News Briefs

HotelPORT has announced several key appointments and organizational changes as part of its global expansion strategy. These appointments reflect HotelPORT’s commitment to fostering a diverse, skilled, and globally distributed workforce.

Rodion Zhitomirsky has joined as  Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and shared his enthusiasm for this role: "I've been a part of HotelPORT since its transition into a full-fledged IT business began back in 2018, initially in a part-time capacity. However, as we observed the company's growth, it became evident that it required consistent attention at the CTO level, encompassing both technological expertise and technical leadership. Consequently, I made a deliberate decision to join HotelPORT full-time as CTO to provide the necessary impetus. This choice was driven by my belief in HotelPORT's promising future and my desire to contribute to its success, making my mark on its journey towards greatness."

HotelPORT’s leadership team also includes:

- Danielle Faberlle, Vice President, Partner Success

- Antanina Shafranskaya, Product Manager, PropertyVIEW®

- Ekaterina Zhigadlo, Head of Content Analyst Services

HotelPORT provides innovative solutions for hoteliers, restaurants, and spas to audit, optimize, and enhance their online presence. Recognizing the unique needs of different sectors within the hospitality industry, the company has made significant organizational changes, introducing specialized teams such as the Partner Success Team, Support Team, Rebranding Team, and a team of restaurant and spa experts. These dedicated groups will focus on addressing the specific challenges and opportunities within each domain, ensuring tailored and effective solutions for clients.

Fred Bean, HotelPORT’s CEO and Founder, expressed his excitement, stating, “These latest appointments mark a significant milestone in our growth and expansion journey. Our team now boasts 91 talented specialists, spread across 7 countries and 3 continents. This remarkable growth is testament to our commitment to building a diverse, skilled, and globally distributed workforce.”

This year, HotelPORT welcomed 49 new members, broadening its expertise and enhancing its capacity to deliver exceptional services, including content analysts, developers, QA engineers, Support Specialists, and a Scrum Master.

Fred added, “This expansion enhances our technical capabilities and streamlines our project management and quality assurance processes, ensuring that we continue to deliver cutting-edge solutions in the fast-evolving tech landscape.”

HotelPORT remains dedicated to gender diversity and inclusion, with over 60% of its current team comprising women. The global company recognizes that diverse teams bring a range of perspectives, ideas, and solutions to the table, crucial for innovation and problem-solving in our industry.

Fred concluded by saying, “HotelPORT’s expansion is more than just numbers. It’s about building a robust, diverse, and skilled team capable of navigating the complexities of the travel and hospitality industry. As we continue to grow, we remain committed to our vision of leveraging technology to revolutionize travel experiences, one innovation at a time. Our expanded team is poised to take on the challenges of a dynamic industry, and we are excited for what the future holds.”

Domino's Pizza Inc. introduces its new and improved loyalty program. 

Domino's Rewards offers loyalty members even more opportunities to earn and redeem points across its corporate and franchise store locations. Domino's enhanced rewards program allows customers to:

• Earn points for less
  • Loyalty members will now earn 10 points on every order of $5 or more
• Redeem points for even more menu items – and earn free Domino's after just two orders
  • Members can redeem a variety of points for more menu items:
    • 20 points: A free dipping cup, a 16-piece order of Parmesan Bread Bites or a 20 oz. drink
    • 40 points: An order of Bread Twists or Stuffed Cheesy Bread
    • 60 points: A medium, two-topping pizza; pasta; Oven-Baked Sandwich; or a 3-piece order of Chocolate Lava Crunch Cakes
• Earn more rewards
  • Loyalty perks are now even better, as members will have exclusive access to member-only deals, special discounts and opportunities to earn bonus points!

"We are thrilled to give the brand's loyal customers additional ways to earn free Domino's items more often," said Mark Messing, Domino's vice president of digital experience and loyalty. "At a time when most brands are scaling back their loyalty programs and making it more difficult to earn and redeem points, Domino's is doing the opposite. We want to make it easier to reward our customers and give them more options so they can get rewarded faster."

Marketing a LTO 

From now until Oct. 22, 2023, rewards members can take advantage of a limited time offer to redeem 20 points for a free order of Domino's new Pepperoni Stuffed Cheesy Bread, which is normally a 40-point redemption, in celebration of the product's recent launch. 

At AWS re:Invent, Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com, Inc. company, announced that Trip.com Group, an international one-stop travel service provider, has selected AWS as its strategic cloud provider to enhance the travel experience for hundreds of millions of travelers. The multiyear agreement will allow Trip.com Group to leverage AWS’s proven global infrastructure and cloud technologies to expand their business globally, deliver seamless customer experiences, and drive innovation across the travel and hospitality industry. 

Earlier this year, Trip.com Group established a joint innovation lab with AWS that provides resources to help AWS and Trip.com Group experts develop next-generation applications using generative artificial intelligence (generative AI) and large language models (LLMs). The lab focuses on developing innovative applications for critical business areas, including AI-driven customer service, hotel search optimization, and flight ticket demand forecasting using generative AI technologies. Trip.com Group uses AWS Graviton-powered Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instances, powered by custom-built AWS Graviton processors, to deliver high performance at a lower price for training LLMs. In July, Trip.com Group unveiled its vertical LLM designed to offer increased accessibility, richer customer experiences, and reliable and personalized travel recommendations. 

“We are excited to work with AWS to jointly innovate new ways to make it easier for people to travel and explore the world,” said Chao Ma, vice president of Trip.com Group. “In harnessing the incredible capabilities of generative AI technologies, AWS will play a pivotal role in helping us to speed up the booking process, optimize flight pricing, and curate experiences at price points that fit every budget and travel persona. This collaboration is strongly aligned to our mission to pursue the perfect trip for a better world. We are constantly making travel more personalized by understanding individual preferences, providing real-time recommendations on the latest trends, hotels, flights, and attractions, and integrating AI with customer service for a holistic experience that fits every traveler’s unique needs and lifestyle.”

Beyond the joint innovation lab, Trip.com Group uses AWS’s advanced technologies and proven global infrastructure to deliver its comprehensive suite of travel products and services around the world, offer cost-effective travel booking, and provide hassle-free on-the-go customer service support. Trip.com Group migrated more than 400 of its international business microservices to AWS, which significantly improved the speed of its air ticket booking system and reduced overall total memory consumption by more than 96%, resulting in substantial cost savings. AWS has helped Trip.com Group to optimize its IT infrastructure to improve connection points with flight and hotel partners, providing a faster and more reliable service for travelers. 

Trip.com Group worked with AWS to launch its 'DreamNowTripLater' live video streams, which highlights locales from the company’s network of 1.4 million hotels spanning 200 countries and two million flight routes. Using AWS Media Services,Trip.com Group produces low-latency video streams at scale for YouTube, Facebook, and third-party video services across China for more than 5.7 million global travelers. To date, the series has led to $10 million in travel bookings.

In addition, AWS and Trip.com Group collaborated to develop a four-year training program to provide the company’s technologists with access to AWS Training and Certification’s comprehensive cloud training curriculum and resources. These training resources will help 2,000 Trip.com Group employees gain new cloud skills in AI and machine learning and develop new applications using the cloud. 

“Trip.com Group is a leading one-stop travel service provider and we are proud of the work we are doing to help the company use generative AI to change the way they do business and interact with customers,” said Steven M. Elinson, managing director of Travel and Hospitality at AWS. “Working with Trip.com Group to establish the joint innovation lab is helping us identify and develop generative AI solutions for a wide range of use cases that will uncover new growth opportunities, alleviate pain points, and create entirely new ways to delight global travelers."

 RoomRaccoon, a cloud-based hotel management system for independent hotels, announced its acquisition of iHotelligence, a Dublin-based property management software, as it continues its expansion in the Irish market. The terms of the deal are not being disclosed.

Tymen van Dyl, the Founder and CEO of RoomRaccoon, views the partnership with iHotelligence as the natural next step in the company's journey to becoming the world’s #1 Hotel Management Software. Following years of robust organic growth, RoomRaccoon has established itself as a trusted partner for over 2000 hoteliers, serving more than 25,000 rooms across the globe. This is set to grow with the addition of iHotelligence. 

He elaborated on the strategic significance of this development, stating, "Acquiring iHotelligence represents a major milestone for us. It underscores our commitment to expanding our presence in the Irish market, and providing cutting-edge technology to hoteliers that maximizes revenue, streamlines operations, and delights guests. By welcoming iHotelligence into the RoomRaccoon family, we will significantly increase our customer base in Ireland, positioning ourselves as market leaders in Hotel Management Software in the region.”

Founded in 2012, iHotelligence has built a comprehensive suite of software products that consists of an on-site property management system, booking engine and channel manager. Their Irish customer base includes boutique hotels and independent hotels.

Keith Slowey, founder of iHotelligence, shared, “RoomRaccoon's acquisition of iHotelligence demonstrates their commitment to expanding their presence in Ireland and delivering superior technology solutions to Irish hoteliers. This partnership will have major benefits for all hotels currently using iHotelligence by providing them with a singular cloud-based platform with advanced features to improve operational efficiencies and increase revenue.”

In addition to RoomRaccoon’s HMS, Irish hoteliers stand to gain a competitive edge with the system’s unique upgrades. From dynamic pricing tools that adjust pricing strategies based on real-time market data, occupancy rates, and demand fluctuations, to automated upsell functionality, housekeeping management, and more. 

The iHotelligence acquisition is the first acquisition completed by the bootstrapped start-up’s internal Mergers and Acquisitions department. The company remains financially independent since its founding in 2017. 

Aside from bolstering its presence in Ireland, RoomRaccoon has ambitious plans for further expansion in both Europe and North America.

RoomRaccoon is headquartered in the Netherlands and has offices in Cape Town, Lisbon and Valencia. 

Sprinkles Bakeries and Picnik Restaurants announce the promotion of Justin Murakami to Chief Operating Officer, recognizing his exemplary contributions and leadership in steering operational growth and innovation. His promotion signals a pivotal phase in executing Sprinkles’ growth strategies domestically and internationally.

Dan Mesches, President and CEO of Sprinkles Bakeries and Picnik Restaurants, lauded his appointment, affirming, "Justin’s strategic foresight and operational expertise have been instrumental in our company's success, especially in expanding Sprinkles’ global footprint and Picnik’s domestic expansion. We're confident that under Justin's leadership, we'll continue to exceed expectations, scale efficiently, and solidify our position as industry leaders."

Since joining Sprinkles in 2017, Murakami swiftly became an integral part of the company's evolution. His instrumental role in developing and implementing foundational systems and processes laid the groundwork in expanding the brand’s physical footprint with both company-owned and franchised locations, domestically and internationally. Notably, under his stewardship, Murakami took the brand’s iconic cupcake ATMs beyond their brick-and-mortar locations and launched the non-traditional Cupcake ATM business. With over 50 ATMs and counting, Sprinkles ATMs can be found in airports, malls and lifestyle centers across the country. Justin was also instrumental in the successful launch of Sprinkles’ National Shipping Program, creating another channel for significant growth.

With an impressive career spanning 25 years in the hospitality sector, Murakami has navigated through the ranks starting as a host, then becoming a GM at the Cheesecake Factory to an Area Director overseeing multiple brands with Lettuce Entertain You and Hopdoddy Burger Bar. His vast experience has honed his abilities and insights, propelling him to craft and fortify infrastructures conducive to sustained business growth.

As Chief Operating Officer, Murakami will lead operations, training, supply chain, culinary, franchise operations, and new bakery and restaurant openings. His responsibilities include partnering with cross-functional departments, identifying opportunities and gaps, formulating and implementing robust processes and systems to ensure scalability and ease for the team. 

Sprinkles has grown to over 70 bakeries and ATMs coast to coast. In 2021, Sprinkles launched its first ever line of chocolates inspired by the iconic cupcakes’ best-selling flavors.  

Voicify,a provider of conversational AI, announced that it has integrated with Chowly, an all-in-one digital ordering platform, to make its technology available to any of Chowly's customers. By joining Chowly's strategic partner program, Chowly's restaurant customers will be able to field call-in customer questions and process voice orders placed at the drive thru, in-store kiosk, or over the phone with high speed and accuracy using Voicify's Artificial Intelligence.

By automating customer service, Voicify's superior AI solutions for restaurants solve staffing and other top challenges facing today's restaurant operators. AI solutions from Voicify expand a restaurant's digital ordering footprint by learning a restaurant's menu and accepting guest orders quickly and accurately.

Voicify AI solutions are optimized to handle natural human speech. This means that customers can speak normally without modifying their speech at all. As needed or at customer request, the AI Answering assistant can connect the guest with human store staff.

Voicify Voice Assistants free up restaurant staff to tackle higher value tasks such as preparing guest orders.

"Voicify AI adeptly handles guest orders and questions. It won't call in sick and never fails to suggest add-ons and special offers or promote the restaurant loyalty program," said Nick Laidlaw, Chief Technology Officer, at Voicify. "Voicify's AI solutions stand out because of their underlying technology that is one hundred percent API driven. This means that a single code base can be deployed across multiple channels and points of service. In one click, voice assistants and menu and pricing changes can be deployed across multiple points of order, including in-store kiosks, the drive-thru, online, and phone ordering."

Through this partnership, all customer voice orders are transmitted to Chowly's platform, which integrates seamlessly with the restaurant's systems. Working together, Voicify and Chowly will empower thousands of restaurant locations to offload the more mundane, transactional steps involved in guest service such as taking orders and payment. This enables restaurants to solve staffing challenges and provide consistent customer service across guest touchpoints, despite reduced staffing levels.

"In the digital age, customers expect a consistent experience regardless of how, where, and when they engage with a brand," said Alex Cranfill, Director of Partnerships at Chowly. "Voicify AI is uniquely positioned to enhance the guest experience while allowing restaurants to capture more orders and drive revenue."

"As we prepare to announce partnerships with a number of highly recognizable national restaurant brands, our in-market voice-enabled solutions are delivering demonstrable improvements to guest service and the bottom line," said Robert Naughton, Chief Revenue Officer at Voicify. "We're excited to expand our already considerable footprint through this partnership with Chowly. Our market-leading Voice solutions and years of AI expertise will help even more restaurants boost revenue and reduce customer service friction for guests."

"At Chowly, we recognize the value that innovative technologies can bring to our network of restaurant partners," said Cranfill. "Voicify AI fulfills the need for an AI service pillar that augments our digital guest ecosystem, fully equipping the restaurants we serve with a future-ready platform and the competitive advantage they've been looking for. Voicify and Chowly technologies scale for all sizes of restaurants, from single location independent establishments to rapidly growing and established, multi-unit enterprises."