An exploration of the technology revolution, first in a series

1. TheChangingWorldofExperiential
TravelandHospitalityintheAgeof
theFourthIndustrialRevolution
Copyright©2018
TheFutureofTravel
Hospitality:

2. “Weareatthebeginningofarevolution
thatisfundamentallychangingtheway
welive,workandrelatetooneanother.”
-ProfessorKlausSchwab
2
Thefourthindustrialrevolutionisuponus.
Thisnewrevolution,knownasIndustry4.0,is
fueledbydramaticadvancementsintechnology
thatfusetogetherourdigital,physicaland
biologicalworlds.
EmergingbreakthEmergingbreakthroughsinartificialintelligence
androboticshavegivenrisetoself-drivingcars.
InternetofThingscapabilitiesareindustrializing
automationandchangingthenatureofwork.
High-techsensorsmonitorat-homecardiac
patients’hearthealtheveryminuteofeveryday.
Andthetransportation,manufacturingand
medicalindustriesaren’taloneinexperiencingthemedicalindustriesaren’taloneinexperiencingthe
profoundimpactsofemerging,disruptive
technologies.Justasitsadvanceshavebeen
spurredbyeachpriorindustrialrevolution,
hospitalityispoisedtoundergodramaticchanges
instigatedbyIndustry4.0.
FounderandExecutiveChairman,World
EconomicForum

3. 3
TheDigitalAge
Spurs
Standardization
andIntegration
Broadavailability
acrossarangeof
offeringsispofferingsisproliferat-
edthrough
web-basedtravel
researchcapabilities,
fuelingthedrivefor
system standardiza-
tionandintegration
acrossdigital
distributionchannels
includingGuest
DistributionSystems
(GDS)andOnline
TravelAgency(OTA)
formatslikeSabre
andExpedia
Artificial
Intelligence(AI)&
InternetofThings
(IoT)
Experience-oriented
hospitalityis
enhancedbytheenhancedbythe
proliferationof
offeringsfocusedon
guestmobility,
integratingdigiintegratingdigi-
talizedsystemswith
bigdata,IoTand
machinelearning
capabilitiesto
enhanceguest-
specificpersonaliza-
tionofthetravel
experience
Early-to-Mid
19thCentury
Late19thto
Mid20th
Century
Late20th
Century
TheEvolutionofHospitalityPoweredby
EachMajorIndustrialRevolution
Early21st
Century
TheSteamEngine
TransformsTravel
Firstmasstransit
systemsarisefrom
broadadoptionofthe
newlyinventedsteam
engine
ElectricityPowers
Mass
Production
The“guest
experience”ismass
producedbytrans-
AtlanticcruisesandAtlanticcruisesand
largehotelchainsas
newmodesof
trans-oceanicandair
travelarebroadly
commercialized

4. TheFourthHospitalityRevolution
4
Thehospitalityspaceisjustbeginningtobridgethephysicaland
digitalworldsasitstartstoalignwithIndustry4.0.Newtechnologies,
increaseddataaccess,andenhanceddigitizationarerapidlychanging
whatisrequiredforthehospitalityprovidertoolset—andmust
ultimatelyresolvethefundamentalfracturesbetweenintermediary
parties,legacyservices,andde-centralizedofferings.
BBroughtonbyIndustry4.0,thehospitalityprofessionalofthe21st
centurymustleverage3essentialdigitalcapabilities,enhancedbythe
powerofreal-timedata,todeliveronthepromiseoftheguest
experience.
InsightsOn-Demand
Customerandoperationaldataiseasiertocaptureandanalyzein
real-timethanereal-timethaneverbefore.AdvancesinAPIcapabilities,machine
learningalgorithms,andweb-basedIoTdashboardsaremakingbig
datarapidlyaccessibletohospitalityprofessionalsforthefirsttime.
ActionabilityandControl
IncreaseddataaccessibilityempIncreaseddataaccessibilityempowershospitalityproviderstomake
moreinformedoperationaldecisionsthatkeeppacewithbusiness
today.Informationattheirfingertipsleadstogreaterresponsiveness
andincreasedresponsibilityforservicesquality,productsafety,and
effective,real-timeidentificationandmanagementofguestneeds.
AI-PoweredEngagement
AdAdvancesinAIcreatemorepointsofengagementforgueststhat
mustbeleveragedtoimprovecustomerexperiencesanddrive
loyalty.

5. TheIndustry4.0revolutionisalreadyunderway.
Considerthefollowingexamplesofhowitiscurrently
atworkwithinhospitality:
TECHNOLOGY
Intheracetodeterminetheindustry-standardAIplatform of
tomorrow,technologyleaderslikeGoogleandAppleare
expandingAIandmachinelearningcapabilitiestothird-party
developers,makingiteasierforcompaniestocreateintelligent
applications.
Accordingtoarecentarticle inTheNewYorkTimes:
“[Leadingtech]“[Leadingtech]companiesaredevelopingallsorts
oftoolsthatwillmakeiteasierforany
operationtobuilditsownA.I.software,including
thingslikeimageandspeechrecognitionservices
andonlinechatbots.”
“BUILDING A.I.THATCAN BUILD A.I.”
CADEMETZ,THENEW YORKTIMES
Third-partypThird-partyprovidersinthehospitalityspaceareleveraging
theseself-servicecapabilitiestocreatenext-generationtools
thatdeliversignificantefficienciesandenhanceguest-centric
capabilities.
5

6. TECHNOLOGY
Forexample,anewopen-solutionplatform calledHAPIisgiving
hotelsgreaterownershipovertheirbigdata.
HAPIleveragesAPIstointegratedatafrom distincthotel
vvendors,disparatesystemsandthird-partyintegratorsintoone
secureplatform.Forthefirsttimeever,hotelscanaccessand
managetheirowndatasets—from check-ins,occupancy,HVAC
usage,securityandmore—withinonecentralizedplatform.HAPI
combines,filters,cleansesandenrichesdatastreamstoprovide
hotelsreal-timeguestinsightsandbuildoutenhancedCRM
profilestohelpcommunicatemoreeffectivelywithvisitors.
“Developinganunderstandingoftravelerjourneyscan
helppredicttheneedsofguestsastheymovethrough
theirpurchasesandphysicaljourneyusingoffersand
servicesthattrulyconsideroftheneedsoftheirjourney.
Theconceptistomovebeyondalook-aliketransaction
andendeavortounderstandandserveeachindividual
guest.Practicallyspeaking,youshoulduseautomation
tospeaktointospeaktoincomingandin-houseguestsateachstep
oftheirjourney,leveragingpersonalizationfrom their
comprehensiveprofiles,toofferservicesand
upgradesthatestablishloyaltywhilemaximizing
revenue.”
-LuisSegredo
ChiefExecutiveOfficer,HAPI
6

7. TECHNOLOGY
Aninnovativerestaurantstart-upcalledKitroleveragesAIto
helpkitchensreducefoodwasteandimproveprofitmargins.Its
innovativetoolappliesadvancedimagerecognitioncapabilities
andmachinelearningalgorithmstoidentifyfoodwastepatterns
inrestaurants,sokitchenscanoptimizetheiroperationsand
practices.
KitKitrobelievestheseefficiencyimprovementswilldrastically
reducefoodwasteandoverallcostwhilegeneratingpositive
environmentalimpacts.
“KITROissimplifyingfoodwastemanagementby
providingrestaurantsandcanteenswiththefirst
fully-automatedfoodwastemeasurementsolution.
WithKITRO,ourcustomersgetaholisticoverviewof
theirfoodwaste,sotheyareempoweredtomitigate
itwhilehavingapositiveimpactonthe
envienvironment."
-AnastasiaHofmann
Co-Founder,KITRO
7

8. STANDARDS
Technologyadvancesaren’ttheonlydemonstrationofthenew
capabilitiesbroughtonbyIndustry4.0.TheOpenTravelAlli-
ance,anopen-sourceorganizationresponsiblefordeveloping
andmaintaininginteroperabilityfordisparatesystemsinallver-
ticalsofthetravelindustry,isdevelopingthenextgenerationre-
leaseofitsOpenTravelTechnology.
OpenTravel1.0isthecurrentindustrystandardforconnecting
disparatesystemsacrossthetravelindustryandcarryingtens
ofmillionsofmessagesbetweenpartnerseveryday.ItsOpen-
Travel2.0producthasshiftedtoanobject-orientedparadigm
thatleveragesRESTAPIstofacilitateaseamlessflowofinfor-
mation.Thisnewmodularapproachreducesimplementation
challengeswhileprovidingenhancedconsistency,simplicityand
flexibility,ultimatelygeneratingproductivityenhancementsfor
users.
“OpenTravel2.0standardswillsignificantlyreduce
thebarrierstoworkingwithprovidersandsuppliers
acrossthetravelindustry.Thesimplicityandconsis-
tencyoftheRESTAPIswillallowsmalldevelopment
teamstoquicklycreatetravelerexperiencefocused
applicationswhileallowingthesupplierstocaterto
nichemarketsthatwerepreviouslyunreachable.”
-DaveHollander
OpenTravel2.0LeadandKeyContributor
ExpertTravelTechnologyStrategistand
aCreatorofXML
8

9. PREDICTIONS
FORTHE
FUTUREOF
HOSPITALITY
Thewaveofchangepropelledby
Industry4.0willcontinueto
revolutionizehospitalitythrough
improvedconnectedness,integration
andaggregatedanalyticsacrossthe
industryasawhole.Theentranceofindustryasawhole.Theentranceof
newtechnologiesandstandardswill
drive3majortrendsthatwilldominate
thetravelandhospitalityindustryin
comingyears:
Trend1:Increasedflexibility&agility
Provideraccesstomoreflexible,lesscumbersomedistribution
systemsandtechnologieswillimproveagilityandgreatlyreduce
time-to-marketfornewpartnershipsandguest-centricofferings.
TodayitcantakeuptosixmonthstointegrateanTodayitcantakeuptosixmonthstointegrateanewpartner
intoadistributionchannel.AdvancementsinAPIdevelopment
andinnovationsspurredbyOpenTravel2.0technologywill
dramaticallyshortenthisiintegrationprocess—gettingnew
partnersupandrunninginjustweeksordaysinsteadof
months.
Trend2:Riseofdata&machinelearning
partnershipspartnerships
Increasedaccessandimprovedeaseofusabilityforvast
volumesofhospitalityandguestdatawillacceleratetheneed
fortechnology-drivenintegrationandanalyticscapabilities.
OncepOnceprovidersexperienceeasy,on-demandaccesstheirdata,
thefocusshiftstohowwecanbestleverageittodeliveronthe
guestexperiencepromise.Successfullyintegratingdataacross
operations,customers,usage,reservations,maintenanceand
revenuedatawillrequireapplieddatasciencethroughinnova-
tivetechnologiesandstrategicandpartnershipstoderiveim-
pactfulbusiness-driveninsightscapableoftransformingthe
businessofhospitality. 9

10. Trend3:Improvedcustomer
engagement&loyalty
Enhancedtechnologicalcapabilities
throughAIpoweredchatbots,
integrationwithsocialmedia,
automatedmobilemessagingandautomatedmobilemessagingand
pushnotifications,andincreased
personalizationwillfacilitateguest
engagement,drivecustomerloyalty,
andaccelerateROI.
ResearchhasdemonstratedthatResearchhasdemonstratedthat
mobileappsleadtohighercustomer
satisfactionratingsfrom guests.
Toolsthatstreamlinedistribution
pprocessesandimprovedigitalaccess
tocustomizedserviceswillresultin
higherratesofcustomersatisfaction.
Asabroaderrangeofhospitality
providersembracethedigitalspace
broughtonbyIndustry4.0,advanced
digitizationoftheguestexperience
evevolvesfrom anice-to-haveto
need-to-haveofferings.
10

11. AstheworldbracesfortheIndustry4.0revolution,the
hospitalityandtravelindustryisonthebrinkofembracingitsown
existentialevolution.Inthenextdecade,newtechnologies,data
capabilitiesandchangingconsumerdemandswill
completelyreinventhowproviders,vendorsandcustomer
interactwithintheworldofhospitality.digitizationoftheguest
experienceeexperienceevolvesfrom anice-to-havetoneed-to-have
offerings.
Areyoureadytoembracethenewwaveofchange?
REFERENCES:
https://www.weforum.org/about/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-by-klaus-schwab
Artificialintelligence(AI)andtheInternetofThings(IoT)
Online(November5,2017):https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/05/technology/machine-learn-
ing-artifi
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/en-
joy-your-stayand-have-you-downloaded-our-app-300486701.htmlcial-intelligence-ai.html.
https://www.slideshare.net/EpsilonMktg/the-power-of-me-the-im-
pact-of-personalization-on-marketing-performance/1
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/1590.html
http://currents.rosetta.com/2015/03/why-engaged-custom-
ers-are-your-best-customers-facts-figures-on-the-value-of-engagement/
11
CONCLUSION

12. SponsoredByXeniaHospitalityAdvisors:
XeniaHospitalityAdvisorsisafull-service,boutiqueconsulting
firm thatoffersarangeofstrategyandoperationsconsultative
servicestailoredtothedemandingneedsofthehospitality
industry.Leveragingdecadesofindustryinsightsandexperi-
ence,wepartnerwithourclientstodevelopengagingguest-
orientedbusinessstrategies,designmodernizedandscalable
technologysolutions,andimplementdeploynewtechnology
strategiesthattransform guestexperiencesanddrivethefuture
oftheirbusiness.Formoreinformation,pleasevisitusonlineat
www.xenia-hospitality.com.