Dubai: Hotels in the Middle East need to develop their in-room technology to better cater to millennials, industry experts said in Dubai on Sunday.
Hotel companies are lagging in implementing technologies, with some in the region not even offering free Wi-Fi, while others don’t let guests stream their own shows onto televisions, says Rami A Moukarzel, vice president of development and acquisitions for the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region at France’s Louvre Hotels Group.
Hotels have not made “a strategic decision to integrate technology in their processors”, like ordering room service and changing rooms using mobile devices, said Chiheb Ben Mahmoud, executive vice president and head of hotels and hospitality for the Middle East and Africa at real estate consultancy, JLL, by email.
“We don’t see hotel operators deploying any technology that is significant in terms of enhancing the guest experience,” he said.
Moukarzel said millennials want to be able to easily access hotel services using their devices, such as smartphones and tablets. As people become tech-savvy, they expect to find the same gadgets they have in their homes in their hotel rooms.
“Your card becomes your phone, which opens your room, access the lights, TV or concierge. I think we also need to think in-hotel — so can I book a table at a restaurant with my phone?” Moukarzel said on the sidelines of the Hotel Technology Summit in Dubai on Sunday.
Mobile keyless entry
It was only in November last year that US-based chain Starwood Hotels and Resorts launched its mobile keyless entry system, SPG Keyless, which was rolled out across its Aloft, Element and W Hotels brands in select countries, including Qatar.
Hilton Worldwide took a similar approach later that year, enabling customers to check-in and choose their rooms from digital floor plans or lists on their desktop or mobile devices.
However, costs, such as providing free high speed internet, are an issue for some hotels.
“If you want to provide guests free high speed internet, it costs a fortune in the Middle East because the providers are charging a lot,” says Laurent A Voivenel, chief executive of Hospitality Management Holdings, a hotel management company which operates more than 15 hotels in the Middle East.
He said that not enough hotels offer interactive TVs that are connected to the internet, which are in demand in the region, because they are expensive.
