Everybody in hospitality is saying “COVID has changed everything.” Well, if this is true, how come almost all of those spouting off about the new dynamics act as if nothing changed? This makes me wonder if our philosophies and marketing are now aimed at careless information consumers? A HospitalityNet opinion piece I just read, made me want to laugh and cry simultaneously.
“Scrap the front desk – Can hotels operate without a physical front desk?” by IDS Next CEO Binu Mathews is typical of today’s marketing-led media pushes. The piece is about how social distancing, efficiency, and the “trend” are what matter for future hospitality planning, PR, and operations. The author asks us to dance a slow dance and then abruptly breaks out into an exhibition of robot-styled salesmanship aimed at tech replacing humans. Amazon and the airlines scrapping humans is the lead, and Mathews’ company IDS Next is inserted into the void. His profile on HN is more transparent than the…