Travel disruptions have always presented significant challenges for both travelers and hoteliers. What is newly emerging—as global travel rebounds following the unprecedented disruption of a worldwide pandemic—is the intensified focus hotel owners and operators are placing on finding the right technology to bolster operations with resilient systems that can seamlessly handle disruptions as well as surges stemming from externalities they cannot control.
Unexpected and uncontrollable external events abound. Extreme weather events, such as hurricanes or severe snowstorms, can ground flights and strand travelers. Unexpected geopolitical shifts might lead to sudden changes in travel restrictions or entry requirements, catching both guests and hotels off guard. Globally popular entertainers such as Taylor Swift and intensely followed sports competitions such as the Olympics and F1 racing drive monumental surges in demand when their associated events come to an area, while labor shortages—especially those happening in transportation sectors at the same time as a demand surge—can result in chaotic travel delays and unavoidable cancellations.
Such surges and disruptions have heightened interest in correcting a critical vulnerability for hotels: the lack of technological resilience and flexibility in managing guest bookings and operations. Modern reservations often involve interconnected elements such as airport transfers, dining reservations and bookings for activities and amenities beyond the room reservation alone. Even a minor change can trigger a complex chain of required adjustments, often across disparate and unconnected systems. For example, when a major airline experiences a system issue that results in widespread flight cancellations, hotels must quickly adapt to a flood of changed arrival times, extended stays, activity itinerary adjustments and even surges in new booking requests from stranded travelers.
When these reservations are managed manually or through outdated systems, it can lead to staff stress overload, errors, wasted resources, dissatisfied guests and lost revenue. Imagine a scenario where a popular music festival is suddenly postponed. Hotels in the area would need to swiftly manage a wave of cancellations while simultaneously fielding new bookings for the rescheduled dates. Without and interconnected systems in place, the result is a logistical nightmare.
The impact of these disruptions can be particularly overwhelming when multiple guests are affected simultaneously. A hotel might find itself juggling dozens of altered reservations in the wake of an unexpected event, such as a sudden public transportation strike or a last-minute change in a major corporate conference schedule.
A catalyst for digital transformation: Integrated systems that can react instantly
Investing in modern property management systems (PMS) able to interconnect guest data beyond room reservations to encompass reservations for on-property activities; bookings for amenities such as spa, golf and dining; and itineraries for group or convention events has become a priority for properties that want the flexibility and efficiency required to smoothly handle unexpected challenges, ensure operations run flawlessly despite external travel disruptions and deliver consistent guest experiences throughout.
As a central hub that connects all areas of hotel operations, including reservations, a modern PMS delivers the interoperability required for real-time data sharing and synchronization. By leveraging real-time information flows connecting everything from reservations and housekeeping to guest requests, dining and amenity bookings, hotel staff can quickly adjust guest reservations and itineraries to accommodate unexpected disruptions without having to manually connect insights across multiple disparate systems to arrive at a perfect resolution for each guest. Not only is this manual approach time-consuming and stressful for staff, it also is prone to human error and inaccurate re-bookings that frustrate guests.
Alternatively, a modern PMS will leverage insights into guest preferences, booking trends and revenue performance as it works to accommodate changes due to disruptions or surges. This is especially important for larger hotels, where manual reservation management is increasingly complex and lacks the ability to consider both guest preferences and hotel profitability dynamics when evaluating options to accommodate unexpected changes at scale.
This is why integrated systems have become essential for hotels to streamline operations. Repetitive tasks such as data entry are automated, freeing staff to focus on what matters—creating exceptional guest experiences and optimizing Revenue Per Available Guest (RevPAG.) When a guest gets delayed, or they need to change or cancel a booking, the integrated system reacts instantly. Room availability automatically updates, and flexible rebooking options are presented. This not only minimizes lost revenue, but also showcases the hotel’s flexibility and adaptability and enhances the guest experience.
By integrating all aspects of hotel management, guests enjoy a smoother, less stressful travel experience. Whether they need to extend their stay, change their room or request additional services, everything can be managed seamlessly through one system, eliminating delays and multiple touchpoints.
What’s next for the hospitality industry?
Technological resilience and flexibility are no longer luxuries, they are necessities. Hoteliers need systems able to smoothly handle inevitable travel disruptions and delays—as well as demand surges—at scale. By proactively assessing technology systems against the backdrop of how quickly they can accommodate large-scale changes to room reservations and bookings across amenities resulting from unexpected and far-reaching travel disruptions, or from surges in demand related to surrounding cultural or sporting events, hospitality leaders can protect guest experiences, avoid staff stress overload and minimize revenue loss.
Frank Pitsikalis is SVP, product strategy, hotels at Agilysys. He joined the Agilysys leadership team in January 2022 when the company acquired ResortSuite, the enterprise-class hospitality software company he founded in 2000 and led as CEO.
This is a contributed piece to Hotel Business, authored by an industry professional. The thoughts expressed are the perspective of the bylined individual.
