A recent survey of hoteliers reveals that 78 per cent plan to invest in new technologies in the next three years, including Robotic Process Automation (RPA).
RPA in the hospitality industry is used to deploy bots to automate front-office and back-office tasks in hotels. By carrying out rules-based processes, RPA bots can assume responsibility for repetitive or manual tasks that human workers would normally complete, freeing them up to focus on other tasks that enhance the visitor experience.
Common tasks that RPA bots can carry out include:
Responding to availability enquiries
Manging room reservations
Automating check-ins and check-outs
Processes related to guest experience
Third party system interactions
Loyalty based processes
Calculating Commissions
Dynamic pricing
Scanning customer feedback and directing it to the relevant department
So, how can RPA reduce human error in the hospitality sector?
Accurate data entry: RPA ensures that critical guest data is entered onto your systems consistently and accurately. This reduces the time spent downstream making corrections, which releases staff to focus on more productive tasks.
Lower fatigue: Human workers often make simple mistakes during routine and repetitive tasks, such as data entry, either because of split attention while multi-tasking, or because fatigue sets in and concentration levels dip. By contrast, RPA bots never tire and will achieve a consistent level of performance no matter how long they have been working on a particular task, making data entry errors a thing of the past.
Precise data replication: Often, data must be replicated between sources, such as documents or applications, but this is a common point at which errors are made by human staff. RPA bots will effortlessly copy data from one source to another exactly as it appears, without misreading text or making typos in the process.
Improved guest experience: Hotel guests rightly expect to receive the highest standard of customer service. Any deviation is invariably received with unhappiness: it’s not uncommon for travellers to leave negative feedback on online forums or review platforms that can be detrimental to a hotel’s reputation. Room errors, check in and check out delays, and payment problems create an unsatisfactory air of disorganisation and unprofessionalism. RPA can eliminate many of these most common issues, alleviating guests and staff of stress, and facilitating a more customised approach to customer account management that makes the guest feel that they are benefiting from a more individual level of service.
Positive brand identity. Hotels are probably the most reviewed businesses in the world, with guests taking to the internet to voice their delight or disappointment after a stay. Online review sites are where many travellers turn first before making a booking; they are likely to be discouraged by the negative experiences of others. By implementing RPA to strip out many of the most common causes of human error in the booking process, hospitality providers will benefit from delivering a more seamless, customised service for guests, whose satisfaction will be reflected in reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations.
High guest retention and loyalty: In one recent survey, nearly 60 per cent of rooms in major hotel chains were reserved by loyalty scheme customers, but there’s more to securing long-term repeat business than offering a plastic membership card and enticing upgrades. Exceptional customer service, from initial booking to check-out, inspires guests to return in future; however, in the post-pandemic recovery phase and the current energy crisis, hospitality businesses are having to find ways to trim operational costs without affecting the quality of the guest experience. RPA can help to save money by eliminating many time-consuming manual tasks so staff can focus on delivering outstanding service for customers during their stay.
Improved customer service: Deploying RPA bots simplifies and streamlines the entire customer experience process, giving staff more time to support customers and respond to their enquiries.
Automated availability checks and reservations reduce demand on call centres, without compromising on the accuracy of bookings, so human staff can respond more quickly when guests require personal assistance – enhancing the reputation of your hospitality brand.
Better compliance: Automated RPA bots can help your hospitality business to achieve excellent compliance with health and safety and other regulatory requirements. Once a bot has ‘learned’ a specific procedure, it will repeat it in the same way for as long as required, with no deviation or loss of accuracy, enabling your business to benefit from full compliance in all aspects of its operations.
At Cevitr, our RPA experts can advise you how to implement a digital workforce solution to improve accuracy in your hospitality business.
To find out more, get in touch to arrange a free, no-obligation consultation with one of our RPA specialists today.
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