News Briefs

Sparkfly, an award-winning retail technology solutions company, shared results from its partnership with Costa Vida Fresh Mexican Grill, highlighting significant improvements in the restaurant brand's customer engagement and loyalty initiatives.

Since implementing Sparkfly's comprehensive suite of solutions less than 12 months ago, Costa Vida has seen substantial improvements across key performance metrics, including:

• 12% growth in reward redemptions
• 6.5% increase in email deliverability
• 15% increase in email click-through rates

Costa Vida, known for its fresh, Baja-inspired Mexican cuisine across more than 95 locations in the U.S. and Canada, selected Sparkfly to revamp its rewards and offer management technology while improving integration with its customer engagement platform’s email solutions. The partnership includes implementation of Sparkfly's Offer Management, Loyalty, Digital Wallet, and POS Middleware Platform.

• Related:  82% of customers want to receive discounts as a benefit of their loyalty program membership, according to HT's 2024 Customer Engagement Technology Study

“Costa Vida’s focus is on operational excellence and we are committed to serving ‘amazing’ – one person, one meal, one experience at a time,” said Wade Allen, President of Costa Vida. “Sparkfly shares our commitment to quality and has helped us implement a stable, powerful system on a flexible platform that easily integrates with our other key partners. The team has been incredibly collaborative, working closely with us to ensure seamless operations and continuous improvement.”

In related news, Allen shared his insights in HT's webinar for the 2025 POS Software Trends Study: Powering Automation. 

"Costa Vida’s strategy is a model of a forward-thinking and innovative approach to unifying guest engagement technologies,” said Catherine Tabor, Founder and CEO of Sparkfly and HT's Top Women in Restaurant Technology Innovator in 2020. “By creating a seamless connection between Costa Vida's POS, digital ordering, and customer engagement platforms, we're helping them deliver the personalized experiences that guests demand. The significant improvements in email engagement and reward redemptions demonstrate how the right technology foundation can transform customer relationships and drive measurable business results."

Wild Island Adventure Park has implemented a new automated food and beverage ordering system leveraging  Truffle GoBox food lockers and Epson m-Series POS printers to streamline operations and improve guest experiences. 

After realizing its outdated kitchen facilities were struggling to keep up with its growing demands and becoming a barrier to its success, the family fun entertainment center began its search for a solution that would modernize its food and beverage facilities and streamline kitchen operations. Last summer, Wild Island deployed the Truffle GoBox, a contactless food and beverage locker, along with Epson printers, and today has 16 of these innovative lockers throughout the water park’s various food and beverage facilities.

• Related: Building Smart Hospitality with QR Infrastructure

“The kitchen was having a hard time keeping up with the increase in park attendance,” said Kelly Smiley, food and beverage director, Wild Island Adventure Park. “Our tickets were slow and most of our guest complaints and poor reviews were regarding food wait times. We needed another option that removed guests from a classic queue line and gave them the opportunity to wait elsewhere while still enjoying the park.”

The Truffle GoBox offers a powerful, seamless system that blends digital and physical dining. Guests scan a QR code that is posted throughout the park and choose their menu items, which are then sent to the kitchen to be prepared.  Once ready, the food and beverages are placed into one of the GoBoxes, which can only be unlocked by a QR code that the customer receives when the order is ready for pickup. 

While the Truffle GoBoxes are a new addition, Epson thermal POS receipt printers have been used for decades throughout the park. In addition to the recently added m-Series printers integrated with the Truffle GoBoxes, both the entertainment center and water park utilize over 30 TM-T88 series printers due to its speed and low-maintenance features.

“Speed is of the utmost importance at our park, so fast receipt print times are essential,” said Smiley. “One of the most popular stands at the park has an average of 58 transactions an hour. The Epson POS printers can withstand this demand and still last, with little to no maintenance required. In fact, the Epson POS printers that we deployed a decade ago still work just as well as the first day we got them. They are a great long-term solution and probably one of the lowest maintenance pieces of hardware we have.”

SiteMinder, the world’s leading hotel distribution and revenue platform, has released SiteMinder’s Changing Traveler Report 2025, the largest survey globally on accommodation, revealing that 37% of Americans plan to book their 2025 stays directly, either via a hotel’s website (23.5%) or by contacting the property by phone or email (13%). This figure significantly exceeds the global average of 27%, and rises to 57% among those over the age of 60.

The report, based on a survey of over 12,000 respondents across 14 major tourism markets, shows how these plans are shaping the rise of the 'everything traveler'—a new, multifaceted guest blending trending and traditional behaviors as travel dynamics shift. The report underscores a strong preference for direct bookings among US travelers, outpacing those from Australia (35%) and Germany (33%). By contrast, travelers from Indonesia (16.5%) and China (17%) are the least likely to book their hotel stay directly.

SiteMinder’s report also highlights that loyalty incentives are becoming an increasingly important factor in driving repeat business, with 33% of Americans citing them as one of the top three reasons for returning to a hotel in 2025—nine percentage points higher than the global average. SiteMinder’s Changing Traveler Report 2025 shows that in 2022, 23% in the US and 15% globally cited loyalty programs as a primary reason for returning. This rose to 28% in the US and 19% globally in 2023, before reaching 33% (38% among Gen Zers) in the US and 24% globally for stays next year.

A generational divide: how Gen Z is shaping international trends and accommodation preferences

SiteMinder’s data shows that more than half (51%) of American respondents plan to travel abroad in 2025, up from 43% this year. This increase is largely being driven by Gen Z travelers (aged 18-27), 73% of whom intend to travel internationally next year, compared to just 30% of those over the age of 60. Popular international destinations for American Gen Zers include Australia (13% vs 7% country-wide), France (10% vs 7% country-wide), Brazil (7% vs 3% country-wide) and New Zealand (7% vs 2% country-wide). Canada will be the most popular destination overall (10%).

This finding highlights the significant generational divide in the US when it comes to travel and accommodation preferences. SiteMinder’s report offers several additional examples:
 

• 23% of Gen Z travelers plan to use online forums to find their 2025 accommodation, compared to just 3% of those over 60, while 67% of Gen Zers have abandoned online bookings due to poor experiences, a stark contrast to the 21% of older travelers who report the same.

• Gen Z is more likely to spend additional money on accommodation next year (69% vs 32%) and to work from their hotel (59% vs 15%). They plan to spend ‘most of the time’ on site (41% vs 7%) and are more willing to pay extra for eco-friendly stays (87% vs 31%).

• Gen Z is more likely to travel for an event (79% vs 38%) and to embrace AI at various stages of their accommodation journey (87% vs 41%).

Trent Innes, Chief Growth Officer at SiteMinder, said: "American travelers are increasingly incorporating the opportunities offered by technology into tried-and-tested practices, to optimize their consumer experience. The enduring, and increasing popularity of direct bookings and loyalty programs is testament to this, as accommodation consumers seek out deals and initiatives online to maximize value for money and enhance their stay.”

As travelers increasingly turn to technology to enhance their experiences, Innes adds, “Hoteliers would do well to ensure they are ready to respond dynamically to surges in bookings around major events, particularly amongst Gen Z travelers. By focusing on this generation’s expectations, including integrating AI into the customer journey and providing options for eco- and work-friendly stays, hotels can curate memorable experiences and win over a new generation of guests.” 

SiteMinder’s Changing Traveller Report 2025 is available here.

The strength of a business partnership lies in the ability to adapt, innovate, and evolve together. Such is the case for High Hotels, a Lancaster, Penn.-based hotel management company that has been working alongside asset management and service optimization software company OpsTechPro for more than five years to automate its back-of-house workforce communications. Initially, High Hotels deployed OTP to streamline its maintenance and engineering processes. Today, the vendor/client relationship has evolved, and all 13 hotels in the company’s portfolio are leveraging the dynamic and scalable operations platform to manage and track additional workforce services, from housekeeping inspections, front desk requests, and lost and found inventory, to cash counts, push reports, capital expenses and more. 

“Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing towards what will be,” said OpsTechPro Founder and President Jay Visnjic. “To us, that means the sale is not over and the job is not done on the day a client makes a purchase. Rather, it requires a strategic approach that involves a full commitment of both the vendor’s and client’s corporate teams. To deploy our preventive maintenance platform in a meaningful way, we engaged with High Hotels’ executive team, and over the course of several planning sessions, we determined the steps required to engage every employee and maximize asset value. Only when members of both teams understand how important their devotion and contribution is to the success of the company can they be truly productive.”

The goal of High Hotels is to increase workforce performance by hundreds of percentage points across the entire portfolio – and within three to five months. Both partners will monitor the progress on a weekly basis and adjust strategies to maximize engagement at each hotel.

“As the High Hotels enterprise grew, so did the functionality of OTP,” said Adam Marotta, area chief engineer/special projects for High Hotels. “That’s because Jay is deeply entrenched in the hotel business. He understands the importance of continually enhancing the product and is always adding on new modules to do things we never thought possible. Better yet, he is completely hands on. Whether loading property data into the system as new hotels join our system, transitioning from a previous vendor to OTP, conducting training sessions for new hires, or retraining existing staff who may not be leveraging the technology to its full potential, Jay does it all and he knows what we need – sometimes even before we know it ourselves. The platform is easy to deploy, simple to navigate, and quick to customize. In a word, it’s ‘magnificent.’”

Feedback from High Hotels users – including engineers, housekeepers, front desk associates, and management teams – shows they are comfortable using the all-in-one solution. Likewise, management is equally as adept when it comes to using the platform.

“Gauging return on investment for technology can be challenging,” Marotta said. “But OTP keeps track of all equipment spending – including the costs to replace or repair items. The system not only tracks these expenses, but it notifies us when vendor contracts are up for renewal. And corporate can access the system from anywhere to check that guest requests are being satisfied and that work orders are being completed. They can also compare service optimization levels at each hotel daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly to ensure peak performance. OTP is by far the most user friendly workforce management tool on the market, and the company’s customer service is second to none. Jay and his team are always there for us on demand. They keep up with technology so we can keep up with guests.”

Driving Loyalty via Seamless Service Delivery

According to the 2024 Lodging Technology Study, driving guest loyalty tops the priority list for today’s hotel operators. The report cites “personalized guest experiences and seamless service delivery” as ways to build lasting guest relationships. One way to ensure loyalty is to put solutions like OTP in place that will greatly improve employee productivity, streamline daily operations, facilitate better communication, and empower staff. 

“OpsTechPro is a comprehensive operational-excellence solution,” Visnjic said. “We customized the platform to reflect each hotel company’s style of management, brand requirements, and standard operating procedures. Asset management and service optimization tools are effective only when they are being used effectively – like in the case of High Hotels. That’s why we customize our modules on demand and provide ongoing training and consulting. Because of this, companies like High Hotels are not just managing their assets, but they are maximizing the long-term value of their hotels.

“We are delighted that the operators of these select-service and extended-stay properties are having such tremendous success with OTP,” he said. “While they are still taking baby steps to adopt all that our platform has to offer, they already have the critical procedures in place that will place their hotels lightyears ahead of their competition in regard to operational efficiency, guest service, and loyalty. We look forward to maintaining the High Hotels portfolio for years to come and we are committed to enhancing our technology as demand dictates. As Adam and his team will attest, the smart technology investment is with OTP."

Unified Office, a communications technology company offering highly reliable business communications, IoT solutions, advanced business analytics, and AI-driven products, announced today at the CVxEXPO 2024 conference their new AI-based staff engagement grading application, EngageIQ^TM.

With this new offering, the company continues to expand its suite of AI-based conversational analytics solutions. EngageIQ helps resellers deliver innovative services to their customers by adding real-time intelligence that elevates the overall customer experience for any business, bringing the business closer to its customers, and helping to protect its brand by avoiding poor social media reviews for example. EngageIQ is especially beneficial for vertical markets with multi-unit operations such as restaurants, auto dealerships, and medical practices.

Sometimes referred to as a “secret shopper” program, until now engagement scoring for all conversations would be almost impossible, but with EngageIQ, a rules-based app, grades staff performance for all customer phone conversations. The business owner defines a handful of engagement rules with points assigned to each one. This automatic scoring mechanism enables business stakeholders to easily identify their top performers and those needing additional training. Regular staff performance reviews ensure continuous improvement and alignment with a business’s customer service standards. Manually and continually verifying customer service levels would be overwhelmingly labor-intensive.

"Measuring staff conformance is a huge problem for business operators in service-focused industry segments having high turnover, but Unified Office helps to solve this problem," said Ray Pasquale, Founder & CEO of Unified Office. "With EngageIQ a business owner can easily determine and even reward their star employees, while undertaking timely corrective measures for those in need of further training, all without having to manually review every single phone conversation on any given day. Visit the Unified Office booth #6005 at the CVxEXPO show to see how it can go to work for you and your customers."

Key Benefits of EngageIQ include:

• Customizable AI Models:  Our resellers and their customers can easily define their own scoring criteria through EngageIQ’s customizable rule set. Unified Office develops patent pending AI models to increase scoring accuracy based on the unique needs of various vertical industries, including auto dealers, medical practices, and restaurants. This flexibility is important because no two businesses are likely to operate in the same exact way.
• AI That Works:  Unified Office emphasizes accuracy in its AI suite of applications. We build our own langugage models, reducing AI "hallucinations" and ensuring resellers can confidently and cost-effectively deliver AI-driven solutions that go to work for their customers.
• Upsell Opportunity for Resellers:  Alongside our high-quality voice communications platform, EngageIQ provides resellers with a sticky service that generates consistent revenue. By tailoring AI to specific vertical markets and providing innovation that SMBs will actually benefit from, resellers can stay relevant in the market while delivering a high-value solution to their customers.

The company’s tailored approach ensures that AI is effective, accurate, and accessible, enabling SMBs to innovate while creating a revenue stream for resellers. EngageIQ is a part of Unified Office’s Total Connect Now℠ (TCN) offering, an easy-to-use, managed business communications service that integrates voice and video communications, messaging, service-level monitoring, business continuity, IoT, and AI-based business services. Resellers can adapt this high-quality, reliable suite of products and services to meet the unique needs of any business.

“Channel partners need to offer their customers leading-edge solutions they can trust,” Pasquale said. “EngageIQ is a reliable, accurate, and trustworthy solution that your clients can use confidently to improve their customer service while increasing their revenues. We focus our AI capabilities on strengthening customer relationships through the tried-and-true power of voice communication to overcome the growing frustration with call centers, voicemails and chatbots. We believe voice is the future, and we’ve designed our AI product suite to support that vision,” he added.