How 5G mobile could change the hotel industry
We thought this article from ehotelier.com might be worth sharing . It explores the possibilities of what 5G Mobile is capable of and how when it is eventually adopted it could effect the hotel industry in a big way, from virtual tours of hotels too the catering of guests hopes and dreams through the use of metadata.
Enjoy!
In today’s world of fast 4G mobile, where messages reach us instantly, favourite TV shows can be streamed from the palm of your hand and a date can be confirmed with a swipe, it is hard to see how mobile can get any better.
But it will, or rather it will become even more capable. 5G is the latest iteration of mobile, and while 4G brought us massive data transfer, 5G will bring us true machine-to-machine communication, allowing the oft-mentioned Internet of Things to finally become a reality. This will transform every industry, from healthcare, which will see doctors diagnosing patients from hundreds of miles away before they even realise it, to transport and energy (driverless cars, etc).
The hospitality industry is no exception, and while these are early days with 5G not expected for mass adoption before 2020 (although the South Koreans are looking at installing the infrastructure in time for the Winter Olympic Games in 2018), we can still look ahead to the possibilities 5G could bring.
What a 5G-enabled hotel might look like
Potential guests will no longer choose their stay on 2D images of the hotel room, but will want to explore the hotel in 3D (or eventually hologram….) in a manner not dissimilar to Google Streetview, where the user can virtually take a tour of the hotel – rooms, gym, restaurants and pool. Two-way voice protocol will allow a senior executive to instantly speak with his favourite butler from the other side of the world, booking his usual room in 30 seconds.
The plethora of new media and its consumption will result in masses of data, including insights into the hopes, dreams, attitudes and aspirations of guests. Unlocking the meaning of this will be vital, and hotel brands will have to mould their messaging and services to reflect these insights. We may even see more fragmentation of the hospitality industry into brands that cater to a micro-specific group of guests.
Instead of bigger hotels we may see a trend towards much smaller, more numerous properties catering to a guest profile that is based on aspirations, feelings or concerns, rather than simply on age, income bracket or whether or not they are a family – we are already seeing the beginning of this, through the creation of brands specifically designed to appeal to those with a Millennial mind-set.