The False Hotel Dilemma: Human vs Tech. It's really about context...

So a robot can deliver room service; check-in can be automated with face recognition and you can open your door with your phone; excursions can be booked in apps and through chatbots, and even in-room devices are being fired in favor of empowering the guest's own phone, the only device that matters. Except for maybe the wave of in-room speakers, further eroding staff-to-guest interaction.

Ominous, right?

What about the 'human touch'? 

What is often lost in this pertinent debate is the importance of context when weighing technology against human hospitality. Travelers typically have different personas and by consequence, different demands, depending on the context of the trip.

If you're a business traveler flying into a long haul destination for high-pressure meetings, with no free time nor the chance to even recover from jetlag, chances are that you don't want to talk to anyone. You make a beeline for the room as soon as you arrive and have a robot deliver your burger to avoid having to fake friendliness to the room service staff while sheepishly promising to tip later because you didn't have the chance or energy to collect some local currency. Leave. Me. Alone.

In this context, all this non-human tech surely is in itself a significant customer service, indeed a form of hospitality? Why would you try to force your 'human factor' on such a poor creature? You're inflicting pain, not service.

But take the same person and now place her or him in the context of a family holiday where everyone's relaxed and rested. Now they are keen to be jovial, make conversation with staff and opt for a meal among the other humans in one of the F&B outlets, happily taking in the sommelier's spiel and maybe even having a chat with the folks at the other table.

In this context, technology has much less to add.

Same person, different persona, different requirements.

The point here is that the choice between the adoption of hypermodern tech solutions or sticking with old-world hospitality is a false dilemma. What you are really doing when implementing advanced tech in your hotel is to recognize that people are multi-faceted and that different situations can and often do result in very different needs.

Most people are not either a Business Traveler, Luxury Leisure Guest, Adventure Traveler or a range of other travel personas; these can all coexist within the same individual and emerge depending on the context of a trip.

To recognize the multi-polar nature of modern travelers helps hotels to not get stuck in this pointless 'Human vs Robot' debate and instead focus on serving the various personas expressed by their customers in different trip and mood contexts. Let them decide whether high-touch human service is desired or whether they wish to retreat behind a wall of technology.

That's not your choice to make.

Marc is co-founder of Ode to Joy, the Europe-focused experiential travel company determined to deliver the finest and most authentic travel experiences on the continent. He is also the co-founder of travel tech company Botsmith, bringing to market innovative solutions for the travel and hospitality industry. Marc is a frequent keynote speaker and is currently writing his first book 'The End of Travel'. Formerly, Marc spent 12 years in China where he started off as a tour guide and later built a successful luxury travel business.

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