Abstract

This IDC study explores how hospitality, dining, and travel organizations are responding to the drivers of business and offers guidance on actions to consider. Hospitality organizations, in the new digital era, are responding to a wide range of political, economic, social, cultural, technological, legal, and experiential forces with new business and technology investment strategies. Increasing market pressures, sweeping regulations, and changes in consumer expectations for experiential hospitality call for the industry to act in innovative ways that meet rising expectations, improve outcomes, and deliver value.

Consistent themes emerge in how hospitality, dining, and travel organizations are addressing improving business outcomes amid all this transformation, as follows:

• The industry is digitally transforming, by realigning business strategies, business processes, and technology investments to improve productivity and consumer experience.
• Investments include new cloud-based platform foundations for financial, asset and people/workforce management, net in-room and on-property digital experiences, and improved reservations systems.
• Artificial intelligence (AI) is woven throughout, as it improves personalization from a consumer experience perspective and execution from a workplace perspective.

"Hospitality organizations are playing catch-up — but are doing so at an accelerating pace as the need for digital transformation has become clear. The IDC 2020 worldwide hospitality industry predictions provide a glimpse into how hospitality, dining, and travel organizations will be investing over the next five years to attract and maintain customer loyalty by improving convenience, service, and value in the new digital era," says Leslie Hand, IDC GVP, Retail Insights. "Some of the hot topics covered are privacy, the gig economy, and voice-enabled engagement."

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