1. Incentivize Employee Innovation

3. Communicate Management Buy-in and Support
Submitting a new idea to your manager can be intimidating. Many employees worry their ideas will fall on deaf ears or be rejected on the spot.
For any hospitality organization looking to incorporate innovation into its culture, it must be made abundantly clear that failure will not only be tolerated, but accepted. Managers must shift the risk from the employee to management, allowing for a free flow of ideas and feedback. This buy-in from management must be regularly communicated to the staff. For example, Bill Marriott Jr., Executive Chairman of Marriott International, is known for randomly dropping in to Marriott locations and talking to employees. This kind of personal touch is the best way to encourage your colleagues to communicate their suggestions.
Knowing Marriott’s commitment to its staff, it’s clear Starwood’s hospitality innovation culture is in good hands. If you want to make innovation a part of your company’s cultural DNA, start by communicating that to your employees and proving you mean it.

Technological innovation: all about products, services and processes

Nowadays most service innovations in hotels come from technological innovations. It is a crucial driver of growth, an effective way to neutralize digital disruption from OTAs and sharing economy firms, and an effective tool in attracting younger generations.

Technology innovation

In our study, close to 72% of executives reported to have implemented a considerable proportion of innovations in the technology category; yet taking a closer look at the use of online technology, there are significant differences on how hotels, OTAs and AirBnBs interact with their guests before, during and after their stay and provide personalized service throughout.
Top executives and senior managers agree on the need to strengthen the industry’s ability to continuously adapt and innovate by facilitating investment in new technologies and continuously adapting to new technological capabilities. Despite the importance of technology advancement, these firms do not obtain significantly higher results in overall customer retention and average bed occupancy rate. Investment in new technologies should be strengthened through a combination of several forms of innovation.