The Hospitality Show, now in its second year, will take place at the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio from Oct. 28-30, 2024. The Show will bring together 5,000 attendees and promises to drive profitability for owners, operators and hospitality innovators through dedicated content, extensive networking and 400+ operations and technology vendors.
In this installment of The Hospitality Show Advisory Board Member Q&A, we catch up with Dayna Kully, co-founder of 5thGenWireless.
What do you think is the biggest problem for the industry currently?
I see a couple of challenges emerging for our industry. Finding and retaining skilled workers continues to be a major issue for hoteliers, as are rising operational costs. In addition, keeping up with the latest technological advancements is complex and costly.
What new trends do you see affecting the hospitality industry the most in 2024?
Now more than ever, guests are looking for personalized and unique experiences. Adapting to this increasing need requires continuous innovation. For example, the demand for wellness-focused travel experiences is on the rise. In response, hotels are expanding wellness amenities to include yoga studios, meditation spaces, healthier menu options, and personalized fitness and wellness programs. Guests are also seeking distinctive and memorable experiences, which has been driving the development of themed accommodations, immersive activities, and experiential travel packages.
On the technology side, we are seeing a rise in experimentation with artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to offer highly personalized guest experiences, such as tailored recommendations, customized services, and enhanced customer interactions. The adoption of AI-powered systems drives improved automation and cybersecurity measures to help transform operations and improve the bottom line.
What do you see as the biggest opportunities for the industry this year?
The hospitality industry has a reputation for being behind the curve in strategic technology investment. This is the opportune time for all industry stakeholders to take a step back and look at where you want to be long term. There’s a lot of buzz around emerging technologies, such as AI, MR, robotics, edge computing, and Wi-Fi 7, which are being tested both in and out of hospitality. We have an opportunity to watch how these are playing out in other industries, learn from others and invest intelligently in PoCs.
What do you think the industry's biggest accomplishment has been in the past year?
The hospitality industry’s biggest accomplishments in the past year have been its continued trend toward recovery and growth following the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the key indicators- occupancy, ADR, RevPAR, etc. - are trending in the right direction.
On the technology front, the limitations of on-property legacy systems have become more obvious, including challenges supporting remote work and collaboration and installing updates in real-time. The shift toward cloud computing is becoming more prevalent as hoteliers increasingly choose software that is based in the cloud, which means employees can log in anywhere from any internet browser and the software is always the latest version.
What are you most looking forward to at The Hospitality Show?
I’m excited to see how far The Hospitality Show has come since the inaugural event in 2023. The Show expects to have over 5,000 attendees and over 400 vendors, a 25 percent increase over 2023. The Show also plans to offer new and expanded networking opportunities, high-profile keynotes, more breakout sessions focused on technology trends, current issues, etc. And of course, I am looking forward to opening reception and Block Party to mingle with industry friends and meet new industry players.