News Briefs
- 11/27/2023
LG to Introduce EV Chargers
LG Electronics will enter the rapidly growing U.S. electric vehicle (EV) charger market in 2024 with the introduction of its first line of AC and DC EV charging stations. The line will include Level 2 and Level 3 EV chargers, opening new opportunities for businesses, municipalities and other public places to support the electrification of America with independently owned and operated charging stations.
LG knows that the U.S. will need hundreds of thousands of additional Level 2 and Level 3 chargers to support the growing number of EVs on the road, and LG will help individual businesses take part in the market without relying on third-party owner operators. By giving hotels, restaurants and other locations the opportunity to own and operate their own EV charging stations, LG will empower them to set their own rates and ensure enough capacity to meet local demands.
Going Electric
LG’s initial product line for the U.S. market will include Level 2 AC Chargers with a load management solution and variable current settings enabling 11kW of output power through a standard SAE J1772 connector. The Level 2 AC Charger will be designed for simple wall mounting with an optional stand that enables placement anywhere. Also planned for next year is LG’s first Level 3 DC Charger, a stand-type model with a connected Power Bank that provides fast charging up to 175kW through CCS1 and NACS connectors. The Level 3 model will feature a large outdoor LCD touch-screen display that can serve multiple functions for various owners and use cases.
Research released earlier this year by Goldman Sachs and IHS Global Insight predicts that EV sales in the United States will jump from 9 percent of total vehicle sales in 2023 to 20 percent in 2025.
LG’s EV charger launch supports the company’s broader electrification strategy, which empowers customers to convert buildings to more sustainable energy usage, saving money and protecting the environment in the process. LG’s suite of whole home electrification products includes heat-pump-enabled HVAC systems, water heaters and dryers, energy storage systems, and Energy Star certified smart appliances, including induction ranges and cooktops. To further aid in energy and cost savings, LG’s ThinQ Energy platform allows customers to take control of their home’s energy usage at their fingertips.
Complementing LG Electronics’ entry into the EV charger market, its sister company LG Energy Solution is a producer of EV batteries, investing billions of dollars in U.S. manufacturing.
The new LG chargers coming next year will feature trusted LG software to enable integration with other LG infrastructure elements including digital display networks. Some models may offer additional revenue opportunities through included digital displays that can present third-party advertisements.
- 11/27/2023
Modern Market to Open First Drive-Thru Location
Modern Market Eatery will celebrate the grand opening the brand's first drive-thru restaurant in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Dec. 1.
The new company-owned restaurant is the third Modern Market Eatery location in Colorado Springs. Offering dine-in, drive-thru, and delivery options, it will serve the full Modern Market menu.
A New Revenue Stream
The restaurant will also feature a “Mini Market” merchandise area that the brand launched earlier this year to provide diners with locally made products, such as Switchback Coffee Roasters, Bibamba Chocolates, and Skratch Labs, as well as Modern Market Eatery hats, mugs and more. The restaurant is also the brand’s third location to feature a double-sided assembly line in the kitchen that allows for quicker prep times, meaning guests wait less for their fresh, made-to-order meals.
“Opening our first drive-thru restaurant is just one of the many ways our team is working to reimagine fast food and show guests how healthy food can be a quick, convenient option for the entire family,” said Modern Market Eatery Co-founder and President Rob McColgan. “This will be the first of many drive-thru locations we anticipate developing over the coming years to provide an even more efficient service model to handle the increasing volume of take-out orders.”
Known for its mindfully sourced ingredients, Modern Market Eatery never uses artificial flavors or colorings, trans fats, hormones, antibiotics or funky additives and offers a broad menu of scratch-prepared grain bowls, salads, sandwiches, pizzas and more.
Loyalty members got an exclusive sneak peek at the new location and receive free lunch and swag on Nov. 16 - the day before the restaurant opened its doors to the public.
With nearly 30 locations, Modern Market Eatery is currently expanding to make healthy food more accessible throughout the country.
- 11/27/2023
Bob W Tells Hospitality Industry to Go ‘Naked’ with Their Numbers as it Bares All to Reveal its Carbon Footprint
The first international climate-neutral hospitality provider Bob W is spearheading a ‘Show Us Your Numbers’ campaign calling for the hospitality industry to strip off and reveal the ‘naked numbers’ behind their carbon footprint.Bob W is taking the unusual and bold approach of sharing its GreenHouse Gas (GHG) emissions per guest night, setting a precedent among its competitors for honesty and responsibility in environmental reporting. As part of its campaign, Bob W is now calling upon the rest of the industry to do the same.Bob W reveals in its newly released sustainability report that it currently emits on average 29 kg (CO2-eq/guest night)1 of carbon emissions per guest night, outperforming the standard hotel’s 40 kg (CO2-eq/guest night)2. Bob’s latest figure is lower than the 41 kg that the company reported the previous year, when it was inflated by a substantial expansion that saw the company’s apartment count grow eight fold in a single year.By laying bare its numbers, Bob W hopes to encourage collaboration and share best practice within the industry to collectively improve the environmental impact of hospitality. While companies are often cautious when revealing their numbers, transparency and clear reporting is crucial if operators are to learn how to reduce emissions, and travelers are to make informed choices.Bob W is a climate-neutral company meaning that it offsets emissions with South Pole action projects, a foundation that works to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, but it knows that this isn’t enough.For years, the company has been working on reducing its emissions further and now reaches solid sustainability scores for its properties in Europe. This includes the highest LEED score for design in Europe for the Bob W Koti Katajanokka in Helsinki and a BREEAM (the widely recognized sustainability measurement) excellent rating of 72.4% for its property in London’s Tower Hill.However, partnering with commercial property owners whose environmental goals align, and investing in buildings with a significantly reduced footprint, is just the beginning. Bob W is going even further.Responsible partners who share the same sustainability ethos are favored to supply Bob W’s apartments. Where possible coffee is provided by local roasters; furniture is designed in partnership with local creatives or sourced from second hand suppliers; eco-friendly toiletries are provided; and guests are encouraged to manage resources in a way that lessens the impact of their stay. Local communities are also supported by Bob W as the company’s ‘local marketplace’ recommends cafes and gyms within 500 meters from each apartment.Bob W is advocating for a radically honest approach to the way that the industry reports its numbers and is promoting a ‘per guest night’ calculation. This simple metric, similar to nutrition scores on food products, is less open to manipulation and is easy for consumers to understand. The per guest night calculation has already been incorporated into Bob W’s website to enable guests to make a more sustainable choice.Niko Karstikko, Co-founder and CEO of Bob W, said: “A lot of hospitality providers rely on vague reports and sustainability certificates but we believe it is time for a more meaningful approach. There is an urgent need for us all to come together, innovate and share best practice so that we can all operate in a way that is kinder to the planet. Transparency and facts are a key part of that.“We know we're not the greenest accommodation provider but we are determined to be the most honest, and we're working really hard to help our guests make informed decisions. That’s why, when they book, guests can see the emissions associated with each night of their stay. For example, one night in an ‘Epic Studio’ in Tartu, Estonia, equates to 28.7kg CO2 ,all totally offset by us.“This is not a stunt. This is a race we all have to win, and we are totally open to hearing what other providers think the industry’s standardised sustainability metric should be. In fact, that would be the perfect start.”Notes to Editors129 kg (CO2-eq/guest night) was the reported emissions per guest night by Bob W in 2022241 kg (CO2-eq/guest night) was the reported emissions per guest night by Bob W in 2021 - 11/27/2023
Sustainable Hotel Group KONCEPT HOTELS Appoints Apaleo to Supercharge Automation
Apaleo, an open property management platform for hospitality, has been appointed by Koncept Hotels to hardwire automation into its guest journey and operations.Established in 2017, the holistically sustainable hotel group is at the forefront of the hotel industry's transformation, offering a digitized, self-service hotel concept with a focus on sustainable business practices. It operates six properties in Germany and Switzerland, welcoming over 100,000 guests annually.Koncept Hotels’ staffless operating model was rooted in a desire to overcome the industry’s labour shortage and combat the sector's contribution to climate change. To help achieve its mission, the company needed a modern platform to replace its existing property management software, automate operational processes and support its movement into multi-property management.Since appointing Apaleo, Koncept Hotels has benefitted from limitless flexibility to create its preferred property management tech stack. Apaleo’s API-first MACH architecture empowers property managers to seamlessly integrate a diverse range of best-in-breed third-party applications, ensuring continuous customisation and modernisation.Sabine Schrempp, Revenue & Capacity Manager at Koncept Hotels, said: “Transitioning to Apaleo has been a game-changer, giving us the freedom and flexibility to really determine what works for us. It's been a learning curve, identifying pain points and refining automations, and the impact it’s had on our workflows is undeniable.“Apaleo has enabled us to make significant strides in automating our processes. With our previous PMS, staff and night auditors had to manage each booking manually. Now, reservations are automated, smooth and easy to manage. A huge success for us has been in payment processing, which is a crucial element for our digital operations. Payments and invoicing are now 100% automated, meaning we no longer have to think about them. That’s been a huge win for us.”Transitioning from its previous all-in-one PMS to Apaleo was easy thanks to Apaleo’s dedicated Customer Success team. A dedicated Customer Success Manager handled the onboarding process and the hotel group benefits from 24/7 support whenever needed.Apaleo’s API-first approach has also empowered the hotel group to foster an environment of experimentation and collaboration among staff to continually refine its operations.“There are no limitations — only endless possibilities,” continued Sabine. “We now operate a ‘test and iterate’ approach to innovation. The team shares ideas and trends in a WhatsApp group, and the very next day we’re able to test it with no-code and low-code automation, thanks to Apaleo’s integration with Make.com. It means we’re never doing the same thing we did yesterday or repeating mistakes. It's like a vast playground for big kids, where we can experiment, try, and play freely.”This has a huge impact on the guest experience, which has become frictionless, immediate and personalised, so that guests don’t miss on-site staff. With more free time, employees have additional time to dedicate to creating a unique guest experience.“Automating our workflows means our employees have more time to focus on guests, becoming hosts rather than administrators” added Sabine. “We now operate a more efficient, dynamic and digitally advanced operation.”Florian Montag, VP of Business Development at Apaleo, said: “Digital guest journeys that unlock seamless and superior service at staffless hotels represent the biggest shift in the hospitality industry right now. Koncept Hotels are at the forefront of this trend but it wouldn’t be possible without the composable hospitality facilitated by an API-first platform. With this approach, the Koncept team will be able to continually improve the way they deliver for guests, knowing their tech stack need never become out of date.“A dedicated Customer Success Manager personally guided the Koncept team through the onboarding process, ensuring a smooth and seamless transition from their legacy software without disruption. Switching systems while running a business can be both overwhelming and complex for hoteliers, which is why the personal support never stops. Our Customer Success Manager is still in touch with the team about the daily needs of Koncept today.“Operators of all kinds, across both the hotel and serviced apartment sector, are stepping away from traditional property management software because it’s only a matter of time before it is rendered out of date. We’re excited to support Koncept Hotels as it continues to scale and overcome the twin challenges of labour shortages and sustainability goals, while providing a transformational digital experience for guests.” - 11/27/2023
Boostly Partners with PriceLabs, Jurny, Direct Booking Tools & Dtravel to Drive Book Direct Movement
Boostly announced four strategic integrations with key short-term rental players PriceLabs, Jurny, Direct Booking Tools and Dtravel.Hosts and property managers can now effortlessly sync all four platforms with a Boostly direct booking website, helping managers to maximise profitability by minimising reliance on third-party online travel agents (OTAs).PriceLabs, a dynamic pricing and revenue management tool, offers hosts a data-driven approach to pricing their properties. By linking PriceLabs with their Boostly websites, hosts gain access to cutting-edge algorithms that analyse market supply and demand in real-time.Boostly’s partnership with the AI-powered property management platform Jurny unlocks a new level of service for hosts by providing tools to improve and streamline the guest experience. This integration facilitates the automation of key operations from booking and contactless check-in to cleaning and post-stay reviews, offering a seamless end-to-end solution for hospitality management.Direct Booking Tools, the first price comparison tool for the vacation rental industry, allows property managers to display real-time total prices quoted on their Boostly website compared with prices of OTAs, encouraging guests to save by booking direct. Through this integration, Boostly users can also access Direct Booking Tools’ forward booking demand analytics dashboard to see the actual demand on their website. This is quickly becoming the industries’ leading Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) tool.Boostly’s integration with Dtravel gives Boostly users access to Dtravel’s web3 ecosystem, direct booking infrastructure and direct booking distribution network. By creating an account with Dtravel, operators will be eligible to accept bookings without intermediaries through a variety of free and exclusive direct booking channels like Google Vacation Rentals, Dtravel Sensei, Travala.com and more.Launched in 2016, Boostly has built over 1,500 Wordpress websites and helped over 2,500 operators scale their businesses to date. Earlier this year, Boostly became the first website design agency to directly embed ChatGPT into its websites.The company, which is now made up of a team of 52, has recently also launched a number of updates, including the capability to integrate multiple property management systems into one single website and a brand new integrated customer relationship management (CRM) system, empowering hosts to schedule emails and social media posts.Mark Simpson, Founder of Boostly, said: “As the Book Direct movement continues to go from strength to strength, we’re excited to be partnering with four of the best in the short-term rental game. Our mission is to make it as easy as possible for property managers to generate direct bookings and, by getting top players in the industry on board, we’re closer to achieving our mission.“It’s an exciting time as we continue to roll-out new updates and features, all of which will help hosts and managers really step up their direct booking strategies.” - 11/26/2023
IDeaS Releases 2024 Hotel Technology Predictions
IDeaS, a SAS, company and provider of hotel revenue management software and services, released Future Forecast: Six Hotel Technology Predictions for 2024. Gathering information from some of the top minds in the industry, IDeaS releases six bold hotel technology predictions that it believes will shape the year to come.
Key predictions include:
- The continued breakdown of hospitality data silos: The hospitality industry collects an incredible amount of valuable guest data, but it’s often coming from disparate sources with no clear view of the entire guest experience. IDeaS foresees this changing fast as hoteliers look to maximize the value and power of their data in 2024.
- Revenue management will leave the confines of hotel walls: The discipline of revenue management is poised to expand beyond its traditional home within hotels. IDeaS predicts campsites, “glamp-sites,” cruise ships, and other similar but different accommodations providers will begin to embrace the benefits of revenue management practices.
- AI is set to redefine the guest experience: 2023 was the world’s introduction to generative AI, with tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E capturing the public’s imagination. IDeaS believes 2024 is when the hospitality industry will start putting the transformative power of AI to work, with far-ranging implications for what the future of the “typical” guest experience can be.
Mike Chuma, vice president of global marketing, IDeaS, said: “Our team engaged with some of the greatest minds in our industry in 2023 through informative webinars, a successful client summit, and our ongoing commitment to supporting innovation and industry events. It’s clear to all of us that 2024 is shaping up to be a year of substantial and exciting change—and the best way for hoteliers to take advantage of that change is to start thinking now about what’s likely to come in the year ahead.”
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