google assistant
To Serve Guests You Need to Understand Them
David Berger | January 30, 2020
By Dave Berger “Service with a smile” has always been a common hospitality practice in the United States. Welcoming some international guests with this non-verbal cue, however, can be problematic. In Japan, a smile often conveys anger, sadness, or embarrassment rather than joy or friendliness. In Russia, smiling at a stranger is considered insincere and impolite. In the U.S., people nod their heads in agreement or acknowledgement; in Greece, Turkey, and other nearby nations, a single nod of the head upward actually means “no.” And forget offering international visitors a thumbs up. For many cultures, this gesture is vulgar and rude...
4 Ways the Google Assistant Interpreter Will Drive Guest Satisfaction Scores, Boost Loyalty
Dave Berger | January 21, 2020
Investing in translation technology will facilitate accurate dialogues with the world’s 1.4 billion tourists arriving at hotel properties By Dave Berger 2019 is the year of “experiential travel,” with guests demanding more seamless, personalized and transformative stays. With the travel industry already achieving 1.4 billion international tourist arrivals worldwide (two years ahead of the 2020 prediction according to the UN World Tourism Organization), hoteliers need to address the most basic hospitality principle – hotel-to guest and guest-to-hotel communication. Today’s modern, mobile-dependent travelers expect a frictionles...
Expected Global Tourism Boom in 2020 Is Fueling the Need for Voice Translation Technology at Check In and Beyond
David Berger | January 16, 2020
Voice on command is not just for the guestroom; Hoteliers are finding the Google Assistant’s interpreter mode + Volara to easily and accurately streamline guest communication By Dave Berger Research suggests that customer-experience (CX) technologies that serve every touchpoint, add personalization and drive satisfaction were at the top of operators’ wish lists for 2020. To be effective and deliver a rapid return on investment, these solutions must successfully delight guests, increase operational efficiencies, inspire loyalty, and generate profits. One technology that is checking all these boxes – yet is often overlooked – is d...
Reducing Friction in Hotel Guest Service: A Recap of ‘Voice’ at CES 2020
Volara | January 14, 2020
Experts say voice technologies are central to the growth of experiential travel and tourism in 2020 and beyond New York — January 14, 2020 — More More than 170,000 people descended on Las Vegas last week to see the most transformative technology products on the planet during the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show. New this year was a “Travel & Tourism” educational track that highlighted how smarter and safer technologies are transforming the travel and tourism industries. A technology that remained in the spotlight during the three-session program was voice – such as the in-room solution atop Amazon Alexa powered by Volara that ...
Google Assistant’s Interpreter Mode Helps International Hotel Guests Translate Across 29 Languages
Volara | January 8, 2020
New solution from the Google Assistant, deployed by Volara and announced at CES 2020, provides real-time, fully managed, and hassle-free live language translation for hotels January 8, 2020 — Las Vegas — Last year, the Google Assistant unveiled its real-time translation technology, interpreter mode, helping hotel staff carry on conversations with guests speaking foreign languages. To extend upon this experience, Volara is partnering with the Assistant to launch a new full service solution so hotels can better serve and communicate with their international guests. The new solution, which runs on the Google Nest Hub, benefited from s...
