News Briefs

ALBIE© (Advanced Learning Booking Intelligence Engine), the groundbreaking booking platform set to redefine the future of travel & tourism, is now live on Kickstarter.

Created by the software team at The Anything Group (TAG), the multiple award-winning full-service marketing agency, ALBIE is a game-changer set to transform hospitality and travel. ALBIE prioritizes guest ease and satisfaction while boosting hotel and partner success.

The team of hotel, travel, and tech experts spent over two years making sure ALBIE is best-in-class, integrating advanced features, and ensuring ALBIE is fully compliant with global PCI, GDPR, and ADA standards. ALBIE is the first engine to enable multiple hotel bookings, activities, and ancillaries,  in one reservation, even for different dates. 

“Imagine you want to travel from London to St. Lucia with stopovers in Miami and NYC. You also need transport from the airport to your resort, some diving in St Lucia and Jet-Skiing in Miami, or maybe catch a show in Manhattan. Right now, this means multiple hotel bookings, separate airport transfers, and individual activity reservations. It's hours of research, multiple sites, countless transactions, and a mess of confirmation emails to keep track of. For hotels and activity providers, it's about getting noticed, managing guest details, and creating partnerships without lifting a phone”, explained Rich Tuckwell-Skuda, CEO & Founder at The Anything Group. 

Why support ALBIE 's Campaign on Kickstarter?

ALBIE excels with unique features that benefit both travelers and hoteliers, making it stand out among other booking platforms. ALBIE lets guests create personalized travel experiences, with times, dates, and places all in one cart. Hotels get increased direct revenue and optimized occupancy rates, plus an instant gratification loyalty program rolling out in 2025. ALBIE saves time and money for travelers and boosts revenue for hotels and activity providers. 

Key Features: 

• All-in-One Booking: Guests can plan and book their entire trip in one go.
• Automated Enhancements: Dynamic upgrades, waitlist notifications, and alternative suggestions ensure guests get the best possible experience.
• Modern Interface: An intuitive design that makes booking fast and enjoyable, tailored to the needs of today’s travelers.

Some of ALBIE 's technology partners are: 

• SiteMinder with its Channel Manager with more than 44,500+ hotels globally; 
• SHIFT4 as a Global payment provider;
• ApplePay;
• Industry-leading PMS and excursion management software;
• Tourism boards and major hotel chains;
• Maestro PMS;
• Mews PMS;
• D-Edge;
• WIHP.

Mark Shambura has joined Panera Bread as Chief Marketing Officer. Shambura will lead all aspects of marketing at Panera, including Brand Building, Digital & Loyalty, Product Strategy & Consumer Insights. An accomplished marketing leader with broad expertise in the restaurant industry, Mr. Shambura has previously held marketing leadership roles during pivotal growth periods for top brands including Chipotle, MOD Pizza, and most recently Papa Johns.

"Mark brings an impressive background building brands and leading marketing teams for fast-casual restaurants, and we’re thrilled to welcome him to Panera Bread,” said José Alberto Dueñas, Chief Executive Officer. “As Panera continues to evolve our brand, guided by listening to our guests, Mark’s depth of experience and ability will help drive our growth as a brand that serves great food you feel good about eating.”

Shambura previously served as CMO at Papa Johns, where he led a revitalization of the brand by enhancing its iconic “Better Ingredients, Better Pizza” platform, and developing a more modern, innovative omnichannel approach to transform how Papa Johns appealed to both new and loyal consumers. As Executive Director at Chipotle, Mr. Shambura guided the marketing function through periods of both sustained growth and transition, providing leadership over brand strategy, advertising, digital, social, events/sponsorships, promotions, and field marketing, including playing a key role in spearheading its “Real Ingredients” brand strategy.

“I’m proud to join the Panera Bread team and excited to build on the momentum of the brand's transformation as it continues to evolve in service of our guests,” Mr. Shambura said. “Panera propelled and cemented its position at the top of the fast casual restaurant segment through its promise of high-quality ingredients and freshly prepared food, and I’m thrilled to join a highly talented team to help shape its next chapter.”

Prior to his tenure in the restaurant industry, Mr. Shambura gained extensive marketing agency experience, working with a broad array of top global consumer brands for over a decade. Shambura will report directly to José Alberto Dueñas, Chief Executive Officer, and officially assumed the role of Chief Marketing Officer on July 29, 2024.

Hotel technology company Journey is teeing up golf resorts for commercial success with their new Golf module, part of Journey’s Experience Management System (EMS).

The all-in-one cloud-based golf management software simplifies golf operations by pulling together tee sheet management, membership management, retail inventory and sales, plus online tee time bookings within the same easy-to-use system. As part of the company’s wider experience management system, EMS Golf provides hoteliers and golf resort managers an industry-leading unified product with resort-wide integration.

The platform was trialled by four leading resorts, with proven benefits such as reducing the reliance on costly OTAs to fill tee times.

Mal Rennie, Chief Revenue Officer at Journey, said: “Our aim is to help resorts drive their profitability. With the addition of EMS Golf to the Journey portfolio,  resort owners are now in a position to select a single platform  to manage their guest experiences.. We know that if it’s a part of your hotel business that can be managed, it can be monetised - and EMS Golf makes it convenient and simple for resorts to maximise their return on and off the course - greater volume, better margins, stronger data.”

Charlie Grabe, Journey’s Director of Golf, said: “By centralising resort operations, EMS Golf leads to happier members, more revenue, and more efficient operations.”

Key features of EMS Golf include: online tee sheet bookings (for members and visitors) and management; a POS with inventory management; membership profiles and sales; and payments (including deposits and levy in a single payment gateway).

Used as part of Journey’s EMS, the technology integrates into a resort’s wider tech stack, eliminating frustrations caused by disjointed systems and streamlining operations for staff across the business. 

“EMS Golf will change the game for golf operators and hoteliers,” said Rennie. “By unifying all the key areas of leisure, a guest can now have a total resort experience. Consolidating their operating system with a best-in-class booking and management platform, hoteliers are able to increase direct channel bookings and drive more revenue.”

Group travel is booming, and travel-tech leader Hotel Engine is giving hotels the tools to grab their share of the market. Today it unveiled a comprehensive suite of group travel tools built specifically for hotels, delivering unparalleled new capabilities to streamline RFP responses, centralize communications and reduce staff workload. 

Group travel is one of the most challenging sectors of the hotel business. Competition is intense and the logistics are complicated. Hotels often find themselves tangled up in multiple offers and redlines, inefficient communications with guests and changes to reservation and payment details.  

But the opportunity is too big to ignore. Private and corporate group bookings are driving growth across the post-pandemic travel landscape. 

“To thrive in today’s market, hotels need better tools and insights to win more group travel,” said Hotel Engine CEO Elia Wallen. “We’ve created a streamlined, modern platform that reduces the manual work, complexity and hassle of the entire process while providing industry-leading insights for our hotel partners. It all adds up to a more efficient process, more bookings and an even better guest experience.” 

Among the new capabilities:

• Rapid response to RFPs: Craft custom-tailored proposals for groups in minutes with Hotel Engine’s intelligent RFP wizard and data-driven pricing tips.
• Streamlined RFP management: View and manage RFPs in one convenient dashboard, with easy online access for on-site staff or centralized teams.
• Actionable competitive intelligence: Analyze real-time market data to benchmark your property against similar local competitors. 
• Effortless communications: Save time by reducing back-and-forth emails and calls to prospective guests to coordinate group bookings.  

Hotel Engine’s new group travel features are the latest additions to its popular Partner Hub, which helps hotels manage their bookings and reach tens of thousands of active businesses booking travel in Hotel Engine’s worldwide member network. Whether travelers are booking one room or one hundred, Partner Hub is a powerful way for hotels to win their business, raise brand awareness and increase customer loyalty. 

Hotel Engine’s member network is about to get even larger, with personal travelers gaining access to group bookings later this month^*. Individuals with groups of 9 or larger will be able to sign up for Hotel Engine using their personal email and book group events like weddings, birthday parties, charity galas and coming-of-age celebrations. As always, Hotel Engine requires no annual contract or minimum spend. Hotel Engine’s specialized group travel team ensures customers receive the best possible rates and terms on lodging. Personal travelers using the Group Booking tool will also receive access to benefits including Hotel Engine loyalty points, consolidated travel billing and round-the-clock customer service.

Learn more about Hotel Engine’s Partner Hub platform. 

Instant Financial, a pioneer of responsible earned wage access (EWA), electronic tips, and paycard solutions, has announced the release of its new Instant mobile app and enhanced mobile wallet functionality, providing employees with a faster, more secure app experience that gives them a greater degree of flexibility in how they receive their pay.

Understanding that over 50% of Americans would likely avoid major financial pitfalls if they could instantly access a portion of their pay after every day’s work, the new Instant mobile app is narrowing this financial gap by placing financial empowerment directly into the hands of employees.

The beta version of Instant’s app debuted in October at the 2023 HR Tech Conference & Expo, where event attendees were provided a sneak preview of the app’s new capabilities and functionality.

Designed with accessibility and financial freedom in mind, the new Instant mobile app is released with a list of innovative new features and functionality including:

• Faster Access to Earned Wages: Employees have access to their hard-earned wages in fewer steps, with an improved user interface (UI) and key elements surfaced more prominently within the app.
• Modern Security Features: State-of-the-art security protocols, such as facial and fingerprint biometrics, multi-factor authentication, and encryption technologies protect user information and provide peace of mind.
• Flexible Payment Options: Users have the freedom to choose how and when they access their wages. Whether it’s through direct deposit, the Instant card, or a mobile wallet, the new app offers a greater degree of flexibility for all employees, ensuring convenience for all.
• Clear and Informative Design: With improvements to the user interface (UI), the app offers a user-friendly experience, empowering users to make informed choices and navigate the app confidently.
• New Technology Framework: Underpinned by a new technology infrastructure, the new Instant mobile app is faster, more responsive, and built to allow for additional features and functionality to meet the needs of employees and how they are paid.

“Employee demands regarding how they access their wages are constantly shifting, and our new app is meeting that head-on,” said Tal Clark, CEO of Instant Financial. “Whether it’s to cover unexpected expenses, avoid predatory loans, or simply to enjoy more control over their finances, Instant is continually revolutionizing the way people get paid.”

By releasing this enhanced version of its mobile app experience, Instant is furthering its mission of delivering pay to employees, when they want, where they want, and how they want, all free of fees.