Food things you should know

Due to the labor shortage, the tourism and catering industries have adopted self-service, unmanned smart services, allowing consumers to check out, check in, check out and make reservations by themselves, which not only reduces labor costs, but also avoids misunderstandings in change or communication. However, the introduction of smart services tests the "mutual trust" between consumers and businesses, and businesses must also add preventive measures to avoid people with ulterior motives.

The labor shortage problem in the country has been going on for a long time, and many related solutions and suggestions have been implemented. Most of them are centered on domestic consumer groups. However, from the perspective of international tourists, tourists choose self-service or semi-self-service short-distance and short-day tours. Whether it is the use of more friendly self-service machines, easy-to-use online services, or the use of smart technology when combined with future manpower, it may be able to better solve the difficulties caused by our labor shortage.

The tourism industry introduces smart services to reduce misunderstandings and save manpower

Based on my experience during this Japan research trip, I found that the almost unmanned hotel service and the pre-order reservations for tourist attractions and restaurants are not yet popular in Taiwan, but they are becoming more and more common. For example, when you check in, you no longer get a room card but a room combination lock number, which you use to enter and exit during your stay. When you check out, the front desk gives you a check-out number, which you enter and it's done.

Many restaurants in Japan have introduced self-service checkout services, which greatly reduces the use of manpower. (Photo source: provided by Wang Fukai)

In fact, the process can be said to be quite convenient for tourists. Except for the fact that sometimes the housekeeping staff really forgets to replace the amenities or provide towels, under normal circumstances, the service manpower is reduced to a minimum. Of course, for Taiwanese operators, accepting the application of online housekeeping systems and changing room password locks does have costs, but in the long run, it relatively improves the problem of physical manpower services.

For international tourists, the use of restaurant reservation systems has gradually become the norm, especially those with online translation functions, from confirming time and number of people to confirming meal contents in advance, and even completing pre-operation procedures before going abroad, which not only reduces the manpower of on-site counter staff, but also reduces disputes caused by communication gaps. In addition, even if you queue up directly on site to eat, the introduction of ticket machines also improves the convenience of self-service for tourists. This is becoming more and more common in Taiwan, especially in Japanese restaurants, but the further function is to allow kitchen staff to confirm orders and serve meals faster, so as to improve the efficiency of increasing table turnover rate.

Automated services to solve labor shortages test the importance of "mutual trust"

I personally agree with the semi-self-service checkout in Japanese supermarkets and convenience stores. If you check out in Taiwan today, you have to give the change manually. But if it is combined with the current counter equipment, tourists can pay directly by themselves, and it also reduces the mistakes caused by the change process. Another thing is that the number of Japanese convenience stores is dense, and they rely on their purchasing advantages to make affordable coffee popular. This is similar in Taiwan, but the difference is that store staff need to operate the machine to provide coffee, while Japanese convenience stores are basically self-service by consumers, which also reduces the burden of manpower.

Japanese convenience store coffee machines are operated by consumers themselves. (Photo source: provided by Wang Fukai)

However, the above-mentioned smart introductions all have a very important premise, which is mutual trust. If the international tourists or domestic consumers we are facing today take away the room supplies and even electrical appliances when they check out by themselves, or abandon the order in large numbers after making an online reservation, or buy the cheapest coffee item but order the most expensive drink, then even if the problem caused by labor shortage is reduced, other costs or even losses will be incurred. This may be an important consideration for the industry when making an assessment.

The use of automation and unmanned equipment also requires additional preventive measures

In addition, the country continues to introduce foreign service personnel and encourages the re-employment of senior citizens. This is in response to the diversity of service personnel. Smart tourism can be applied more accurately by combining the thinking of catering. For example, it can be tried in business districts and transportation hubs with a large number of international tourists, or promoted in well-known attractions and restaurants. For small and medium-sized enterprises, they are encouraged to use mature system operators for assistance. If they are a group of a certain scale, they can develop it themselves, or cooperate with existing smart system operators to continuously optimize through actual use to find an application model suitable for Taiwan.

After all, when we are dealing with sophisticated international tourists and domestic consumers at the same time, these problems can be avoided and reduced, but when we encounter malicious targets, we may need to increase preventive measures. For example, adding RFID tags to more expensive equipment can be discovered more quickly if stolen, or allowing consumers to operate coffee machines by themselves at checkout, and confirming the items that can be used by scanning the code (all-in-one mode). Exceptions include the use of big data applications in the in-store surveillance system to distinguish consumers who have behaved inappropriately for monitoring and management, and can also achieve a more comprehensive management effect on the problem.

[This article is authorized by Wang Fukai for publication. The original title is: "Under the challenge of labor shortage, smart tourism and catering are more feasible" ]

[This article is the author's opinion and does not represent the position of this media]

Review Editor: Lin Yuting