News Briefs

Sustainability management and ESG reporting platform FuturePlus has been appointed by multi award-winning UK hotel and spa company, Barons Eden Group, to help it track, measure and improve its sustainability performance.

Barons Eden operates two award-winning spas that are amongst the biggest in Europe: Hoar Cross Hall, a Hotel and Spa in Staffordshire, and Eden Hall, a Day Spa in Nottinghamshire. While the group has a proud history of caring for the environment and the welfare of its customers, it took the opportunity following the Covid pandemic to renew its focus on company values.

The business has two large, beautiful and historic estates (Both Grade 2 listed) and as a consequence improving sustainability can bring various challenges. Barons Eden Group knew it needed support from experts to take its efforts to the next level.

Having considered signing up with other sustainability programs, including B Corp, it selected FuturePlus thanks not only to the fact that the platform benchmarks sustainability efforts against industry best practices, as well as the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, but also that it provides a measure of where a business is now as well as a roadmap with quantifiable measures of where it wants to be. 

Ongoing improvement is important to Barons Eden Group, and FuturePlus facilitates it in a way that is easy to follow, track and measure. Indeed, the business had already started to implement sustainable approaches in various areas, focusing especially on energy reduction, which stood the business in good stead when the energy crisis hit during the pandemic. Since 2019, the company’s head office has been based in a commercial unit in Moreton-in-Marsh which is largely powered by on-roof photovoltaic panels.

As a result of new measures the business has put in place with the help of FuturePlus, Barons Eden Groups expects to drive various sustainability-focused outcomes, including:

• 60% reduction in carbon emissions with installation of new £1.5M biomass plant (Hoar Cross Hall)

• 15-20% reduction in electricity usage with installation of voltage optimisation and advanced metering; data capture of real time usage to identify savings (both locations)

• 10% reduction in water usage with installation of real time metering (both locations)

• Zero waste to landfill and waste reduction targets (both locations)

Following the appointment of FuturePlus, Barons Eden Group launched its new Sustainable Commitment, appointing internal Sustainable Champions to help drive change across the organization. Barons Eden Group was shortlisted in the Pioneer category at the British Renewable Energy Awards 2023.

Mike Penrose, Co-Founder and Partner, FuturePlus, comments: “Working with FuturePlus, Barons Eden has shown an incredible commitment to improvement. The hospitality industry faces various challenges when it comes to becoming more sustainable, especially when properties are on the larger and older side – but we’ve been extremely impressed by the enthusiasm with which the Barons Eden team has grabbed the mantle. Both properties score in the top 5% of all companies using FuturePlus, and Hoar Cross Hall currently has the highest ambition score of any company or property using FuturePlus.”

Steve Clements, Director and ESG Lead, Barons Eden Group, adds: “As an organization, we are extremely proud of the sustainability initiatives and programs we have implemented over the years – but as a board, we recognized that becoming more sustainable was the right thing to do, both for our business and for our customers. Before we started working with FuturePlus, we considered other routes, but FuturePlus stood out for its commitment to regular, incremental improvement. The whole team has been excellent to work with - extremely knowledgeable, responsive and supportive. We are excited for our future projects, which reaffirm our commitment to sustainability in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.”

Shiji, a global hospitality technology innovator, has partnered with IPORT, an award-winning manufacturer known for enhancing the usability of iPads and iPhones, to introduce an all-in-one software solution for hotel restaurants. This collaboration will provide hoteliers with a seamless combination of a tablet and payment device to maximize their F&B operations.

The integrated iOS and payment device solution simplifies guest service for hotel restaurant servers, providing them with an effortless tool to cater to their guests' needs. As a certified Apple partner, Shiji and IPORT guarantee exceptional performance and reliability. Hoteliers can choose from multiple device options, including iPad Pro, iPad Mini, and iPhone, ensuring flexibility and compatibility with their operations.

“IPORT products are built around modularity and flexibility that empower our hospitality customers to do more with the iOS platform. We are thrilled to partner with a leading iPad and iPhone cloud PMS and POS platform provider like Shiji,” said Chris Lawson, Head of Partnerships, IPORT. “We look forward to innovating with Shiji in disrupting legacy, monolithic providers who have limited the industry from harnessing the power of iOS and mobility. The future is bright, and the possibilities are endless with IPORT, iOS, and Shiji.”

"The partnership with IPORT is a significant milestone for Shiji in our commitment to provide innovative technology solutions for the hospitality industry," said Ryan King, Senior Vice President of Shiji in the Americas. "By combining our expertise with IPORT’s hardware solutions, we empower hoteliers to streamline restaurant operations and deliver exceptional guest experiences. This collaboration represents another step forward in our dedication to driving success in the Americas, and globally."

The tablet and payment device solution seamlessly integrates with multiple payment gateways, allowing hoteliers to choose the system that best suits their needs. By simplifying the payment process, it reduces operational complexities, minimizes errors, and saves valuable time and resources for hoteliers.

GauVendi is advancing its disruptive approach to rethinking inventory, which has already been successfully implemented in the GauVendi Sales Engine, towards an open, feature-based inventory platform.

GauVendi started in 2020 with an innovative AI-driven booking experience that provides accommodation providers with a comprehensive solution for hyper-personalized sales and fulfillment automation. It was mainly deployed as a stand-alone solution. With this evolution, accommodation businesses and technology providers can now explore new avenues in sales, distribution, operational efficiency, and marketing of inventory. They benefit from highly automated processes without major system overhauls.

"We aim to offer every operator the opportunity to distribute their inventory in a scalable manner, much like it was previously only possible through personal sales - and all of it fully automated," says Markus Müller, CEO, and co-founder of GauVendi. "With the open API interface, all technology providers can now sell relevant and customizable inventory through their platforms. Our solution acts as an additional layer integrated into the existing tech stack, enabling differentiated sales and automation without significant changes to the current system landscape," adds Müller.

GauVendi's platform is the only one worldwide that provides a feature-based language and a dynamic product management system with its approach. The open API approach ensures seamless integration with other technology providers. Feature-based inventory can be transformed into relevant and tailored accommodation products using the AI recommendation model. The result is a transparent guest experience right from the booking process and significant time savings during reservations through intelligent and optimized room assignments.

The newly established inventory management platform and the associated new products and solutions were developed based on experiences gained from implementing the Sales Engine with existing hotel customers, their achieved results, and the acquired data. The new data structure enables the introduction of advanced automation possibilities, including dynamically optimized and intelligent room assignments using AI (Reinforcement Loops), going far beyond the largely manual and limited assignments used until now.

In today's era of personalization, the data structure in the form of categories for inventory management has proven to be inadequate. It lacks information about individual room features in data formats, making it challenging for operators to fulfill guest requests without significant manual and operational efforts. Any inquiry about specific room characteristics is handled offline and requires manual processing. Monetizing these features is also not possible, and the lack of personalization reduces the competitiveness of accommodation businesses compared to others.

Müller adds, "These problems are a thing of the past with the use of GauVendi. The results our customers achieve with our current solution validate this: significant increases in room revenue, considerable time savings through new automation features, a reduction in phone and email inquiries, and better guest reviews and check-in experiences."

Global research* commissioned by communication technology company Communications Specialist Ltd, reveals that senior executives at high-end, luxury hotels expect the sector to make more use of technology to help reduce costs and improve the overall customer experience.

Over the next five years, some 94% of those interviewed expect hotels to make more use of virtual tours to develop a digital environment for people to picture themselves in – 32% anticipate a dramatic increase in their use.  When it comes to the sector’s use of QR codes, 30% of those interviewed expect a dramatic increase in the hotel sector’s use of them, and 68% anticipate a slight rise.

Around 86% anticipate an increase in the hotel sector’s use of apps available to guests to access more services (22% anticipate a dramatic increase), and 88% expect hotels to make more use of self-checkout and technology for ordering room service and paying at the dining table or bar (34% anticipate a dramatic increase in their use by the hotel sector).

When it comes to artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT’s impact on the hotel sector, 16% believe it will have a very positive impact on improving the overall experience of guests, and 74% believe it will have a slightly positive impact.  Just 2% think it will have a negative impact.

Kevin Buchler, Chief Marketing Officer at Communications Specialist Ltd, said: “Our research shows that many hotels are embracing the latest technology to enhance their proposition, and ensure customers have the best possible experience with them.  It has the potential to further customize customer experiences, speed up service levels and also reduce costs.”

Communications Specialist Ltd provides sales support on hotel radio communication systems as well as training, fitting and commissioning of equipment, systems amalgamation, on-site instruction, maintenance and the provision of spare parts internationally to many luxury hotels around the world.

Its team of radio system experts have more than 35 years’ experience and will support and help resolve complex network issues on-site or remotely.

 

 

* Communications Specialist Ltd commissioned the independent research agency Pure Profile to interview 50 senior executives at luxury, high end hotel chains with annual revenue of $4 billion based in Asia, Africa, Europe, the US and South America

Mexico’s Park Royal Hotels & Resorts announced its partnership with Duetto, a software as a service provider of revenue strategy solutions.

The resort specialist will onboard 11 properties onto the Duetto platform, optimizing the rates for nearly 2,000 rooms throughout Mexico, the US, Puerto Rico, and Argentina.

With more than 30 years of operations, Park Royal Hotels & Resorts is regarded as a leader in vacation experiences across the Americas. The company operates four distinct brands:

•  Grand Park Royal Luxury Resorts 
•  Park Royal Beach Resorts 
•  Park Royal City 
•  Park Royal Homestay 

The revenue leadership team at Park Royal will now optimize room rates using Duetto’s Open Pricing methodology, through its GameChanger revenue optimization application. This will enable them to price unlimited segments, channels, and room types in real-time and in line with market demand.

The team will also benefit from streamlined reporting, and easier forecasting and budgeting, through Duetto’s business intelligence tool, ScoreBoard.

“To improve when offering prices for each market segment, personalizing our discounts, and being more assertive when making a forecast are some of the values we are looking for with Duetto. We believe that there are many opportunities and together we can achieve them,” said Rafael Sandoval, Commercial Director, Park Royal Hotels & Resorts.

“The breadth of the Park Royal property portfolio, with its multiple brands, means that the team needs an intelligent revenue solution to maximize opportunities and drive efficiencies. We are delighted they chose Duetto,” said David Woolenberg, CEO, Duetto.

Duetto already partners with many hotel brands operating across Latin America, including Grupo Posadas, Grupo Hotelero Santa Fe, and RCD Hotels.

Atira Hotels, one of the hotel industry's top hotel management, hotel investment and hotel development companies, has partnered with DailyPay–the leading provider of on-demand pay. Through the partnership, Atira Hotels adds the financial wellness benefit of DailyPay to its robust employee benefits package, providing employees the opportunity to access their earned pay as they earn it to pay bills, spend, save, or invest on their own schedule.

“Our employees are the backbone of our operations and it’s always our priority to provide them with as many resources as they can to be their best selves both in and outside of the workplace,” said Hanan Neau, Director of Human Resources at Atira Hotels. “Adding DailyPay to our employee benefits package was essential in providing a powerful financial wellness benefit.”

Based out of Chicago, Illinois, Atira Hotels operates over 20 franchise brands in 10 states across the United States, including Hampton Inn, Courtyard by Marriott, and TownePlace Suites. Atira Hotels prioritizes employee well-being to provide its guests with the best customer experience. Among its many employee benefits, Atira Hotels offers on-demand pay, financial education, 401(k) match, medical, dental, and life insurance plans, and an employee hotel discount.

According to a recent DailyPay user survey, 48% of users say they are more motivated to remain with their current employer because they offer DailyPay. More so, 67% of users say DailyPay has helped them reduce financial stress.