Developments to revolutionise online marketing

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The end purpose? To allow ‘websites' to become ‘omni-sites' that can adapt and display content automatically in any shape or form, be it on web browsers, mobile devices, televisions, holographic displays or billboards.

This will be made possible through the breakup of site design elements to functional, aesthetic blocks that can re-arrange themselves depending on the display device they sense. This means that yesterday's Flash vs. HTML debate for hotel sites will be replaced with a scramble to get to top ‘form' tomorrow.

The new question will be "Can your hotel omni-site adapt to any display medium while retaining maximum impact and usability?".

This will ensure hotel sites do justice to content and can display them on any device, be it the internet, the guest's mobile device, public information screens or guest televisions without requiring redesign.

4. From content to meaning, From interaction to relationship

The lines between supplier and user generated content are increasingly going to blur.

With ever increasing amounts of information and users on the internet, our online social circles will become more specific and exclusive. Users will rely on a personalised, time-bound ‘zeitgeist' of the web and their social networks to read the news, express opinions and aid their buying decisions.

The ability to interact with hotel content and staff online will become the rule, not the exception. Be it virtual guest service lounges created with online applications like Google Lively, where guests can interact with hotel representatives in a virtual space, or the ability for guests to instantly share experiences in rich media with their own social network, a meaningful dialogue between hotels and their guests will become a crucial online success factor. Guest social networks will become a strong niche referral and monetised distribution channel for hotels.

5. The real world and the virtual world collide...visually

Increasing customer discontent with hotel photography due to outdated shots, limited views and image doctoring, combined with emerging technology will make reliance on supplier visuals a thing of the past. As the ability to go beyond linking text to hyperlinking images and video on the web becomes easier, users will be able to experience augmented reality through their computers.

Imagine this: navigating a destination using Google Earth, being able to zoom down to hotels and actually explore a three-dimensional view in photos and video of what the hotel and its environment actually looks like! And all this stitched together from images other guests and visitors have taken and posted on the web.

Sound far fetched? The technology already exists. Check out Microsoft's PhotoSynth, which takes a large collection of photos of a place or object, analyses them for similarities, and displays them in a reconstructed three-dimensional space. This will eventually be possible with the millions of user generated photos and videos on the web, allowing us to become virtual tourists and see the world as it really is.

Some of the above may sound like science-fiction, but interestingly enough, many of the underlying technologies for these developments are already under fabrication or refinement. In many respects the future is already here.

For hoteliers who worry about keeping ahead of the curve and catching up with tech developments, there's good news. Great technology will always simplify rather than complicate our lives and in the end, all the above developments will only empower consumers and offer a clearer picture of the world. Those who build great hotels and offer exceptional service will still come out on top the technology will simply fade into the background and accentuate your success.

Jitendra Jain (JJ) works with Starwood Hotels and Resorts in Dubai, and has also founded various online platforms such as www.thetalentjungle.com and www.younghotelier.com.

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