Singapore hotels embrace facial recognition to reduce check-in delays

Hotels in Singapore are trialling the use of facial recognition technology to shorten guests’ check-in times and increase productivity in a joint initiative with the city state’s immigration authorities.

The new system, launched this week, enables visitors to use a kiosk or mobile phone to verify their identity, eliminating the need for manual checks, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the local hotel association said. That can trim check-in times by as much as 70 per cent, they said.

“With the increased face-to-face engagement, hotel staff will be able to connect meaningfully with guests and in turn, improve guest satisfaction levels,” the STB said.

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Authorities in Singapore are constantly on the lookout for ways to promote automation and boost workers’ productivity, both to improve efficiency and adjust to the constraints imposed by an ageing workforce. Tourism accounts for about 4 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product.

Addressing the Hotel Industry Conference, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Chee Hong Tat outlined the benefits of the system.

“Today, hotels have to deploy staff at check-in counters to check passports to confirm that the individual’s face matches the passport photo, and to verify that they are in the country legally,” he said.

“Some hotels have implemented self-check-in kiosks with facial recognition technologies to automate the first task, but not the second. With EVA, both tasks can now be automated.”

The facial recognition system, known as E-Visitor Authentication, allows users to scan their passport and take a photo, with data then sent to immigration to attest to the validity of their stay. So far, it’s being piloted at three hotels, The Straits Times reported.

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One of the users, Grand Park City Hall, estimated the new process reduced the time it took a guest to check in to about one minute, down from five.

“Guests now enjoy more convenience,” said general manager John Kockan.

Marcus Hanna, general manager of Fairmont Singapore and Swissotel The Stamford, told The Straits Times the system would help minimise delays.

“In the past, there used to be long queues behind counters with colleagues manually helping to process guest check-ins,” he said. “Now, technology has made possible the completion of check-in in about three minutes and check-out in less than 30 seconds for each guest.”