After having to sit around at home for over two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, travelers have again taken to the road in search of new experiences.
This has put increased pressure on the hospitality sector, looking to rise to the challenge and greet their guests with the utmost professionalism.
Many in the hospitality industry have turned to online employee training with the help of hospitality learning management systems (LMSs).
In this article, we’ll be taking a look at what these learning platforms are, how they benefit hospitality businesses, and what key features they need to include.
We’ll also list ten of the best hospitality LMS solutions to help you choose one that best meets your needs and requirements.
Disclaimer: Please note that the solutions(competitors’/softwares’ features) we review may change over time. If you have updates or new features to share, let us know. This helps us keep our content accurate and up-to-date.
What is a Hospitality LMS?
| A hospitality LMS is a software training solution that hotels, resorts, restaurants, and others in the hospitality industry can use to manage and deliver training courses to employees. |
Businesses can use these e-learning solutions to onboard new employees, upskill and reskill existing ones, conduct customer support and service training, conduct marketing and sales enablement programs, undergo compliance training, and more.
These hospitality training platforms are designed to create, curate, manage, and deliver online e-learning courses, training content in various formats, quizzes, and assessments.
They also help track learner progress, gather and analyze real-time data and feedback, and generate customized LMS reports for better decision-making.
Most modern LMSs can help design personalized learning paths and offer social learning capabilities to enhance the learning experience and offer more flexible and effective training programs.
They often include gamification elements such as leaderboards, badges, and other rewards in their course creation functionalities. These aim to drive learner engagement and knowledge retention.
The majority of LMS software systems are also xAPI- (Tin Can API) and SCORM-compliant, meaning that they can deliver xAPI and SCORM files and courses to learners without any compatibility issues.
To enhance their performance, boost user experience, and automate processes, LMS software integrates with various third-party tools.
LMS integrations can be with customer management systems (CRMs), content-authoring tools, human resources platforms, social media, marketing and sales, and webinars and video conferencing systems, among many others.
All of these LMS capabilities can bring several benefits to the table for hospitality organizations using them.
Benefits of Using a Hospitality LMS
Hospitality businesses have a lot to gain by introducing a professional LMS into their systems.
Among the many benefits of LMSs in the hospitality sector, we’ll talk about the most vital, which include the following:
Improved employee engagement
The best LMSs have the necessary functionalities to personalize learning paths, provide gamification features, and include social learning capabilities that work together to make online training more engaging and fun.
In fact, LMS features such as gamification, learning scenarios, and simulations can increase employee engagement by up to 92 percent.
Along with other LMS features, these functionalities can help create a learning-centric company culture by engaging team members better with their online courses and training modules.
According to Deloitte, companies with a strong learning culture have a retention rate of between 30 to 50 percent higher than their peers.
Easier performance evaluation
Many hospitality LMSs also come equipped with learner-performance tracking and management capabilities.
These allow organizations to keep an eye on new hires’ learning progress, identify skill and knowledge gaps, or provide opportunities for upskilling or reskilling employees.
Easier tracking and reporting
Another benefit of implementing a hospitality LMS into your organization’s tech stack is that it can break up isolated data silos and create a unified digital ecosystem.
You won’t just be able to track learner progress through the course material, but also get a bird’s-eye view across other company workflows that the LMS is integrated with.
These integrations can include anything from sales, marketing, HR, or customer service, among others.
In addition, customized LMS reports can provide in-depth and data-driven insights into your L&D processes and training materials for better decision-making and e-learning optimization.
Cost-cutting and time-saving
A well-implemented LMS can bring numerous financial benefits to a company’s training and L&D efforts.
First of all, organizations can automate and streamline many of their repetitive, tedious, and time-consuming e-learning and training tasks.
These allow HR teams, L&D professionals, and other stakeholders to focus more of their efforts and resources on other key areas of the organization.
Secondly, companies will no longer be as reliant on paper-based processes, saving them on office-supply costs.
As workflows become automated and integrated, the incidence of human error also drops, boosting both the employee and customer experience.
Lastly, LMSs can shorten the time-to-productivity of new employees, saving the company tons of resources on in-person training, as well as other onboarding and employee-turnover costs.
Key Features to Look For in a Hospitality LMS
Hospitality LMSs are geared toward providing numerous functionalities to organizations operating in the sector.
However, every LMS provider is different and may not have identical capabilities in mind when designing their e-learning offerings.
Features come in different shapes and sizes, but when it comes to the hospitality industry, you need to keep the following LMS requirements in mind:
Management of course curriculum
By definition, LMSs are digital tools used for the management of e-learning courses and training materials.
This includes the ability to create, curate, house, and distribute internal and external e-learning content in various formats to learners.
It’s important to mention that not all LMSs include comprehensive e-learning content-creation capabilities.
Those that do usually fall in the category of learning content-management systems (LCMS) but often lack robust delivery functionality.
Nevertheless, many professional LMSs integrate with third-party e-learning content-authoring tools to provide the best of both worlds.
Compliance oversight
Compliance-related LMS features are critical as they ensure employees are always up-to-date and informed about all health, safety, and other regulatory standards in their industry.
Such features include employee compliance–training tracking, automated course scheduling and notifications, and critical-knowledge checks like quizzes and assessments.
Performance analysis
The ability to track learner progress and perform regular skill assessments and performance evaluations allows trainers to ensure learners get the most out of their e-learning training modules.
These can also highlight potential issues or bottlenecks that may exist within the training courses, hindering the learning experience.
Multi-lingual support
The hospitality sector is known for working across country borders and often employing a diverse workforce.
Having the ability to design and deliver training in multiple languages is a must.
Many LMSs include localization and auto-translation features that make it easy for hospitality businesses to provide a consistent learning experience for all employees, regardless of location or language spoken.
Mobile friendly
Mobile learning, or m-learning for short, is as important in this day and age as all the other entries in this list.
Mobile-friendly LMSs greatly increase the flexibility and address the training needs of many learners, particularly those who need access to e-learning material while not at a desk or in the office.
We should also point out that today’s millennial and Gen-Z workforce are using their mobile devices for training purposes far more than desktop alternatives.
All that being said, let’s now turn our attention to the ten best hospitality LMSs on the market today.
10 Best Hospitality LMSs
When searching for the best hospitality LMS to suit your e-learning and training needs, you need to keep in mind all the LMS requirements that will help you optimize your processes.
With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the best LMS tools for hospitality.
Tool #1: Docebo
Docebo is a user-friendly and intuitive cloud-based LMS for hospitality businesses.
It’s an all-in-one LMS with content-creation capabilities.
Docebo Shape is an AI-powered content-authoring tool that’s able to convert both internal and external knowledge sources into short and engaging snippets of information known as learning pills.
Docebo also includes an extensive content library with over 20,000 off-the-shelf courses from leading providers on a variety of relevant topics including food and health–safety training, HACCP training, diversity, equity, inclusion programs, and more.
With its social and microlearning capabilities, Docebo facilitates a learning environment based on collaboration and knowledge-sharing, while its mobile learning boosts flexibility.
The LMS also offers automated compliance training capabilities, translation, certification and recertification, progress tracking, data analytics, and reporting functionalities.
These all work to help hospitality organizations stay on top of their e-learning and training needs, as well as ensure constant occupational safety and health administration (OSHA), hazard analysis critical control points (HACCP), and other regulatory body compliance.
G2 rating
Top Features
- Extensive e-learning content library.
- Social and mobile learning capabilities.
- Automated regulatory compliance functions.
- Multi-language support.
- Robust analytics and reporting capabilities.
Pros
- Very user-friendly for both admins and learners.
- Updating training modules is easy.
- Great customer service.
Tool #2: Moodle
Moodle is an open-source LMS, which means it provides a ton of flexibility in terms of customization.
However, it doesn’t provide customer support and organizations need a dedicated team of knowledgeable IT professionals to customize it effectively.
Nevertheless, the platform comes with many integrations and open-source plug-ins, as well as forums, quizzes, assignments, badges, and video-conferencing capabilities.
It also includes a mobile app that can run e-learning courses even while offline. This is a huge benefit for learners in areas with limited or no internet connectivity.
G2 rating
Top Features
- Automated email and notifications.
- Over two thousand open-source plug-ins.
- Multi-language support.
- Online and offline mobile access.
- Course and content authoring.
Pros
- Being open-source, it’s free.
- Quick and easy installation.
- Highly adaptable to different learning requirements.
Cons
- It can take too long to load.
- Its mobile app can experience interruptions.
- It’s not scalable enough.
Tool #3: Administrate Training Management
Administrate Training Management is a cloud-based LMS that provides a unified interface for course scheduling, learner progress tracking, data analytics and reporting, and more.
It automates many repetitive manual tasks, workflows, and notifications, and includes a smart-scheduler functionality for more complex training logistics.
Administrate has numerous third-party integrations, making it possible to merge with your existing tech stack. It can also break up data silos and generate company-wide insights.
G2 rating
Top Features
- Robust training-scheduling capabilities.
- Automated email and SMS functionality.
- Multimodal training.
- Learning path customization.
- KPI reporting.
Pros
- Good scalability potential.
- Helpful course templates.
Cons
- The user interface is not intuitive enough.
- Not enough online training options.
Tool #4: LatitudeLearning
LatitudeLearning is a cloud-based learning platform with robust course design capabilities.
It includes drag-and-drop functionality for videos, images, gamification elements, quizzes, and assessments.
It also has automated grading features for better learner-progress tracking, virtual classrooms for real-time interactions, and certification paths.
LatitudeLearning provides both analytics and customizable reporting capabilities to uncover trends and measure performance.
There are also social media integrations with tools like Twitter and Facebook, as well as a mobile app for on-the-go access.
G2 rating
Top Features
- Certification capabilities.
- Training for internal and external learners.
- Performance metrics tracking.
- Social media integration.
- Mobile app access.
Pros
- Intuitive user interface.
- Effective customer support.
- Good bulk-loading and branding capabilities.
Cons
- Somewhat steep learning curve.
- The platform isn’t engaging enough.
Tool #5: Accord LMS
Accord LMS is mainly a cloud-based learning platform but can also be desktop-based and supports both Windows and iOS.
It’s mobile-friendly and supports instructor-led training and blended learning. The platform has HTML5 content authoring, drag-and-drop functionality, and branding capabilities.
Accord LMS grants access to a wide training course marketplace with topics ranging from customer service, OSHA compliance, talent management, planning, and organization.
G2 rating
Top Features
- Mobile learning.
- Gamification features.
- Blended learning, virtual classrooms, and instructor-led training.
- Personalized learning.
- Extensive course-content library.
Pros
- Easy to set up and maintain.
- Around-the-clock and responsive customer support.
Cons
- Somewhat limited reporting capabilities.
- The support documentation is not fully updated.
Tool #6: Litmos
Litmos is a cloud-based LMS with a user-friendly user interface, course catalog, and e-commerce functionality.
It provides virtual classrooms, social learning, and mobile learning capabilities, as well as a high degree of learning-path customization.
Instructors can also brand their courses, conduct video assessments, and include gamification elements in their course material.
Litmos has social-learning capabilities, task automation, and learner-progress tracking and reporting capabilities.
G2 rating
Top Features
- Customized learning paths.
- Built-in content authoring.
- Extensive course catalog.
- Virtual and classroom-based instructor-led training.
- Social learning and automated notifications.
Pros
- Intuitive and easy to use.
- Robust tracking and reporting.
- Modern-looking user interface.
Cons
- Customer support can be slow to respond.
- Limited e-learning content.
- Complicated HTML content creator.
Tool #7: Trakstar Learn
Trakstar Learn is a cloud-based learning platform that allows instructional designers to create courses featuring multimedia elements and gamification features.
It also allows for interactive elements such as quizzes and assessments, as well as learner evaluations.
The platform is mobile-friendly and includes real-time learner progress–tracking and automated quiz scoring.
Furthermore, Trackstar Learn includes analytics, custom reporting, and automated notification functionalities.
G2 rating
Top Features
- Progress tracking and reporting capabilities.
- Mobile learning.
- Learner-progress tracking and automated quizzing.
- Course-content creation and importing.
- Analytics and reporting functionality.
Pros
- Simple-to-use and intuitive user interface.
- Good customer support.
- Intuitive bulk-uploading functionality.
Cons
- Reporting can be confusing at times.
- Lengthy multimedia upload times.
- Groups are confusing to navigate and edit.
Tool #8: Instancy LMS
Instancy LMS is a cloud-based solution for organizing and managing online training modules.
It includes video tutorials, classroom training, webinars, instructor-led training, and blended learning capabilities.
Instancy also provides virtual-classroom management, automated notifications, customizable templates, progress tracking, customizable reporting, and analytics features.
The platform includes robust social-learning functionalities such as discussion forums, chats, polls, and web conferencing.
G2 rating
Top Features
- Catalog-management capabilities.
- Social-learning capabilities.
- Learner-progress tracking.
- Customizable reporting and analytics.
- Blended learning functionality.
Pros
- Easy-to-navigate and intuitive UI.
- Helpful customer support.
Cons
- It can experience occasional glitches.
- The customer service team can take a while to respond.
Tool #9: Axis LMS
Axis LMS is a cloud-based LMS for e-learning content creation, custom reporting, and learner collaboration.
It includes a fully customizable training-course builder with branding capabilities, drag-and-drop functionality, and on-demand and automated reporting.
Axis has its own built-in social network platform, live chat, and forums for users to communicate and collaborate in real time.
The platform also facilitates continuous education via certification and recertification programs, and continuing education (CE) credits.
The platform is mobile-friendly and integrates with numerous third-party applications.
G2 rating
Top Features
- Automated reminders and notifications.
- Certification and recertification programs.
- Mobile-learning capabilities.
- Robust social-learning features.
- Customizable course builder.
Pros
- Helpful and responsive customer service.
- Flexible and user-friendly platform.
Cons
- The user interface lacks customizability.
Tool #10: Cornerstone Learning
Cornerstone Learning is a cloud-based LMS designed for skill development and user engagement.
It has mobile learning capabilities, certification, and recertification management, as well as skill assessment and mapping capabilities.
Cornerstone Learning has e-learning course-authoring functionalities and interactive elements for quizzes, surveys, and assessments.
The platform also includes virtual- and augmented-reality training functionality for better user experience and engagement.
G2 rating
Top Features
- Multi-language support.
- Automated skill assessment.
- Custom certification management.
- Skill mapping.
- Virtual- and augmented-reality training capabilities.
Pros
- Robust reporting capabilities.
- Easy-to-learn and intuitive user interface.
- Highly customizable platform.
Cons
- Cumbersome certification-management system.
- It has occasional glitches.
- Difficult initial setup.
How to Choose the Best Hospitality LMS
Well-trained teams are the cornerstone of every successful hospitality business. They need to know how to serve and work with clients and have the proper training in all aspects of the organization.
When choosing an LMS to address your hospitality requirements, you need to ensure that it’s up to the task and that it will scale with your organization.
You should also make sure that it provides good customer service whenever you need any help.
If Docebo is checking all your boxes, schedule a demo today and see how it can elevate your hospitality business.
