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Building Your Brand: How a Small Investment Can Yield Positive Results


microFIDS Flight Information Display Systems:
A competitive advantage for today's hospitality industry


March 27, 2012 - With cost-sensitive consumers who are always in a hurry, hotel owners and managers must create more opportunities to successfully compete for guests, generate loyalty and boost likelihood to recommend (LTR). In addition, with popular internet sites such as TripAdvisor® and other online resources guiding so many travel decisions, the voice of the guest is more powerful than ever. One guest’s positive experience at your hotel can literally resonate across the web.

To help hoteliers compete and thrive in this environment, ARINC has launched a new in-hotel flight information display system that provides an innovative and economical way to improve the guest experience at your hotel, build your brand and generate new revenue.

Why flight information?
Monitoring and meeting flight schedules can be one of the most stressful and time-consuming aspects of travel for business and leisure consumers alike. Even more nerve-racking? When guests leave your hotel and arrive at the airport only to face a long delay or cancelled flight because they didn’t get the right information soon enough.
microFIDS provides your guests with up-to-the-minute flight information conveniently located throughout your hotel.   microFIDS is easy to use and quick to provide the data guests need. Travelers can view their flight on a traditional display, scan their boarding pass, or use a touch screen monitor to get their specific flight information instantly.  In addition to flight information, weather, news and customizable promotional information can be displayed— all available to guests at a glance before they leave your hotel for the airport.

Moving this kind of information to your hotel creates multiple opportunities not only for incremental revenue, but also to eliminate a source of travel stress and mishap, and thereby improve your customer’s experience.
"We cater to both business and leisure travelers, and having this information at the hotel will let them relax and stay with us rather than waiting for a delayed flight at LaGuardia, JFK or Newark."
Michael Link, General Manager
Belvedere Hotel
New York
About microFIDS
microFIDS is an economical, flexible and easy-to-deploy solution for displaying flight information and other guest-focused content throughout your hotel.
 
The solution can be effortlessly deployed on a wide range of wall/desk mounted options, touch screen, standalone or mobile vehicle screen sizes, with attached boarding pass scanners so microFIDS can be located virtually anywhere your guests need it — in guest rooms, in public spaces and even hotel shuttles. microFIDS is available on a subscription basis from ARINC and is fully supported and maintained by ARINC, a leading provider of  in airport  information systems.
 
As the diagram below demonstrates, microFIDS allow you to customize displayed information to include:
  • Up-to-the minute flight information for multiple airports
  • Weather, news and local information
  • Hotel-based content, including promotions and ads for your hotel's services or facilities
  • Third-party paid ads to generate revenue for your hotel
  • Visual paging


ARINC’s microFIDS system can be located virtually anywhere in your hotel to meet specific guest needs and revenue goals:

In-Lobby Systems
Lobby-based microFIDS systems provide at-a-glance airport, wayfinding and flight information for guests at checkout as well as hotel-oriented information at check-in.

Flight information in your lobby allows guests to adapt to schedule changes before they reach the airport - perhaps spending a flight delay in your hotel lounge or restaurant, providing greater comfort for them and sales opportunities for your hotel.

In addition, high-traffic lobby areas provide valuable reach and exposure for third-party advertisers such as local retailers, attractions or eating establishments, providing revenue potential that can easily pay for your microFIDS systems.

Food & Beverage Service
A microFIDS display located in your restaurant or lounge area allows guests to non-disruptively track their flight status in a relaxing environment without constantly checking their laptops or smartphones for updates. Meals become less rushed, and flight delays can be spent enjoying an extra drink or dessert.
 
Dining facilities are also ideal for unobtrusively displaying local news and weather for your guests, promotions for your hotel services or third-party paid advertisements.
 
Business Center
Business travelers are notorious for trying to get out one more email or print one more document prior to take-off. With microFIDS flight information in your business center, guests can time their activities to maximize productivity without risking a missed flight.
 
If a change in flight status occurs, they can use that extra time to work uninterrupted in the comfort of your hotel.
 
In-Room Distribution
Anywhere you can put a television, you can provide flight information for your guests –including every guest room, and/or meeting room, etc.
 
With flight information readily available in the privacy and comfort of their room, guests know instantly if they need to check out quickly, have extra time to visit your spa or gym, or need to book another night because of an unexpected flight cancellation.
 
In-room microFIDS also allow you to easily update guests about your hotel’s daily or weekly activities, promotions or amenities and services. Reminders about check-in and check-out options plus airport transport information will save guests time and support a hassle-free travel experience.
 
Meeting Rooms and Conference Facilities
Television-based microFIDS can be easily deployed in all your meeting areas and conference facilities, providing one more amenity to attract meetings to your hotel and help events go smoothly.
 
At-a-glance travel and flight information allows conference participants to easily monitor their departure information-or understand why colleagues are delayed- without disruption or distraction. That kind of seamless information access helps meetings go more smoothly for participants and planners alike, ensuring your hotel is the destination of choice for next year’s meeting, too.
 
Transform the Shuttle Ride
With microFIDS mobile solutions, you can provide useful travel information to your guests inside your airport shuttles. Content can even be customized for arriving and departing guests using integrated GPS technology. 
 
For example, airport-bound shuttle passengers might view up-to-the-minute flight, terminal and wayfinding information – including that last-minute gate change. On the return trip, the screen content automatically changes to destination information for arriving passengers, such as check-in procedures, special events or promotions at your hotel.
 
Conclusion
Some of the world’s most recognized hotel names have deployed microFIDS solutions to improve the guest experience. Highly affordable, easy to deploy and operate, and maintained by the experts at ARINC, microFIDS is the kind of strategic, guest-focused advantage hotel owners need in a competitive, guest-centric market.

About ARINC Managed Services
ARINC Managed Services (AMS) is a world leader in managed IT services and support for airports and other industries, such as hospitality. Our products and services improve equipment reliability, decrease costs by minimizing downtime, and enhance overall operations.

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Contact: 

Ramsey Nuwar
[email protected]
443-994-3187

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