Automating Hotel Automation: The New Era

Think back to when managing a hotel was straightforward, with simple tools and manual processes. Then came Property Management Systems (PMS), promising to revolutionize how we maximize revenue and manage bookings. And it did, for a while. We marveled at how these systems could handle reservations, check-ins, and billing with minimal human effort. It was like magic, but for hoteliers.

Then came the era of two-way XML integration, where systems could talk to each other. Suddenly, your PMS was chatting with OTAs, distribution channels, and even housekeeping systems. The promise was clear: automation would reduce errors and streamline operations. Life was going to be easy, right? That’s why a few year ago we created chartok, to push internal operations and automation even further. The timing wasn’t quite right for us. (COVID, Crisis, War).

Well, here we are. Fast forward to today, and it turns out things didn’t get simpler. They got messier. The explosion of new sales channels, booking platforms, and guest engagement tools means that now, instead of managing one or two systems, you're juggling dozens. Each of these systems, of course, has its own "challenges", its own data formats, and its own unique way of making life just a little more complicated. Instead of technology simplifying the process, it's turned into a "Spaghetti Chart" of systems that ironically require more manual work to keep everything running smoothly.

The New Challenge: Managing the Management Tools

The situation is a bit like buying every kitchen gadget you can find, only to realize that you’ve now got so many tools that you need a new gadget just to organize them. The hotel industry’s first wave of technology was supposed to make everything easier, but now, we find ourselves drowning in a sea of SaaS products, each one solving a tiny piece of the puzzle while adding another layer of complexity.

Here’s the irony "the more we automate, the more we need to automate the automations". The tools we thought would streamline our operations have left us with a patchwork of half-baked integrations and systems that need babysitting. We’re back to square one, except this time, instead of handling reservations, we’re handling the tools that handle reservations. Progress?

Enter RPA, Automation, and AI: Simplifying the Complexity

This is where Robotic Process Automation (RPA), advanced automation, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) come into play. These aren't just buzzwords, they’re the cavalry coming to rescue us from the tech mess we’ve created.

RPA is like that handy tool you never knew you needed, automating repetitive tasks across different systems without requiring complex coding or integrations. Imagine having a bot that handles the mind-numbing data entry between your PMS and an OTA. It’s not glamorous, but it gets the job done, quietly and efficiently. Ask Pedro Moreira from Aphy.

And then there’s AI, the 2024 superstar of the tech world. AI can take all the data from your myriad systems, analyze it, and spit out actionable insights. The best part? It’s doing it without you having to hover over it like a helicopter parent.

The market is responding, too. New companies are popping up, like focused on integrating these fragmented systems into one cohesive whole. They’re building platforms that centralize data and automate the flow of information between your tech stack, so you can finally take a breath and let the systems do what they were supposed to do all along: make your life easier.

The Future: A Unified, Automated Ecosystem

So, what does the future hold?

If I’ve learned anything, it’s that technology is only useful if it actually reduces complexity rather than adding to it. IMHO, the next step in hotel management is creating an automated ecosystems where your tech stack plays nicely together. Over the past two years, I’ve explored, first RPA and after AI, closely and I've realized they're key to this transformation.

In the end, automating the automation isn’t just a luxury, it’s necessary.

The first wave of technology gave us a glimpse of what was possible, but it also showed us its limitations. Now, as we enter this new phase, the goal is clear: embrace the tools that simplify rather than complicate. If we do it right, the promise of automation will finally be fulfilled, and we can focus on what really matters, running a hotel, not spent all day managing the technology behind it.

Thanks for subscribing to my newsletter "Future of Hotel Work". If you are not subscribed, join us! My name is Joan Sanz, Head of Hospitality at bookline.ai, and I help hoteliers to bring back the revenue from "The Ring ?? ".