Mr. Murray

Meetings & Conventions

Technology Advances: The Essentials Connecting Business and Leisure Travelers

By Michael Murray, Director of Technology, Lansdowne Resort

We are fast becoming a society of 24/7 connectivity with access to our e-mail, instant messages, and social media at the touch of a fingertip. A short time ago, a device that combined a cell phone and the ability to read email was revolutionary, and if you saw a business traveler typing on his PDA, you may have assumed he or she was responding to a “make-or-break deal.” Although the colloquial “road warrior” is still present, the pendulum has shifted to the point of guests of all ages seeking help and the new reality is the industry should be prepared to help them all equally. The leisure guest posting their vacation photos is just as important as the strictly business event. As information can be shared instantaneously, a positive experience for both guests is vital.

No longer confined just to the world of business, the Blackberry, iPhone, and Android powered Smartphones have become a staple in our society. With more devices appealing to the general population, the lines between corporate and leisure guest is more and more blurred. Having the ability to do everything from monitoring flights on the way to an airport, to posting a review of the hotel, travelers are increasingly relying on their PDA to share a variety of information and stay connected to the workplace and each other.

Whether it is the meeting planner trying to spend their corporate travel budget more effectively or the leisure guest looking for who has the best travel deals and satisfaction ratings, customers are hungry for information and it is readily available. Guests are increasingly savvy in checking not just the property website, but travel-review sites, tweets, blogs, and rating websites written by fellow consumers. The growing availability of hotel and conference center information on the internet and through travel-themed apps has in many ways empowered consumers and helped them make smarter decisions.

This ability has encouraged many travelers to instantly share their experiences – good and bad. Unquestionably impacting our industry, hospitality marketing departments seek not only to disseminate the company message, but to also monitor guest feed back and respond quickly and with valuable content. A struggle such as slow or poor customer service can extend far beyond the table of two, especially if this experience can be shared instantaneously beyond the hotel or conference center doors.

Fortunately, the reverse is also true, the strained economy has made the traveler seek more information on a hotel before spending their dollar, and a good review or two from previous guests can have a positive influence on the bottom line.

With 24/7 connectivity and reliance on “instant communication,” determining the threshold of availability to customers and colleagues can be a daunting task. Hotels and conference centers need to be aggressively expanding their employees’ use of email, Smartphones, and social media. With this, there will be an indisputable need to reevaluate a work/life balances.

Many hospitality professionals use email as a screening device to check for troubles concerning their meeting groups prior to arriving at work. Similar to other industries, the hospitality industry has seen diminished staffing on both the supply and demand side due to the economy. This often results in employees feeling the need to stay connected even outside the workplace. Checking a PDA prior to arriving at a meeting or event can often save hours of work on site or head off a potential disaster. Of course using a Smartphone while driving is an obvious risk, a less apparent danger may be employee burn-out due to the over-stimulus that technology provides.

A reasonable threshold will eventually settle on society, as to the expectations of employees’ availability after hours. If a meeting planner is expected to answer an email at 8 or 9 PM (assuming they are not still at work), it may also need to be acceptable that personal matters may need to be attended to the next day at the workplace. This is the same kind of cultural equilibrium that decades ago established the idea of not calling the boss at home unless it’s an emergency. An acceptable norm will take time to achieve, and may lead to a common sense approach when examining 24/7 availability.

The presence of more user-friendly devices has also spawned a new wave of connectivity for the business and meetings industry. Gone are the days of guests visiting the Business Services Desk to “see if any faxes have arrived.” With the prevalence of email and the ubiquitous Smartphone, that practice has become nearly obsolete. New opportunities yield new challenges, as hotels and conference centers seek new ways to allow their guests to integrate new technology into their stay. Whether it is a major overhaul in WiFi infrastructure, or simply training staff on how to assist a guest with their device, our industry is taking notice and stepping up to the opportunities.

Blackberrys, once the PDA of choice for business travelers, has yielded market share to the iPhone and Android-powered Smartphones, providing an increasing level of connectivity as well as bandwidth demand. There is no doubt the Apple iPad launched a revolution in the “business-leisure crossover” for ultra portable yet incredibly powerful personal data devices. Prior to this, the trends always seemed to favor business oriented devices that catered to the business world. Building off the success of its other products, Apple turned this paradigm on its head, by giving travelers something “fun” with access to many features they used to leave sitting on their desktops at home. One thing is certain, as the demand for connectivity rises on both the business and leisure side of hospitality, properties will need to invest in improving, expanding, and maintaining their wireless internet infrastructure.

Whether it is a basic “free access” model or a robust paid-premium service, capacity and flexibility is critical. Guests want to be able to move from streaming music during a morning workout in a hotel’s fitness center, to email access in their meeting, and be able to stream a movie as they unwind in their room at night. While plenty of “all in one” devices may be capable of doing this, more commonly the same traveler may be doing this throughout their stay using different devices, such as a WiFi enabled digital music player, a laptop, and a tablet. This may raise questions of network capacity: bandwidth and number of devices a network can handle.

The change from laptops to Smartphones and tablet PCs has definitely created a shift in power requirements. Although there have been improvements in both battery technology and electronics efficiency, it is still uncommon for a laptop or a cell phone to be able to make it through a meeting day without a recharge. Similarly, we have in recent years been familiar to the constant presence of laptops in meetings and the need to keep them powered. Audio visual professionals have become accustomed to the tradition of setting multiple power strips in a meeting room where everyone has a laptop. Tablet PCs, with lower power demand, have much more staying power for busy travelers who do not want to be hassled every two hours to find an outlet.

However, travelers are carrying their Smartphone throughout the day and relying on them to conduct the majority of their business. When combined with cellular based mobile hotspots and a tablet PC or laptop, the ability to facilitate an office environment virtually anywhere, the possibilities are endless. Airports have put in charging stations so travelers no longer have to compete for a few available outlets. At hotels and conference centers where guests may not have the time to wait, other options such as inexpensive portable battery packs for an “emergency charge” could be made available for sale. Many hotel front desks have inventories of chargers to accommodate a guest that may have left their charger behind and still want to remain connected. Electronic accessories such as USB flash drives, travel adapters, and multi-device chargers are commonly sold through hotel gift shops or business centers.

The meetings and hospitality industry will see many new and existing trends evolve as a broader spectrum of business and leisure travelers begin to adopt emerging technologies to stay connected. Information sharing within the industry such as what consumers are looking for in a hotel property to support their devices can take many forms. Regular staff meetings, online training as well as inter-departmental conferences sharing meeting trends in regards to technology will help move the hospitality industry forward to better serve the guest. Whether it is a large-scale overhaul of WiFi and data infrastructure, partnering with hosted business solutions, or simply training staff in assisting a guest with their device, properties at all levels are stepping up to the new opportunities.

There has been a clear shift of personal electronic devices from being used predominantly for business to leisure use as well. It is important to maintain a work-life balance in regards to 24-7 connectivity. Just as there is more information available to the guest on the go, there should there be more information available to the employees who will take care of them once they arrive. Distributed emails, online training, and sharing of industry best-practices should be a standard throughout the hotel or conference center. With more devices in the hands of more guests placing a demand for more resources, it will be important not to overlook the value of training of staff, to maintaining a positive experience for the guest.

Having been with Lansdowne Resort now for over 12 years in both the Audio Visual and IT fields Mr. Murray has become familiar with the tendency of technology to shift in both slow, subtle ways as well as dramatic, rapid fashion. In his current position as the Event Technology Manager, Mr. Murray is responsible for both the AV and IT aspects of guests at the Resort. He has been honored by Lansdowne as Manager of the quarter, Employee of the Year, “Best of the Best,” and is an active member of the Resort’s Green Team. Mr. Murray can be contacted at 703-729-8400 or mmurray@benchmarkmanagement.com Extended Bio...

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