News Briefs

Hapi, a platform for fast and cost-effective connectivity between hospitality technology systems, announced a new integration with Operto, a hospitality operating system that allows hoteliers to centrally manage portfolios and automate workflows across both the back and front offices. Through the integration, Operto can ingest data from the industry’s leading Property Management Systems by writing to a single Hapi API.

Hotels are increasingly relying on self-service tools like digital check-in and mobile keys to improve the guest experience while automating back-office tasks to tackle sustained labor challenges. Operto’s hospitality operating system allows hoteliers to centrally manage portfolios and automate workflows including digital check-in, mobile keys and access permissions, guest communication, upsells, housekeeping schedules and tasks, noise monitoring, energy management, and more.

With streaming data between Operto and the hotel PMS in real time, operators can now take advantage of a unified platform to connect their teams, guests, managers and smart devices to help automate routine tasks. This, in turn, will reduce costs and increase operational efficiency.

The Opus Hotel, a boutique luxury lifestyle hotel in Vancouver, Canada, is already taking advantage of the integration to provide an enhanced and personalized guest experience.

“By connecting Operto to our PMS, we are able to offer a modern and cost-effective digital key experience to our guests.  We have received excellent feedback from users since implementing the program earlier this year and have thoroughly enjoyed working with the team at Operto”, said Sarah Vallely, General Manager of OPUS Vancouver.

“Integrations are a key component to providing hoteliers with a platform for innovation,” added Steve Davis, CEO at Operto. “With new abilities to share data across systems, we can arm our partner hoteliers with the right information to enhance the guest experience and drive operational efficiencies at the same time.”

Operto is the latest hotel technology solutions provider to turn to Hapi, a hospitality connectivity platform that exposes event streams and transactional APIs at scale. Hapi aims to help hotel companies innovate faster by removing integration, development and deployment challenges. The secure integration between Hapi and Operto will allow hoteliers to access critical data in a short amount of time with little to no development work on their end.

“Automation is critical to improving operational efficiency in hotels today, and we are excited to help partners like Operto provide solutions to one of the industry’s top challenges,” said Luis Segredo, CEO of Hapi. “Hapi has become the de facto API standard for connectivity and we’re proud to be helping hoteliers at corporate levels action their data.”

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. 

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.

Agilysys, Inc., a global provider of hospitality software, solutions and services that deliver High Return Hospitality, announces that Frank Pitsikalis, senior vice president of product strategy, has been appointed to the Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG) Vendor Advisory Council (VAC). HTNG is a council of the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA), whose more than 32,000 member properties represent every segment of the hotel and lodging business, including 80 percent of all franchised hotel properties in the United States covering more than 3.2 million rooms.

As one of 24 council members, Pitsikalis will collaborate with industry leaders regarding challenges faced by the hospitality community and will advise members on ways technology can be utilized to overcome challenges and drive opportunities to shape the industry’s future. The VAC unifies understanding of technology advances among the vendor community, hoteliers and the AHLA.

The global technology community within AHLA, HTNG facilitates the development of technology models for hospitality that foster innovation, improve the guest experience, increase the effectiveness and efficiency of hotels and create a healthy ecosystem for technology suppliers.

The HTNG Vendor Advisory Council represents the collective interests of technology vendors supporting the hospitality industry. It provides a platform to gather cutting-edge technology vendors to tackle critical technology needs within the hospitality industry and ensures HTNG devotes efforts to those.

“With nearly 25 years in the hospitality industry, including founding his own hospitality technology company, Frank will provide a wealth of knowledge, experience and insights that will help the VAC push forward HTNG’s mission to harness the collective wisdom of technology leaders to solve common hospitality challenges,” said Mike Blake, Chief Technology Officer, AHLA.

In 2000, Pitsikalis founded ResortSuite and subsequently grew it into a leading provider of integrated, guest-centric, hospitality technologies. Agilysys acquired ResortSuite in January 2022, at which time Pitsikalis joined the Company’s executive team and was later promoted to senior vice president of product strategy.

“The work this close-knit council does is critical to driving the hospitality industry forward – contributing to the creation of solution-oriented concepts that create technology priorities that ultimately help properties thrive,” said Pitsikalis. “It’s an honor being elected by my hotel-community peers and I look forward to advancing how the industry leverages technology innovation to better serve employees and guests while also improving margins and growth,” he added.

Key takeaways

• Travel providers are leveraging next-gen technology to alleviate workforce constraints: Nearly all airports and half of hotels surveyed are adopting new technology to bridge the labor gap.
• Despite increased reliance on automation, only one-third of those surveyed expect it to reduce the size of their staff in the next five years, and most expect technology to improve the work experience and create new opportunities for frontline workers.
• Technology is creating demand to enhance and augment the frontline workforce with new skills and capabilities. Nearly half of all respondents cite reskilling workers for new technology as one of their top three workforce concerns.
• The traveler’s experience may also be impacted by new technology. Many (74% of airport managers, 56% of hotel general managers) expect automation to boost the bottom line due to a better guest experience.

Why this matters

Although air travel passenger volumes and hotel occupancy rates continue to rebound from pandemic lows, the travel industry continues to face a shortage of frontline workers. At the same time, a shift toward greater automation and technology integration is set to fundamentally alter the travel experience and work environment. Deloitte’s new report, “Toward Travel’s Frictionless Frontline: Integrating Technology and Workforce,” examines how leaders across aviation and hospitality are evaluating investments in both technology and people to help make an immediate and lasting impact.

Airline and hospitality leaders steer towards tech to navigate labor woes

More than half (53%) of hotel respondents say they are at 25-74% of their pre-pandemic workforce and nearly two-thirds (62%) of aviation respondents say their workforce is half its pre-pandemic size or smaller. Leaders are turning to technology to address labor challenges. Looking ahead, many expect ongoing advancements in next-gen technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud to not only help address existing labor issues but improve performance within five years and create competitive differentiation.

• While hotels and airports are confident staffing levels will keep climbing, most do not expect a return to pre-pandemic levels anytime soon. Fewer than 1 in 10 expect to reach 2019 staffing levels by the end of 2023, and 38% of hotel managers and only 3% of airport executives expect to be there any time in 2024.
• Many hope technology will ease labor challenges. Nearly all airports are adopting new technology (99%), upgrading existing technology (96%) or automating repetitive tasks (93%) to bridge the labor gap. Hotels are employing these strategies as well but at a lower rate, adopting new technology (50%), automating repetitive tasks (43%) or upgrading existing technology (39%).
• Seven in 10 surveyed airports invested in at least three new technology types, compared to 57% of hotels, a differentiator likely due to the structure of the respective industries.
• Some leaders do not feel current options are strong enough to address current needs: For the hospitality industry in particular, leading tech adopters surveyed were nearly twice as likely (54%) as others (29%) to say existing “technology is not advanced enough.”

Opportunity for frontline workers still set to take off

As technology proliferates, helping ensure workers have the skills to operate effectively is key — and challenging. While hotels largely struggle with a mismatch of needs with skills of available workers (51%), aviation executives are challenged with redesigning work for new technology (71%). Still, executives across the travel industry see these challenges ease with time and technology implementation, alongside added benefits such as cost reduction.

• Nearly half of leading tech adopters among airport (57%) and hotel (43%) leaders expect automation to decrease labor costs.
• Reskilling to address technology’s impact is top-of-mind, as about half of airport managers (48%) and 4 in 10 hotel general managers (GMs) place it among their top three workforce challenges.
• Leaders are seeing technology enhance recruitment and training practices. Nearly all airports (94%) and almost two-thirds (62%) of hotels say they are increasing their use of virtual reality in training.
• Overall, most survey respondents positively expect automation to create new opportunities for workers (95% of airports, 64% of hotels) and improve the work environment (88% of airports, 58% of hotels).

Automation packs promise for the guest experience

Staffing challenges impacted what it is like to be a traveler, just as much as it impacted being a travel industry employee. Just as solutions to the labor gap present opportunity to change the workday for the gate agent or hotel restaurant manager, leaders hope to see it enhance guest experiences as well.

• Labor challenges affected the travel experience: 84% of airport respondents and 70% of hotel respondents reduced or eliminated amenities and services in response to staffing shortfalls.
• Most airports (90%) are creating self-service offerings for guests, but only 36% of hotels are doing the same.
• Leaders are encouraged by the expected impact of automation for guests and travelers. Seventy-two percent of airport leaders and 60% of hotel leaders expect automation to improve the guest experience.
• AI stands out for its potential to improve guest experiences for airports in particular. Within five years, they expect to see it enhance guest processing (100%), strengthen personalized recommendations and services (100%), and improve the customer experience (98%).
• Hotels, on the other hand, see most value coming from cloud computing in processing guests (29%), managing bookings (26%), and offering personalized recommendations and services (23%) in the next five years.

Key quote

“Travel leaders have been battling labor shortages and other frontline challenges for the past several years. The rapid ascension of automation and other emerging technologies presents an opportunity to address this disruption while still helping ensure the travel experience remains front-and-center. Companies who simultaneously invest in the technology and the people behind it — helping ensure employees are well-equipped and appropriately trained — should be well-positioned to navigate the shifting dynamics of the industry, while unlocking future growth and unprecedented opportunity.”

—  Danielle Hawkins, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and hospitality, transportation and services human capital leader

“Toward A Frictionless Frontline” is based on a survey of 240 travel executives in the U.S. (120 airport managers and 120 hotel general managers), fielded from July 12 to Aug. 7, 2023. Interviews with executives from leading hotel brands and airlines further guided the study.

Valor Hospitality Partners (Valor), announced a partnership with InnSight Advisory –a hospitality advisory company with clients across Africa. Valor maintains an existing presence in the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Dubai. In celebration of Valor’s 10th year in Africa, this collaboration will enable the brand to expand its top-tier services in the destination, the Middle East, and Indian Ocean islands.  

Valor Hospitality is a globally recognized fully integrated management and operations solution, with expertise in hotel management, operations, development, and asset management. The partnership with InnSight Advisory will allow the two companies to leverage one another's complementary strengths to provide expanded and enhanced comprehensive hospitality services to clients. 

"We are excited to welcome InnSight Advisory to the Valor family," said Euan McGlashan, CEO of Valor. "Their expertise and reputation in the African hospitality industry will be a great asset to our growing global team, and we look forward to collaborating with them to provide exceptional service to our clients. We are mutually driven to grow our footprint throughout Africa with renowned international hospitality companies and their respective brands, and InnSight will help provide that support.”  

InnSight Advisory has rebranded to Valor Advisory and provide a full suite of advisory services to hotels, resorts, restaurants, and other hospitality sectors. The services will include turnkey development project management, asset management, operations consulting, strategic planning, branding and bespoke marketing services, sales representation, profit improvement plans, food and beverage consulting and conceptualization, and more. 

"We are thrilled to partner with Valor Hospitality and take our company to the next level," said Mark Jakins, Executive Director of InnSight Advisory. "By combining our expertise with Valor’s global resources, we are able to offer a bespoke and comprehensive hospitality advisory service that will drive growth and profitability for all parties - as well as a strategic Valor business development division led by InnSight co-founder, Mike Devereux." 

The partnership and rebranding will take place effective immediately. Clients can expect the same exceptional service and attention to detail they have come to expect from Valor Hospitality and InnSight Advisory, with the added benefit of an enhanced global network and resources.