Hotels turning to cloud to beat challenging market conditions

Many hotels in the US are turning to innovative cloud-based solutions to help tackle post-COVID challenges ranging from staff shortages to changed customer expectations.

 

In a recently published American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) survey, 97 percent of hospitality sector respondents indicated they were suffering staff shortages, 49 percent characterizing them as ‘severe’. At the same time, the American Express Travel 2022 Global Travel Trends Report shows customers expect higher-level returns than simple relaxation.

 

Many hotels now offer wage incentives to help fill the more than 130,000 open positions, while the more innovative properties are going further by elevating and synthesizing technology systems to improve capacity, work processes, and decision-making for staff members while also empowering guests to create unique and personalized experiences.

 

One example is Prairie Meadows Casino, Racetrack, & Hotel in Des Moines, Iowa, which has deployed a next generation inventory and procurement automation solution. A blend of solutions from vendor Agilysys have automated functions including point-of-sale, property management, mobile reservations for rooms and activities, mobile check-in, mobile keys, secure document management for identification scanning, electronic signature capture, and electronic waiver archival, mobile housekeeping, maintenance and preventative services, and sales and catering for efficient conference and event management.

 

The Agilysys Hospitality Cloud Experience Enhancers collection of solutions deliver specific augmentations such as mobile capabilities, payment flexibility, or digital efficiencies, it said. Collectively the solutions automate and elevate guest and staff experiences across the property’s 168-room hotel; three-floor, 85,000-square-foot casino featuring slots, table games, a sportsbook, and poker tables; a conference and events center including a concert hall; several full-service and quick-serve restaurants; a fully equipped fitness center; and a racetrack that offers live horse racing and simulcast options from May through October each year.

 

Operating one of only two nonprofit casinos in the United States, Prairie Meadows’ unique business model leverages a nonprofit partnership with Polk County, Iowa to improve the community as well as the lives of its residents.

 

“Our positive experience working with Agilysys to streamline our inventory and procurement operations was a core factor in our decision to leverage a broader scope of Agilysys Hospitality Cloud solutions to elevate performance and experiences for both staff and guests across our property,” said Ann Atkin, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Prairie Meadows Casino, Racetrack, & Hotel. “It is more vital than ever to attract and retain staff while also delivering better, more personalized guest experiences. We appreciate the expertise Agilysys brings to the table. Their knowledge enables us to advance more efficiently without having to juggle different solution vendors, and yet be confident we have secured the most innovative technology advances given Agilysys’ 100 percent focus on hospitality.”

 

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Book of the Month*

The Serendipity Mindset: The Art and Science of Creating Good Luck

By Dr Christian Busch
Serendipity is an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident. To other people it looks like “good luck”, but it is more the ability to recognise and seize an opportunity, rather than have good fortune thrust upon one. Finding a wallet stuffed with money on the conference room floor is good luck, whereas holding it up and asking if anyone has lost their wallet might be the beginning of a valuable friendship – that would be serendipity.

Chance encounters, or strokes of fortune, feature in countless stories of business success. This book looks beneath the surface, reveals and teaches the mindset that can transform pure chance into opportunity. The author is director of the Global Economy Program at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs, and a lecturer at the London School of Economics.

Serendipity is an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident. To other people it looks like “good luck”, but it is more the ability to recognise and seize an opportunity, rather than have good fortune thrust upon one. Finding a wallet stuffed with money on the conference room floor is good luck, whereas holding it up and asking if anyone has lost their wallet might be the beginning of a valuable friendship – that would be serendipity.

The author says “This is a book about the interactions of coincidence, human ambition and imagination”. In the above example: finding the wallet is the coincidence; ambition is the desire to make something of the discovery; add imagination and you open up a whole menu of possibilities: from spending spree to earning a reputation for honesty – or even making a wealthy friend.

Business is typically forged on human ambition and imagination, but early success often feeds an appetite for control – and “control freaks” can be blind to the opportunities thrown up by the unexpected. They only see chance events as distractions. If plans go awry, they may blame the failure on “bad luck” rather than admit their own inflexible attitude.

The author himself admits to being “a German who is used to planning” and prone to feel anxious when something unexpected happens. That makes him an ideal teacher, because he has worked hard to discover and analyse the mindset that enables one to “connect the dots” and cultivate serendipity. He presents a goldmine of examples from science, business and life where an apparent mishap or failure lead to a breakthrough.

Indeed, studies suggest that around 50% of major scientific breakthroughs emerge as the result of accidents or coincidences. A well-known example is Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin, launching the whole field of antibiotics. Other examples include X-rays, nylon, microwave ovens, rubber, Velcro, Viagra and Post-it Notes – where would we be without these!

The book goes beyond the ability to recognise and respond to opportunities in chaos, but the subtitle – The Art and Science of Creating Good Luck – is actually a bit misleading. True, he does show ways to develop better fortune, but it would be better to call it “inviting” or “encouraging” good luck. For example, he suggests better ways to start a conversation with a stranger – ways that will make it more likely to lead to chance connections or shared interests.

The publishers may have chosen the word “creating” to make the book appeal to the human desire to control – for control freaks are exactly the readership that would benefit the most from this book’s wisdom and practical advice.

For the rest of us, it offers a great way to rediscover the sense of play that is so important in life – and too often lost in business.

 

“Following the success of The Serendipity Mindset hardback, a paperback edition has also now been launched under the title “Connect the Dots”.

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