INDUSTRY OUTLOOK,HOSPITALITY TRENDS
INTELITY | December 26, 2022
Contents
1. Partnership Revision to Add Unifocus into INTELITY's R5
2. What's New in the Platform?
INTELITY, a leading guest experienceand management platform provider in the hospitality industry, recently announced updating its strategic partnership with Unifocus, a hospitality operations software and workforce management platform provider.
In light of recent updates to Unifocus's technology, the INTELITY integration is brand new. Built on INTELITY's R5 platform to leverage its industry-leading capabilities, the latest integration provides a more robust synchronization of guest request details between Unifocus and INTELITY.
1. Partnership Revision to Add Unifocus into INTELITY's R5
R5 is INTELITY's new cloud-based platform, designed to manage various hospitality operations from back-of-house operations to resident and guest services, all on one platform. The R5 platform from INTELITY enables hotel customers to initiate requests via hotel mobile apps or smart-room tablets. Unifocus is the market leader in workforce management software that enhances hospitality operations. The incorporation of Unifocus into INTELITY's R5 integrations cloud enables identical requests to be directed straight to on-premise teams utilizing their existing operational workflows.
2. What’s New in the Platform?
“INTELITY provides solutions that completely change the way guests experience and engage with a property, which is the kind of innovation we’re looking for from Brand Officials.”
– Micarl Hill, SVP of Brand Development at the Forbes Travel Guide
The entirely redesigned platform, INTELITY's R5, offers a variety of additional capabilities to better serve, monitor, and manage the needs of guests while cutting down on administrative work and giving the team the data they require. The modernized connection is built on top of a long-standing cooperation that has provided staff automation, lifecycle status tracking of guest requests, and enhanced security to customers all over the world.
About INTELITY
INTELITY is the leading company in contactless guest experience technology, in-room, integrating mobile, and operational capabilities into a comprehensive hospitality platform. Among its many accolades, INTELITY has been named the "Official Guest Engagement and Staff Management Platform Provider" by the prestigious Forbes Travel Guide. The INTELITY platform is utilized in over 60 countries and six continents by boutique hotels, casino resorts, luxury residences, and worldwide hotel brands, among others.
About Unifocus
Unifocus is the only comprehensive workforce management platform designed to transform the labor-management practices of service industries fundamentally. The robust platform provides intelligent labor management techniques that automatically generate accurate estimates and schedules based on staff availability, business demand, service standards, and work rules. In addition, the staff is effortlessly aligned with a world-class time and attendance system that communicates timetables and allows swaps with tools like Shift Genius that reside on a simple mobile app.
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AIRLINES AND AIRPORTS
World Travel & Tourism Council | March 14, 2023
World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), a travel arrangement services company, has recently announced the Hotel Sustainability Basics (Basics) at ITB Berlin. Basics help tourist accommodation providers with their sustainability journey.
Basics is a set of globally accepted criteria that hotels should implement at least to generate a responsible and sustainable business in Travel & Tourism. The industry supports it and compiles all tourist accommodation providers, regardless of their size and location. A group of influential global hotel brands came together to demand it. It emphasizes a possible starting point over other sustainability initiatives. It will inspire accommodation providers worldwide to start their sustainability journeys and fulfill the fundamental standards of the sector.
It compromises 12 essential criteria and is available to all hotels. This endeavor aims to build a strong base for complex sustainability schemes and enhance sustainability across the industry. It got recognition from the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance as a starting point for the net positive industry. This alliance is the one that announced the latest version of the 'Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality.' WTTC has partnered with Green Key and SGS to design an online verification system to ensure the program's validity.
President & CEO of WTTC, Julia Simpson said, "We are incredibly proud to launch our Hotel Sustainability Basics and its verification scheme. The initiative is a response to the sector's need for a baseline for hotels and other tourist lodgings to introduce the exacting sustainability standards." She added, "Our research shows that most business owners are aware of their responsibility to the environment but need a step-by-step guide that is scientifically verifiable. It is a testament to the need for such a scheme that already thousands of hotel properties from around the world have committed to implement Basics, and from today can begin the verification process."
(Source – Cision PR Newswire)
About World Travel & Tourism Council
Headquartered in London, United Kingdom, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is a non-profitable and non-government organization dedicated to travel and tourism, founded in 1990. It specializes in the authority on world travel & tourism, travel, tourism, research, economics, private sector, government policies, economic impact, Covid-19 recovery, sustainability, and crisis preparedness. It represents the travel & tourism private sector at a global level. It connects industry experts, CEOs of travel & tourism companies and organizations worldwide. Its focuses on Security & Travel Facilitation, Crisis Preparedness & Management, and Sustainable Growth in the travel field.
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TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY
Plusgrade | February 23, 2023
Plusgrade, the global travel industry's premier provider of ancillary revenue solutions, recently announced the acquisition of UpStay, a growing upgrade and ancillary revenue solutions provider for the hospitality industry. UpStay supports hundreds of hotels throughout 17 countries by aiding hoteliers in growing ancillary revenue by delivering numerous value-added revenue streams to their guests.
Since its inception in 2019, UpStay has been acknowledged for its innovative technology, receiving the 2021 People's Choice Innovation Award (Phocuswright Travel Awards) and the 2022 World's Best Hotel Tech Startup (World Travel Tech Awards).
Plusgrade's acquisition of Points, the global leader in powering loyalty commerce, brought together two of the largest ancillary revenue solutions under one umbrella. Now, the company has initiated a new phase of rapid expansion. By adding UpStay, which provides hotel upgrades and other ancillary revenue solutions, to its portfolio, enhances its ability to deliver comprehensive and diverse services to its global customer base.
This move positions Plusgrade to make a more significant impact on travel businesses worldwide, ultimately leading to increased customer satisfaction. UpStay will be incorporated into the Plusgrade brand over the next few weeks and will operate as Plusgrade going forward.
Ken Harris, CEO of Plusgrade, shared, "The acquisition of UpStay is another step forward for our vision and mission of becoming the Global Ancillary Revenue Powerhouse." He adds, "We have been accelerating this mission through a series of innovations, launches and acquisitions, and have come into 2023 as a powerhouse for the global travel industry. We are thrilled to have the UpStay team join us, and look forward to tapping into their expertise and innovative technology to bring even more value to our now 200+ airline, hospitality, cruise, rail and financial services partners around the world."
(Source – PR Newswire)
About Plusgrade
Plusgrade offers a portfolio of premium ancillary revenue solutions that power the travel industry. With over 200 clients from various sectors, including airline, cruise, passenger rail, hospitality, and financial services, the company creates new, meaningful revenue streams by delivering exceptional customer experiences. As an ancillary revenue powerhouse, it has created new revenue opportunities worth billions of dollars across its platform, enhancing travel experiences for millions of passengers and guests. Founded in 2009 with headquarters in Montreal, the organization has a global presence with offices located worldwide.
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