, pictures, and short clips on travels have been favored and shared proactively over any other materials found on Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, Twitter, Youtube with recorded views daily. The keyword safe travel becomes a popular trending keyword, receiving a decent high search volume over the past year due to COVID-19 pandemic impacts. Taking the social networks in the right direction and setting goals dedicated to hotels’ marketing campaigns in order to approach the potential target audiences naturally, connecting their customers with their brand on an emotional level, building the brand awareness that they trust, love, and believe can ever be easier.

The millennials are constantly online to feel mentally connected with others. If hotels know how to approach them through social media networks correctly can win their trust and loyalty.

The power of hashtags

The hashtag is a metadata tag prefaced by the hash symbol #, which is used as a filter system to categorize and arrange related post content accordingly to the user-generated tagging system. Taking advantage of this feature, it is suggested that hotels should consider including hashtags in each social media post while encouraging guests to share the hotels’ hashtag in their personal posts every time they mention the products/services/experiences at the hotel. This is particularly useful to increase your brand awareness. For instant, your hotel starts out with the obvious hashtags to promote your brands, such as #CiHMS, #hospitalitymanagementsolutionCiHMS, or #CiHMShospitalitydigitaltransformationsolution. Once you generate an adequate number of posts with the above hashtags, your hashtags will surely show up when users start typing related hashtags to yours, such as #hospitalitymanagementsolution, the hashtag #hospitalitymanagementsolutionCiHMS definitely shall be suggested to the users on the search box autocomplete dropdown.

Promoting the hashtags among your customers can be easily implemented with genuine marketing or promotional campaigns. Ask them to share their stays, experiences, their favorite place/ services about the hotels with the hashtags to receive added value services in return such as spa vouchers, free room upgrade, free lounge access, etc. These campaigns help approach various customers segments that would be interested in your hotels. Making these hashtags consistent across the social media channels would be a big plus inputting your hotels on the map, becoming searchable, and showing your brand’s authenticity, a personality that your customers can actually relate to.

Be consistent with your hashtags to maximize their effectiveness

Aligning your brand with a social cause campaign

Competition has always been challenging for any business, especially in the hospitality industry amidst this recovery transition phase post-pandemic. To stand out and gain competitive advantages, many hotels strive big, support building a good cause campaign for the community. The one that’s well thought out will eventually help to drive brand awareness, gain customers’ affections and loyalty toward the brand. A social cause campaign also improves brands’ interactions with customers, brings in followers and subscribers that share the same interests with your business. A successful and effective social cause campaign ultimately helps generate leads and boost your brand’s conversion rate spectacularly.

Influencer marketing on social media

Influencer marketing is also a form of word-of-mouth but takes place on the social network platform. If in the past, breaking news usually only spread in a small area of your town through your chatty neighbors, thanks to social media, the news can travel at a much faster speed throughout your city or nation, depending on your initiatives.

Although it is controversial, undeniably influencer marketing is remarkably effective. Social influencers have gained exponential credibility, authority, and potential in reaching a large audience for a short period of time. The influencer can promote not only your products and services but also your brand identity. Consider collaborating with a travel blogger, who is willing to share their real experiences at your properties: personalized hotel room tour, in-room services, dine-in menus, the foods and drinks quality reviews, the current events that are happening within the hotel and the surrounding neighborhood.

Furthermore, these influencers – Youtubers, Tiktokers, and KOLs have actively had their own unique followers base, the majorities are the millennials and Gen Z, the biggest two customers segments in tourism and hospitality at the moment. If you decide to go with high engagement rate influencers, you’ll be sure to reach the individuals following that given influencer non-intrusively. It allows the customers to perceive hotel experiences from a personal and interactive approach, breaking the traditional hotel marketing strategy and empowering to influence your target customers’ travel decisions.

The appropriate campaign and the right influencers deliver many drastic economic benefits to businesses.

The takeaways from influences marketing

• Draw qualified leads from the influencers’ followers base, the quick buzz for your brand identity, get people to dive deeper into the actual services and products your hotel is providing.
• Pick your influencers wisely, as their impression affects your hotel brand’s image and credibility.
• The safe attempt at crowd effect generating from influencers marketing to shape your brand marketing campaign.

The holdbacks of influencers marketing

• The unexpected scandalous issue that happens with your influencers during the campaign might hurt your brand’s image deeply, some have faced serious boycotts against hotel brands.
• Always double check your influencers’ statistics, look at their followers’ audience to determine whether or not it fits your brand target audiences, or face the waste of ineffective campaign setup.
• Collaborating with a number of influencers to create diversification in content, reaches out to a much bigger base of followers instead of sticking to only one influencer with the repeated content style might end up boring your audience.
• It’s indeed a risky marketing strategy with a big budget.
• Hence, using influencer marketing methodology effectively, hotels have to be selective in choosing credible influencers, leverage on the prospective customers, the economic returns, competitive advantages that come with the campaign. In any circumstances, being legally binding among parties is extremely important to eliminate any possible risks, ensure quality delivery and commitment from the influencers.

Hence, using influencer marketing methodology effectively, hotels have to be selective in choosing credible influencers, leverage on the prospective customers, the economic returns, competitive advantages that come with the campaign. In any circumstances, being legally binding among parties is extremely important to eliminate any possible risks, ensure quality delivery and commitment from the influencers.

Social trends have crept their way into hospitality to drive constant growth, changes, and impacts on the way hotels innovate their brands and gain the customers’ trust and loyalty. This digital strategic shift opens plenty of opportunities for hospitality to expand its customer base when it’s done right. Occasionally, CiHMS also came across our customers regarding the current social trends and how to get everything started properly. Improving your guests’ experiences, optimizing tel operations efficiently with powerful and cutting-edge technology is definitely vital, worth investing in, and our All-in-one cloud-based hospitality management solution – CiHMS have all your backs.