The Future of Travel Technology - Welcoming Our New Computer Overlords was presented by Robert Cole, Founder-CEO of RockCheetah at the Annual Wisconsin Hotel and Lodging Association Conference and Tradeshow held November 8, 2016 at the Oshkosh Convention Center in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Covering big data, artificial intelligence, the presentation suggests the hotel industry should expect to see rapid changes in the coming years, driven my mobile computing, voice and messaging services, as well as smart assistants and autonomous vehicles. Hoteliers that embrace the changing technology will help their staffs work smarter and dramatically improve guest experiences through a high degree of personalization.

1. The Future of Travel Technology –
Welcoming Our New Computer
Overlords
Wisconsin Hotel & Lodging Association
– Lodging Conference & Trade Show
November 8, 2016 | Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Image Credit: JD Hancock | flickr (cc)

2. Looking Forward from 6 Years Ago
• WH&LA Conference 2010 – Green Bay
– Relevance
• Password Protected Walled Gardens 
– Mobility
• Massive Adoption  | Apple iTravel 
– Personalization
• Customization  | Voice Interfaces 
– Community
• Social Explosion  | Hacking Explosion 
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Source: Nikonphotography D750 | flickr (cc)

3. Future Hotel Technology - Overview
• Data
– Expect More. Better Organized & Interpreted
• Mobility
– Big Winners, Voice and Messaging Services
• Democratization of Advanced Technology
– Smart Assistants, Cars and Platforms
• Hotel Experiences
– Tech Helps Everyone Work Smarter
• Good News / Bad News
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4. Data
• Massive Data Creation
– More Data at Lower Cost
• Big Data
– Organizing Complex Data
• Predictive Analytics
– Knowing the Answer Before the Question is Asked
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Image Credit: Sean Ellis | flickr (cc)

5. The Data Explosion
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6. Big Data
Big Data Doesn’t Fit Traditional Databases (4 V’s)
• Volume
– Kayak: +40 Million Rows into 43 Fact Tables Daily
• Variety
– Facebook: 350M Photos | 4.5B Likes | 10B Msgs / Day
• Velocity
– Sabre: Processes 85,000 Transactions/Second
• Veracity
– 1/3 of Business Leaders Don’t Trust Their Information
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Image Credit jesuscm| flickr (cc)

7. Predictive Analytics
• Customization Changes User Experience
– Search, Sort, Filter, Selection – Produces Response
• Personalization Changes Content
– Target Stores Recognized 2nd Trimester Pregnancy
• Intense Testing Support
– Kayak: 30 to 50% Daily Visitors Involved in Tests
• Methods:
– Evaluation of User Browsing & Navigation Behaviors
– Seek Signals Offering High Correlation to Booking
– Multivariate Testing Used to Validate Hypotheses
– Targeting of Users Exhibiting Similar Behaviors
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8. Mobility
• Winners Take All
– Large Players Dominate
• Messaging Platforms
– Growing with Full App Integration
• Voice Search
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Image Credit: messicanbeer | flickr (cc)

9. Mobile Winner Takes All
• 2/3 of Installed Mobile Apps Go Unused
• 80% of Usage Sourced from Only 3 Apps
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Source: KPCB | SimilarWeb (May 2016)

10. Messaging Explosion
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Source: KPCB | SimilarWeb (May 2016)

11. Messaging Platform App Integration
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12. Mobile Apps Adding Capabilities
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Source: KPCB | Hillhouse Capital (May 2016)

13. When Phones Aren’t Really Phones
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Source: KPCB | Dimension Data (2015)

14. Democratization of Advanced Technology
• Artificial Intelligence Platforms
– Solving Non-threatening Challenges
• Intelligent Personal Assistants
– The Smartest “Person” You Know
• Language & Image Understanding
– Dramatic Improvements in Understanding
• Autonomous Vehicles
– Self Driving Cars Are Here Now
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Image Credit: Matthew Hurst | flickr (cc)

15. Open Source Artificial Intelligence
• IBM – Watson
– Popular Example: Jeopardy
• Google - Tensor Flow
– Popular Example: First Cat Videos, Then AlphaGo
• Microsoft - Cognitive Services
– Popular Example: Celebrity Look-alikes
• Facebook - FAIR
– Popular Example: Photo captions for the blind
• Amazon - DSSTNE
– Popular Example: Product Recommendations
• Open AI (Elon Musk / Peter Thiel)
– Popular Example: Unsupervised Learning
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16. Super Intelligent Personal Assistants
• Apple – Siri
– Voice-control Uses Sequential Inference / Contextual Awareness
• Google – Now
– Web Services Answer Questions & Makes Suggestions
• Microsoft – Cortana
– Syncs Queries Across Windows 10 Devices – Phone PC, Tablet
• Facebook – M
– Human “Trainers” Oversee Fulfillment of AI Powered Services
• Amazon – Alexa
– Echo – Voice UI Plays Music, Set Alarms, Answers Questions
• Samsung – Viv
– Writes Own Contextual Code – Creates 44-step program in 10ms
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17. Natural Language Understanding
• Voice Search Trends
– Sep 2014
• Baidu: 10% of Search Queries from Voice
– Jun 2015
• Apple/Siri: >1Billion Voice Requests/Week
– 2015
• Amazon Echo/Alexa: 25% of US Speaker Market
– May 2016
• Android: 20% of Mobile Search from Voice
– 2020
• Baidu: 50% of Search via Voice or Images
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18. Natural Language Understanding
• Google’s Parsey McParseface is Open-Source
• Alexa Skills Kit Development
– Sep 2015 – 14 Skills
– May 2016 – 950+ Skills (Uber, Dominos, Spotify)
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19. Image Interpretation
• Contextual Signals
– Water
– Beach
– Sunset
– Waves
– Couple
– Romantic
– Palm Tree
– Tropical
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Image Credit: Stuart Seeger | flickr (cc)

20. Autonomous Vehicles
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Image Credit: Stuart Seeger | flickr (cc)
• Major Players
– Google, Tesla, Mercedes, BMW
• 2020 is Threshold
– 10 Million global autonomous vehicles on Road
Monetization Opportunity – Commute Time
• 3. Business Model

21. Impact on Hotel Experience
• On-Property
– It’s All About Personalization
• Off-Site
– Simplifies Processes / Eliminates Pain Points
• Back of House
– Tools for More Informed & Efficient Hotel Team
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Image Credit: PortoBay Hotels & Resorts | flickr (cc)

22. On-Property Guest Experience
Property Services
• Registration
– Room Selection
– Remote Check-in
– Mobile Payments
– Door / Parking
– Bell Service
• Ancillary Services
– Room Service
– Dining Reservations
– Laundry/Valet
– Recreation
– Spa
– Gift Shop
Guest Room Services
• Digital Control
– Service Authentication
– Internet Access
– Entertainment System
• Smart Controls
– Room Access
– Thermostat
– Lighting
– Bath
– Do Not Disturb
• Messaging
– Concierge/Staff
– Group Information
– Guests
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Image Credit: PortoBay Hotels & Resorts | flickr (cc)

23. Off-Site Guest Experience
Hotel / Itinerary Related
• Hotel Digital Properties
– Reservations
– Personalized Content
– Reviews/Feedback
• Frequent Guest
– Profile/Preferences
– Recognition
– Special Offers
• Local Destination
– Dining
– Shopping
– Transportation
– Events
• Location-based Services
– Contextual Advertising
– Personalized Offers
Digital Life Related
• Seamless Internet Access
– Passive Authentication
– Hotspot 2.0 / Passpoint
• Personal Subscription Access
– Streaming Video
– Streaming Music
– Sports Programming
• Home Automation
– Security
– Personal Preferences
• Remote Access
– Goods/Services Delivery
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Image Credit: PortoBay Hotels & Resorts | flickr (cc)

24. Back of House Staff Experience
Guest Engagement
• Knowledge Enhancement
– Enhanced Guest Profile Access
– Property Knowledge Base
– Local Information Resources
• Team-based Messaging
– Process Management
– Status Monitoring
– Performance Benchmarking
• Mobile Devices
– All Guest Contact Employees
• Augmented Reality
– Heads-up Display of Guest Data
Operational Efficiency
• Cloud-based Systems
– Software as a Service
– Lower Development / Maintenance
– Container-based Coding Platforms
• SmartHub Control
– Manage Guest/Staff Digital Access
• Inventory Control
– Digital Asset Tagging
• Digital Partnerships
– Streaming Content Providers
– Home Automation
– Internet Service Providers / Mobile
Carriers
• Enhanced Security Processes
– Improved Systems Integration
– Improved Agency Integration
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Image Credit: PortoBay Hotels & Resorts | flickr (cc)

25. Good News & Bad News
• Good News
– Anticipate Unlimited Connectivity & Storage
– Improve Quality of Life and Convenience
– Greater Corporate Efficiency
• Bad News
– Convenience Versus Privacy Trade-offs
– Subscriptions Free Affluent from Advertising
– Google Deep Mind AI Learns Without Human Input
• Bottom Line:
– 47% US jobs at risk of being automated next 20 years1
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Source: “The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?” Oxford University (2016) ● Image Credit: Pascal | flickr (cc)

26. The Future of Travel Technology – Recap
• Big Data Explosion
– Personalization & Predictive Analytics Main Focus
• Mobility
– Google/Facebook Mobile Platforms Dominating
• Democratization of Advanced Tech
– Unparalleled Access to Tools, But at What Risk?
• Hotel Impact
– Offers Seamless Guest Experiences
– Empowers Staff to Provide True Hospitality
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27. Robert Cole | RockCheetah
phone: +1.262.309.9560
social media: @robertkcole
email: robert@rockcheetah.com
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The Future of Travel Technology –
Welcoming Our New Computer Overlords