Hospitality is, at its heart, a people business. It’s about welcoming guests, tending to their needs, and creating memorable experiences. Yet too often, I’ve seen hotel and holiday park staff bogged down by tasks that are anything but people-centric. They’re stuck behind desks doing paperwork or fielding the same basic questions over and over – which pulls them away from guests. In an era when labor is tight – nearly 65% of hotels report staffing shortages as of early 2025 (see hoteldive.com) – every minute of your team’s time is precious. The question is: how can we let our staff focus on genuine hospitality while technology handles the routine work in the background?
The Cost of “Busy Work”
Every hotelier knows the laundry list of routine tasks that eat up hours: replying to standard emails, re-entering data from one system to another, processing paperwork, scheduling, and so on. Individually, each task is small, but together they add up to a huge “busy work” tax on your team’s day. Consider that a front desk agent might spend an hour or two per shift just answering repetitive inquiries – that’s time not spent interacting with guests in the lobby or adding a personal touch to someone’s stay. These little tasks also contribute to staff burnout and frustration; no one fell in love with hospitality because they enjoy data entry and copy-paste work. When staff are overloaded with admin, guests feel it.
This is where automation can make a lifesaving difference. By letting software take over the repetitive and time-consuming chores, you effectively give time back to your employees. Think of it like having a tireless junior assistant for each team member. Need to send 100 pre-arrival info emails? The system already did it. Frequently asked question at 1 AM? The AI chatbot answered it. Inventory report updates across systems? Automated. Each piece that technology handles is one less item on a manager’s or concierge’s plate, allowing them to concentrate on guests in front of them. The cumulative effect is massive – more smiling faces at the front desk and fewer stressed-out staff scrambling in the back office.
A New Division of Labor: Humans + Tech
The goal isn’t to replace humans with machines; it’s to let each do what they’re best at. Humans excel at empathy, creative problem-solving, and adding that special touch. Technology excels at speed, accuracy, and consistency in routine processes. By redesigning workflows so that tech handles the grunt work and humans handle the personal work, you get the best of both worlds.
Imagine the arrival experience. Instead of queuing up to fill out forms, guests can check in online ahead of time and even use a digital key. The front desk staff, freed from paperwork, can step out from behind the counter to greet guests warmly, answer unique questions, or resolve issues. No one is stuck frantically typing passport numbers into a computer – technology took care of those administrative parts. This means the first impression for the guest is a friendly face and a helping hand, not a clipboard and a pen.
The same applies throughout the guest journey. During the stay, an AI-powered system can handle simple requests (extra towels, restaurant hours) via messaging, while staff devote attention to requests that truly need a human touch (like arranging a surprise birthday cake or helping with a medical issue). When automation does loop in a human, the hand-off is seamless and the staff member already has context. In short, the mundane tasks are filtered out, leaving your team free to shine where they’re truly needed.
Real Examples: More Time for Hospitality
We’ve seen impressive results when hotels find harmony between tech and team. Van der Valk Hotels, for instance, automated its guest messaging across dozens of properties. With AI answering around 95% of incoming guest messages, their frontline staff suddenly had far fewer generic inquiries to deal with. Gerard Schomaker, Van der Valk’s Head of Digital, noted that with routine questions taken care of by AI, the staff has more time for “complex and fun matters” – in other words, more time to actually engage with guests. They can devote their energy to special requests and face-to-face interactions, keeping hospitality personal even as the operation scales.
At Center Parcs De Eemhof, a large holiday park, automating common guest questions via a chatbot saved approximately 550 staff hours per month. That’s hundreds of hours that the team now spends on guest-facing activities rather than typing out the same answers. The General Manager, Rik Goedkoop, observed that the technology allows the team to respond quickly and efficiently, while refocusing human effort on personalizing the guest experience. In practice, this meant employees could organize more guest activities and spend more time chatting with families about their day, instead of constantly rushing to put out fires. Notably, some guests commented that “the chatbot works great” and “WhatsApp is ideal!” for getting help, and they appreciated that if the bot couldn’t assist, a staff member was always ready to step in.
And let’s not forget the staff’s own job satisfaction. When you free employees from drudgery, they enjoy their work more. The team at Snoozebox Hotel, after implementing automation, praised how the system was “intuitive” and how it let them focus on what matters most: the guests. Removing tedious tasks isn’t about cutting headcount; it’s about enabling your existing staff to perform at their best and find more fulfillment in their roles. Happier staff tend to create happier guests.
Conclusion
In an industry built on human connection, it might seem counterintuitive to introduce more automation. But the truth is, smart technology can actually make your hotel more hospitable by amplifying what your people do best. When you let tech handle the rest – the checklists, the FAQs, the data entries – your team is liberated to pour their energy into guests. They can greet instead of gaze at a screen, listen instead of rushing, and add thoughtful touches instead of drowning in paperwork.
For decision-makers, the takeaway is clear: adopting automation is not about making your operation cold or impersonal. It’s about removing the barriers that prevent your staff from being the gracious hosts they aspire to be. Especially in times of labor shortages, technology is like an extra pair of helping hands that ensures nothing falls through the cracks.
Ultimately, hospitality is the art of making people feel cared for. By entrusting the repetitive tasks to automation, you empower your team to spend their time caring for people. By leaning on machines a bit more, we actually make the human side of our business stronger. Guests will notice the difference – a staff that isn’t hurried or harried, but present and eager to help. Letting technology handle the rest means your people can truly focus on the guest – exactly where they should be.
