in association with


Is super Mario a sign of things to come in hotels?


Mario, a robot ‘employed’ by the Ghent Marriott Hotel, will address Abta’s Travel Convention along with the hotel’s general manager, Roger Langhout.


Mario was unavailable to comment, but Langhout says: “Mario can do whatever we programme him to do. He stands on reception and when we touch his left foot, he turns to the receptionist. The receptionist gives him a key, he turns, gives the key to the guest and says: “We hope you have a great stay.” “We put him on the buffet


counter and he explains the menu – ‘This is the meat dish, the fish, the salad’ and so on. We also rent him out. We programme him with a text, so he can introduce a conference. He can read the text of a PowerPoint presentation. “He is connected to the internet and can be programmed to call a taxi. We’re also exploring opportunities to use facial recognition, so when he sees a guest, he can recognise them and


“Mario adds to the experience of guests. People gather around and he puts a smile on people’s faces”


say: ‘Great to see you again. Are you joining us for breakfast?’” Langhout explains: “We


develop the functionality as we see opportunities and then programme him. It’s not artificial intelligence [AI]. There is a lot of programming involved.” But there are limitations.


“It takes time to develop opportunities,” he says. “The programming can be done quickly, but we have to try it out, so he does things right. He is small [Mario is 60cm and weighs 5.6kg] and can’t harm anyone. A bigger robot can’t operate near people because the motor is too strong and could do harm. “The technology is not so


advanced that Mario can operate


Mario gens up on the menu so that he can take guests through the options


on his own. We always have a staff member with him to see everything goes well. His interaction with humans is limited.” Langhout ‘met’ Mario at a healthcare conference. He says: “A company introduced a robot for use in hospitals, rehabilitating patients and interacting with children.” Langhout talked to the manufacturer and they moved into hospitality. So why did the Marriott Ghent


engage Mario (whose name is derived from Marriott)? Langhout says: “It adds to the experience of guests. People gather around him and he puts a smile on guests’ faces. He is an anchor for guests to remember our hotel or to remember a conference. And it’s commercial. We rent him out for €500 a day. It’s income for us. “We’ve had huge exposure and each time there is media attention there is huge interest.” He adds: “Staff like him.”


This could be partly because Mario does not threaten jobs.


How artificial intelligence is gathering pace


w May 2015 Starwood Hotels introduces robot butlers on the concierge desks at two Aloft brand hotels in Silicon Valley, California


w June 2015 Mario makes his debut at the Ghent Marriott


w July 2015 The all-robot Henn-na Hotel opens in Nagasaki, Japan


w March 2016 Hilton introduces robot concierge Connie (from Conrad Hilton), using IBM’s Watson AI, at its Hilton McLean Hotel, in Virginia


w April 2016 Costa Cruises introduces interactive robot Pepper on board Costa Diadema and AIDAprima


“It’s not taking jobs away. It’s too labour intensive.” Langhout is an enthusiast for


robots, noting: “The robot industry is growing fast. In five years, 80% of households will have a robot in some form. “The hotel industry is seen


as traditional and we should be changing. We should be open to technology and in charge of technology, to explore it and use it for our benefit.” So will robots replace staff?


Langhout says: “It’s already happening in the car industry. Robotics is a huge industry – already a €200 million business just in Belgium. It will grow and employ many people. We have to see the balance [of jobs created and those displaced].” He agrees hospitality is


different from manufacturing, but suggests: “For repetitive tasks that people don’t like, such as vacuuming, we’ll soon see robots being used.” But despite the promise of AI, he says: “We’re not even near ‘self-thinking’ robots.” For now he describes Mario as “a toy for grown-ups”.


Travel Convention 2016 travelweekly.co.uk 19


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24