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By Nathan Andrews, Author & Hospitality Consultant
A few years ago, I had the privilege of attending the Way to the Future summit hosted by and held at the famous Ecole Hotelier Lausanne (EHL). As the theme would suggest the sessions were all about how the future was going to evolve particularly in the area of new and innovative technology. Given the gravitas of EHL and the centrality of Lausanne, the event featured many notable speakers from the area including the CEO of the International Olympic Association, and faculty from INSEAD.
Towards the end of the day, a speaker from the hospitality industry shared his perspective on the application of cutting-edge technology in our industry focusing on the progress made in keeping room-service trolleys warm. I like many around me groaned, was this what our industry deemed a noteworthy application of technology? Shouldn’t he have perhaps referred to one of the international brands using a robot for serving the guests instead?
Now after further reflection on what technology is really supposed to mean, I think I misjudged my industry colleague, maybe he had a better understanding of what technology really means than I had.
The dictionary defines technology as the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially industry. The etymology of the word is the 17th century Greek word tekhnologia meaning in its immediate usage ‘ systemic treatment’ arising from the conjoining of tekhnē i.e. art orcraft and logia meaning the study of. In short, the correct application of the word technology is the study of the art or craft of any systemic process. If that is true then isn’t that what hospitality has always been about?
Over the years technology has gradually come to be associated with the engineering and mechanical sciences and synonymous particularly with computers and digital applications. Thereby suggesting that other non-scientific endeavours are somehow technologically backward, relics of another pre-scientific age. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth.
Horst Schulze the founder of Ritz Carlton famously defined our business as ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, serving Ladies and Gentlemen’. Providing the legendry service for which he is known consistently required the ‘application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes’ aka technology. Every time a croissant comes out just right that is technology, when the room service order reaches the room at the right temperature as presented in Lausanne that is also technology.
Maybe it is time to change our mindset towards technology in our own industry. We employ sophisticated reservation systems and use metadata to map customer experience and behaviour and AI to help optimize rates, yet we always I believe see these as imports from other applications, inducted to make our own service-oriented, digitally lacking industry a bit more profitable and ostensibly contemporary.
Maybe we need to be unapologetic about the nature of our business to our non-hospitality colleagues who generally perceive hospitality as a necessary relic of a bygone age. Present ourselves to Gen Z as an opportunity to be part of a craft that is actually technologically savvy? Might such an approach even serve to improve the interest levels of Gen Alpha to follow in our steps? If so then the Way to the Future may not be so challenging after all.
