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Hotels ride on technology to drive productivity

SINGAPORE — Instead of having to wait for front-desk staff to check them into their rooms, guests at the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport could soon be able to check in using their mobile devices, if a trial goes successfully.

SINGAPORE — Instead of having to wait for front-desk staff to check them into their rooms, guests at the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport could soon be able to check in using their mobile devices, if a trial goes successfully.

This is among the tech solutions the Government hopes hotels can tap into to improve productivity, as the industry continues to grapple with the tightening foreign manpower policy in Singapore.

“The mobile check-in system will allow our customers to obtain a QR code or bar code via email or text messages, and they can scan that code to get their key card at a check-in kiosk,” said Mr Steven Chan, who was the General Manager of the hotel and oversaw the testing of the “Smart Key” project.

“As the hotel industry continues to face a manpower crunch, we have to keep innovating. Our business is still brisk and we cannot sit back and say we don’t have the staff, therefore we can’t deliver the service promised,” said Mr Chan, who has since taken on a new role at the InterContinental Hotels Group, which owns the Crowne Plaza chain.

The Government is stepping up its support for such efforts: The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is partnering the Infocomm Development Authority in a Sectoral Productivity Call-for-Collaboration (CFC), which is inviting proposals to improve the use of infocomm technology in multiple sectors, including the hotel industry. The CFC will close on Nov 8.

“Given the tight labour market in Singapore, the hotel industry must raise its competitiveness and productivity,” said Mr John Conceicao, the STB’s Executive Director for capability and innovation and visitor information and feedback.

“The CFC is one such initiative that hotels can tap into to develop technology-based solutions that deal with current labour conditions.”

The hotel industry continues to grow, with the average occupancy rate reaching 90 per cent in August, according to the STB’s latest available data. In the first eight months of this year, total hotel room revenue was S$1.9 billion, up 2.9 per cent from a year ago.

Operators recognise the priority of ensuring service quality despite a manpower shortage, said Ms Margaret Heng, Executive Director of the Singapore Hotel Association (SHA), which has 130 hotel members.

“Productivity improvement has actually been a main goal of the hotel industry since the 1980s. Room-manning ratio back then was around one room to two workers; last quarter, it was about one room to 0.67 worker. So the productivity in the industry has been improving,” she said.

This has been achieved by a gradual adoption of technology.

Today, the use of state-of-the-art housekeeping equipment and workflow management systems is increasingly common in local hotels.

“And I hope the mobile check-in system is the next big change in the industry. It will at least free up the front-desk employees, allowing them to multi-task as guest relations officers or concierges — operations that really add value to services,” added Ms Heng.

But hotel operators must also be careful not to lose the human touch, said Mr Chan.

“Our service quality entails a lot of customer interaction, so we cannot discount this element from successful hotel operations. It is often a key differentiator,” he said.

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