Wouter Geerts

Contactless technology is being adopted in hotels at breakneck speed to ensure safe operations. Not all tech is created equal though. Skift Research looked at what tech has the momentum to continue growing after the pandemic fades.

All the contactless tech that is receiving so much buzz in the hotel industry today predates the current crisis. So it might not be revolutionary, but the impact will certainly outlast the pandemic.

August is normally a bumper month for destinations in the northern hemisphere. The fact that the Skift Recovery Index remained flat indicates that seasonality is still in play even today, and that travel volumes have indeed increased over the past month, but we can’t yet speak of a full recovery.

Skift Research keeps analyzing how the travel recovery is shaping up. It’s needed, because demand remains volatile and none of the 22 markets tracked in the Skift Recovery Index is above 50 percent of prior year performance.

To find the paths out of this crisis, more and better data really is key. We have added more data points to better track the travel industry’s recovery, but it's not particularly good news.

Skift is a place where the travel industry congregates. We are in the perfect position to bring together travel players looking to help the industry move out of this deep ravine. The new Skift Recovery Index offers a strategic resource towards recovery.

Investigating historical performance data provides a roadmap of what a potential recovery might look like. There is also a wealth of knowledge in the industry as many hoteliers have lived through previous crises. We can learn from them to point the industry in the right direction.

With no way of knowing how long this crisis will last or what recovery will look like, we look back at two past crises to see how the industry reacted then, and what lessons can be learned. Many, as it turns out.

There is no doubt that these are some of the toughest times for the hotel industry. Hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, the industry is on its knees. Recovery will come, but when, and in what shape, is wholly uncertain. Understanding the current situation, and what a recovery might look like, will help the industry to prepare for when that day comes.

Not all tech is worth the hype. But then again, the current crisis will likely accelerate the adoption of some worthwhile emerging technologies. It’s important to know how this will impact the travel industry. We’ve set out the most important technologies to help you burst that hype bubble.