For guests today, almost everything can be done digitally, and according to recent studies, that's exactly what they want. Around 73% of travellers prefer hotels that use technology extensively both to reduce physical contact with staff and to ensure a more pleasant, smooth stay. Contactless check-in that happens during the ride from the airport to the hotel is no longer a nice extra but a clear expectation [Statista].

Yet digital check-in is just one visible and relatively simple application. While guests take stable WiFi and a smoothly functioning smart TV for granted, the reality behind the scenes at many properties is far more complex. Modern hotel IT now manages nearly all operations, from inventory management for food purchasing, cleaning services, or room service, to building management systems for lighting, power, heating, or wellness areas. What should appear effortless to guests is based internally on numerous technical systems.

This is where one of the industry's biggest challenges lies. Many hotels have chosen different vendors for individual areas over the years. Short-term, this often seems faster and cheaper. Long-term, however, it frequently creates a technological patchwork. The Fraunhofer "FutureHotel" study shows that the lack of integration between these systems represents one of the biggest barriers to hotel resilience [FutureHotel – Fraunhofer IAO].

When systems don't communicate properly, chain reactions occur quickly. An error in the Property Management System can prevent digital keys from being created. Heating continues running even though the room is already empty because the building management system receives no information about the departure. At the same time, different update cycles from various vendors increase the risk of security vulnerabilities. Breaking down data silos and migrating to integrated cloud environments is now the central prerequisite for reducing operational costs and minimising cyber risks. It's no coincidence this is one of our core areas of expertise. The true costs of this fragmentation often only become visible during operations. Beyond our insights from our clients, we also see this in industry papers like Deloitte's [Travel & Hospitality Outlook 2024/2025].

A centrally integrated solution thus becomes a crucial economic factor. Particularly given the acute skills shortage, automation is gaining importance. According to an Oracle report, 65% of hoteliers want to use technology to better manage staffing gaps. When routine processes like check-in or billing are automated and run across systems, it not only reduces manual effort. At the same time, current data on occupancy, revenue, and expenses is always available centrally a clear advantage for operational decisions and accounting [Skift: Hospitality in 2025]. Through the use of generative AI, we're also increasingly seeing high-volume tasks at the customer interface, like retrieving an invoice after an email enquiry, being taken off staff's hands, freeing time for higher-value activities (such as on-site guest services).

For guests, meanwhile, stable digital infrastructure has become basic provision. According to Skift, a high-performance network is now expected as naturally as water or electricity. A NaaS approach ensures technical equipment stays current and available bandwidth is deployed flexibly where it's needed whether in conference areas or for streaming in guest rooms.

This is exactly where DaPhi comes in. Instead of hoteliers having to coordinate between different vendors themselves and become the IT fire brigade when problems arise, a central approach bundles all relevant systems. One point of contact replaces coordination between WiFi providers, access control solutions, and other technical service providers. This aligns with Gartner's analysis identifying 'hyperautomation' and consolidated technology platforms as crucial competitive advantages for making IT infrastructure complexity manageable. At the same time, infrastructure remains flexibly scalable, from individual digitised rooms to complete resort solutions. Through continuous monitoring, many issues can also be detected and resolved before guests even notice [Skift].

Digitisation in hospitality is thus not a one-off project, but a long-term strategic decision.

Photo by Andrew Neel and Ketut Subiyanto