1. The sharing economy strengthens
   As sharing economy brands go beyong leisure stays and start taping into corporate guests, giants like Airbnb are prone to grow even stronger.  As of today, more than one thousand businesses from over 35 countries around the world are formally making Airbnb part of their corporate travel programs. 
   Learn more on the Sharing Economy topic.
   
   
2. Legacy hotel brands need to re-create themselves
   The tried and trusted names are no longer the safe option, particularly for millennials who are driven less by brand loyalty and more by the search for novelty. We've been banging the social media drum here at Frontdesk Anyhere a lot recently and one proven way to distinguish your property from countless others is by developing strong connections on social media. We've mentioned the benefits of Instagram, as this allows you to broaden the conversation so that it's not just about your property, but the surrounding areas and events happening nearby. 
   
   
3. Disruption has come to food and beverage, too
   Room service is one of life's little pleasures. The old way of bringing food and beverages to the room has evolved and now guests are just as happy to grab and go whether it's for their plane journey or road trip. People are also moving away from sitting down with a full menu to just snacking and your hotels offerings should reflect this. 
   
   
4. Personalisation and mobile devices
   Contemporary hotel guests are a demanding bunch. They want and expect hotels to deliver an ever more personalized service that caters for their own specific needs and wants. Guests want you and your staff to make them feel important and to treat them like a VIP. The demand from guests for greater customer service has lead to the creation of what industry insiders call the “Personalised model” of guest service.
   
   The personalised model gives guests greater control over their hotel stay. Just think how impressed your guests would be if they could, through their phones, personalise their hotel experience the way they want. With this model, guests can decide through their smartphones the lighting in their room, what size their hotel room will be, what type of bed they will sleep on, what temperature the room will be set at, and what type food will be stocked in the minibar.
   
   As the millennials come of age and their incomes grow they become ever more important to the hospitality sector. It is forecasted that the millennial generation will replace the baby boomers as the dominant consumer group by 2017! If you want to attract the modern young professional hotel guest to your hotel you will have to ensure your hotel provides the best possible customized service. Many tourists and hospitality experts argue that technology enabled personalization service can generate increased customer loyalty, higher occupancy rates, and larger income for hotels.
   Discover the do's and don't with this post gathering the 10 reasons why millenials are NOT staying at your property. 
   
   
5. Adoption of Cloud Based Software
   We're not making this up! Cloud software is increasingly been adopted by hoteliers as an alternative to on premise web servers. Although it has been around for a number of years, adoption in 2016 is set to be stronger than ever. Don't miss the train! 
   A cloud-based PMS:
   • Enables hoteliers to access and make changes to their account, rates, availability anywhere, anytime, on any Internet connected hotel device.
   • Allow hotel staff to work at the same time with real time data, and to be fully mobile. Some of our clients take it a step further, read Tremblant Elysium's mobile concierge success story.  
   • Is a real time-saving tool, for both the staff and the guests. In addition to fast and efficient operations, it's a great support when it comes to selling rooms online, on OTAs, GDS or your own booking engine. 
   You'll find more detailed information in this post on the 4 main advantage of cloud-based tools.

At Frontdesk Anywhere, we're passionate about helping hoteliers succeed. Partner with us to make sure your hotel is competitive and ready to meet and exceed guest expectations in 2016. Schedule a no-commitment demo today: