TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY
businesswire | April 26, 2023
Everbridge, Inc. the global leader in critical event management (CEM) and national public warning software solutions, revealed findings today that only 24% of surveyed organizations have a strong Travel Risk Management (TRM) program in place as defined by TRM Standard ISO 31030. The results come from the company’s year-long study of more than 200 global C-suite executives. Additionally, only 21% of those surveyed feel that their organizations have adequate measures in place to meet the standard’s key requirements for travel safety.
“Addressing potential gaps in a company’s travel risk management program is critical to successfully building a more resilient workforce,” said Tracy Reinhold, Chief Security Officer at Everbridge. “The good news is that the introduction of ISO 31030 has removed much of the guesswork in how to do that. But there is still plenty of room for improvement as organizations seek to mitigate risks and fulfill their duty of care. Even those in the top category should ensure continuous reviews of their programs and policies as risks consistently evolve.”
ISO 31030 is the officially recognized International Standard for travel risk management, providing guidance on how to manage risks to organizations and travelers. To help organizations benchmark their travel risk programs against this standard and identify any shortfalls, Everbridge developed Measuring Up Against ISO 31030 – The Travel Risk Management Standard, an online survey measuring the seven key areas of the standard: Understanding risk context; Managing travel risk effectively; Travel risk assessment and treatment; Incident response; Specialist support; Communication and consultation; and Program monitoring and review.
Among the survey’s key findings:
Only 24% of respondents have a solid travel risk management program in place as defined by ISO 31030
Only 27% of respondents have a clear understanding of their organization’s risk profile
Only 36% of respondents feel that their TRM policies are aligned with other organizational policies
Only 21% of respondents feel that adequate measures are in place to safeguard travelers
Only 19% feel that policies and procedures have been effectively communicated and understood
81% believe their organization needs to improve the way their TRM program is evaluated and reviewed
Adds Reinhold: “While risks associated with the global pandemic dominated the attention of travel professionals for the last three years, severe weather events and civil unrest now pose the biggest threats to business travel. ISO guidance is a boon to travel managers as it gives them a chance to evaluate their own programs against industry standards. It is also a terrific opportunity to review and refresh established TRM programs.”
To take the survey and see how your organization measures up against ISO 31030, click here. Upon completion of the survey, respondents receive an instant score and a personalized report.
Everbridge will present the survey’s key findings and best practices at The Security Event in Birmingham, UK this week, in a session entitled “Regulation & Governance: New ISO 31030 Standard and its Impact on Travel Risk Mitigation.”
About Everbridge
Everbridge empowers enterprises and government organizations to anticipate, mitigate, respond to, and recover stronger from critical events. In today’s unpredictable world, resilient organizations minimize impact to people and operations, absorb stress, and return to productivity faster when deploying critical event management (CEM) technology. Everbridge digitizes organizational resilience by combining intelligent automation with the industry’s most comprehensive risk data to Keep People Safe and Organizations Running™.
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TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY
prnewswire | May 09, 2023
Wego, the largest online travel marketplace in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), recently signed a new partnership with Egyptian Tourism Authority as part of its efforts to boost tourism in the region.
This partnership is aimed at promoting Egypt's rich history, culture, and tourism opportunities. Through this campaign under the theme "In Egypt, your expectations are history", Wego will work closely with Egyptian Tourism Authority to promote this campaign on all its marketing channels and bring travelers the best of Egypt's summer and Eid Al Adha celebrations, including festivals, events, and attractions.
Mamoun Hmedan, CCO and MD, MENA and India, Wego, said: "We are thrilled to announce our new partnership with Egyptian Tourism Authority. Egypt is a perfect destination for travelers looking for a mix of history, culture, and adventure. Summer and Eid Al Adha are the ideal times to visit Egypt. We have recorded over 24 million searches from MENA to Egypt between 1 January to 27 April 2023 and we expect to see a surge around the Eid Al Adha period."
Wego will be presenting its users with a comprehensive guide highlighting the best places to visit, things to do, and experiences to enjoy. To reward travelers, a social media competition will run online to give people the chance to visit this must-see destination.
Egypt has a variety of activities and experiences to offer visitors during summer and Eid Al Adha. Travelers can explore ancient monuments as Egypt is home to some of the world's most iconic ancient monuments, including the Great Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx, and the temples of Luxor and Aswan.
Amr ElKady, CEO of Egyptian Tourism Authority, commented: "We are excited to partner with Wego for another year. With Egypt's rich cultural heritage, diverse landscape, and welcoming people, and Wego's large user base in MENA, we are confident that we can attract more visitors to Egypt and provide them with an unforgettable experience."
Suzan Mostafa, General director of Tourism Promotion at Egyptian Tourism Authority, said: "We are thrilled to partner with Wego and promote our country through this joint campaign. We will benefit from Wego's large user base in the MENA region, which will enable us to drive more traffic to Egypt and attract holidaymakers in the summer season."
During this period, Egypt comes alive with music, dance, and traditional festivities. Moreover, tourists can explore Egypt's stunning beaches, desert landscapes, all of which make Egypt a unique and unforgettable destination.
About Wego
Wego provides award-winning travel search websites and top-ranked mobile apps for travelers living in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East regions. Wego harnesses powerful yet simple to use technology that automates the process of searching and comparing results from hundreds of airlines, hotels, and online travel agency websites.
Wego presents an unbiased comparison of all travel products and prices offered in the marketplace by merchants, both local and global, and enables shoppers to quickly find the best deal and place to book whether it is from an airline or hotel directly or with a third-party aggregator website.
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HOSPITALITY TRENDS
businesswire | May 05, 2023
Life House has been selected to manage two more hotels in California - Hotel Royal in Long Beach and Hotel La Rose in Sonoma County. Life House now operates seven hotels throughout California. Both owners faced similar challenges prior to switching to Life House, including fatigue keeping up with the day-to-day operations and a heavy reliance on expensive OTAs, all while desiring to preserve their connection to the property.
Hotel La Rose, a landmark 48-key property in the heart of Santa Rosa, has been welcoming travelers for over 100 years. The owners were attracted to Life House's ability to enhance their hotel's profitability while allowing them to devote more time to their other businesses. For the hotel’s owners, Lukhbir Gill, Hardeep Gill and Jim McCalligan, preserving the historic charm and unique character that had been cultivated through a century of heartfelt operations was very important.
“We wanted to free up our time, but deeply care about Hotel La Rose and the special experience our guests have enjoyed for so many years. Therefore, we could never see it being flagged,” said Hardeep Gill. “Life House is the perfect solution to operate this historic asset in a very sophisticated manner to optimize profitability, whilst maintaining the specialness & extraordinary charm.”
Hotel Royal, a 1923 Art Deco boutique hotel in Long Beach’s trendy East Village Arts District, had just celebrated its 100 year anniversary when the owner Victor Beauchamp retained Life House to take over management. “I had spent 20 years renovating and building our unique brand,” Beauchamp shared. “I was exhausted and needed help but couldn’t allow our family legacy to become just another corporate hotel. Life House’s personalized approach really appealed to us as a chance to maximize performance and compete with bigger, better resourced hotel brands while retaining what we love most about our property.”
This is a familiar tale for independent hotel owners who pour their heart into their properties but have difficulty keeping up with technological advances and increasing operational complexity. From transition through ongoing management, Life House’s partners have a dedicated Asset Manager who liaises with 140+ corporate experts within all pillars of hospitality operations, ensuring that the hotels employ best-in-class systems & processes at all times.
The owners of both Hotel Royal and Hotel La Rose were encouraged by the 258% increase in NOI versus pre-Life House management that was experienced by a historic property in close proximity to Hotel La Rose. Life House boosted revenue and decreased operating expenses by automating back-of-house functions, increasing profitability without adversely affecting the guest experience.
The Management Agreements for both properties were executed early this year. With an efficient transition process, they have both already launched under Life House management.
We are excited to partner with the owners of these special hotels, as they seek to spend their time in more meaningful ways,” said Rami Zeidan, Founder & CEO of Life House. “We’re excited to continue growing in California as there is an abundance of quaint independent hotels with similar attributes to the many hotels we’ve helped on the East Coast.”
About Life House
Life House is a vertically integrated hotel management & technology company focused on serving small and medium independent hotels with institutional quality service. Life House uses advanced software & operating systems to increase profitability and reliability for independent hotels throughout North America. Life House was founded in 2017 by real estate, hospitality, and technology veterans and is backed by world renowned private equity and venture investors. The company is ambitiously investing in its operational systems to make hotels far more profitable, predictable, and seamless for owners.
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