The Green Sheet Online Edition

February 09, 2015 • Issue 15:02:01

ISO Metrics:
Hotel industry technology grab

According to the Hospitality Technology Lodging Technology Study: Hotel Tech to Pass 'Go' in 2015, hoteliers plan to accelerate spending on technology upgrades this year to meet guest expectations. The average information technology budget, as a percentage of total revenue, will account for 4.9 percent of spending, up from 2.6 percent a year ago. In addition, 14 percent of respondents plan to move POS systems to the cloud. Following are the priorities and challenges expressed by hotel executives surveyed.

Top tech priorities in 2015:

• Customer-facing mobile solutions 39.5%
• Adding bandwidth 37.8%
• Preparing for changes in payment technology 28.7%
• Securing data 22.1%
• Migrating to the cloud 21.6%
• Leveraging employee-facing mobile solutions 20.5%
• Developing a digital strategy 20%

Planned tech investment budget percentages by hotel class:

• Top Tier – Guestroom technology 16.87%
• Top Tier – Networking/bandwidth/connectivity 14.59%
• Mid Tier – Payment security/PCI compliance 10.39%
• Mid Tier – POS system 9.36%
• Low Tier – Customer relationship management 7.61%
• Low Tier – Revenue management 7.2%

Currently use and plan to upgrade within 18 months:

• POS technology 47%
• Loyalty program 26%
• Mobile app for customer use 25%
• Customer relationship management 18%
• Tablets at the front desk 14%

Payment security preferences:

• Third-party for managed security-as-a-service 43%
• End-to-end encryption for cardholder data 41%
• Tokenization at the card swipe 40%
• Breach protection 27%

Biggest technology challenges:

• Guest expectations exceed ability to deliver 29%
• Struggle to measure ROI for tech roll-outs 21%
• Lack of IT budget to make needed improvements 16%
• Company resistant to making technology upgrades 15%
• Lack of IT talent to make technology upgrades 11%

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