Travel Technology
Hyatt Hotels | September 22, 2023
Hyatt Hotels Corporation embarks on a strategic expansion journey with over 30 luxury and lifestyle hotels planned for the Americas by 2025.
The brand's rapid growth includes doubling luxury room inventory and increasing lifestyle rooms, making it a premier choice for high-end travelers.
The strategic acquisitions of Mr & Mrs Smith and Dream Hotel Group enhance Hyatt's offerings for members of the World of Hyatt.
The Hyatt Hotels Corporation has strengthened the brand with ambitious plans to expand its luxury and lifestyle presence throughout the Americas. With a robust development pipeline encompassing more than 30 planned hotels and resorts slated for completion by 2025, Hyatt is poised to make a significant impact. This strategic initiative includes venturing into new markets, reflecting the company's unwavering commitment to enhancing its brand offerings. Over the past half-decade, Hyatt has achieved remarkable milestones on a global scale, including doubling luxury room inventory, tripling the number of resort rooms, and quadrupling the availability of lifestyle rooms. The momentum behind this growth shows no signs of abating. Hyatt now proudly stands as the fastest-growing luxury portfolio, with luxury, lifestyle, and resort properties constituting over 40% of its extensive portfolio. This success solidifies Hyatt's position as the ultimate choice for discerning high-end travelers seeking unparalleled experiences.
This brand expansion has new properties in sought-after destinations, including the Hyatt Centric Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, Cas en Bas Beach Resort in Saint Lucia, and Hyatt Centric Querétaro in Mexico. Additionally, Hyatt is introducing Boundless Collection hotels, featuring Thompson Hotels in various U.S. and Mexican locations. Timeless Collection hotels will offer a home away from home experience, with Park Hyatt Los Cabos in Mexico and Grand Hyatt Scottsdale in Arizona among the highlights. The Inclusive Collection will welcome new resorts in the Caribbean and Mexico, including Secrets St. Lucia Resort & Spa and more. Several luxury and lifestyle Hyatt hotels have recently opened in the Americas, with exciting additions like Andaz Mexico City Condesa and Dreams Flora Resort & Spa in Punta Cana. The Fordson Hotel in Oklahoma City will soon join The Unbound Collection by Hyatt.
Hyatt's transformative growth journey extends further through strategic acquisitions that enhance the offerings for its valued guests and members. The recent acquisition of Mr & Mrs Smith, a global travel platform renowned for its curated collection of boutique and luxury properties, is a testament to Hyatt's commitment to delivering exceptional experiences. This move significantly enriches the choices available to World of Hyatt members, providing them with an even more comprehensive array of rewarding stays and memorable experiences. In addition to this, Hyatt's earlier acquisition of Dream Hotel Group in early 2023 has opened up new horizons for World of Hyatt members, enabling them to access an expanded portfolio of stay options and lifestyle experiences in vibrant destinations like Nashville, Hollywood, South Beach, and New York City.
Additionally, this acquisition catalyzes Hyatt's brand expansion into an emerging leisure market in Mexico, with the upcoming Dream Valle de Guadalupe (slated for 2024). Nestled across 35 sprawling acres in the picturesque Baja California region, this property will feature a sprawling vineyard, 61 well-appointed guestrooms and villas, a luxurious spa and wellness facility, and a trio of vibrant dining and nightlife venues, including an exclusive tasting room and pool bar.
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Travel Technology
prnewswire | August 14, 2023
ALTOUR, one of the world's largest travel management companies and a division of Internova Travel Group, is launching an innovative new product, ALTOUR Capture, that will help corporate clients keep better track of their employee travel.
Even the most well-managed business travel programs experience some leakage — with employees booking trips outside the TMC of record. That can lead to a loss of savings acquired through negotiations with preferred suppliers and a breakdown in duty of care obligations.
ALTOUR Capture solves the leakage problem by allowing travel managers at companies that are ALTOUR clients to view all travel bookings made by employees, whether or not they go through the TMC of record. Travel managers can then leverage that information for use in negotiations, conduct a price comparison and wrap duty of care to ensure travel notifications and traveller safety. This real-customer data will help drive change in one of business travel's thorniest issues.
"Capturing all travel bookings is crucial for providing proper duty of care to employees," said Dr. John Rose, Chief Risk & Security Officer for ALTOUR. "It enables the company to proactively manage risks, respond to emergencies effectively, comply with legal requirements, and foster a culture of safety and employee well-being."
With customer data driving change, ALTOUR Capture is the result of a partnership with three leading technology companies in the travel industry: CapTrav, capturing and aggregating off-channel booking data to populate ALTOUR's reporting environment; Prime Numbers Technology, providing best-in-class travel management reporting; and Oversee (formerly Fairfly), providing re-shopping for off-channel bookings when it makes sense for the client. Under the direction of Dr. John Rose, ALTOUR is committed to ensuring a more holistic duty of care program, no matter where the traveller books.
Brandon Strauss, CapTrav President and a partner and cofounder of KesselRun Corporate Travel Solutions, says KesselRun has been studying the problem of off-booking for more than 20 years across clients of all sizes and industries. He estimates airline leakage at 15 percent or more and hotel leakage at 40 percent or more.
"Even with world-class best efforts, there will always be off-channel bookings for a travel manager to deal with," said Lee Thomas, ALTOUR's Chief Operating Officer and President, Business Travel. "Road warrior preferences, loyalty incentives, supplier encouragement, travel disruptions, last-minute changes and moderate travel policies all contribute to off-channel booking. By connecting the travel manager to this off-channel world, ALTOUR Capture closes the loop on managed travel."
"We are thrilled to announce the seamless integration of CapTrav's data into the Prime Analytics platform," said Mark Bresnahan, President, Prime Numbers Technology. "This partnership empowers ALTOUR clients with an unparalleled wellspring of travel data reporting. By combining off-channel booking data, GDS itinerary information, TMC data, and post-trip expense details, we offer a comprehensive solution. Clients can effortlessly oversee their travel program, accessing real-time reports, dynamic dashboards, and automated stakeholder presentations directly to their inbox."
"Oversee is proud to partner with ALTOUR on launching ALTOUR Capture," said Aviel Siman-Tov, cofounder and CEO. "Our partnership expands upon our mission of leveraging technology to deliver cost and operational efficiencies for our partners and customers. We have consistently achieved significant savings for our clients that allow budgets to be stretched while optimizing their overall travel program."
About ALTOUR
With sales of more than $3 billion, ALTOUR is one of the largest travel management companies in the United States and around the world. Serving the corporate and leisure luxury and mid-markets and entertainment community, ALTOUR has over 43 offices and nearly 700 travel professionals worldwide. In addition to travel management services, ALTOUR companies include ALTOUR Air, ALTOUR Leisure, ALTOUR Entertainment, ALTOUR Meetings and Incentives and ALTOUR Global Network.
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Hospitality Trends
Globenewswire | July 10, 2023
Phunware, Inc.the pioneer of Location Based SaaS that offers the only fully integrated enterprise cloud platform for mobile that enables brands to engage, manage and monetize anyone anywhere, announced today its Smart Hospitality Solution is being launched at Thumper Pond Resort.
Set in the heart of Minnesota, Thumper Pond Resort is an oasis of relaxation and recreation. With its championship golf course, luxurious spa, world-class dining and an invigorating indoor water park, Thumper Pond Resort offers an unrivaled blend of tranquility and exhilaration. Surrounded by over 200 acres of verdant woodland, the resort promises a captivating escape from the everyday, immersing guests in a world where the ambiance of natural beauty is complemented by top-tier amenities and a commitment to outstanding service.
"We are thrilled to bring our Smart Hospitality Solution to the prestigious Thumper Pond Resort in partnership with its innovative new owner who is committed to digital transformation," said Russ Buyse, CEO of Phunware. "Our technology will help redefine the guest experience by offering a unique blend of personalized services and digital amenities that seamlessly integrate with and enhance the existing infrastructure across such a beautiful property."
Key features of Phunware’s Smart Hospitality Solution include:
Mobile Application: Native iOS and Android applications optimized for hospitality that can take advantage of core device capabilities that make experiences more secure, intuitive and engaging.
Contextual Engagement: Guests can receive notifications based on their location and preferences, improving communication and enhancing the guest experience.
Location-Based Services: With these features, guests can easily find their way around the resort with indoor navigation, wayfinding and mapping.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Analytics: Using AI and machine learning, the platform collects, analyzes and makes recommendations based on data to provide insights that can improve services, personalize engagement and increase operational efficiency.
"Phunware's Smart Hospitality Solution aligns perfectly with our commitment to providing guests with a superior and personalized experience," said Jatin Patel, Owner of Thumper Pond Resort. "By embracing this advanced technology, we hope to create an unforgettable stay for our guests, offering them innovative and engaging services."
About Thumper Pond Resort
Featuring 78 spacious suites and 26 RV sites across more than 210 acres, Thumper Pond Resort is a premier choice in central Minnesota lakes country for family reunions, corporate retreats, golf outings and destination weddings. With a stunning golf course and enough activities onsite to keep everyone busy, the resort is a premier choice of Otter Tail County hotels for group and corporate travel. Thumper Pond Resort is located three hours northwest of the Twin Cities or ninety minutes southeast of Fargo.
About Phunware, Inc.
Everything You Need to Succeed on Mobile — Transforming Digital Human Experience
Phunware, Inc. (NASDAQ: PHUN), the pioneer of Location Based SaaS that offers the only fully integrated enterprise cloud platform for mobile that enables brands to engage, manage and monetize anyone anywhere. Phunware’s Software Development Kits (SDKs) include location-based services, mobile engagement, content management, messaging, advertising, loyalty (PhunCoin & PhunToken) and analytics, as well as a mobile application framework of pre-integrated iOS and Android software modules for building in-house or channel-based mobile application and vertical solutions. Phunware helps the world’s most respected brands create category-defining mobile experiences, with approximately one billion active devices touching its platform each month when operating at scale. For more information about how Phunware is transforming the way consumers and brands interact with mobile in the virtual and physical worlds, visit https://phunware.com.
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