Tech-Ready For The Digital Nomads

From underwater speakers to holographic technology that makes 3D image projections of work presentation possible, mood lighting pads to even digitally-interactive Pokémon hunt — hotels are leveraging technology to enhance guest stay experiences.

- Suman Tarafdar

Are you the sort who likes airline kiosks and gets a thrill when the full-body scanner does that quick snap as it scans you head-to-toe? Well, you fit right into the rapidly changing world of hospitality tech — where the pace of technology-led change has been unprecedented in the previous decade. From underwater speakers to holographic technology that makes 3D image projections of meeting attendees or work presentations possible, mood lighting pads or even the digitally interactive Pokémon hunt — hotels are going out of their way to make technology help enhance the guest experience and make any stay memorable.

The larger trends in the wider world are impacting the hospitality sector. As new generations come into the workspace — ones that have been part of the technology era from their birth, there is bound to be a fundamental shift in how they interact with their environs. Technology is revealing new aspects and upgrades constantly, and newer generations are perfectly at home with the pace of change. Then there is the increasing adaptability, especially in geographies that did not demand priority attention earlier.

Japan has been a global leader in tech innovation and user for long, but the rest of Asia is upgrading itself on the new technology front and hotel brands are having to play catch-up to just match guest expectations. Many Indians, with their love of smartphones, are among the tech-savvy guest's Hotels in India, unfortunately, they are not often leading in technology innovations — a miss in attracting the more tech-savvy potential guests?