How will the hotel industry change after COVID-19? (by Seunghyeon Bae)

    

The hotel industry is one example of many industries that were hit by the influence of COVID-19. The impact of the coronavirus on the lodging industry has been enormous, with travel-free environments leading to a drop in overall metrics for hotels around the world and a significant decline in monthly hotel revenue per available room, as well as average daily rates and occupancy. But Pandemic has also reinvented its business, including providing new opportunities for the hotel industry. What changes did the pandemic bring to the hotels?

The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to affect changes in the type of travel, accelerating the individualization and miniaturization of tourism activities. As the tourism experience becomes richer, there is a trend of changing from group tourism to individual tourism, and COVID-19 is expected to strengthen the tendency to prefer small-scale individual tourism or free travel that can trust mutual safety rather than group tourism. Furthermore, as the demand for the digital transformation of the tourism industry increases due to the influence of COVID-19, the demand for developing personalized tourism products using hyper-personalization technology in the tourism market is expected to increase.

Concerns over an infection caused by the spread of COVID-19 have increased demand for short-distance travel, and this trend is expected to continue. Even after COVID-19, tourists are expected to continue to prefer "staycation," "leisure travel," and "local travel," where they enjoy traveling within their living areas. The phenomenon of enjoying short-distance travel was also suggested in the tourism trend outlook before the outbreak of COVID-19, so it can be seen that it played a role in accelerating the existing short-distance preferred tourism trend of COVID-19.

Because of COVID-19, non-contact technologies to secure safety in daily life are drawing keen attention. This is no exception in the tourism sector. According to a survey, 80% of hotel guests said they would download the hotel app, check in/out, and check information about the hotel if they traveled again. The application of non-contact technology to minimize face-to-face contact in various tourism services such as accommodation services, payment services, and information services is expected to provide tourists with trust that they are doing "safe tourism." Tourists will increasingly prefer non-contact technology, and accordingly, the demand for non-face-to-face tourism services is expected to continue to increase.

Considering the changes in the hotel industry after COVID-19, one of the things mentioned is that the standards for hotel safety and hygiene will be higher. The hotel has always tried to keep its facilities, lobbies, and rooms clean for its customers, but I think many people will be more careful about the cleanliness/sanitation of public places due to the pandemic.

These things are important for HR departments in hotels. It is important for hotel HR leaders to share the strategies and practices that COVID 19 has implemented in response to the industry-wide talent crisis.

Did the Pandemic only have a bad effect on the hotel industry? How did the influence of the pandemic affect employees well? How can HR bring employees back to work after the pandemic is over?

About the Author

Seunghyeon Bae was born and raised in South Korea. She came to the United States alone in 2012 to learn more English. She can speak Korean, English, and Spanish. She is currently a graduate student at Collins College of Hospitality Management in Cal Poly Pomona. She likes to help others and always makes people laugh. She hopes to work as a front desk manager with Hilton and hopes to become a front desk manager someday.

Photo source: https://www.economist.com/img/b/834/469/90/sites/default/files/20200829_BLP510.jpg

Reference:

https://hospitalitytech.com/seven-surprising-ways-pandemic-has-changed-hotels-forever