Anant Sharma, founder & CEO of Matter Of Form, explores gaps in travel and hospitality technology examining how experience design and employee focused solutions can drive better outcomes.
What are the key gaps in the travel market, and how is technology addressing them?
The key gap in the travel market sits in the actual space between booking and arrival for guests planning meaningful stays globally today. While technology can help drip feed narrative before a stay nothing replaces brand promise and progressive disclosure before arrival fully. Too often the emotional arc moves from relief after booking to panic before boarding for many travelers around the world. Therefore, technology should build anticipation confidence and clarity rather than amplify uncertainty or compensate for weak experience design choices early.
What innovative solutions have transformed guest experiences?
The hospitality industry has always been beholden to bad technology. It’s a complicated business, so that’s unsurprising. But the most overlooked aspect is staff interface. When asked this question, people often say technology should be an enabler, or that it should recede into the background. The truth is simpler: we need to think about employee experience. How do we design solutions that free up staff to be the best version of themselves on the front line? If we do this, hospitality becomes truly hospitable, without inventing new jargon for great service.
What emerging technologies do you see as game changers, and how should companies adapt to avoid being left behind?
The hospitality industry has always been beholden to bad technology across many systems platforms processes and operational layers globally. Therefore, it remains a complicated business, so this reality is unsurprising given scale complexity legacy systems and constant operational pressure. But the most overlooked aspect remains the staff interface within daily operations decision-making workflows and service delivery environments globally. When asked this question people often say technology should be an enabler or that it should recede quietly into background. However, the truth is simpler we need to think more deliberately about employee experience across every touchpoint within hospitality operations. Therefore, how do we design solutions that free staff to be their best selves on the front line every day. If we do this hospitality becomes truly hospitable without inventing new jargon for great service experiences that already feel human.
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