The hospitality industry, like other business sectors, has been immersed in evolution in recent years in terms of technology. Hotel digitalization is being carried out to improve the customer experience and the efficiency of work as it is with the management of reservations.
BCC Innovation and Delectatech have carried out a study in this regard where they have measured the digital maturity of the Spanish hospitality sector in terms of digitalization. The results were shocking. Only 15.93% of Spanish hotel establishments are highly digitized, while 32.41% are on their way to doing so.
This study has also revealed that 42.8% of establishments have a website. 33.6% of those who are on Google or Tripadvisor do not control and/or update their data. In addition, only 7.3% make use of digital reservations, something that is very much the order of the day, especially among the millennial and Z generations, who are the most digitized.
Digitalization in the restaurant sector means that, for example, they can manage inventory and this can mean up to 30% savings in food costs, as declared by Last app, a company dedicated to restaurant software.
Additionally, companies in the restaurant sector have an average Digital Maturity Index (IMD) of 29.8% out of 100%. It is in the second level on a scale of four digitalization levels, according to the study carried out by SEGITTUR.
Without a doubt, whether in restaurants or hotels, experts state that one of the most interesting benefits of being digitalized is having a database in the cloud to access real-time reports from the business.
By having the data from the cloud, if a restaurant or hotel belongs to a chain, all the establishments will be connected and can be accessed by any of them.
In addition, over the years it is beginning to be seen that consumers are increasingly willing to pay more for the convenience of online ordering and home delivery technology.
It is clear that the tourism sector needs talents to adapt to these changes that society is asking for. What kind of professionals should they be looking for?
Mainly all those specialized profiles with everything related to hotel digitalization in connection with business and customer experience (UX). This includes those who know about extreme connectivity and are capable of automating care and services. The person should also know how to use eCommerce both from a technical point of view and from a commercial and marketing point of view.