News Briefs

eTip  is now an approved digital tipping provider of IHG Hotels & Resorts. This partnership enables associates across IHG's network of more than 6,000 franchises, managed properties, restaurants, and bars to access eTip's contactless tipping technology. By using the eTip platform, hotel colleagues have the potential to increase their tipped wages, while guests can enjoy the enhanced convenience of cashless tipping.

eTip's advanced payment and banking system, designed as an end-to-end digital tipping solution, can accommodate all payment scenarios for tipped workers at IHG locations, from a guest’s stay in their room to the tip they leave for a meal at the hotel restaurant. By offering guests a user-friendly tipping experience, eTip enables them to express gratitude through a secure and compliant payment method. This convenience results in an average increase in income of $2 per hour and a fivefold increase in tipping frequency, empowering guests to recognize exceptional service.

From valets and housekeepers to bartenders and waitstaff, hospitality workers are increasingly facing the challenge of a clientele that no longer carries physical money to tip. According to data, two fifths of Americans no longer carry any cash. In response, forward-looking hotel groups such as IHG are leveraging technology platforms such as eTip to capture the gratitude of hotel guests conveniently, securely, and compliantly. The demand for eTip’s services is also evident with its own growth – the partnership with IHG comes on the heels of eTip’s recognition as the approved tipping partner for major global hotel brands and its designation as a digital tipping solution partner for both Visa & American Express.

​​“We are seeing an increase in market demand for a fast, reliable, and fully digitized tipping experience for hotel guests and employees in the hospitality industry,” said Yanilsa Gonzalez-Ore, Senior Vice President of Visa Direct. “eTip now offers a digital tipping solution, enabled by Visa Direct, to modernize that process for their guests and employees.”

eTip requires no mobile app download or login credentials. Guests simply scan a QR code using the camera on their mobile phone, tap the banner on their screen, and then tip using their preferred payment method. eTip also offers “tap to tip,” allowing guests to pay through an NFC-enabled QR code. Once a guest leaves a tip, associates can receive the tip in their bank account on demand and in real-time through Visa Direct, eliminating the need to wait for a tip to be paid through the weekly or bi-weekly payroll process.

With eTip’s platform, IHG properties can now enjoy:

• Effortless Appreciation: Guests can easily show gratitude through a user-friendly interface, expressing appreciation with a few taps on their smartphone. This convenience leads to an average increase in income of $2 per hour and a fivefold increase in tipping frequency.
• Instant Recognition: Hotel associates receive tips promptly, without having to wait for payout disbursements. eTip seamlessly integrates with restaurant and bar Payment Operation Systems (POS), ensuring rapid payout times for all staff.
• Equitable Tip Distribution: eTip automates fair tip allocation among staff, ensuring transparency, enhancing employee satisfaction, and boosting staff retention rates.
• In-depth Analysis: eTip's compliant and enterprise-grade reporting provides valuable insights through comprehensive data, allowing businesses to analyze tipping trends, evaluate staff performance, and understand guest satisfaction on a deeper level.

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. 

SiteMinder, the name behind the only software platform that unlocks the full revenue potential of hotels, has today released its industry-leading platform on mobile, to give accommodation providers the power to execute their property’s revenue management strategy and mitigate real-time risks, free from their desk. The mobile app represents the first phase of the delivery of SiteMinder’s smart platform, set to launch later this year, and a key milestone in SiteMinder’s mission to make sophisticated revenue management accessible to every hotel in the world.

Available in eight languages, today's release of SiteMinder’s mobile app follows a Beta period which saw more than 800 users in over 60 countries signup in spite of no marketing or promotion. It allows accommodation providers to forecast revenue performance and take targeted action whenever needed, using their personalized 14-day overview of rooms sold, revenue earned and best performing distribution channels. Unlike existing solutions, users can also respond to real-time booking demand by easily executing time-sensitive revenue management functions in-app, such as instant rate and availability adjustments, minimum and maximum stay length adjustments, and room sale closures until pricing is fully optimized.

SiteMinder’s chief product officer, Leah Rankin, says SiteMinder’s mobile app is a response to the thousands of hoteliers who for years have been accessing the company’s platform for desktop from their mobile device. The release of SiteMinder’s platform on mobile is about ensuring they and all accommodation providers have the continuous ability to maximize their property’s revenue performance and take rapid action to avert risks.

“We are living in a new era of travel that brings with it new booking patterns and behaviors. Never before have hoteliers had to be so dynamic in their response to an unpredictable booking landscape. Speed-to-market can now mean the difference between thousands upon thousands of revenue gained or revenue lost. That is why today, the power of SiteMinder, which for more than 41,000 hotels last year generated over US$45 billion in revenue from more than 115 million reservations, is officially in our customers’ hands,” says Rankin.

“Without any marketing or promotion, we saw significant early sign up volumes to our mobile app, which indicated the real need and demand for a mobile-optimized experience. It’s an experience where hoteliers can execute their end-to-end revenue management and marketing strategies at speed, when on the move. It’s also where trusted data ensures they don’t miss out on ultra time-sensitive revenue opportunities, like demand-driving public events or changes in competitors’ pricing, and where errors can be fixed within seconds, before any monetary or reputational damage occurs. These are capabilities that have traditionally felt too complex and large scale to execute, even on desktop. But this is the new era of dynamic revenue management, and mobility is at the heart of it.”

One of the app’s first adopters is Solmar Hotels & Resorts in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico – a favorite destination for US travelers. Hermes Alejandro Avendaño Lopez, the company’s Corporate E-Commerce Coordinator, says  "The new SiteMinder app has been a lifesaver. It was a much-needed step up compared to accessing SiteMinder through our mobile’s browsers, enabling us to be much more dynamic at managing the inventory, rates, and availability of our properties."

Another early mover, Le Thi To Mai, Revenue Manager at Alba Wellness Valley by Fusion in Vietnam, comments, “SiteMinder’s new app has streamlined our revenue management with quick availability checks, performance reports and rapid rate updates – perfect for our dynamic pricing strategy. It's been a game-changer for us.”

Adds Encarni Ogea Bermúdez, Director at Costa Azul Hostel in Spain: “The mobile app is super practical, fast and easy-to-use. It allows me to instantly visualize key information, like availability and minimum stays, from the palm of my hand.”

SiteMinder’s mobile app has been unveiled at ITB Berlin, where the company’s revenue product consultant, Aimee Olley, will provide a keynote presentation about what the release means for the world’s hotels. 

GiftAMeal, the innovative cause-marketing program that turns customer photos into meals for local families in need, announces its new partnership with Big Colony, the marketing and technology consultancy purpose-built for restaurant brands. Big Colony recently unveiled Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken's new mobile app, which includes seamless integration with the GiftAMeal platform.

The Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken app design includes a GiftAMeal button on the home page that allows customers to engage directly and effortlessly with the GiftAMeal program. By simply clicking the button and uploading a photo of their dining experience, customers trigger a restaurant-funded donation to a local food bank to help provide a meal to a family in need. For its community impact, GiftAMeal was presented with HT's Industry Hero Award at MURTEC in 2023. 

"We are grateful to Big Colony for collaborating with us to make giving back even easier for Lee’s customers. Integrating with restaurants’ mobile apps is the next technological step for GiftAMeal, enhancing the customer experience in a manner that’s easy and impactful," says Andrew Glantz, CEO and Founder of GiftAMeal. 

Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken, one of GiftAMeal's larger partners at 130 locations, has provided over 125,000 meals to families in need across 32 local food banks since launching the partnership in July 2022.

"The integration of GiftAMeal in our new mobile app reflects our deep-rooted commitment to community engagement and enhances the integration, making it incredibly user-friendly,” said Dan Sokolik, VP of Marketing at Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken. “This streamlined approach allows our customers to give back impactfully with just a few taps on their smartphones.”

In addition to the in-app integration, Sokolik also added GiftAMeal to the brand’s online ordering email confirmations via GiftAMeal’s integration with Olo.

• GiftAMeal Expands List of Integration Partners

As GiftAMeal continues to expand its network of restaurant partners, Big Colony’s design for Lee’s mobile app stands as a testament to the program's effectiveness in combining technology, dining experiences, and charitable giving for the greater good.a

SHR, a provider of innovative technology solutions for the hotel industry, and Cloudbeds, the premier hospitality management software platform, proudly announce their collaboration aimed at elevating hotel management through the integration of Allora CRS (Windsurfer) and the Cloudbeds platform.

The collaboration between SHR and Cloudbeds marks a significant milestone in the hospitality technology landscape. By joining forces, both companies aim to deliver enhanced solutions that empower hoteliers to streamline operations, optimize revenue, and elevate the overall guest experience.

Key highlights of the partnership:

• Integration of Allora CRS: The partnership will focus on seamlessly integrating Allora CRS into Cloudbeds' comprehensive hospitality management platform. This integration will provide hoteliers with a unified solution for central reservations, property management, and revenue management.
• Advanced Connectivity: Hoteliers using Allora CRS and Cloudbeds' platform can expect advanced connectivity and real-time synchronization of data, ensuring accurate and up-to-date information across all aspects of their operations.

Heinrich Kessler, Chief Commercial Officer at SHR, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership: "We are thrilled to partner with Cloudbeds in bringing a new level of innovation to the hospitality industry. This collaboration represents a commitment to providing hoteliers with cutting-edge technology that simplifies their operations and enhances overall efficiency."

Sebastien Leitner, Vice President of Partnerships at Cloudbeds, added: "Cloudbeds is dedicated to empowering hoteliers with powerful, intuitive solutions. Teaming up with SHR and integrating the Allora CRS (Windsurfer) into our platform aligns with our mission to provide hoteliers with the tools they need to succeed in today's dynamic hospitality landscape."

– HRS, the leading global corporate lodging and meeting technology platform, today launched its latest advocacy effort to transform the industry with proven practices that enhance sustainability in corporate lodging. The new Green Stay Knowledge Hub offers an array of courses, downloadable guides, and videos – all focused on helping hoteliers improve their sustainable operations while also generating data and results that highlight their progress. Such metrics and attributes are vital in the evolving corporate procurement process, as companies increasingly prioritize sustainability when conveying preferred supplier status.

According to the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance (SHA), individual hotels should reduce their carbon emissions by five percent annually through 2030. The SHA has also proclaimed that the industry needs to “reduce emissions by 66 percent in that same time frame to ensure that the growth forecast for the industry does not lead to a corresponding increase in emissions.”

To help hotels reach these goals, the Green Stay Knowledge Hub incorporates multiple assets and world-class instruction from a leading global provider of sustainability training services. Access to the Knowledge Hub is free of charge for hotels worldwide. The content is designed specifically for the hotel community as they invest in more sustainable operations, enhance their awareness of related risk and taxation issues, and compete for corporate room nights. 

Hoteliers using the Green Stay Knowledge Hub also will find supporting materials related to HRS’ award-winning Green Stay Initiative, now used by 600+ brands across 170+ countries.

“2024 stands to be a watershed year for hotel engagement on issues related to the reporting, reduction and removal of carbon emissions,” said Martin Biermann, Chief Product Officer for HRS. “In Europe, requirements tied to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) began in January. And in North America, the Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to issue sustainability-related requirements for public companies in the first half of the year.”  

“As a result, corporations are increasingly focused on reducing their Scope 3 emissions. We see more companies asking for data transparency and metric verification for individual properties when soliciting for their programs,” continues Biermann. “Average figures no longer suffice for procurement, reporting or answering travelers’ demand for information at the point-of-sale. That’s why we’re launching the Knowledge Hub, giving hotels of any size or affiliation unbiased information on how they can accelerate their sustainability-related projects and enhance their standing as a socially responsible member of their local business community.” 

Green Stay Knowledge Hub Highlights

A quick listing of the highlights of HRS’ Green Stay Knowledge Hub includes: 

• Access to industry experts and best practices; 
• The flexibility for users to learn at their own pace, allowing hoteliers to tailor their learning paths based on their unique goals and experience level of employees; 
• Guidance for hotels to help plot for achievable outcomes (i.e. reducing energy intensity and/or increasing recycling scenarios by specific percentages in specific time frames) and benchmark their performance against industry standards and funding trends;  
• Detailed information tied to risk management issues related to sustainability, covering ramifications for hotels and their corporate clients;
• A broad array of videos and webinars applicable for any sustainability program, from on-site operational elements to corporate reporting on to the marketing of important green attributes; 
• Hoteliers can learn how to address their unavoidable emissions via verifiable programs, including HRS’ new Emissions Compensation Program.
• Upon completion of courses, participants will receive official Certification from HRS, supporting individual and/or company career growth objectives; and
• Hotels already participating in HRS’ Green Stay Initiative can use the Hub to track emission reporting updates and upload their metrics to compete for corporate volume.

Recurring Webinar Series to Start in March

As part of the Green Stay Knowledge Hub, HRS will host a recurring series of webinars featuring best practices, case studies and trends in corporate procurement that impact the choices and pace of a hotel’s sustainable investments. The first webinar – titled “Report, Reduce and Remove: On a Path to Net Zero” – will take place on March 26^th. Hoteliers can register for the webinar here.

“HRS is taking its leadership role to the next level with the launch of the Green Stay Knowledge Hub,” said HRS CEO Tobias Ragge. “This landmark initiative marks our latest effort to help educate and support a broader audience of hoteliers on these issues, while also doing our part to illustrate the growing importance of these issues for our corporate clients as they build more sustainable lodging programs from continent to continent.