Tech Surfing

Technology today is not only changing guest interface but is also defining how hotel developers are planning their buildings, infrastructure, management and staffing requirements

- Rashmi Naicker

Earlier this year, hundreds of guests at a four-star Austrian hotel, Romantik Seehotel Jaegerwirt, were locked out of their rooms after hackers reportedly breached the hotel’s electronic key system and prevented the system from working. The hotel’s MD paid EUR 1,500 in ransom claiming that since the property was totally booked with 180 guests, he had no other choice and neither the police nor insurance could help a hotelier in this case.

This has put the spotlight on the growing instances of cybercrime. We speak to IT heads and technical heads of hotels to understand how they have enhanced their brand’s systems to safeguard it from these kinds of cyber threats. We also find out how they use tech tools to predict any potential data breach and foil attacks.

In this era of digital transformation, how has the role of an IT head changed? What strategies are you adopting to stay relevant in contemporary times?

Kiran Patel: In this era of rapid digitalisation, the CIO is not only required to monitor the network security or other threats, but also needs to look into new and upcoming threats of digital payments and phishing. With our government aggressively moving towards creating a ‘Digital India’, digital payments need to be secured by adapting to new and upcoming technology at the earliest. If we are going to go digital at such a fast pace, cyber crime cases will rise proportionately. Hence we need to adapt a technology that is phased out over a period of time, which will balance cyber crime in connect to digitalisation. It is better to go on a medium pace to balance a mix of traditional and digital modes of payment.