Hoteliers see data security as main concern in tech: Survey

A significant percentage of hoteliers believe cloud computing is enabling new business models, but blamed poor internet connection and lack of data security as concerns in tech deployment, says a report.
According to a survey by Hotelogix, a hospitality technology solution provider, though hoteliers are keen to adopt technology to grow their businesses, they are concerned about rise in their technology overheads and increase in budget allocated for training and retention of employees.
Most of the surveyed hoteliers are considering to adopt different technologies for improving the overall guest experience before 2018.
While the respondents are considering migrating to cloud-based PMS (property management system), they are concerned about the lack of data security on the cloud. 40 per cent of the respondents felt that poor internet connection or lack of internet stability lead to delay in their cloud PMS decision, the survey said.

While 75 per cent highlighted that they would deploy payment solutions, 80 per cent respondents said they would deploy channel management solutions. Moreover, investing in reputation management solutions is also a priority for 45 per cent of the surveyed hoteliers.
However, integrating technology in the system comes with its own challenges.
The survey of over 350 hotels in India noted that 45 per cent of hoteliers said integrating technology in the system increases their overheads, while 20 per cent mentioned adopting technology leads to high overheads as it requires training and retaining of employees.
"Despite the challenges in adopting technology, either cloud or others, majority of the hoteliers felt that being present online is of utmost priority as thats where their customers are increasingly moving," the survey noted.