Contactless guest service would be new normal for hospitality industry: eZee Technosys CEO

70 per cent of properties lose significant revenue when they don't audit regularly. Gujarat-based eZee Technosys offers comprehensive revenue optimization services to help properties forecast demands, apply intelligent pricing, be available on OTA and grow chances of substantial ROI. The offering aims at optimizing the revenue management process to 90 per cent and increasing the yield by 2-20 per cent. Aeijaz Sodawala, CEO, eZee Technosys, in an exclusive conversation with BIZZ BUZZ explains how the company automates the process of using analytics - mainly supply and demand and helps to determine the right price for hotel rooms to maximize revenue and profitability

How has the company evolved over the years?

We started in 2006 with comprehensive hotel management software and came a long way, growing with time, evolving with demands, and adapting with change. eZee offers cloud as well as desktop PMS, restaurant POS, mobile apps, channel manager, website builder solution for hotels and restaurants, revenue management services and more. Digitization became inevitable in Covid-19; eZee was quick to address the situation and introduced complete contactless guest service for properties. Today, eZee is associated with over 22,000 properties serving diverse demands of the hospitality industry. In the past 15 years, eZee evolved with its customers crossing milestones to become one of the leading global hotel technology solution providers.

What has been the Covid impact on the industry and your company?

The covid-19 pandemic severely affected the hospitality industry and altered the way travel and hospitality industry operated. The foremost impact of the pandemic was the slack business period and lost revenue. It eventually became prominent for the industry to adopt contactless hospitality - a new normal. At eZee, we dealt with the situation in a positive mindset and our technological prowess. We worked together with the motivation to help our customers in these challenging times. Innovation is the backbone of eZee. It has consistently driven us to perfection. Contactless Hotel Services and Hotel Revenue and Marketing Management Services are the most eminent innovations launched digitally by eZee Technosys in the last 14 months. Although the Covid-19 impact was unprecedented and severe, the industry and eZee, as a part of the industry, sailed their way to emerge as resilient and diversified entities.

What recommendations do you have to get the industry on track?

Revenue management is an under-explored and neglected aspect of conducting hospitality businesses. The pandemic has underlined its necessity in the clear perception. As of 2019 - more than 80 per cent of hotels worldwide did not consider using sophisticated revenue optimization strategies. My sincere recommendations to the hospitality units would be to opt for strategic hotel revenue management. It has the potential to streamline hotel inventory at the right prices for the right customers at the right places to bring business. Furthermore, risk management needs special attention to gauge the market trends, propose solutions and implement the same to avoid unfavourable impact.

What will be the new normal for the hospitality industry?

Automation in operations, contactless hospitality to guarantee guest satisfaction would be the new normal in hospitality. In fact, it is already a reality as many hotels, inns, BnBs, hostels are going contactless in making their guests feel home, comfortable and most significantly - safe. Touch-free hospitality delivers an entirely digitized guest experience to the customers right from the planning, booking to departure, check-in, room service, and check out. Restaurants, accommodation providers today have ingenious software solutions to automate their business operations and minimize touch points between guests and the staff. Hospitality has changed for the better in the Covid-19 crisis - bringing vast digitization in the industry.

How important is the liquor industry to the hospitality industry?

The liquor/ beverage segment is one of the key sectors of the hospitality industry. Pandemic hit the revenue of this segment severely. As per the Statista Consumer Market Outlook, by 2025, the global market size of alcoholic beverages will increase to over $2.2 trillion. Meaning, not until 2025 the liquor industry will be able to surpass the revenue figures of 2019. As the world slowly emerges from the ruins of the pandemic, coming years will be fruitful for the hospitality industry businesses to pick up and remain afloat. Once travel resumes, lockdowns lift, these industries will be able to perform well as they are interdependent in the segment of travel, tourism, and FnB as a whole.

What will patrons be looking for in a fine dining experience?

Patrons will be looking for a restaurant's response to Covid-19 before even booking or walking in for fine dining. Social distancing, hygiene, healthcare compliance are preliminary measures. However, customers today want utmost security, and it can be achieved through a variety of measures that eliminate contamination via touch points. QR code menus, seating arrangements with social distancing, disposable cutlery and crockery, sanitization, digital payments are some of the crucial safety aspects diners will be looking for before visiting.

What trends do you foresee in the hospitality industry?

Digitization has been exceedingly adopted by the industry and will continue to remain a priority for the hospitality units. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, robot concierges, In-room AI assistance such as Alexa for hospitality, augmented reality are some of the ingenious trends that are paving their ways in the travel and hospitality industry and have potential to alter the landscape of the touch less guest experience. Moreover, hotel revenue management has started acquiring grounds more prominently post Covid-19 unlock. Accommodation providers have started to realise the criticality of optimizing revenue in order to stay competitive, available and relevant to the demands of the customers. Revenue optimization, when done correctly, enhances the chances of significant revenue growth. eZee offers comprehensive revenue optimization services to help properties forecast demands, apply intelligent pricing, be available on OTA and grow chances of substantial ROI.

How long do you reckon will it take for the hospitality industry to bounce back?

It won't be long enough if I talk about the hospitality industry as a whole. Large chains might not find it too laborious to bring business back on track, thanks to their marketing efforts and their brand awareness in the industry. However, for budget hotels and small to medium scale businesses, it will take time. Within two years down the line, tourism and hospitality may function 70-80 per cent normally. Vaccination drives across the world are playing a vital role in boosting travel confidence among guests. International borders are working to impediment vaccine passports to resume leisure, business travel as soon as possible. In the second half of the year 2021, most boundaries are preparing to open. A large chunk of the global population has received the first dose. Travel is going to resume with a higher emphasis on vaccination status. All these factors are intertwined - making revival of the industry possible within two years.