Top Technology Trends for Hospitality in 2024  

That's why we sat down with Chris Fletcher, founder, and CEO of Tech on Toast, for an exclusive video interview on the most impactful hospitality technologies right now. With over 25 years of experience in the industry, Chris shares his unparalleled insights on technology in hospitality - from workforce management to tech-driven operational solutions and compliance. 

 In this article, we explore the top trends in hospitality that are not only here to stay but will revolutionise the industry in 2024. Whether you're a restaurant, bar, or hotel operator, you'll learn how to adapt to changing guest preferences, empower your employees and ultimately, future-proof your business

Why are hospitality technology trends important?  

In today's digital-first world, where consumer preferences and market conditions continuously evolve, keeping pace with the latest technology in hospitality industry innovations is essential for businesses.  

Emerging hospitality technologies help businesses work smarter by automating manual processes, reducing human errors, and optimising everything from staff management to sustainability.  

As mentioned in the video, when used correctly, with a focus on what businesses are trying to achieve, integrating the newest tech solutions allows hospitality businesses to create frictionless, memorable guest journeys before, during, and after a visit.  

Solutions like automated rota software accessible anytime, AI chatbots enhancing guest experiences, and inventory and allergens management software will help drive efficiency, lower costs, and enable businesses to run smoothly.  

But how should you know which hospitality technology is best for you? We list the most exciting solutions below, including advantages and disadvantages of technology in hospitality industry, so you can decide which features suit your business best.

 

Top hospitality tech trends of 2024 

From AI-driven personalisations to self-serve workforce management, here are the top hospitality technology trends that will help to optimise your business in 2024. 

Automated workforce management 

Balancing work and personal lives have been a huge switch in recent years in many industries, hospitality included. With businesses competing for talented staff, offering flexibility and work-life balance is now essential and automated and self-serve workforce management technology can help address this changing dynamic.  

Solutions like automated employee scheduling, rota software, and streamlined onboarding/offboarding allow hospitality businesses to accommodate employee needs and preferences more easily. With features like shift swapping and mobile schedule access, employees can manage schedules on their own terms. Furthermore, data-driven hospitality tech can help save time and eliminate paperwork hassles from onboarding to exit.  

Hospitality thrives on its people, so keeping your staff happy and motivated means better service and satisfied customers.  

Food tech integration 

2024 will be all about adapting to customers' needs and meeting diners wherever they are - whether in-house, for pickup, delivery or in a dark kitchen. Integrating the latest technology helps to serve a wider customer base without the constraints of physical location, while a multi-brand strategy, where a single kitchen serves multiple virtual restaurant brands, maximises the use of resources.  

This tech-driven approach not only enhances operational efficiency but also provides a scalable model for businesses to adapt to changing market demands and customer preferences. Integrations like ordering kiosks, guest-facing display systems, and tableside POS devices blend convenience with service and are an increasingly popular choice for many businesses, especially in the fast-food market.  

Contactless services 

The past few years have forced many businesses to adapt their services to safety requirements. Contactless solutions that came as a need have become the preferred way of guest experience and are here to stay. 

Various data indicate strong adoption and continued growth in customer demand for contactless ordering, menu, and payment to enable seamless dining experiences, such as scanning a QR code or connecting to a restaurant's Wi-Fi with ease. 70% of millennials prefer a contactless operation, and 79% of diners expect the option to use technology to order from casual restaurants.  

Contactless tech solutions can benefit your business in many ways - from streamlining and automating workflow to providing safer and more convenient customer experiences. Automated order processing and payment can improve operational efficiency, reduce human error (especially when it comes to requests for menu changes), and smoothly serve more guests with fewer front-of-house staff. Leveraging digital solutions can also give you valuable data insights into customer preferences and traffic patterns. 

Really smart kitchens  

2024 tech trends also reach the back-of-house to make your operations smoother and more efficient. Think kitchen display systems (KDS), automated inventory management or menu engineering software, to name a few exciting technologies.  

One of the biggest benefits of an automated kitchen is accuracy. Whether in the inventory record or waste management, a real-time view of data can keep better track, help understand what has been used/wasted and give you a better handle on the situation. Managing allergens in the menu (in all dishes and food pre-packed for direct sale (PPDS)) is an essential and required by law procedure, and if not carried out correctly, can have fatal results. Tech solution, such as the Allergen and Nutritional Management module, automates this process across all your menus, recipes and dishes, giving you and your staff peace of mind. 

Personalised loyalty programmes 

A customer loyalty programme, as a part of your marketing plan, is an effective strategy that can help enhance customer loyalty and deepen customer relationships, regardless of the size of your business. But in 2024, programmes are evolving and are more than basic points and punch cards. They're now data-driven platforms improving customer loyalty and increasing returning customer visits.   

By integrating data from various sources, such as your epos system and other touchpoints, a hospitality CRM enables you to create a personalised restaurant loyalty programme that can help improve the overall customer experience and your marketing efforts.  

AI in hospitality 

Many industries can't imagine their lives without the help of AI anymore, even though it's only been around for a while. Hospitality businesses can and should consider adopting AI into their operations for a couple of reasons.  

From improving operational efficiency, enhancing the guest experience, and even increasing revenue, AI can be extremely helpful in running a modern restaurant.  

AI-powered chatbots can assist guest with their bookings and recommend menu or room types - all by handling many enquiries simultaneously, without human assistance. By analysing data, AI algorithms can help generate reports and track marketing campaigns, giving valuable insights, which can then be used to optimise your pricing strategy and ultimately, maximise revenue.  

AI can be a valuable tool in other processes, such as providing the best guest experience and even hiring. Read more about AI and its benefits and smart ways to use it.

Sustainability  

Emerging technologies can also help your business to be more sustainable across many levels.  

• Saying no to paper

Did you know that printing a ream of paper costs around £32.50 every month? Alongside storage and stationary costs, sticking with paper comes at a significant price. Switching paper to digital - including your printed menus, inventory records or staff scheduling, helps you save an enormous amount of paper (and paperwork).  

• Reducing food waste

The most common causes of food waste in restaurants come from human errors: over-ordering, missed expiration dates, spoilage, or overproduction, to name a few. The good news is - digitalising these processes can help you keep better track and waste less. By utilising data-driven software, you can get more accurate at ordering supplies and keep on top of your food management. Here are our 10 tech-driven ways to reduce food waste in your restaurant.  

Don't get left behind. 

The hospitality industry never stops evolving. In fact, the past few years and the rise of hospitality technology have transformed the ways restaurants, bars and hotels operate, so determining which innovations to invest in can be challenging. However, it's vital to carefully evaluate your specific business needs and goals before deciding on which software or upgrade to invest in.  

The trends covered in this guide demonstrate the immense potential, but not every solution may be right for you. Once you've analysed your pain points and inefficiencies and defined the objectives you want technology to help achieve - boosting revenue, controlling costs, improving service, reducing waste or other aims, you can confidently integrate the tech. As we showed in this article, there are many solutions to choose from that can optimise your operations and elevate guest experiences.  

As a tech company, we're not only excited to see these new technology trends in hospitality industry, but we're thrilled to help businesses adopt them.  

Contact us today and see firsthand how we can assist you in getting the most value out of these innovations and help future-proof your business, based on your unique needs and goals.