Beyond connectivity: How smart technology is transforming Zimbabwe’s hospitality sector

By Lorreta Songola

WHEN thousands of delegates visited Harare for the recent Southern African Development Community (SADC) Industrialisation Week and the SADC Heads of State and Government Summit, Zimbabwe’s hospitality sector saw unprecedented occupancy levels, with hotels in the city booked up months in advance.

For technology providers, the influx of visitors to such gatherings provides an opportunity to showcase innovative solutions that not only support these short-term events but also make a lasting contribution to the industry’s digital transformation journey.

Lorreta Songola, Regional Chief Commercial Officer,Central Africa Region at Liquid Intelligent Technologies

The impact of smart technologies
For Liquid Intelligent Technologies (Liquid), the SADC events were a prime example of how the organisation’s solutions not only meet the rigorous demands of high-profile events and numerous guests but how they are being integrated into Zimbabwe’s hotels and conference centres of all sizes to meet a broad range of guest and hotel management requirements.
During the SADC events, Liquid Zimbabwe supported over 3,200 devices at the Summit to ensuring that guests at one of the luxury hotel’s golf courses had access to connectivity from the furthest tee box to the conference room.

Catering to 21st-century business and leisure travellers
For instance, fast and reliable internet access is a fundamental expectation of today’s hotel guests. Liquid’s managed Wi-Fi services, supported by over 110,000km of fibre network across the continent, make it easy for business travellers to work without connectivity disruptions, stay in contact with family, and access social media and other accounts.
Extending beyond hotel rooms, this extensive fibre network is designed to handle significant traffic volumes, ensuring low latency and uninterrupted service during live streaming of events or high-volume social media interactions during conferences.

Secure and reliable connectivity
Regardless of the location, security and reliability are paramount. Multiple connection layers ensure that service remains consistent, particularly at large-scale events. Physical connections, supplemented by microwave links and even Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite solutions mean that Liquid can provide several failsafe options for users. Firewalls are deployed at each site, securing against cyber threats like ransomware and phishing, while simultaneously ensuring that guest devices are scanned and protected.

Scalable solutions that enhance the user experience
Smart hotel technologies extend beyond connectivity to a multitude of innovative applications. For example, Liquid’s cloud services integrate with hotel property management systems (PMS) for seamless operations like guest check-ins and digital room keys, enhancing and streamlining the user experience.

Scalable, tailored solutions
Zimbabwe’s hospitality sector, which is set to welcome 1.3 million hotel guests by 2029, is entering a new era in which technology is changing the face of the industry, from large multinational hotel, casino, and conference venues, to smaller, more intimate venues.
Liquid is proudly supporting this digital transformation through scalable, tailored solutions that are supported by smart technology and enabled by reliable connectivity. This is just another way in which we are working towards our vision of a digitally connected Africa that leaves no-one behind.

Lorreta Songola is the Regional Chief Commercial Officer, Central African Region, Liquid Intelligent Technologies