This Lodging Report, written over ten years ago now, reflects the state of the lodging industry's use of technology in its customer dealings, from the operations side to engagement. The report's general conclusion is that currently (2014, that is) hotels have adopted some of the Customer Engagement Technologies (CETs) but plan to do so even more in the next year (2015). Lodging businesses clearly see the need to put their brand, operations, and engagement into the internet where customers will engage. This report shows that and gives details about what businesses plan to do.
Observations
Calling this a 'digital arms race', the article seems to make the case that hotels are in competition to adopt these CETs so their customers will engage. While it was a race in 2014, I don't see why it would have to be an arms race; everyone who gets to the customer engagement part of the internet will win out. Their customers will engage, book, check in/out, and so much more with the provided technologies. So maybe not an arms race but a race that rewards each runner when they finish.
Also, this article was written in 2014. Reviewing it now may not have practical implications for businesses today using the same CETs, but it is worth using this considering what's happening today in 2026. I'm sure HT Magazine has a report that's much more relevant for today. But it is interesting to see how things were back then.
General summary
In 2014, not every lodging business had fully adopted all the CETs that this article speaks about. Probably this was since technology moves very fast and businesses don't adopt new engagement methods as quickly. Social media was the highest CET cared for in this time, but even then 6% of hotel businesses had no social media presence. Mobile websites were not in place for every business, and even their own websites were static and uninteresting.
Hotel businesses are making strides. They seem to recognize the need and are therefore investing time, resources, and labor into engaging with their customers across all technologies. They see that mobile websites and social media are the two biggest platforms to implement and so the few who haven't planted themselves in that tech will do so by the next year. So, this seems to indicate that hotels are willing to move fast to get to where their customers are engaging with brands.
Hotel businesses also see the need to work their brand websites to make them more inviting, more interactive, and more useful for the guests. In 2014, mobile apps weren't really attended to by the companies. They relied on their website to do the work. But, again, the hotel industry saw a need back in this year to beef up their mobile app. Apps are more challenging to build, speaking from experience, and mobile apps were really just taking off. But these companies see the need. They planned (in 2014) to measure the ROI on these apps to see if they were useful.
That article states that the next phase for technology is this customer engagement, not just in pursuing the site, but interacting with the customer's stay. Apps really need(ed) to be able to allow guests to check in, check out, charge, and more. The survey suggested that developing out the loyalty programs was a top priority.
A future wish list in the past
The last section of this article was interesting. The hoteliers were asked what they really wanted in the future. They responded that technology would be there for the guests' use throughout the guest's entire stay. Lodging businesses wanted guests to manage all aspects of their stay. I find that wish interesting here in 2026. We've seen businesses operate with robots and AI and the regular technologies. I hope that this wish has played well and hotels have seen some great return on investment. Speaking personally, I'd never want an app to control my entire stay, and working at a Disney resort, I see that people too usually want to talk to someone else about their own stay.
Interesting look into the past
Reading an article about tech adoption's current state and future plans in 2014 was interesting. We can see, 12 years later, that adoption is almost complete and, I suppose, it makes guests' stays better. Hotels are engaging with their customers more in social media and have developed (and supported) apps that help the guest out. I hope today is what hotels of 2014 wished for.