BHS 490 PROFESSIONAL CAPSTONE PROJECT

Here is a 6,927 character article on the topic of challenges in the hospitality industry due to technology changes:

BHS 490 PROFESSIONAL CAPSTONE PROJECT

The rapid changes in technology are having profound impacts across all industries, and the hospitality sector is no exception. From new tools that allow customers to book hotels, restaurants and activities online to digital keys and contactless payments, technology is transforming customer behaviors and expectations. For hotels, restaurants and others in hospitality, keeping up with these changes presents both opportunities and challenges.

One of the biggest challenges is adapting to new customer preferences and demands brought on by technology. Younger generations of travelers in particular have entirely different expectations of the customer experience compared to even a few years ago. Customers now want everything to be fast, seamless and done through their mobile phones or other smart devices. They want to be able to easily find and book any type of accommodation or restaurant reservation entirely on their phones. They expect amenities like mobile check-in/check-out, digital keys, mobile payment options and even the ability to order room service or extra amenities from their devices.

While these new technologies provide obvious customer benefits, implementing them requires significant investments and operational changes for hospitality businesses. Hotels need to upgrade property management systems, readers for digital keys, mobile apps, WiFi and more. This costs a lot of money up front. They also need staff training to use new technologies and learn new processes. There are ongoing SaaS subscription and service fees too. The costs and complexity of upgrading all technology infrastructure can be daunting for independent hotels and restaurants especially with smaller budgets. Convincing leadership teams of the return on investment also takes data and proof that technology improves revenue and customer satisfaction.

BHS 490 PROFESSIONAL CAPSTONE PROJECT

Another challenge is that customer expectations keep rising as new functionalities emerge. Just because a hotel or restaurant adopts one technology like mobile check-in, customers will soon expect more features and options. Competition also ratchets up pressure to adopt new technologies at a quicker pace. Customers literally have the world at their fingertips when searching online and will go elsewhere if one business is seen as falling behind industry trends. This makes it difficult for hospitality providers to ever really "catch up" as the goal posts continuously move. Investing time and money upgrading one area often just opens the doors to demands in other areas in short order.

Keeping staff properly trained on new systems and processes is also an ongoing challenge. High employee turnover is common in the hospitality industry and training never ends. When a property switches to a new PMS, updates their mobile app or adds new payment options, all staff needs retraining down to even the most basic levels. Front desk, housekeeping, restaurants - everyone must be brought up to speed. Staff must also be comfortable with new technologies and helping customers through any issues. This ongoing training requires time and money that often competes with other priorities.

Data security and customer privacy are also significant concerns with new technologies. Guests certainly expect their information to remain private, payments to be secure and personal devices to not be compromised in any way during their hotel or restaurant visit. While technological advances aim to enhance security, each new system or feature can potentially introduce new vulnerabilities if not properly implemented and maintained. Keeping up with constant security threats and ensuring robust privacy policies takes dedicated IT expertise that many small hospitality businesses lack. Data breaches could spell disaster not only from a security standpoint but also degradation of customer trust.

Customer service challenges have also emerged with new technologies. While technologies let customers accomplish more on their own, issues still inevitably come up that require live support. Phone and online support needs to be robust yet chatbots, live chat and other automated systems are still limited. Customers can get frustrated quickly if they hit a roadblock with a digital service and cannot get timely human help. For hospitality staff, dealing with tech support inquiries amid other job duties can be difficult. Issues also arise between customers and staff when customers want to do things a certain automated way but on-property systems have not caught up yet. This creates gray areas and confusion that negatively impact service.

BHS 490 PROFESSIONAL CAPSTONE PROJECT

Finding and retaining qualified staff in the current labor market is another obstacle made tougher by technology changes. Younger employees in particular desire workplaces that offer the latest technologies. But constantly upgrading and integrating new systems is difficult without a dedicated IT department. Tasking front desk or restaurant staff to help counterparts and customers through technology kinks cuts into productivity and impacts job satisfaction. Additionally, as artificial intelligence capabilities like chatbots increase, some roles like front desk associates could face reduced demand or need for retraining. This keeps the already difficult issue of recruitment and retention top of mind.

As technology changes customer expectations at an accelerating clip, the hospitality industry must thoughtfully consider both the opportunities and challenges presented. Large hotel and restaurant brands have more resources to pilot new technologies at scale and cope with hurdles. But especially for independent businesses, taking on new systems requires prudent planning, change management expertise and realistic expectations of customers and staff. Technology in the hands of capable experts can certainly elevate service and profits in hospitality. But a slow, steady rollout managing both technology and human factors is wise to set any operation up for sustainable success in an era of constant digital disruption.

While technology opens doors for enhanced customer service and operational efficiencies, its adoption also introduces problems that hospitality businesses must effectively manage. Significant investments, ongoing staff training, constant security monitoring, robust tech support and thoughtful change management are just some of the challenges to navigate. Both large and small players in the industry would be wise to consider technology projects as long-term undertakings requiring care, moderation and flexibility to reap rewards without detriment to finances, employees or customer satisfaction. Success will go to those able to weave innovative technologies seamlessly into an organizational culture and client experience grounded first in hospitality.