Hospitality by virtue places great importance on the values of generosity, compassion, and selflessness which are not limited to the elite or privileged. For Housekeepers in the hospitality industry, where guest experiences shape reputations, practising these values becomes a challenge with evolving guest expectations and technological advances. Creating a memorable experience with personalised service needs relentless efficiency, empathy, creativity and a generous serving of support from technology.
Robot greeters or housekeeping and cooking robots are entering into restaurants & hotels, delivering faster & smoother services with low operation costs. The plus side of robots is the welcome relief and efficiency it brings in day-to-day work and enables people to allocate more time to connect with customers. To address customers’ demands of personalized services, chatbots enable businesses to communicate with them without language barrier, predict and optimize room occupancy based on data and personalise guest experiences through an integrated network of past experiences. Video technologies are being utilised in the areas of guest security, virtual booking, and virtual travel experience.
Research suggests that the hospitality industry is responsible for 21% of the carbon footprint created by tourism, which contributes to 8% of greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing plastic by adopting re-usable or recyclable options, providing information online rather than on stationery and using solar power to meet energy demands are some initiatives being taken. Implementing water-saving measures such as low-flow fixtures, recycling systems, automatic laundry machines and guest education can mitigate the issue of water shortage and waste.
Reducing food wastage from production to consumption through careful planning, portion control and donation initiatives along with a focus on local and seasonal produce, supporting local producers and reducing imported food items, are other options available to the hospitality industry.
Empathy, like charity, begins at home. Great guest experiences can only be achieved with great employment experience of the hospitality staff. Addressing their concerns and ensuring their continual training on service and technology can go a long way in mitigating staff shortage and creating a great brand image for the industry.
With such demanding and dynamic scenario, housekeepers today will need to keep pace and drive this change as leaders of the new era. In the following pages, Clean India Journal covers the trending topics, evolving practices, effective processes and systematic implementation in housekeeping through mechanisation, digitisation and automation.