Hospitality is one of the fastest changing industries and as professionals in the world of guest services, fine dining and leisure breaks, every year we see advancements within the industry that has been taken by storm with new and exciting trends.
Let’s take a look at some of these developments that are changing the face of the hospitality industry.
Experience breaks
In the competitive world that is the leisure and hospitality industry today, it is no longer just enough for hotels to offer a romantic break in a luxury suite with a bottle of champagne. For an ever-growing younger audience, more and more we are seeing the introduction of experience breaks. From your standard luxury spa break to an experience break of a lifetime, including activities such as country pursuits and even private cookery demonstrations are all contributing to creating a completely unique guest experience.
Training & development
The face of training and development within the hospitality industry is changing as we are seeing more reports published in relation to skills shortages across the board. Here, in the UK, we are experiencing concerns over a lack of applicants due to impending Brexit negotiations, whilst many publications, including The Caterer have also reported that ‘Hospitality’s ‘macho’ image is to blame for skills shortage’. With this in mind, the introduction of new team players to the industry will continue as an ongoing task.
Guest apps
Within the hospitality industry we are continually listening to the requests of our guests and the most popular technology development across hotel chains are innovative guest apps that give guests the ability to order anything in just a couple of clicks, from room service to taxis. With many apps, guests can now liaise directly using a live chat feature with reception, housekeeping or maintenance teams regarding any query they may have.
Competition
The ever-changing face of competition within the hospitality industry is nothing new to seasoned veterans. Airbnb continues to grow in popularity, offering guests a huge choice when it comes to accommodation, no matter what country they are staying in. We are also continuing to see a shift in the style of dining, leaning towards more informal options, as preferred by many millennials and the growing trend in pop-up’s, street food and supper clubs are becoming increasingly popular.
Data protection
Data – it’s been the word on everyone’s lips this year. Changes in the GDPR regulation of EU law has seen a dramatic change in the way we handle data. As a data driven industry we have also seen a number of developments in the way we are able to harness our data, helping to determine why guests book certain breaks and enable hotels & restaurants to win repeat business.
When it comes to changes within the catering and hospitality industry, 2018 has been no exception. Many of these are already well & truly the norm for chains and small businesses across the globe and with new predictions being made for the coming years, we can expect to see further developments across all these areas.