At our first Meetup we covered a number of topics. Each participant gave one problem that they were facing or that were of interest to them at the time.

 

How do we scale a roll out of ARVE Air sensors quickly in Switzerland?

  • Create an individualized service that uses the Internet of Things to create a gamification of the product. This would then have to be promoted by hotels as their USP which could encourage other hoteliers to get into contact with ARVE.
  • Create a trial program where hotels can test the device for a couple of months before deciding to purchase them completely.
  • Target suppliers of IOT programs to create a strategic partnership.
  • Develop platform where the guest can see the air quality of their room and enable them to engage with the product thereby creating an added value on the customer end.
  • Increase scope to put devices into academic facilities such as academic housing and classrooms.

 

How do we encourage the younger generation to join the hospitality industry?

  • Acquire Influencers that target the younger generation but also their parents.
  • Improve fringe benefits. For example give more benefits to employees that have split-shifts.
  • Develop a new form of education which combines digitalization, innovation and hospitality to raise profile of the industry.
  • Renew the image of the industry and make communication and marketing more modern.
  • Establish a central educational facility funded by various companies to have more hands-on experience and create security as firms pay more attention to students in the industry.
  • Market stories of hoteliers who made a successful career to change image of hotel industry being societal lower end jobs.
  • Start at a much younger age (12-13) and do so in multiple languages to target all parts of Switzerland.
  • Show how important the hospitality is to creating a more sustainable future.
  • Use factor of digitalization. All jobs can be automated except jobs that require a human touch. This creates greater job security for the future.
  • Clarify educational landscape by creating platform with all accredited hospitality schools to root out low quality institutions.

 

How can one test or promote a reduction in the use of packaging materials?

  • Analyze what is producing the waste from a supplier perspective and from the consumer (hotel) perspective.
  • Establish a paid program to develop package-less supply chain to incentivize hoteliers to “buy-in” therefore forcing them to take the time to address this issue.
  • Find out which options actually exist? Can one buy rice in greater sizes than 5kg or 10kg?

 

How do we convince guests that online data profiles, that allow personalized experiences, are beneficial to their customer experience and remove the fear of privacy invasion?

  • Leave customers the choice to opt-in to this program.
  • Create a test group to evaluate added value for guests.
  • Award people who opt-in with a customized, personalized welcome gift.
  • Keep overview of different cultures.
  • Show that value is greater than the reduction of privacy by creating community.

 

How can we encourage hotels to cooperate more and bundle resources (shared services)?

  • Establish which products need differentiation and which do not. Ones that don’t require any, can be easily produced by the same supplier. Ones that do, can use the same supplier to produce a variety of product (Each hotel gets a special type of cheese from the same maker)
  • Encourage regional rivalries rather than local rivalries.
  • Create a tag for online platforms that show hotels that get regional products.
  • Encourage gamification so that people could see where they could get local products.

 

The sounding board created an extremely creative environment that encouraged all kinds of ideas. The participants were extremely happy with the outcome and this free source of brainstormed evaluations. We look forward to the next sounding board and hope that you will join us there!

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