Despite the ebb & flow of the economy, travel is a high priority for consumers once again, yet the hospitality industry is still facing a major labor shortage. Hotel occupancy has almost returned to pre-pandemic levels. According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), average U.S. hotel occupancy is projected to reach 63.8% in 2023 – just shy of 2019’s level of 65.9%. Yet staffing remains a challenge for many U.S. hotels as the hospitality industry tries to grow its workforce to the size before COVID-19.
“Hotels are making significant strides toward recovery, supporting millions of good-paying jobs and generating billions in state and local tax revenue in communities across the nation,” said AHLA President & CEO Chip Rogers. “To continue growing, we need to hire more people.”
But hiring workers remains a challenge. As NPR reported at the start of the year, “Travelers have returned from the pandemic, but hotel workers have not, creating unprecedented staffing challenges for the hospitality industry.” The February 2023 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Jobs Reports stated that, “leisure and hospitality added an average of 116,500 jobs per month so far in 2023 compared with 89,000 jobs per month in 2022…but employment in this sector remains below its pre-pandemic February 2020 level by 410,000, or 2.4 percent.”
As we reported in The Hotel Labor Crunch: How To Survive, hotels are facing all kinds of challenges caused by the labor shortage – closing off floors, foregoing housekeeping, closing lobby restaurants, and curtailing in-room dining. And all these problems lead to one thing…less revenue.
Leading Hoteliers Turn to Robots
As we’ve discussed in past stories, robots have become a necessity in hotels, transforming how they provide delivery services. Robert Rauch, President of RAR Hospitality wrote in a recent article about What Hotel Guests Want, “Robotics is not a new concept, but it is now hitting mainstream in hotels. A service robot can deliver food, beverages, sundries, and housekeeping supplies, and these bots are loved by guests and team members alike.” RAR Hospitality uses a Relay delivery robot in their Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites hotel in San Marcos, California and will add delivery robots to four more hotels this summer.
In another recent article, McLean Xavier, Vice President of Technology at InnVest Hotels — named a 2023 Technology Rock Star by Hospitality Upgrade (p. 22) — says they are looking at robotics as a way to augment hotel staff. “The industry is facing a major challenge around labor availability, and we think robotics can help,” he said. “Automation frees employees from tedious tasks and allows them to address guest needs more readily. At the end of the day, our mission is to enhance the guest experience and we should adopt the best available tools that help us reach that goal.”
The Bottom Line: Robots Are Unwavering Team Members
As we reported last year, hotel leaders are using robots to address the ongoing hospitality industry labor shortfall. They know that hiring a Relay robot helps relieve their labor shortage bottleneck.
About Relay Robotics
Relay Robotics, Inc. (formerly Savioke) is a leading supplier of simple, sophisticated, autonomous service robots that work with humans safely, securely, reliably, and contact-free. Relay Robotics has been a technology leader in robotics since 2013 and holds 10 U.S. patents. Relay’s robots complement staff across hospitality, healthcare, and commercial real estate. They have completed more than 1,000,000 deliveries worldwide. To learn more visit getrelayrobotics.com.
Relay delivery robots are currently deplo yed at major hotels in the United States such as Marriott, Hilton, Westin, Mandarin Oriental, Holiday Inn, and Radisson, nationally recognized hospitals such as Dartmouth, and commercial real estate properties. Relay robots are available via a monthly subscription or RaaS (Robots as a Service). Relay’s Rapid-Install™ trains and activates a robot within hours of arrival at a location so they can seamlessly ride elevators and navigate the entire property. Customers can name their robot and create a customized “wrap” to give it a unique character and harmonize it with their brand.