“What we experienced (with the pandemic) was completely atypical,” sums up Mateo Ramón, CIO of Grupo Piñero, a Spanish entity dedicated to the tourism sector, in an interview with D + I. “In Spain, many sectors have continued to operate, some of them unprecedented, But in tourism we have stopped completely“.
At the time, he explains, they were trying to take advantage of the downtime caused by covid-19 Perform all necessary transformations to improve the position of their hotels once the industry recovers. Thus, its investment has been allocated to two main aspects, on the one hand, physical reform, and on the other hand, technological, both in operations reception desk (ie those who deal with the client) as well Back office (Interns in the company).
This strong commitment to technological innovation was achieved at the end of last year with Move your infrastructure to the cloud, an operation the company carried out with IT solutions company Logicalis. “We took advantage of the break to make this migration which would have taken, under normal circumstances, three, four or five years, and in this case, It took us 18 months“, Add.
Specifically, the group has adopted a hybrid model that has allowed it to deploy the services needed to develop the technology, replacing the four data centers it had in Spain so far. According to what they say, this project endowed its infrastructure with “Greater flexibility and varietyTailor costs and workloads to order.
However, these ethereal ideas aside, the digitization of the signature has been seen in a tangible way in recent months at Back office.
[La personalización y la autonomía colonizan el turismo: “El hotel del futuro será el que el cliente demande”]
Ramon explains that the tourism sector, and within it, the company of which he is a part, has devoted a lot of time, effort and resources to operations. reception deskwith a particular focus on improving the buying process or customer knowledge, leaving Back office (Operations, financial operations…) in the background because there was no urgent need to update them.
“This is where we invested the most.”, it states. “This is where we innovated to do better.”
The CIO of Grupo Piñero indicates that they have dedicated themselves to reformulating all digital processes related to human resources, as well as financial processes or those related to the operability of the hotel with a view to to be more efficient.
At the same time, the manager points out that they have also benefited from the repairs that have been carried out in the various hotels for Integration of core technology In each room, for example through home automation, to increase energy efficiency or connectivity.
However, it requires it This digitization must make sense And for this it must be measured. For example, he explains, it doesn’t make sense to bring televisions into rooms with the latest gadgets on the market if it takes a customer three days to learn how to use them.
Data, Keys in Customer and Knowledge Management
One of the main “legs” in the company’s digitization strategy is directly related to it Using data as a tool for governance. Ramon explains that this area was one of the areas they decided to invest more resources in, because it allows them to To be financially sustainable.
He points out that through it it is possible to know the situation at all times within the company and, based on tools such as artificial intelligence, to make accurate predictions, for example, regarding future sales or occupations.
“in principle, We offer up to 90 days What is the hotel’s occupancy rate and at what rate so that we can adapt all services,” he points out.
[La gamificación del turismo para atraer más visitas: entre la obsesión por dar el salto digital y la cautela económica]
The CIO explains that one of the most important parts of running a hotel relates to providing food and beverages. In their case, they have accommodations with up to 4,000 rooms where more than 15,000 people eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in one day, so they know exactly what is going to be consumed. It helps to manage resources properly.
Ramon says that when talking about digitization, the word “efficiency” is repeated a lot, not without reason, but because the application of this type of tool Helps improve management. He adds, “Companies measure ourselves against the goals that were set at the beginning of the year, and it needs to be measurable (through data) to see if they’ve been achieved.”
On the other hand, besides the organization of the company, the information collected is also applied in Knowing the customer with the aim of providing consistent and personalized products, which is a path that extends from the sale to the residence itself. “This allows us to be more efficient when it comes to engaging users and offering a purchase that’s ‘friendly’ and not too bulky,” he adds.
One of the hotels of the Pinero group.
In addition, in the “inside” part, the data helps to detect incidents and resolve them effectively, for example, detecting that a guest has tried to book a type of room or service without success and offering them an alternative, discovering that it is their birthday and providing details or distinguishing whether You are on vacation or traveling on business to give you a consistent experience.
For example, the group has incorporated the possibility for its customers to see what their energy footprint is when staying in a hotel and compare their consumption with other users to see if they are spending more or less, which in turn makes it possible to raise awareness about sustainability.
CIO requires it Data is really useful in the digital world, Because they are “digital elements applied in the digital world”, so “the efficiency is nearly 100%”. Meanwhile, its use with a physical action (eg, alarming about a client’s birthday and giving the command to bring a bottle of wine into the room) implies Harmonizing two different worldsAnd analog and digital, so the efficiency is reduced.
In short, Ramon believes that the “world of results” can be obtained through the analysis of information “It’s infinite”. “Sometimes we don’t keep that question in mind, and the data really does provide a solution,” he says.
ongoing process
Looking into the future, the manager points it out Your main investment will focus on the metaversewhether in the experience at the destination or in the hotels, residential or golf, through virtual content that shows the customer what the accommodation they will be staying in will really be like.
Added to it are other trends such as process automation or the Internet of Things, an area that is “not yet 100% exploited” and this The key will be “manage all infrastructures” In the big resorts in the coming years, for example, field irrigation, garbage collection or solar energy management.
Ramón explains that the various developments that they incorporate in their facilities will be made continuously without paying attention to a specific calendar, because, as he emphasizes, “Digitization is really an ongoing process.”
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