Ai and Hospitality Industry

Consulted in this space ...

3 Ways A.I. Is Transforming the Hospitality Industry

How restaurants, hotels, and other businesses are using artificial intelligence to create better customer experiences.

By BEN SHERRY, STAFF REPORTER   @BENLUCASSHERRY

Few industries have been hit as hard by the pandemic as the hospitality industry. According to a January 2022 study by the National Restaurant Association, 74 percent of restaurant operators said their business is less profitable now than it was before the pandemic, and 63 percent of operators said that their sales volume in 2021 was lower than in 2019.

Employee retention hasn't gotten any easier either, as workers are leaving the hospitality industry in record numbers. According to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 5.6 percent of employees in the food services and accommodation industry quit their jobs in April 2022, more than in any other sector.

Artificial intelligence could help hospitality businesses that are understaffed and tight on cash. Several companies now offer A.I.-based solutions to improve and streamline both guest experiences and back-of-house operations, including inventory and supply chain management, menu optimization, guest profiles, and crowd control.  ..... 

Article continues after video.

MGM Trains with VR

 Have seen similar things tried with VR in Retail environments a decade ago without much success.  Is it enough to just be innovation in a clever way and fun way?  Or is it just a way to attract potential employees?

ACM TECHNEWS

Desperate for Workers, MGM Resorts Lets Applicants Role Play With VR

By Gizmodo, December 30, 2021

MGM Resorts will use VR to simulating checking guests into hotels as part of the hiring process.

MGM Resorts will adopt virtual reality headsets that allow job applicants to experience various customer-service roles before making a decision. The headsets will enable applicants to simulate various front-of-house roles, including operating casino games and checking in hotel guests.

The company also is considering using immersive technology at career fairs, and has partnered with enterprise VR training firm Strivr to create a VR employee training module.

The module will cover "difficult guest interactions, said MGM Resorts' chief human resources officer Laura Lee. "It can be very difficult just to verbally explain the types of positions or show a video," and VR lets applicants "throw a headset on and really experience the job," Lee said.

From Gizmodo

IOT Devices in the Hotel Room

Intriguing aspects of IOT in hospitality.   Has been less in the area of assistants than I expected.

Shedding Light (and Sound) on Hidden IoT Devices in Your Next Hotel Room

Carnegie Mellon University Human-Computer Interaction Institute  By Daniel Tkacik

A study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)'s Human-Computer Interaction Institute and CyLab Security and Privacy Institute, working with colleagues from China’s Xi'an Jiaotong University, explored methods for detecting hidden Internet of Things (IoT) devices, using light and sound. The authors considered three locator/detector designs—placing a light-emitting diode (LED) on a device; placing an LED and beeping mechanism on a device; and a contextualized picture that showed the device in position, taken by the hospitality host. Participants pinpointed devices much faster with locator designs than without them, and about two-thirds of participants preferred the LED-plus-beeper design. CMU's Jason Hong said, "Our hope is that the findings in this paper can help industry and policymakers in adopting the idea of locators for IoT devices ... " 

Alexa Knowledge Skills Advance to Existing Templates

Note the capabilities for security in the enterprise, as well as editing and reuse of existing knowledge.  Ultimately if this is done well, it can greatly advance business oriented systems.  Managing the underlying data will still be a challenge.   In the past we built FAQ based systems.  More detail below:

Amazon’s Alexa Knowledge Skills enables voice-guided FAQs, glossaries, and more     By Kyle Wiggers in Venturebeat.

In yet another step toward the enterprise side of the burgeoning conversational intelligence segment, Amazon today launched Alexa Knowledge Skills, a new skill type for its Alexa platform that allows employees and customers to ask questions about an organization’s data without invoking a skill name. It’s available in preview starting today, ahead of general availability in the months to come.

As Alexa senior product marketing manager Ben Grossman explains in a blog post, Alexa Knowledge skills enable folks to ask Alexa about different types of data, including (but not limited to) organization charts, building information, events, FAQs, glossaries, product catalogs, and more. Developing a Knowledge skill requires a spreadsheet of data but no extensive coding or cloud infrastructure, and the skills are privately distributed through Amazon’s Alexa for Business or Alexa for Hospitality services, meaning that they remain accessible only on devices within an organization. ... " 

Blockchain for Hotel Commissions

Another indication of IBM working strongly in this space.  Had not heard this particular kind of application before.  And also new to the hospitality space.

Travelport, IBM Collaborate on Blockchain for Hotel Commissions

Travelport, a business and consumer travel services provider, announced it is using IBM’s Hyperledger Fabric to guarantee commissions paid to travel agencies.

According to a statement released on August 20, the blockchain was designed with input from IBM, travel management company BCD Travel, and three unnamed hotel chains. The system aims to “put the lifecycle of a booking on the blockchain,” to reduce the amount of payment disputes.

In 2018, Travelport processed over $83 billion of travel spend over $2.4 billion in net revenue.

“Traveler modifications at property, no shows, and complimentary room nights are just a few examples that drive commission discrepancies which in turn generate escalations, cost, and revenue loss,” said Ross Vinograd, Travelport’s Senior Product Director.

“The traveler can modify their booking multiple times, leaving room for information to go missing. For example, if a traveler arrives and then extends a hotel stay, that information might not make its way back to us as booking data,” said Marwan Batrouni, Vice President of Global Hotel Strategy, BCD Travel. Additionally, blockchain will help close the “gaps” made by different payments systems.  ... " 

WiFi as Hospitality, Retail Value

Now having experienced Wifi in Hospitality since its inception, I recall having a conversation with a Hotel Chain innovation group.  At the time they were unconvinced that Wifi had value, and there too many dangers.    Things have changed and continue to evolve.  Incentivizing repeat business.  Now a days I mostly wander through retailers checking stocking and possible product use, and the Wifi experience could be much better.  They need to make it very clean, and incentivize repeat business and value with the right data.  You are an edge of the retail IOT.  And how about making the edge more intelligent as an assistant?

Wi-Fi Without Reservations   By McCall Bunn in Cisco Blog

Partner Success Story

Providing high-quality Wi-Fi is an IT investment most businesses incur. Customers expect Wi-Fi at every destination. It is crucial to post pictures of appetizers, split checks, and look up the difference between ‘bucatini’ and ‘fettuccini’. It has become a necessity when dining out.

And a large hospitality group, previously known as Batali and Bastianich (B&B), with locations around the world, already knew this. Yet they had a problem offering quality connection in several of their Las Vegas restaurants. And, they were struggling to identify their customers. So, they came to a Cisco Solution Partner iValu8 for help.

B&B agreed to a one-month trial with iValu8 to pilot VivaSpotTM, a marketing campaign platform that runs over Wi-Fi, which then implements Cisco Meraki as the reliable and scalable way to power the solution.

Not only were their customers now able enjoy high-quality Wi-Fi during the trial, but they began to collect customer data to incentivize repeat business, gather feedback, and amplify the hospitality group’s social media presence. They could track the results in real-time and launch campaigns on any device from any location. And, free Wi-Fi became a key marketing assets.

With multiple locations around Las Vegas, VivaSpot also cross-promoted other properties of the hospitality group when customers logged-on to their current Wi-Fi. And the results? An overall increase in spend from customers’ during their stay at all of the properties.

The hospitality group found so much success with the pilot, they’re ordering more. They are bringing Cisco Meraki and iValu8’s VivaSpot to eleven different locations from NYC to LA. Taking the group from a one-month trial to over $100,000 in revenue.  ... "

Interpreter Mode on Google Home

Have now been using bilingual mode on a Google Home for some time.  It works well, even picks up many expressions on the edge of slang.    Now I see in the following article that you can turn on a translator mode, whether you are on audio only or visual Google devices.   Makes it easier to do translation in batch or real time.  Over 25 languages work now.  Note its early testing in hospitality settings with real time interactions with guests.  Like it, continuing to experiment.   Implications for language study. 

The following article outlines how its done, nice overview:

How to use Interpreter Mode on Google Home devices in DigitalTrends.

Language barrier? Psh. Here's how to make your Google Home an ace translator

There are more than 7,000 languages spoken around the world. In the U.S., Census Data indicates that roughly one in five people speak a language other than English in their homes.

Aware of the need for people to be able to communicate with others who might speak a different language, Google has come up with a new feature on Google Home devices and smart displays — Interpreter Mode.  The search giant piloted Interpreter Mode at big hotels like Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, Dream Downtown in New York City, and Hyatt Regency in San Francisco. The hotel staff use Interpreter Mode to converse with guests in real-time who speak a different language than their own.

Now, you can use Interpreter Mode at home on a Google Home smart speaker (like the Home or Home Mini), smart display (like the Google Home Hub), and on some speakers with Google Home built-in. You can use the mode to translate conversations in real-time, help you learn a new language, or even to help you out if you’re studying a second language.

On audio-only speakers, like the Google Home and Google Home Mini , you’ll get an audio-only translation.  ... "

Alibaba Future Hotel

Somewhat unusual player in the hotel space. But will help test other AI related interactions.  Note recent indications that players in the hospitality space have decreased use of guest interacting robotics.

At Alibaba's Futuristic Hotel, Robots Deliver Towels and Mix Cocktails   Reuters  By Cate Cadell

A hotel that Chinese multinational conglomerate Alibaba opened in China last month utilizes robots and a suite of other high-tech tools that the company says drastically reduces the hotel's cost of human labor and eliminates the need for guests to interact with others. The 290-room "FlyZoo" hotel is an incubator for technology Alibaba wants to sell to the hotel industry in the future; it also serves as an opportunity to showcase Alibaba's proficiency in artificial intelligence (AI). FlyZoo's guests can check in via face scanners; visitors with a Chinese national ID can scan their faces using their smartphones for advance check-in. Projects like the hotel are designed to develop AI and other high-tech expertise to propel Alibaba's e-commerce revenue growth, and also foster new areas of business at a time when e-commerce revenue growth rates are slowing... "

Hotel Loses Love for Robots

Followed this early on,   but missed on a potential for an early visit.   They seem to now be working on what makes more practical sense.   Was set up in 2015 near Tokyo Disneyland.

Robot Hotel Loses Love for Robots    The Wall Street Journal

By Alastair Gale; Takashi Mochizuki; David Pierce

A hotel in Japan hyped as the world's first robot-staffed hotel has eliminated more than half of its robots due to mounting complaints. The Henn na, or "Strange," Hotel, whose goal was to address labor shortages with robots, as well as appeal to foreign tourists with its unique concept, experienced frequent robot malfunctions that increased overtime for human staff. Adding to guests' frustration was the robots' inability to keep pace with popular digital assistants like Alexa or Siri, as well as their limited interaction and informational capabilities. In response, newer Strange Hotel branches are only deploying robots that have proven useful, in addition to solutions like solar energy and facial-recognition systems for guestroom keys. Hideo Sawada, president of the travel company that owns the hotel, said, “When you actually use robots you realize there are places where they aren’t needed—or just annoy people.” .... '

Honeywell Launches Alexa Thermostat

Some commercial applications of assistant capabilities are interesting to see.  Some interesting details here.

Honeywell Launches Amazon Alexa Voice-ready Thermostat for Hotels

ATLANTA – Honeywell (NYSE: HON), a global leader in connected buildings, announced the launch of its next generation thermostat for the hospitality industry. Honeywell's INNCOM e7 Thermostat (e7) is the first enterprise grade environmental control and energy management solution that incorporates Amazon Alexa voice control for an effortless guest experience that includes room temperature, lighting, drapery and amenities services. With its modern design with easy-to-use controls, the e7 is based on a patent-pending Smart Wall Plate design that provides hotel staff with an easy and reliable back-up of the device configuration. This makes routine maintenance or replacement of the e7 energy management system simple, even for other staff which helps reduce ownership costs.

The e7 automatically reduces energy costs and is compatible with most HVAC solutions and equipped for Honeywell's Connected Guest integration. Now available for installation, the e7 can maximize guest comfort, energy savings, and operational efficiency. Honeywell's INNCOM hospitality solutions are used in more than 1.5 million guestrooms around the world. .... "

Alexa for Business Makes Hotel Room Calls

Hospitality by assistants expands

Alexa for Business can now Make Phone Calls in Hotel Rooms

Khari Johnson in Venturebeat

Volara, the creator of a hotel concierge service powered by AWS’ Alexa for Business, today announced it has extended calling capabilities to hotel guests.

Though Alexa for Business could already initiate video conference calls, more traditional phone calls were not available before today, Volara cofounder and CEO Dave Berger told VentureBeat in an email.

A hotel guest can now say “Alexa, call the concierge” or make calls to mobile or landlines phone numbers in the United States, a company spokesperson told VentureBeat. A trial of phone calls with Alexa for Business is currently taking place at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess hotel in Arizona.... " 

Hospitality Experiment by Marriott and Alexa

I know of several other hospitality experiments going on, its a natural direction.  Distinguishing, but will it save a hotel labor and resources?   What skills could do that?  Examining Alexa for Hospitality.

Amazon and Marriott Want to Modernize Hotel Experiences  By Lisa Morgan in Informationweek.

The hospitality industry wants to make travel experiences as "friction-free" as possible. Amazon and Marriott are advancing that concept by placing Amazon Echo speakers in hotel rooms so guests' desires can be fulfilled with mere utterances.

Amazon and Marriott International will start modernizing hotel stays this summer with Amazon Echo speakers that feature Alexa for Hospitality. Forget about bulky in-room binders and hotel service extension codes, including the front desk. Just sit back, relax and tell Alexa what you need or want.

"We think travelers will love having a voice-first experience during their stays at hotels," said a Marriott International spokesperson. "This will enable travelers to access local and hotel information, as well as play music and control smart home products [including] lights, thermostat, TV, [and] blinds." .... " 

Marriott Installs Alexa

The hospitality angle is not new, have seen tests underway, started in casinos. Tailored to local and hotel information.  In general you cannot bring your own assistant,  I tried that for a test on a trip, the local Wifi was too restrictive.

Amazon launches Alexa for hotels
'Alexa, send up a bottle of wine.'

By Rachel England, @rachelengland in Engadget

Visitors to Marriott hotels will soon be able to use Amazon Alexa to make their stays more enjoyable. "Alexa for Hospitality" lets guests ask Alexa -- via an in-room Amazon Echo -- for help with hotel information, booking guest services, playing music and managing room controls, such as lighting and temperature.   ... " 

Ultimate Selfie Sculpture

In Digital Signage Connection.   Though this is nearby, I was unaware of it.  Ultimate self-referencing engagement?

" ... Renovated Convention Center Features “Ultimate Selfie Machine” Digital Sculpture

Dubbed the “ultimate selfie machine” since its opening in September 2017, the 14-foot-tall interactive digital sculpture resides in the renovated Greater Columbus Convention Center (GCCC). Bringing a truly unique experience to visitors, the sculpture named “As We Are” incorporates a 32-camera 3D photobooth within the LED head form and uses photogrammetry to map a photo of a visitor’s head onto the surface of the sculpture. This attracts passersby from inside and outside the glass-walled lobby.

Nominating Company: DCL (Design Communications Ltd.), Avon, Massachusetts
Venue: “As We Are” Digital Sculpture, Columbus, Ohio
Project: “As We Are” Digital Sculpture
Category: Event Venues & Hospitality  ... " 

Hotel of the Future

We helped a major chain think about the hotel of the future.   In some cases weirder than this.

The Hotel of the Future is Coming

The hotel of the future is coming, and it's a little weird
You may soon print a new toothbrush in your room to replace the one you forgot at home. And hotel bathrooms could get ... intense.

By Adrianne Pasquarelli in Adage

Travelers Purchase Journey

Journies within Journies.

The Future of travel: New consumer behavior and the technology giving it flight  By Jaclyn Loo

With its early use of online booking, the travel industry stands as one of the first successful adopters of digital marketing. But as tech’s effect on consumer behavior continues to evolve, so must the playbook by which companies operate. For travel companies, that means meeting customers’ rising expectations for assistance at every point of the purchase journey.

Today’s travelers are increasingly impulsive and want information quickly. A recent study that we conducted with Phocuswright suggests that more than 60% of U.S. travelers would consider an impulse trip based on a good hotel or flight deal.1 We see this trend reflected in our search data too. In the U.S., we’ve seen that travel-related searches for “today” and “tonight” on mobile have increased by 150% over the past two years. ... " 

Airbnb vs Hotels

Saw an early analysis that showed this.

The Airbnb Effect: Cheaper Rooms for Travelers, Less Revenue for Hotels

Hotels enjoy their highest profits when rooms are most demand, like during holidays and big events. Unfortunately for them, Airbnb is taking away some of that pricing power, according to new research research by Chiara Farronato and Andrey Fradkin.

article by Dina Gerdeman in HBS Working Knowledge

Airbnb is revolutionizing the lodging market by keeping hotel rates in check and making additional rooms available in the country's hottest travel spots during peak periods when hotel rooms often sell out and rates skyrocket, a new study shows.

That's bad news for hotels, which have traditionally earned their biggest margins when rooms were scarce and customers were forced to pay higher rates—such as in Midtown Manhattan on New Year's Eve. And it's good news for travelers who don't have to pay through the roof to get a roof over their heads during holidays or for big events.  .... "

Hospitality Robotics

Clear that robotics will increasingly do labor intensive tasks with robot helpers.   Flexibility will be needed.   Indoor location and navigation solutions will be needed.

The Relay hotel delivery robot will soon spot Wi-Fi dead zones and mingle with guests   By Paul Miller  @futurepaul in TheVerge

 Directly adjacent to the Las Vegas Convention Center is a Renaissance hotel with a pair of special staff members: robots. Savioke’s Relay robots have been on the job for three months, helping out the concierge by delivering items to guests during peak hours. The two robots, named “Elvis” and “Priscilla” by the hotel, pick up orders from the front desk, call and ride the elevators without help, and call the guest’s room phone when they’ve arrived. They navigate autonomously, based on a pre-generated map, so there’s no problem if they lose Wi-Fi or LTE signal. I got to watch a delivery in action (to a demo room), and it was a seamless experience. ,,,, " 

Hilton's Smart Rooms

Some of my past clients watch  hospitality innovation trends, so here is more.    In the past participated in innovation sessions for the customers of smart hotel spaces.

Hilton’s IoT-filled ‘Connected Room’ will be a treasure trove of guest data   By Eric David

Hotel giant Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. is jumping on the IoT bandwagon in 2018 with Connected Room, new hotel rooms that will come fully stocked with smart home devices that guests will control from their mobile phones.

Hilton hotels have already offered guests a few smart features, such as mobile check-in and keyless room access, but Connected Room will add a number of other IoT amenities, allowing guests to remotely control their room’s temperature, lighting, TV and more. The rooms will also make it easy for guests to connect to their streaming media accounts for platforms like Netflix and Hulu.  .... " 

Marriott Guestroom Lab

We were involved as a corporate customer of hotel space.  And saw many future hotel scenarios to attract the business traveler.  Here is Mariott's take,  collaborating with tech companies:

Marriott Guestroom Lab brings cutting-edge smart tech to your hotel room  By Lulu Chang in DigitalTrend

You’ve taken great pains to ensure that your home is smart, but implementing the same technologies in your home away from home is a bit more challenging. After all, you’re not exactly in a position to tell an international hotel chain how to outfit its rooms. But luckily, you won’t have to, now that Marriott International has teamed up with Samsung and Legrand to debut what they’re calling the “hospitality industry’s Internet of Things hotel room of the future.”

Hotels the world over have of course already begun incorporating high-tech features. There’s Yotel, known for its futuristic rooms geared toward the modern traveler, and of course, the “Strange Hotel” in Japan, which famously features a T-rex receptionist. But Marriott is proving that even established brands can and indeed are looking to bring the 21st century into their guest experience.

It’s all thanks to the IoT Guestroom Lab, which is exploring concepts to “elevate the guest experience, create more efficient hotel room design and construction, and contribute to Marriott’s global sustainability efforts and goals.” The Lab is said to be integrating multiple IoT systems, devices, and applications to speak with one another, and better address the needs of guests and hotel operations staff.  ... "