TOUCHPOINTS

Hospitality is, at its heart, about people, and much of the industry’s attention quite rightly focuses on the human interaction: the warmth of the welcome at reception, the attentiveness of the staff, the speed with which a request is handled and the small acts of consideration that make a guest feel genuinely looked after. But something happens before any of that…

There was a time when getting into a hotel room involved a piece of metal, a little patience and, occasionally, an awkward conversation with reception. Then came the hotel key card. With it came a quiet revolution in the way hotels manage access.

Not only in romance is true compatibility the key…There are many hotel locking systems and many ways of providing access. Across South Africa’s hospitality sector, hotels use a wide range of electronic locking technologies, including VingCard/ASSA ABLOY, dormakaba/Saflok, Onity, SALTO, CISA, Häfele Dialock, MIWA and others.

For decades, the hotel key card has been almost synonymous with plastic. But as premium hospitality increasingly focuses on sustainability, design and the details of the guest experience, hotels are rethinking even the smallest items they place in their guests’ hands.

Have you ever watched a trail of ants working together? One ant, on its own, is remarkably small. Yet together, thousands of ants can build a nest of extraordinary complexity or move an object many times their collective size.

For something so small, the hotel key card plays a surprisingly important role in the guest experience.