Covid has fast-forwarded the need for automation in hospitality and the government’s outlook on immigration is adding pressure.
Hospitality and tourism operators have been struggling to find local workers to join the industry for years – Covid has only exacerbated this problem, a former hotelier says.
Amelia Gain started accommodation software company Preno five years ago after struggling to use outdated technology hotels used for administration while running The Spire Hotel in Queenstown.
Gain bought The Spire in 2010 with her sister Lucy Gain because they both always wanted to own a business together.
After completing an IT degree, Gain who was just 23 at the time, says it was jarring to use clunky management systems to operate the hotel.
“I think because I was so fresh to the industry, I couldn’t believe how hard the tools were to use,” Gain says.
After four years, Gain sold out of the hotel business, and decided to use the experience she had gained from managing The Spire to create a more efficient management system. She partnered up with a friend she studied IT with at the University of Otago, Max Podolian, to set up Preno with some funding from start-up accelerator Lightning Lab.
Preno then integrated with cloud accounting software Xero to create an end-to-end service for hotel owners to manage front desk, back office admin, invoicing, deposits, agent commissions and billing.
“Hotels won’t be able to get away with just offering a bed in a room anymore. They have to offer experiences.”
– Amelia Gain, Preno
She says automation is the future for hospitality in New Zealand as the industry has struggled to attract locals for a number of years.
Covid has magnified issues the industry had been facing before the pandemic, Gain says.
“Finding staff has always been a problem. At The Spire we didn’t even bother about finding skilled workers because we were happy to train them. It was just so hard to find anyone.
“These discussions have been having for so long I think Covid should be a time to resolve this. Technology is really the answer and I think we’re behind on implementing new technology.”
She says Kiwis have been disinterested in the industry because it lacks career progression and entry level jobs are often “uninspiring”.
“When you’re running a hotel there is a huge amount of repetitive admin every day. Many of the entry level jobs in hospitality could be automated with technology solutions to give room to improving customer experience.”
Gain says technology won’t take away jobs, because no-one wants to do those jobs anyway. What it will do, she says, is create more skilled jobs, like freeing up time and budgets for business owners to focus on marketing and branding.
“Hotels won’t be able to get away with just offering a bed in a room anymore. They have to offer experiences.”
It automates and takes care of the time-consuming admin, saving users on average 10 hours a week.
Despite the pandemic, last year Preno grew by 50 percent and, since being founded in 2015, Preno has added hundreds of properties to its platform across 25 countries.
The business aims to grow by 120 percent this year.
“It’s a squeeze. We have a lot of sympathy with what the government’s trying to do with immigration but perhaps now is not the time to be forcing radical change.”
– James Doolan, Hotel Council
Hotel Council Aotearoa strategic director James Doolan says Covid is accelerating trends that were already in place but technology can’t be a one-stop solution.
“Service delivered by a human being is what some people want and will always want. A self-check won’t work as well at a luxury hotel for instance,” Doolan says.
As the hospitality industry worldwide relies on transient travellers and migrants, the Government’s messaging on immigration has the potential to be a “very severe handbrake” on industry’s recovery.
“Hospitality unfortunately has inhospitable hours. You need people who can work early in the morning and late at night. A lot of people who like to work in hospitality like to travel the world.
“No one expects a V-shaped recovery. We’re anticipating a multi-year recovery for the industry.”
Doolan says hotels have been coping by operating fewer days and hours.
“It’s a squeeze. We have a lot of sympathy with what the government’s trying to do with immigration but perhaps now is not the time to be forcing radical change,” he says.
