Dries le Roux - Vodacom Business: Executive Head of Retail and Hospitality

What if a guest could simply arrive at their hospitality destination? They drive to their pre-booked parking space, pick up their key at the reception—no fuss, forms or delays—and step into a nicely chilled room, all set beforehand with a hospitality app. They book a table for dinner, refresh themselves, and step out to enjoy their stay. This seamless experience happens every day through modern Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. From large hotels to short-term accommodation, IoT is helping lift the hospitality industry back to its peak and beyond. After reeling from the erosion of the pandemic years, the sector has an opportunity to boost its fortunes through digital technologies.

“Covid affected the hospitality industry, and those businesses are still trying to find their way back,” says Dries le Roux, the Vodacom Business: Executive Head of Retail and Hospitality. “It was a challenging time for them in terms of occupancy rates plummeting and other knock-on effects. But IoT solutions offer new and better ways to improve their services. The hospitality industry’s pain can become an opportunity. They can do more with less, creating experiences that their customers will appreciate and using data to create more efficiencies.” IoT solutions package connectivity, devices, workflows, and business priorities that align with each hospitality player’s needs.

Yet, budgets are under pressure. There’s limited scope to invest in such enhancements, regardless of how impressive they seem. But IoT also serves hospitality sites with in-depth data analytics to support planning and improve efficiencies. “Analytics is very important for hospitality,” says Le Roux. “How many visitors arrived? How long did they stay? What did they eat? That kind of information is critical to assist hospitality businesses in planning their offerings and operations.”

The right IoT solutions fit the business’ requirements, ensuring they get what will improve their delivery and bottom line without leaving their budgets in disarray. Leading IoT providers, such as Vodacom Business, offer expertise and workflows that quickly bring results to the table.

Vodacom has IoT workflow solutions that provide many opportunities from an efficiency point of view. You can easily track which rooms have been cleaned. There are solutions around toiletries, mini bars, and all the stuff good hospitality providers track to ensure they deliver a quality experience while still maintaining a profit. This applies to cleaning, kitchens, guest facilities, and more. Whether you’re running a large hotel or short-term rental accommodation via an app, you get more oversight and control while cutting down on travel and inspection.

Hospitality is all about feedback loops. Feedback on operations reveals improvement opportunities, enabling staff to focus more on guests’ needs. The more seamless and impressive the guest experience, the more they return the favour through word-of-mouth and social media comments.

Social media is important, not just from positive user feedback, but also using artificial intelligence to compare all the different hotels, looking at what works and what doesn’t work. But the hospitality sector is not focused on technology. It must climb a barrier of knowledge and risk, hoping for the right solutions to enhance its needs and address its pain points. For example, how do they ensure they don’t fall foul of the Protection of Personal Information Act (PoPIA)?

In hospitality, the focus is on guests and service. They need partners with solutions that have thought of all the pitfalls and challenges when adopting technology. Do these partners understand the hospitality industry? Do their solutions show that experience and insight? Are they just trying to sell you IoT, or are they there to help transform your business? That’s the difference between success and failure.