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fragmented nature of sports media rights, accessibility to games and ticket affordability. If anything, today’s consumer has too much choice and when faced with such an abundance of options, tends to not only be more selective, but also look to diversify the experiences they commit to. This leaves event organisers having to be more creative than ever and I don’t believe this trend is restricted to Gen Z. As a Gen Xer myself, I’ve seen my habits shift in the last few years. It takes a very special movie to get me into the cinema these days when I know I can watch most recent releases on one of numerous streaming platforms from the comfort of my living room and even as a diehard football fan, my calendar is not forgiving enough to allow me the luxury of writing off one day a week to see my favourite team play live. And don’t get me started on the hurdles of travelling, crowds, anti-social behaviour and ticket prices. One of the problems seems to be that the link between home and venue isn’t being exploited to its full potential, although I do believe there are platforms on the market that can address this gap. Equally, if the staff aren’t there to help with operations, technology can provide a credible solution whilst
still delivering a premium experience and keeping customers engaged. Disparate systems continue to litter the technology landscape and though many suppliers claim to have cracked the problem, challenges persist. A.I. remains the buzz term of the moment but many existing solutions made for the hospitality environment are built on legacy platforms that are still learning to accommodate this new technology in a meaningful way. This is not dissimilar to the transformation that has happened in banking, with the new kids on the block like Starling, Revolut and Monzo disrupting the sector with applications that were built from the ground up to be truly digital, leaving traditional high street establishments to play “catch up” as they modify their existing systems. Speak and you will find Love them or hate them, Amazon appear to be primed (excuse the pun) to help venues achieve something different. The innovative work they have been doing with their Just Walk Out technology (if you haven’t tried it yet, I’d recommend paying a visit to one of their stores) has the potential to
revolutionise the shopping experience in stadiums and venues, whilst I believe their Alexa platform deserves serious consideration for hospitality, particularly when it comes to service and staffing challenges. Having initiated the launch of voice hospitality using the audico system at Ascot Racecourse during my time there as Head of Technology, it soon became apparent that this platform had plenty more to offer if people were prepared explore it further. I’ve already seen the benefits of voice technology working in the health sector, particularly with those in senior living and the overall trend is only going one way. According to consumer research from Ampere Analysis, 52% of internet households now own a voice assistant in the UK while Statista’s latest research indicates that globally, there will be 8.4 billion voiceoperated devices in use by 2024. Speaking is one of the most natural things we do. audico was built from the ground up as a true A.I. platform, quickly grabbing the attention of global acquirer Elavon, with whom they now share a defined partnership, allowing the system to incorporate full, PCI compliant payments. Its latest incarnation will WWW.MONDOSTADIA.COM
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