A mobile app enabling hotel guests to check-in through an automated process including authentication with a selfie was among eight innovations shared with attendees of the annual Singapore Tourism Board (STB) conference on Thursday, The Straights Times reports.

 

The selfie check-in system showcased was provided by AI firm GTRIIP.

 

The STB also announced a plan to create a guide to help hotels identify and adopt technologies, such as facial recognition and e-payments, which can help them address changing consumer attitudes and a labor shortage for repetitive tasks. The STB has already been working on a Hotel Industry Transformation Map to share strategies for to address similar needs, which it launched in December, and updated on Thursday.

 

“Nowadays a lot more of the younger generation travel, and many of them use mobile phones. Many of the technologies on display here use (mobile) apps,” said Margaret Heng, executive director of the Singapore Hotel Association, which will lead efforts on the Smart Hotel Technology Roadmap.

 

The STB will work with hotel operator Far East Hospitality Management to implement productivity improvements at three new properties scheduled to open in Sentosa in 2019.

 

Oracle research published earlier this year revealed that biometrics will play key role in ther hospitality industry.