News Briefs

Easyway, a generative AI technology provider for hospitality, announces its completely automated guest communication platform. Combining GPT-4, and the model which powers the generative AI program of ChatGPT, with their own proprietary AI solution to provide a 24/7 concierge for customers.

With the hotel industry set to surpass pre-pandemic levels of demand, but with a whopping 87% still grappling with severe staffing issues, Easyway’s platform eases the burden on a hotel’s workforce and supports business growth. Through iMessage, WhatsApp, or as a chat widget on the hotel’s own website, Easyway’s AI Agent has direct and constant communication with guests, which allows hotels to provide quick and accurate responses in the guest’s native language, offer personalized recommendations, additional offers or services and manage any queries immediately – from late check-out requests to which wine to pair with your meal. Easyway also provides crucial data-driven insights enabling hoteliers to predict customer behavior as well as more efficiently allocate staffing and resources. Easyway already serves thousands of hoteliers in 30+ countries, and after a highly successful pre-launch stage where dozens of hotels had their customer engagement interactions completely transformed, the virtual concierge will be available across all locations in 100+ languages.

“For the vast majority of guests, a personalized approach is integral for a satisfying hotel experience – with research indicating that guests would even opt for hotels over short-term rentals if their personal needs were met,” said Roy Friedman, co-founder and CEO of Easyway. “There is immense potential for reimagining the traditional hotel model and attracting new customers – and this is our mission at Easyway. Our user-friendly, generative AI-powered platform empowers hotels to seamlessly cater to guests’ specific needs, providing experiences that drive high satisfaction levels, while leveraging actionable business insights to optimize operations. This dual benefit of unparalleled service for guests, alongside unlocking valuable efficiencies for hotels, really is the gold standard for hospitality, and we are proud to see our technology deployed by hotels of all sizes, from SMEs to some of the world’s largest hospitality brands.”

“Prior to implementing Easyway’s solution, our staff were wrestling with over 100 daily messages, which, alongside their other responsibilities resulted in delays and impaired responses. Easyway’s generative AI agent resolves queries in an impressively personable and precise way, so guests still receive the high standard of customer care expected, while our staff are left to focus on other priority tasks. This level of service is second to none, and represents the future of the hospitality sector,” said Regis Morin, Commercial Director of Criterion Hospitality Group.

“Amid a massive global shortage of labor for hotels, especially in the Western world, the kind of technology Easyway has developed - where the platform ensures customer queries are answered quickly and in the native tongue of the enquirer - offers a life raft to the industry. By automating guest management in such a sophisticated way, Easyway offers a demonstrable benefit to both hotel operators and their customers,” Sir David Michels, Co-owner and Chairman of Michels & Taylor and Former CEO of the Hilton Group.

“The most impressive aspect of Easyway’s technology is the quality of the AI, and how its responses are so natural. We were slightly reticent at first about how guests would take to it, but time after time they had absolutely no problem interacting with the platform, and this removed a huge burden from our staff. Easyway’s solution has real potential to be both the catalyst for solving workforce deficiencies, while also revitalizing a hotel’s multiple revenue streams,” David Omland, Corporate Operations Manager at Penta Hotels commented.

Easyway’s platform instantly connects hotels and resorts with guests in over 100 languages, enabling two-way immediate translation. With Easyway, every exchange can be seamlessly translated, ensuring guests feel comfortable and understood during conversations. Whether guests need to communicate dietary restrictions, request specific room cleaning times, report maintenance issues, conduct routine processes like check-in or check-out, or make special arrangements for travel and local bookings, Easyway provides a simple solution for inquiries, reservations, payments, and feedback.

Easyway has established itself as a trusted partner in the hospital industry, already partnering with industry leaders such as Intercontinental, Fairmont, Banyan Tree, Sofitel, Hilton Hotels, Penta Hotels, and Van Der Valk, Criterion Hospitality.

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.

Subway  unveiled MVP Rewards, a refreshed loyalty program launching September 9 in Canada, the U.S., and Puerto Rico. The new and improved program gives Subway guests the MVP experience with more ways to earn, more perks, and more earning power as customers ascend from Pro to Captain to All-Star status tiers. Consumers can earn points by ordering their favorite sub in Subway restaurants, on Subway.ca or the Subway app.

MVP Rewards replaces Subway MyWay Rewards. All 30 million MyWay members across North America will be enrolled in the new program, and their unspent tokens will automatically be converted into points, giving them a head start on reaching status and earning MVP Rewards' best perks. New members will receive 250 bonus points when they join**.

"Subway fans are the best in QSR and to thank them for their loyalty, we're giving them the star treatment as MVP Rewards members," said Mike Kappitt, Chief Operating and Insights Officer at Subway. "Consumer input helped inform our refreshed loyalty program to create a best-in-class experience. MVP Rewards gives our guests more of what they love from Subway, with a few hidden surprises baked in, so every guest feels like an MVP and comes back to Subway more often for their favourite subs."

As part of its loyalty refresh, Subway made the program easier for guests to sign up, earn and redeem points, as well as advance from Pro to All-Star. Besides craveworthy signature subs and meal upgrades, members at the Captain and All-Star tiers will soon have access to special Subway merchandise and members-only VIP exclusives:

For a complete overview of Subway MVP Rewards and Subway's new loyalty program benefits, visit Subway.ca/rewards.

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."

Omni Hotels & Resorts is pleased to announce the appointment of Vince Parrotta as its new Chief Operating Officer. With over 40 years of operations experience, Parrotta brings a wealth of expertise from his previous role as President, Hotel Operations - Americas at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. This strategic move comes as Omni embarks on its first brand refresh in over a decade, aiming to provide elevated guest experiences amidst significant growth to its diverse portfolio.

In this newly created position at Omni, Parrotta will oversee hotel operations as well as related brand and guest experience roles.

“The timing is right for us to add a COO to our leadership team as we double down on our commitment to elevating our brand and elevating the guest experience," said Omni President Kurt Alexander. "Vince’s tenure leading operations for Four Seasons with a keen focus on quality ensures he will immediately be a key resource for our brand.

Known for his dedication to service excellence, Parrotta has a proven track record in operational management. During his 24-year tenure at Four Seasons, he held leadership positions across the country including Scottsdale, Jackson Hole, Aviara, Las Vegas and Chicago.

The appointment of Parrotta is particularly significant as Omni Hotels & Resorts has committed $1.5 billion in portfolio enhancements over the next five years and as it amplifies its focus on training and service.

Omni Hotels & Resorts remains committed to delivering exceptional customer service and attracting top talent like Vince Parrotta. With this strategic addition to the team, the brand is poised to reach new heights in the hospitality industry.

Thanx, a loyalty and digital guest engagement platform for restaurants, launches Thanx Stored Value enabling consumers to preload funds to pay for future purchases through a new partnership with Ansa. This solution allows consumers to pay in-store with Apple Pay or Google Pay using merchant-specific stored value funds, thus completely eliminating the need for new hardware. Ansa is a digital wallet platform founded by leading payments industry experts previously from Adyen and Affirm, offering ‘wallet-as-a-service’ technology.

The first Thanx customer to offer this capability is Urbane Cafe, a 32-unit West Coast chain specializing in chef-crafted sandwiches and salads. Caprice Kindgren, Urbane Cafe Director of Marketing, said, "We know that our top guests would love to be rewarded for adding funds to their Urbane Cafe app and we're excited to lock in their loyalty. Thanx Stored Value and Ansa help us deliver for our guests without having to add any hardware in-restaurants.”

Consumers can also use Thanx Stored Value funds to pay for app- or web-based digital purchases. Whereas typical stored value solutions require dedicated hardware investments to manage in-store payments, the Thanx+Ansa solution eliminates cumbersome barriers for brands and consumers, enabling seamless integration with any POS provider capable of accepting Apple Pay. Additional benefits of Thanx Stored Value include increased customer retention and revenue as consumers who prepay are more likely to return for subsequent purchases and upfront cash flow as stored value balances are immediately available to restaurants when loaded. Starbucks, for instance, has been reported to maintain a prepaid balance of approximately two billion dollars. 

Consumers can easily load and manage funds through an intuitive in-app experience and merchants will have the option to incentivize preloads with bonus offers at the time of loading or accelerated loyalty point accruals when paying with preloaded funds.

“At Thanx, all of our digital experiences are thoughtfully designed and purpose-built to drive customer lifetime value. Thanx Stored Value is yet another tool for our customers to increase guest engagement and grow incremental revenue. In many ways, what we’re offering is superior to anything else on the market today; better economics than gift cards, no new hardware to manage, truly point of sale agnostic, and best of all, no need for consumers to even open an app to pay in-store” says Zach Goldstein, CEO and Founder of Thanx.

“Thanx is the leader in helping restaurants achieve growth and profitability, and at Ansa, that’s our mission as well,” says Sophia Goldberg, CEO and co-founder of Ansa. “We couldn’t be more excited for every business to make their most frequent customers their most profitable with branded, easy-to-deploy digital wallet technology.” 

To learn more about Thanx Stored Value, visit www.Thanx.com