The world came to a standstill during the pandemic. COVID-19 brought on an avalanche of border restrictions, lockdown, isolation and uncertainties. The world was reeling from the effects of this unknown virus and economies were crumbling. The hospitality sector was perhaps one of the most hard-hit industries. Even after the first wave phased out, the hospitality sector continued to suffer due to uncertainties, fear of stepping out and the evolving nature of the virus. Thousands of jobs and millions of dollars were lost due to the pandemic.

In a post-pandemic world, the hospitality sector is transforming its approach and pivoting towards digitization to help accelerate business at a rapid pace. AI-backed cloud computing has transformed businesses irrespective of their industry and hospitality is no different.

Advanced digital technologies are driving innovations and disruptions in the hospitality industry. These advancements are also reflective of the changing consumer behaviour especially post-pandemic. Smartphones have taken the center stage with more and more people engaging with travel content on their mobile devices. Besides this, the customers are now expecting excellence in customer care, bookings and marketing that resonates with them. The outlook is – anytime, anywhere access and cloud computing is helping the hospitality sector deliver the same to their clientele. Here’s why robust AI-backed cloud computing and data security solutions are crucial for the hospitality industry –

Enhanced customer experience – Hospitality is about the experience. It is an emotive industry that needs to ensure a top-notch guest experience. This is where cloud-imputing steps in. By taking on the mundane, operational tasks like check-ins through smartphones, cloud computing allows the staff on-ground to cater to the guests’ needs. It also accelerates the pace at which the clientele can interact with a business and access its products without the bottleneck of a human task force. This creates a seamless, pleasant experience for the guests.

AI-powered digital assistance – AI-powered tools and advanced analytics are a boon to collecting and deciphering integral data.

With AI-enabled technologies such as natural language processing, video recognition and machine learning, the hospitality sector will be able to generate value by applying artificial intelligence at scale for operational optimization.

Streamlining CRM by introducing chatbots is perhaps one of the biggest trends in the hospitality industry currently. It not only helps in handling a larger volume of customers

but also augments customer conversions and retention. AI personalises the experience for each customer with suggestions for transportation, lodging etc.

As natural language processing grows, chatbots will evolve and become better at conversing with users. AI-powered chatbots will be able to decipher a traveller’s preferences and recommend products accordingly. From on-property facilities to figuring out off-property activities with the help of AI, the hospitality industry is truly in for transformation all with a few simple voice commands.

Voice-activated services – Similar to chatbots, visual assistants are proving to be beneficial for the hospitality industry. Customers have now become comfortable with conversing with AI-powered virtual assistants. This is revolutionalising booking, recommendations, CRM etc making the process personalised, simpler and enhanced.

Currently hospitality is focused on digitization the industry with the help of AI. Reengineering steps such as check-in, checkout, bookings, access etc is all a voice command/clock away now. Advances in machine learning will further improve cost-optimization through accurate and predictive analysis. Cloud computing is not only shaping the operational arm of the hospitality sector but also gearing up for the future with self-learning algorithms that incorporate historical data on millions of searches to predict future customer behaviour patterns to ace pricing and apply strategies that are beneficial for the business.

Cloud-based services are increasingly replacing manual systems at all levels. Software as a service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and platform as a service (PaaS) have now become the first choice of cloud computing services for many hospitality businesses. With cloud computing, the sector has strengthened its business, increased operations efficiency and reduced costs.

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