What is a hotel technology stack?
A hotel technology stack is a combination of software tools used by hoteliers to manage and streamline operations, improve the guest experience, and generate and optimize revenue.
The hospitality industry was an early adopter digital technologiesand has remained at the forefront of innovation ever since. Technology is now the foundation on which every successful hotel is built.
As such, digital tools and systems have a significant impact on future prospects of a hotel. Create an efficient, productive, and powerful technology stack and you will set yourself up for success.
In this guide, we’ll take a closer look at hotel technology stacks and discover how to build and scale your own.
How is a hotel technology stack interconnected?
What defines a hotel technology stack? Interconnectivity.
The best hotel technology stacks offer seamless integrations between various software solutions such as your property management system (PMS), reservation system, payment processorchannel manager and customer relationship management (CRM) system.
But why do all these tools need to be interconnected in the first place?
Why is it important to build a modern hotel technology stack?
Modern hotel technology stacks need to be interconnected – or “integrated” – because this allows data to flow seamlessly between all the different tools in the stack, allowing them to communicate with each other.
Integrated solutions open up endless possibilities for automation. They remove the human middleman from the equation, saving you tons of time, reducing instances of human error, and generating data-driven insights that you and your team would never have discovered otherwise.
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Common Mistakes When Building Your Hotel Tech Stack
Hotels trying to build or refine their technology stack face many challenges. This can be an overwhelming process and mistakes can be made. Here are some key dangers to avoid:
- Choosing the wrong supplier or solution: Don’t rush technology stack decisions. Do thorough research to ensure a solution does what you need, will integrate seamlessly, is able to grow with your business, and doesn’t lock you in.
- Trying to fix square dowels in round holes: Integration is essential. While you may prefer the look of an incompatible solution, you should always prioritize interoperability.
- Confusing the good-to-haves with the must-haves: Before purchasing any solutions, you should take the time to identify features that are absolutely non-negotiable, as they will guide your search.
- Without taking into account the total cost of ownership: Long-term costs such as maintenance and support are often underestimated, which can seriously harm your bottom line. Understand total cost of ownership (TCO) before committing to a solution
Key Features of a Scalable Hotel Tech Stack
What are the key elements of a hotel technology stack? Critical features include:
Multi-property management
When creating your hotel technology stack in a chain or multi-site companyor even as an ambitious hotel planning to expand, it’s essential to think about how you will manage multiple properties within a single technology stack.
There are a number of technological solutions dedicated to multi-property management. At the very least, you’ll need solutions that can span multiple properties if you want to maintain consistency across different locations.
Data infrastructure and security compliance
Data security and compliance are non-negotiable for any hotel technology stack. You need to think about how you will keep your business data and your customers’ personal data safe and secure. Key security features to look out for include GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliance.
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
Work to understand the total cost of ownership by identifying software licensing fees, implementation and integration expenses, hardware costs, ongoing maintenance, support, training and system upgrades.
Consider the hidden costs of your technology stack, like downtime and resources needed to manage the stack. Develop a long-term budget that includes a reserve for unexpected costs and future price increases.
How to build and scale the best hotel tech stack
Wondering how to build a hotel tech stack? Your specific strategy will depend on your business, budget, goals, preferences and limitations. But generally speaking, building and scaling an effective hotel tech stack involves four key steps:
Step 1: Assess your needs and set clear goals
Start by assessing your operational needs, customer expectations and long-term goals. Identify areas where technology could improve efficiency, including in reservation management, customer service and revenue optimization. Define the core elements of your technology stack and the features you might want to add.
Step 2: Choose scalable and integrated solutions
Maximize the potential for automation and data analysis by choosing solutions that integrate seamlessly. SiteMinder, for example, offers 1350+ integrations with cutting-edge hotel tools. You should also prioritize scalable and flexible cloud-based solutions.
Why are scalability and flexibility important in a hotel technology stack? Because it ensures that your technology is able to keep pace with your business growth.
Step 3: Plan for smooth implementation and training
Develop a step-by-step implementation plan, starting with essential tools and then expanding to include less critical solutions that add value. Work with your vendors to ensure a seamless transition and minimize operational disruption: the best software providers will offer full integration and in-depth support. Train staff to use your new systems effectively and efficiently.
Step 4: Monitor, optimize and evolve over time
Regularly evaluate the performance of your technology stack, making adjustments based on KPIs and feedback from team members and guests. As your hotel grows and evolves and guest expectations change, add or upgrade tools to your technology stack, such as including guest-facing apps and other mobile-friendly technology for the hospitality industry .
Hotel Technology Stack List Example
What exactly does an effective technology stack look like? To find out, let’s look at an example of a hotel technology stack map based on the open hotel commerce platform SiteMinder:
- fProperty Management System (PMS): Integrate SiteMinder with a leading PMS like OPERA or Small Hotelier for basic operations.
- Channel Manager: Use SiteMinder’s Channel Manager to distribute rooms to over 450 online travel agencies (OTA) and manage rates and availability in real time.
- Booking engine: Leverage SiteMinder’s direct booking engine to capture more direct bookings and avoid OTA fees.
- Revenue Management System (RMS): Integrate with RMS Partners like IDeaS to optimize your pricing strategies.
- Customer communication tools: Add features like SiteMinder Guest Engagement to streamline customer communications and improve the experience.
- Payment processing: Implement a payment gateway like SiteMinder Pay to accept payments directly from your guests, wherever they are in the world.