Automating hospitality in times of social distancing

The global COVID-19 pandemic has brought the travel and hospitality sectors to a halt. The calls to enact social distancing measures mean no more travelling or meeting friends at pubs or restaurants. The consequences are devastating for airlines, hotels, events, restaurants etc. and result in closures and job loss around the world. Although governments have taken various measures to address these, we can expect consumers to remain cautious when interacting with others, thus continuing the negative impact beyond t he end of the crisis.

 Giving a careful consideration to immediate and long-term impacts of the pandemic and social distancing measures on overall consumer behaviour and business continuity, integrating automation into service operations could help addressing some of the issues around safety and access

Attitude Change

 In this period of isolation, we are witnessing how people change behaviours that long have been taken for granted: shaking hands or standing closely next to somebody to order drinks at a bar

Importantly, having limited mobility and restricted access to services while in lockdown may bring about felt needs for automated services and self-service technologies. Some consumers may get used to ordering meals online or through an app and opting for 'click and collect' or delivery for other shopping needs.

Beneficial Automation

As suggested here, key to implementing automation in travel and hospitality is ensuring that the technology will bring value and benefits to the industry and its people. We have seen cases where robots and other automated machines can help with the operational upkeep of buildings and facilities. Hotels employ robots to sanitise rooms and common areas, freeing staff from risk of contamination

With the likes of World Health Organisation (WHO) implementing chatbots to spread information about COVID-19, businesses can use similar conversational agents to engage employees and customers while they are on lockdown

Responsible Adoption

Looking into the future, the emphasis should be about responsible adoption of automation, whereby technologies augment people in delivering what the businesses do best: hospitality. As outlined here, adoption of automation in the travel and hospitality sectors should be balanced with priorities to invest in people. Perhaps while letting the robots handle things at work, we should give employees opportunities to up their digital skills at home, but only if they wish to.

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