With half of all Americans over age 12 fully vaccinated, and Covid-19 cases in the country at a low, many are itching to travel. After a year in their homes, Americans are ready for mints on their pillows and room service.
Hold up, though. If you’re planning on staying at a hotel, you’ll quickly learn they’re not the same. From contactless check-in to vending machine meals, chatbot concierges to heightened cleanliness certifications, it’s all part of the new normal for travel.
Hotels are more tech-driven than before, with individualized, digital customer service. “We know that the key to recovery and growth is for us to advance technology at a time when such advancements are shaping the industry’s recovery,” said Chip Rogers, president of the American Hotel & Lodging Association. Rogers said that everything from single-pack grab-and-go meals to flexible check-in and check-out times is part of “the new experience.”
He said: “This also supports the new traveler trend toward ‘bleisure,’ the combination of business and leisure travel,”
Bleisure travel — basically a couple of days of fun tacked onto the end of a business trip — has seen its rise over the past few years with young professionals, especially millennials.
What is the early impact of Google’s free booking links for hotels?