TECHNOLOGY
The BOT ,
The BUTTON
The BLUETOOTH
WHEN IT COMES TO MOBILE , GUESTS WANT NOT A PHONE BUT AN EXTREMELY VERSATILE PERSONAL ASSISTANT .
By CHLOE RILEY , ASSOCIATE EDITOR
The phone . The mobile device that turned us all into dutiful Internet addicts has pulled a 180 and is now lord high gatekeeper to the physical world as well . Door key , credit card , snack deliverer . And , increasingly , a digital friend to whom we text and talk .
“ It ’ s not so much about Facebook Messenger . Rather , it ’ s this shift in how people think about and purchase really anything ,” says Lisa Marchese , chief marketing officer at The Venetian in Las Vegas , which in May rolled out an option to book direct through Messenger , Facebook ’ s instant messaging service .
THE BOT The move was a no-brainer , Marchese says . Using Facebook Messenger was a low risk , fast-to-market option for The Venetian that gave guests what they wanted : lightning quick room bookings using a very familiar medium .
The bot technology recognizes signals from guests ’ questions , and The Venetian ’ s already learning from that and tweaking accordingly . The hotel initially provided a typical 60-day Las Vegas
Venetian ' s new Facebook messenger chatbot allows guests to book directly through the bot .
booking window but later adjusted it to 90 days after direct guest feedback via Facebook Messenger .
Messaging – in addition to virtual personal assistants – is inevitable , according to Best Western CEO David Kong . “ Let ’ s rethink how people use their phone . It ’ s not about the app , it ’ s about the messaging capabilities ,” Kong said during June ’ s NYU
Hospitality Investment Conference . “ The Amazon Alexa , to me , is the future .”
A recent survey from British research company Gartner predicts that as early as 2019 , 20 % of all smartphone user interactions will take place via virtual personal assistants ( talking smart bots like Apple ’ s Siri ).
“ The trend we see is guests looking for more and more intuitive ways to book ,” Marchese says . “ We want to be at the forefront of that trend .”
THE BUTTON Marriott International also is testing virtual assistants from tech giants Apple and Amazon at its Aloft hotel in Boston ’ s Seaport district .
While that final decision isn ’ t slated
“ LET ’ S RETHINK HOW PEOPLE USE THEIR PHONE . IT ’ S NOT ABOUT THE APP , IT ’ S ABOUT THE MESSAGING CAPABILITIES .”
— BEST WESTERN CEO DAVID KONG
July-August 2017 hotelsmag . com 53