Predicting the future is never an easy thing to do. From those who believed in Marxist theories of historical inevitability to the suggestion in Back To The Future that by 2015 cars would fly, any number of wild and wacky ideas about the world have proven well off the mark. Of course, it can also be said that in a myriad of ways the futurologists missed out on major developments. Buck Rogers may have ended up in the 25th century, but it was a world where it seems the internet and smartphones had never existed. And Aldous Huxley admitted that he erred in never envisioning a role for nuclear energy when he penned Brave New World. All that means that predicting just how any area of life will change is fraught with uncertainty. That should apply to the hotel industry as well. Nonetheless, there are at least some ideas about the future that, if not nailed-on certainties, are at least worth considering as serious possibilities.
What is coming next
The one part of the future that is most likely to be real is that which is in the planning now. A Business Insider investigation into the future of hotels identified a number of developments that are coming so soon it is hard to suggest that they won’t happen. One area is the use of new technology as an extension of recent developments. For example, touch-screen TV was a new technology in the 1990s. Now, it is embedded in almost every mobile phone. So it makes sense that in the near future hotel rooms will be equipped with the capacity for everything to be available via the touch of a screen or button – something the Aloft brand is already experimenting with for controls of functions such as lighting levels. Hotel development expert Zeev Sharon told the publication this will be a common theme in the future, as will the capacity to control a range of functions and services from a handset. Mr Sharon also predicted that room sizes will change – but not in the way some might imagine. His forecast was that bathrooms will get bigger – as some already are – with this increasingly appealing to potential guests. By contrast, guest rooms themselves will go the other way, partly because they will be used for fewer things beyond sleeping and because appliances like TV’s will be less bulky and take up less room. Hotel marketing will also change, Mr Sharon suggests, with social media playing a greater role as hoteliers consider how they can impress would-be customers via such mediums. They will ask: “What will my hotel look like on social media? How can we look good on social media? Where in my hotel is the Instagram moment?” he said. Other developments are expected to include a growing emphasis on fitness and on sourcing food locally. However, some might observe that the growth of hotel gyms, spas and eco-tourism mean the industry is already proceeding in those directions. Indeed, it may be argued that most of these trends are simply the further development of things that have been going on for some time. For instance, once hotels would not have had televisions because no such things existed. Then came colour TVs and hotels got them. Thus it logically follows that they have broadband internet and Wi-Fi now, with the ‘internet of things’ doubtless next and whatever the next online development ater that will follow. Similarly, the control of functions through a smartphone handset now is the logical follow-on from the TV remote control.
Sci-Fi time?
However, there are some developments that would seem like science fiction to many – yet are in fact simply at the cutting edge of technology. Already there are developments afoot like the use of robots to fetch luggage (The Yobot at the Yotel in New York), room entry by fingerprint scanning at the Alma Barcelona, or retina scanning at the Nine Zero Hotel in Boston. There are even robot butlers at the Aloft Cupertino and Aloft Silicon Valley. While these are certainly futuristic developments – and their widespread application would certainly change the nature of most hotel stays – it’s not quite as mad as some sci-fi ideas. For now, the hotel will remain the same size inside as out, while beaming up from reception to the room is, sadly, not likely to be an option anytime soon.
Hotel 2050?
What the evidence and the views of experts suggest, therefore, is not the stuff of wild fantasy. It is all about the newest trends and technologies increasingly playing a part in hotels as the 21st century goes on. That is exactly what has happened in the past, so nobody should anticipate anything different. The key for hoteliers is to be ready to embrace new technology, just as the internet meant having a hotel website and an online booking service. In addition, be ready for anything. After all, the futurologists of the past may have got much wrong, but there was once a time when putting a man on the moon was science fiction. It certainly pays to be ready.
