Hotel staff and digitalisation: How front office and guest services are changing

Check-in is now carried out digitally and standard queries are answered by a chatbot: many tasks that used to be part of everyday life at the hotel reception can now be automated or shifted to self-service. At the same time, the hospitality industry is struggling with staff shortages and rising costs.

In light of this development, the question arises: will hotel staff become redundant in the future, and will guests communicate only via chatbots and self-service portals during their stay?

We are convinced that neither of these scenarios will come to pass.

Instead, the role of staff is changing. Ideally, front-office staff will become brand ambassadors, whilst digital tools work behind the scenes to ensure smooth processes. Together, these factors will improve the guest experience in the long term.

In this article, we explain how this shift in roles works and what the key prerequisites are.

Handling check-in and check-out, recording guest details, issuing invoices or repeatedly answering the same questions: front-office staff today often still spend a great deal of time on routine tasks, against a backdrop of staff shortages, rising cost pressures and high guest expectations for personalised service.

Targeted digitalisation in the front office and other areas of the hotel can resolve this dilemma.

To reap the benefits of digital tools in hotels, managers must clearly define which tasks these tools can handle and where human staff remain irreplaceable.

Digital systems are particularly well-suited to recurring processes with clearly defined steps. These include, for example

• pre-stay communication
• online check-in and check-out
• the recording of guest details
• payments
• digital access
• Responding to standard enquiries

Good tools can also create tasks automatically and assign them to the relevant staff members.

When a situation calls for empathy, experience and context, personal contact is important.

Let’s say a guest has lost an important item, needs a restaurant recommendation for a special occasion, or has a complaint. In such cases, it’s important to have people who listen, assess the situation correctly and respond appropriately. Sometimes digital systems are the first point of contact, but they don’t get guests where they need to be.

A sensible division of tasks between staff and tools therefore looks like this: standardised processes are handled digitally, whilst staff devote their time to situations where their personal expertise is required. In doing so, they benefit from tools that provide them with valuable information quickly and directly. This is how everyday working life is changing.

Good to know: Researchers have analysed 61 peer-reviewed studies on the acceptance of AI-supported services in the hospitality industry. The result: guests are more likely to accept AI for routine tasks, whilst they prefer human interaction in complex or emotional situations.

Thanks to the automation of many hotel processes, staff are less tied to the reception desk and fixed routines.

They are taking on new roles at various levels.

Staff no longer have to wait behind the front desk for the next guest to arrive in order to take their details and issue a key card. They can approach guests throughout the hotel and provide direct support with any questions or concerns.

Guests can access information on opening hours, Wi-Fi access or travel details digitally at any time. Anyone looking for a quiet spot for a business lunch or wanting to know which local café is worth a visit can benefit from the team’s experience. The team can draw on their local expertise and their instinctive understanding of the situation.

If staff have direct access to relevant guest and stay information, as well as the status of outstanding tasks, they can assess enquiries immediately. Instead of first having to collate information from various systems or pass the enquiry on, they can offer a solution themselves – quickly and easily, just as guests expect.

When standard interactions take place digitally, personal encounters shape guests’ impression of the hotel even more strongly than before. Staff become ambassadors: as brand ambassadors, they represent the company’s core values and bring them to life.

For example, by recognising and meeting individual needs, an emotional bond is formed between the guest and the company. Information provided by digital systems – such as details of previous stays – can be a valuable aid in this regard.

The transition from employee to ambassador only works if digital processes genuinely simplify day-to-day work.

Many of our customers have found that having more powerful tools does not automatically lead to more efficient processes. If staff have to switch between different systems – such as the PMS, email inbox, payment and access solutions – to respond to an enquiry, the workload may actually increase rather than decrease.

Crucial to successful digitalisation in the hotel industry is a centralised platform that meets the following requirements:

• It brings together all the information staff need to do their jobs.
• Guest enquiries and communications can be monitored in one place.
• Standard processes run automatically.
• The system automatically generates tasks, prioritises them according to urgency and assigns them to the appropriate staff members.

Hotels do not necessarily have to replace their existing systems to benefit from a centralised platform. They can continue to utilise their specific strengths.

Open APIs connect existing tools to a central platform, enabling end-to-end workflows. Data and tasks can be passed between applications without staff having to manually transfer or initiate every step. The system landscape remains flexible and can be easily integrated into day-to-day operations.

As a powerful Guest Experience & Operations Platform, LIKE MAGIC connects the digital guest journey with the hotel teams’ workflows. Staff are provided with a centralised working environment, whilst recurring processes run automatically in the background. Existing hospitality systems can be integrated into end-to-end workflows via open APIs.

Teams do not have to initiate or process standard procedures themselves every time. The platform brings together relevant information on guests, stays and outstanding tasks. This makes it easier to quickly assess a situation and take action.

Successful digitalisation does not replace hotel staff, but it does change the way work is carried out in hotels. Standardised processes are increasingly being automated or handled by guests themselves. Staff are given the freedom to focus on tasks where personal expertise counts.

Hospitality is thus shifting more towards the moments that guests actually experience as personal. Providing advice, offering support with specific requests or handling problems with confidence are what define the role of hotel staff.

A central platform with open interfaces provides the technical foundation to ensure this transformation is successful. It handles routine processes in the background and provides staff with the information they need for their new roles.

In summary: personal service does not lose its importance as a result of digitalisation in the front office. The more reliably and independently the technology handles routine tasks, the better staff can fulfil their new role as brand ambassadors.