| | JULY 20218T he hospitality industry has been most profoundly transformed with technological intervention over the years. Commencing with in-room telephones in the 1980s, introducing cloud-based PMS in 2010 to AI and ro-bot concierges, technology has continued to redefine hos-pitality and tourism. Consequently, crafting unique travel experiences for the guests. The new-age technology is capable of accomodating travellers' varying needs, ranging from in-room facilities to ease of transportation. The following decisive areas depict how has tech-reach collectively altered the travel experience for the best: Travel planning and booking on-the-fly: Since the inception of OTAs and full-fledged travel portals like Expedia, Kayak, Booking.com, MakeMyTrip - travel enthusiasts across the globe can book stays, flights, local activities and experiences, trains or even hire cars, pay for them using seamless technology integration. Their favour-ite hotels are listed online, available at clicks, with the pro-vision to select preferable amenities as per the need. As per research, around 57% of total travel bookings are made online via apps or websites.Thanks to OTAs, metasearch engines and digital pay-ment technology, travellers plan and book their vacations through their smartphones from any corner of the world. Contactless hospitality:Mobile Technology has been the true essence of the up-graded travel experience, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. As the world steadily recovers from it, the hos-pitality and travel sector are ready to serve the tourists with contactless guest journeys, ensuring their compliance to healthcare protocols and safety standards.eZee, the leading hotel technology provider, has em-powered lodging fraternity to offer contactless hospitali-ty via digital check-in, an online guest portal to carry out on-premise guest service, in-room dining facilities, con-tactless arrival, stay and departure. Technology has barred all the hurdles for both the hosts and the guests to elevate the travel experience to the next level. HOW IS TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTIONISING THE TRAVEL EXPERIENCE?By Harshdeep Khatri, CTO at eZeeTechnosysVANTAGE POINTHarshdeep Khatri,CTO
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