The Future is Accessible: The Importance of Accessible Technology in the Hospitality Industry

July 30, 2024

About 13% of adults in the US experience a documented disability,¹ and travelers with mobility disabilities spend $58.2 billion on travel annually.² Despite these numbers, accessibility in the hospitality and tourism industry is still catching up to where it needs to be.

While many properties still lag, hotels that invest in accessible, intuitive technology can grow twice as fast as those that don’t.³

Our world is becoming more technological by the day, and the hospitality industry is changing rapidly to keep up. Key cards and online reservations aren’t enough anymore. Your guests and teams want to feel seen, valued, and supported — and accessible technologies can help you meet those needs.

In this article, we’re looking at why accessible technology matters in hospitality — and how it can help you grow your business.

We’ll talk about:

What we mean by “intuitive hospitality tech.”
The real-life impacts of these technologies.
How Shiny is helping pave the way toward a more accessible future in hospitality.

Why Accessible Technology Matters in Hospitality

According to Judith Cartwright, a columnist for Hotel News Now, accessibility “represents a significant revenue-driving opportunity that the hospitality sector has yet to fully embrace.”⁴

Accessible technology ensures everyone, including individuals with disabilities, can use hospitality services efficiently and comfortably. Guests who have positive, inclusive experiences at your property are more likely to return, leave positive reviews, and recommend you to others.

By investing in accessible technology and other accessibility aids and services at your hotel, you can boost your brand’s reputation, become a progressive industry leader, and increase revenue in the process.

But user-friendly technology doesn’t just streamline the hotel experience for guests — it also benefits your team and can boost employee retention. Hotels that use Shiny’s digital tipping app, for example, can reduce turnover by 50%. Apps like these can enhance customer satisfaction and help turn the tide on workforce loss in the hospitality industry.

What is Accessible Technology?

Digital tools are considered “accessible” when they can be used by everyone, regardless of physical ability or skill. These technologies feature intuitive interfaces and clear instructions, and they can adapt to a wide variety of user needs and preferences. No matter how accessible your property is right now, working toward greater accessibility is an important goal rooted in inclusivity, equality, and sustainability.

3 Key Features of Intuitive Hospitality Tech

Accessible hospitality tech comes in many forms, from apps for tipping to voice-controlled room features. But each example has one thing in common: Leading hospitality tech prioritizes user experience.

Intuitive workplace technology that's actually enjoyable to use can also help facilitate employee engagement. This can help drive a positive work environment and inspire your team to deliver the best guest experience possible.

Here are three things that help make hospitality tech more accessible and intuitive:

Simple language and visuals: Plain language and easy-to-understand visuals help make apps and other digital tools accessible and intuitive for all users.‍
Design consistency: A consistency of design across your hotel’s digital platforms simplifies user experience and helps with brand familiarity.
‍Responsive design across devices: Users value digital tools that are optimized for mobile devices. In fact, 90% of users stop using apps that perform poorly, and they’re 5x more likely to abandon a platform that isn’t optimized for mobile.²

*Photo by* *NordWood Themes* on Unsplash

According to a trends report from Forrester Research, a seamless user experience (UX) has the potential to increase customer conversion rates by up to 400%. The same report also found that every $1 invested in UX design can lead to a return of $100 or a 9,900% ROI.¹

‍Put simply, investing in tech solutions for your hotel is only worth it if you’re investing in solutions people will actually want to use. To choose the best and most effective tech for your hotel, consider user experience and accessibility first.

Real-Life Impact: Stories From the Industry

Accessible and user-friendly technologies can lead to increased bookings, positive reviews, and overall business growth by catering to a broader audience. But this isn’t just an idea — hotel operators and managers are seeing these effects in real time.

According to Shayna Conde, achieving true accessibility means “hospitality establishments must use both digital and physical technologies to be more inclusive.” In a piece she wrote for Business Insider in 2023, Conde shared that one resort manager she spoke to saw a 40% increase in revenue in just one year after implementing accessibility features and services at his seaside resort in New Jersey.⁶

But for every positive example of accessibility in hospitality, there’s a cautionary tale of what can happen when hotels miss the mark. In a recent article for UsableNet, digital accessibility advocate Michael Taylor shares about his experience navigating hospitality tech as a blind traveler.⁷ Taylor ran into problems with hotel apps, contactless check-ins, and tipping apps that weren’t fully optimized to be accessible.

His experiences speak to the importance of making sure your tech doesn’t just pay lip service to accessibility. If you invest in technology to boost guest experience and accessibility at your property, gather feedback and professional input to make sure you’re reaching those goals effectively.

The Future of Accessibility in Hospitality Tech

Adopting digital technologies at your property is no longer a question of will you or won’t you? It’s a question of when?

The sooner you establish a clear plan for integrating seamless digital technologies at your property, the better.

93% of hoteliers view improving the digital customer experience as a priority in 2024.⁸ And by 2025, 62% of hoteliers plan to offer a fully contactless guest experience.

This shift is largely motivated by demand — 40% of guests say contactless services are already their primary “must-have” when choosing a hotel.⁹ Needless to say, intuitive technologies are becoming the baseline of a satisfying hotel experience in 2024 and beyond.

Accessible Tech Takes the Hotel Experience to New Heights

The future of hospitality is accessible — and the road there is paved with intuitive technology.

One way to make your hotel property more accessible is to use a digital tipping app like Shiny. Our hospitality tech is designed to be as accessible and user-friendly as possible, helping you satisfy customers and retain top talent.

To learn more about how Shiny’s accessible tech can help you streamline operations at your property with digital tipping, productivity tools, and more, schedule a demo today.

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