Hotel X Supercharges Marketing With Automation and Dynamic Content
Hapi | April 11, 2024
Overcoming the Huge Disconnect Between Service Mottos and What Guests Actually Experience
Doug Kennedy | February 12, 2024
Guest Experience
Does Your Reservations Call Scoring Criteria Need To Be Updated?
Doug Kennedy | July 25, 2023
By Doug Kennedy When our KTN team onboards clients for either traditional mystery shopping or for call scoring of actual recordings (as captured in our clients’ various cloud-based platforms), part of our process is reviewing their existing call criteria. As a result, I get to peek behind the scenes and see what their reservations, front desk, and/or contact center staff are being trained to say. What I find is that most organizations are still using the same reservations call handling criteria as they did long ago, despite the fact that so much has changed on the caller’s side of the conversation. When it comes to information, t...
How to Stay on Top of Your Guest Feedback
Cendyn | July 21, 2023
When it comes to running a successful hotel, keeping a finger on the pulse of guest feedback is an absolute must. We know the sheer volume of feedback pouring in can feel overwhelming, but trust us, the benefits are well worth the effort. In today’s customer-centric world, guests are no longer satisfied with just a place to lay their heads; they crave a personalized experience that leaves a lasting impression. To deliver that level of service, you need to truly understand your guests – and the best way to do that is by asking them directly. Guest feedback holds the key to unlocking invaluable insights that can drive operation...
Meeting Expectations Versus Managing Hope
Shep Hyken | July 20, 2023
By Shep Hyken At a recent customer service presentation, the speaker who preceded me said that we must do better than simply meeting our customers’ expectations, and he shared some stories of truly amazing service experiences. Then it was my turn to speak. I didn’t want to contradict him, but I needed the audience to understand that it is impossible to go above and beyond with customers at every interaction. Sometimes meeting expectations is a perfect experience. In my customer service keynote speeches, I talk about Managing the Moment. The idea comes from Jan Carlson, and if you’ve been following me, you will recognize t...
‘It’s Out of My Control’ Is a Bad Excuse
Shep Hyken | July 13, 2023
By Shep Hyken Last month I was in Las Vegas for a major convention. I stayed at a very nice hotel, and each night I tried to fall and stay asleep. I emphasize the word tried because, unfortunately, there was non-stop, 24-hour-a-day road construction outside the hotel, as the city of Las Vegas is preparing for the Formula One race later this year. All night, there was jackhammering and bulldozing on the streets where the cars will be racing. Upon checkout, I was asked, “How was your stay?” I responded, “I love this hotel. It’s too bad about all that noise from the road construction.” The front desk employee pr...
Fantasyland Hotel Partners With INTELITY for Mobile Guest Experience
INTELITY | July 13, 2023
The exceptionally unique, experience-forward property puts guest convenience first with mobile check-in, mobile key and more Los Angeles, CA (July 13, 2023) - INTELITY®, provider of hospitality’s leading guest experience and staff management platform, has announced today a new partnership with Fantasyland Hotel in Edmonton, Alberta. The fun-seeking hotel has deployed INTELITY’s mobile offerings providing guests with mobile check-in, mobile check-out, and mobile key, while streamlining the day-to-day operations for staff through GEMS® — INTELITY’s suite of staff-facing tools. Located in West Edmonton Mall, the most comprehens...
Sojern Acquires VenueLytics to Bolster Its Platform for the Hospitality Industry
Sojern | July 11, 2023
SAN FRANCISCO – 11 July, 2023 – Sojern, the leading travel marketing platform, today announced the acquisition of VenueLytics, the hospitality industry’s most integrated guest experience platform serving independent hotels, resorts, chains and casinos. Sojern will incorporate VenueLytics’ capabilities as an extension of the Sojern Travel Marketing Platform. Sojern has long been a direct bookings driver for hotels—providing comprehensive digital advertising solutions that help travel marketers find, attract and convert new travelers, re-activate existing guests to build loyalty, and maximize net revenue per available room (RevPA...
Will AI Make Us Dumb?
Shep Hyken | July 7, 2023
By Shep Hyken I was just at an industry conference focusing on AI (Artificial Intelligence). Someone commented, “AI is going to make us stupid.” Elaborating on that statement, the commenter’s reasoning was that it takes thinking and problem-solving out of the process. We will be given the answer and won’t have to know anything else. I can see his point, but there is another way of looking at this. In the form of a question, “Did calculators make us dumb?” I remembered getting a calculator and was excited that I could do long division by just pushing the buttons on the calculator. Even though it gave me the correc...
How Simple Can You Make Your Business?
Shep Hyken | July 5, 2023
By Shep Hyken Simplify the Customer Experience I love good barbeque. I live in St. Louis, which is famous for some of the best BBQs in the world! Really! We have a number of restaurants that have competed in worldwide competitions and come back with the first-place trophy. My friend Norman Beck loves BBQ, too. Living in Texas, he’s also exposed to some of the best BBQ in the world, although I’ll argue it’s second to St. Louis. He teased me the other day by sending pictures of dinners featuring brisket, ribs, sausage, and delicious side dishes from award-winning Hutchins BBQ in North Texas. He also included a description of its ...
Why Customers’ Digital Experience Is Key To Your Company’s Survival And Success
Alfonso de la Nuez | June 30, 2023
By Alfonso de la Nuez More and more businesses and industries are being run on software and delivered as online services. Meanwhile, increasing numbers of consumers interact with companies’ brands through digital channels and digital products, and their digital experience often decides whether they will buy from a company and return for more purchases. According to McKinsey & Company research, over 60 percent of all customer interactions and product or service offerings in North America are now digital, with that percentage expected to grow. From searching the internet to seeing ads online and exploring websites, customers want to ge...
Customers Don’t Care About the Details; They Care About the Destination
Shep Hyken | June 29, 2023
By Shep Hyken On a recent flight, the captain of the airplane announced over the PA system what time we would arrive at our destination. That would have been enough to make most people happy. However, he continued his announcement with a three-minute-plus speech. We learned that we would take off to the west, make a U-turn a few minutes later to head east, how high we would go, the various cities we would be flying over, that we would take a right turn as we approached the runway to land, and more. I looked around and noticed many people were annoyed or had stopped paying attention to the long-winded announcement. The point is most c...
The Hazelton Hotel Transforms the Guest Experience with INTELITY
INTELITY | June 28, 2023
The first and only Forbes Five-Star luxury boutique hotel in Toronto is elevating its guest experience with the INTELITY platform Toronto, ON (June 28, 2023) — INTELITY®, provider of hospitality’s leading guest experience and staff management platform, has announced a new partnership with The Hazelton Hotel in Toronto. The luxury boutique hotel has implemented the INTELITY platform to offer its guests a digital and modern, smart-room experience, as well as leverage INTELITY’s GEMS® staff-facing tools to streamline its back-of-house operations. Located in Toronto’s Yorkville neighborhood, the epicenter of style and culture in t...
The Cost of Faking a Smile
PolyU School of Hotel and Tourism Management | June 27, 2023
Perhaps surprisingly, the smiles that greet you upon arrival at a hotel might not be genuine. A positive, welcoming demeanour is part of the job description for housekeeping, front desk, and restaurant workers, whose smiles, moods, and emotions are distinguishing features of the hospitality sector. But when frontline employees have to fake it, what strategies do they use? Eye-opening new work from researchers Dr Deniz Kucukusta and Ms Yoo Jin Lim of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University has revealed more about the emotional labour strategies adopted by frontline workers to counter the emot...
Rethink Plant-Based Diets as a Segmentation Challenge
Adam and Larry Mogelonsky | June 27, 2023
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky Nowadays, everyone seems to be a picky eater. Whether for medical or ethical reasons, what we do know is that more people are increasingly leaning into a ‘plant-forward’ outlook on their food choices. Within this nebulous term, we have outright vegans, vegetarians (vegan plus dairy and sometimes eggs) and flexitarians – this latter term denoting people who still eat meat but are doing so on a less frequent basis than for every meal as was often the case in the 20th century. In a deliciously roasted nut(shell), what this means for you as a hotelier is: Diets are changing and guests will expect hote...
Future-Forward Hospitality Technology Software Leader Agilysys to Present Session on Maximizing Guest and Staff Experience at the HITEC Toronto Confer
Agilysys | June 27, 2023
Agilysys Senior Director of Sales Engineering Thor Hansen to Lead the Workshop, Sharing Insights on Technology’s Critical Role in Delivering High Return Hospitality ALPHARETTA, GA — JUNE 27, 2023 — The hospitality industry has undergone massive transformation since the start of the pandemic. To compete in a sector facing labor constraints and elevated customer expectations, forward-looking hospitality providers must lean on modern technology solutions to provide exceptional staff and guest experiences. During the Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC®) in Toronto June 26-29, Agilysys, Inc. (Nasdaq: AG...
UrVenue Debuts Cutting-Edge PXMS Product Suite at Fairmont Banff Springs
UrVenue | June 27, 2023
Fairmont Banff Springs successfully pilots new guest experience technology, leveraging integrations between UV Enterprise, OpenTable and Hapi TORONTO, June 27, 2023 — Today at the Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC®), UrVenue revealed enhancements to UV Enterprise, the hospitality industry's pioneering Property Experience Management System (PXMS). These enhancements introduce a new capability known as Guest Experience, featuring Guest Portal and Guest Services, both of which leverage integrations into leading platforms OpenTable, Hapi and more. UV Enterprise is a full-stack technology platform that drive...
Hospitality Technology Innovator Agilysys Demonstrates How Hotels and Resorts Are Using Technology to Elevate Return on Experience (ROE) Across Six Ke
Agilysys | June 27, 2023
– Demonstrations and eBook available in Agilysys Booth #1039 at AHLA’s The Hospitality Show – ALPHARETTA, GA — JUNE 27, 2023 — Despite rising economic headwinds from elevated inflation in 2023, a 2023 EY report Hospitality Industry Looks Strong for 2023 – Despite Recession Fears predicts continued strong performance for the hospitality industry throughout 2023 while also cautioning, “The industry should continue to focus on efficiencies at the hotel and corporate levels, prioritizing customer experience, analytics and automation.” In booth #1309 at the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s (AHLA’s) The Hospitalit...
Positron and Cloud5 Communications Announce Partnership
Cloud5 Communications | June 27, 2023
Collaboration will help hospitality properties and MDUs more efficiently and cost-effectively meet network needs and requirements. Chicago, IL. — June 27, 2023, Cloud5 Communications, a leading provider of communications and technology solutions for more than 5,000 hotels, MDUs, and commercial facilities across the Americas, and Positron Access Solutions, a specialist in carrier-grade telecommunications products, have partnered together to address the connectivity and cabling challenges experienced by many hospitality companies and MDUs as they seek to modernize their networks and meet the expectations of today’s guests and re...
InnSpire Forms Global Channel Distribution Partnership With CNN International Commercial
InnSpire | June 26, 2023
Strategic alliance allows InnSpire to deliver the world’s number one most trusted news channel and related content to hotels through its advanced IPTV guestroom entertainment system. Stockholm & Washington DC – HITEC Booth # 2019 — June 26, 2023 – InnSpire, the leading provider of a comprehensive technology suite that helps drive a seamless, world-class guest experience for some of the world’s most iconic hotels and brands, today announced that it has inked a global channel distribution partnership with CNN International Commercial (CNNIC). The new partnership will provide seamless access to the world’s leading news channel...
Shiji and Rivalry Tech Join Forces to Optimize Guest Experiences in Hospitality
Shiji | June 22, 2023
Shiji and Rivalry Tech partner to enhance guest experiences with seamless digital ordering, empowering operators for accuracy, streamlining operations, and delivering exceptional efficiency in a user-friendly interface. ATLANTA, Georgia, USA, June 22, 2023 – Shiji, the global hospitality technology innovator, announced its partnership with Rivalry Tech, a provider of digital ordering platforms that include self-serve kiosks and mobile ordering solutions. This collaboration will further enhance guest experiences by providing seamless and efficient solutions for both guests and operators in the hospitality industry. The partnership...
Okura Nikko Hotel Management Partners With Ireckonu to Implement a Global Digital Guest Experience Strategy
Ireckonu | June 22, 2023
The Luxury Hotel Management group adopts Ireckonu’s entire product suite to drive customer engagement in over 70 hotels worldwide AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS, 21 June 2023 – Ireckonu, the industry leader in Hospitality Middleware, CDP and digital guest relationship systems integration, today announced its partnership with Okura Nikko Hotel Management Co., Ltd (ONHM). Ireckonu will work with the Tokyo-based luxury hotel firm to centralize all guest data among their entire property portfolio to create an accessible and actionable Customer Data Platform (CDP). The firm manages three hotel groups; Okura Hotels & Resort, Nikko Ho...
With Great Rates Come Great Guest Expectations
Adam and Larry Mogelonsky | June 21, 2023
By Adam and Larry Mogelonsky Even in the back half of 2023, every hotel is still contending with inflation in some way or another, likely passing these costs onto the customer. Thus far, from what the aggregated travel numbers for this year indicate, guests have been fine with the increased rates. But does that mean that your current guests – in what can ostensibly still be described as a rebound year from the pandemic – are happy guests that are ready to come back within a reasonable timeframe? Would they recommend you to others, either by word of mouth or by word of mouse? While the apt adage for right now is to make hay while ...
HCN Bringing NEW In-Room Tablet With Modern UI & Mobile Phone Mirroring to HITEC Toronto
The Hotel Communication Network (HCN) | June 21, 2023
Enhancements to Navigator 2.0 and its most popular features – In-Room Messaging, Dynamic Alerts, DineIN, EventLink, Guest Choice, Interactive City Guides, Early/Late Check out, and Customizable Alarm Clock – will be on display in Booth 1237 June 27 to 30 at the Metro Toronto Convention Center Ottawa, Ontario – June 21, 2023 – Next week at HITEC® Toronto, Hotel Communication Network will showcase its re-engineered in-room tablet with two-way guest communications at the core. The NEW Navigator 2.0 gives guests and staff more control over the stay experience. Guests have everything they need from individual/group messaging, food orde...
INTELITY, FreshBed Announce Live Integration & Partnership
INTELITY | June 20, 2023
The new partnership will provide hotels with the ability to significantly enhance their guest experience by letting them regulate their FreshBed leveraging the INTELITY platform Los Angeles, CA (June 20, 2023) – INTELITY®, provider of hospitality’s leading guest experience and staff management platform, has announced a partnership and live integration with FreshBed, the world’s first bed featuring its own full control climate capabilities. An ideal solution for hotels and wellness resorts, this relationship unlocks the ultimate luxury offering by providing guests with the ability to adjust their complete sleep environment directl...
Manage the Moment Right Now to Get the Customer to Come Back Tomorrow
Shep Hyken | June 15, 2023
By Shep Hyken I just heard an excellent motivational speaker, Antonio Neves, and one of his messages was called “The Last 30 Days.” He talked about visiting a marriage counselor with his wife, where they were asked to consider the question: Looking back over the last 30 days, if you asked your spouse to marry you again, would they say yes? He then spun that question to business and specifically talked about employment. That version goes like this: Looking back over the last 30 days, would your boss rehire you? When I do annual reviews of my team, one of the questions I ask myself is, “Based on the past year, would I ...
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