P3 CEO to highlight industry issues at ITB Berlin 2023, including need for investment in both digital and physical hotel properties
February 22, 2023 – Dublin & Denver – Hotels today must make more of their guest services accessible online if they are to offer their guests a complete ecommerce experience. That is the message from P3 ahead of ITB Berlin, the world’s largest tourism and travel trade fair, which takes place in Germany from March 7-9, 2023. Exhibiting at Stand 133 in the Travel Technology Hall 8.1, P3 will put hoteliers in their guests’ shoes, with an immersive experience featuring their customized booking engines and the integration between their online check-in/out system and self-serve kiosk key collection service.
According to Phelim Pekaar, CEO of P3, the industry’s traditional thinking that a hotel’s online presence is just about facilitating bookings is outdated. He called for greater investment in digital as well as physical property so that hotel operators can continue to provide the best experience for their guests.
“The guest journey starts long before a customer ever sets foot in a hotel,” Pekaar said. “It starts online, and if you’re not investing in your digital property then it will adversely impact your business. Adopting a fully personalized digital experience for each guest is the best way to win customers, build your brand, engender loyalty, and drive revenue.”
Pekaar stressed that the crucial digital tool for any hotel is a customized booking engine, which places user experience at the heart of its content and functionality. Increasingly important, however, is investment in technology that allows guests to do things online that previously had to do by phone or at the front desk – such as checking in and out, reserving a car parking space, booking a restaurant, a spa treatment or a golf tee time, booking interconnected or adjoining rooms and, of course, paying the bill.
To complete the ecommerce offering, Pekaar said that hotel operators must make sure that all their services are seamlessly integrated with their property management system, to optimize the guest journey and ensure that staff fully benefit from this automation.
The Irish technology company – with a U.S. office in Boulder, Colorado – offers its booking engine and ecommerce platform to hotels operating Oracle Hospitality’s OPERA property management systems.
“ITB Berlin promises to be better than ever this year,” predicted Pekaar. “Advances in technology and the availability of APIs on the Oracle Hospitality Integration Platform (OHIP) mean we can develop and roll out additional functionality for our customers far quicker than before. We’re keen to show delegates how it all works. The software is available, and an increasing number of hotel operators are investing in their digital presence the same way they do their physical property. Those who don’t run the risk of being left behind.”
P3 will be exhibiting in the Travel Technology Hall 8.1, Stand 133, at ITB Berlin.
For more information, please visit https://www.p3hotels.com/p3-at-itb-berlin-2023.
