HID, a provider of trusted identity and physical security solutions, and iPassport, a provider of solutions that enable organizations to implement digital identity technologies, recently signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on a new identity verification solution for the transportation industry. This solution will make its debut at the Passenger Terminal EXPO 2023, March 14-16 at HID Booth #1244.

Navigating through the airport requires a sequence of touchpoints and processes—from check-in to baggage drop, security checkpoint, all the way to retail/duty-free shopping, lounge access and boarding. And with millions of travelers experiencing delays, cancellations, baggage mix-ups and the continued strain on airport staff, the passenger journey has become more complex than ever.

Airlines need reliable and swift identity verification to provide passengers with a secure, seamless journey that’s long overdue.

“Today, moving through an airport securely requires an ongoing and seamless identity verification system that not only enhances the passenger experience, but also optimizes efficiencies for everyone. HID is excited to collaborate with iPassport to bring this new solution to market,” says Vito Fabbrizio, Managing Director of Biometrics, Extended Access Technologies at HID.

With HID’s modular approach, airlines and airport operators are now able to add identity verification capabilities quickly and easily to existing systems without having to “rip-and-replace" or perform expensive migrations to a new platform altogether.

This modular solution includes the following components:

• Facial Recognition Camera Hardware
• Fingerprint, ID Document & Ticket Readers
• Software Development Kits (SDKs)
• ID Proofing & Biometric Server
• Device Management
• Biometric Professional Services

With HID-patented multispectral imaging (MSI) technology and ethically trained artificial intelligence (AI) built within the HID^® U.ARE.U^® Camera Identification System, significant performance and matching accuracy are achieved.

Use of facial recognition technology throughout the airport will depend on the passenger’s prior consent during booking or check-in. Additionally, the biometric information is only stored and used during the time the passenger is in transit within the airport to help address compliance with applicable with data privacy laws.

Beyond airlines and airports, other segments of the travel industry, such as cruise ships and hospitality, can also benefit from:

• Ethically trained and built AI to eliminate matching bias
• Industry-leading presentation attack detection (PAD) to thwart spoof attempts
• Superior performance amid challenging lighting
• Automatic face detection, capture and image quality checks—even when wearing masks
• On-device biometric processing with endpoint security for maximum protection

To learn more about identity verification for air travel passengers, visit the website.

Park Hyatt Chicago is introducing two updated suites featuring Bryte Balance™ beds, as well as a brand new Restorative Package, providing guests the ultimate luxury urban retreat on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. Park Hyatt Chicago will be the first hotel in the city to offer these state-of-the-art beds powered by Bryte’s unique Restorative Intelligence. 

“At Park Hyatt Chicago, we strive to provide a luxurious home away from home for discerning global travelers,” said Rike Erdbrink, General Manager, Park Hyatt Chicago. “By equipping our suites with offerings such as the Bryte Balance beds, we are excited to continue to meet the level of hospitality our guests know us for, while offering an elegant oasis in the heart of Chicago’s Gold Coast.”

The new Bryte Balance beds arrive at Park Hyatt Chicago just in time for Sleep Awareness Week, which begins March 12 and lasts through March 18. The unveiling also comes at a time when “sleep tourism” is expected to be one of the most popular travel trends in 2023. In addition to promoting a restorative sleep, the updated suites and their amenities were carefully curated to align with Park Hyatt’s holistic approach to taking care of their guests. These suites include:

• The Wellbeing Suite, which includes a Bryte Balance mattress; an in-room TONAL digital fitness system, as well as access to Peloton Bikes by request; a freestanding, deep soaking tub; Bulk Apothecary eucalyptus sleep oil and body butter; and fresh-pressed superfood juices and nutritional bites crafted by NoMI Executive Chef Terence Zubieta.

• The Mindfulness Suite, which includes a Bryte Balance mattress; access to an outdoor tranquility terrace; an in-room yoga mat, ball, blocks, and hand weights; a luxurious sleep mask; and Bulk Apothecary eucalyptus sleep oil and body butter.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Park Hyatt Chicago to ensure their guests receive a restorative night’s sleep with our science-backed sleep technology,” comments Luke Kelly, CEO, Bryte. “Park Hyatt Chicago prides itself on providing a personalized experience to their guests, and now they can also benefit from a night of sleep customized for their personal comfort.”

Partnering with Bryte solidifies Park Hyatt’s ongoing commitment to providing liveable luxury and truly personalized service to their guests across the globe. In addition to Park Hyatt Chicago, guests can also experience the Bryte Balance beds at Park Hyatt New York, Grand Hyatt Seattle, and Hyatt Regency Seattle, as well as Hyatt at Olive 8 coming soon. The first-of-their-kind mattresses allow guests to optimize their sleep every night through a number of proprietary technologies, including: 

• Dual Comfort Tailoring, which allows customization on both sides of the mattress to provide comfort based on each partners’ individual attributes and sleeping preferences

• Somnify, Bryte's multi-sensory relaxation experience that pairs calming sleep-inducing sounds with soothing motions to help guests fall asleep faster

• Rebalancing, Bryte's matrix of intelligent cushions that sense and relieve any pressure points to minimize waking up in the middle of the night and continually orchestrate support and real time adjustments throughout the night

• Silent Wake Assist, silent, rhythmic motions that gradually wake guests to prepare their mind and body for the start of the day, all without disturbing their partner. 

Guests staying in any room or suite will experience Park Hyatt Chicago’s specialty wellbeing offerings, which include motorized blackout drapes and triple pane windows that create the perfect environment for a restful sleep. In addition to this and aligned with Hyatt’s purpose to care for people so they can be their best, the new Restorative Package centers around three pillars of Feel, Fuel, and Function and includes: 

• Breakfast credit for NoMI restaurant or in-room dining, featuring healthy start options such as an acai berry bowl, avocado toast, or muesli

• Two complimentary spirit-free cocktails in NoMI Lounge

• A wellbeing/mindfulness Chicago activity of your choice for two, such as tickets to Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, the Chicago River Yoga Walk, or the Joffrey Ballet 

• A 50-minute calm mind massage at NoMI Spa for two

iSeatz, a provider of travel loyalty technology and digital commerce solutions, released a new report that outlines current challenges and evolving expectations from business leaders and consumers that are shaping the travel loyalty industry at a time of resilient demand but rising uncertainty.

The report, Booking, Personalization, Sustainability, and Payments: The Tipping Point for Travel Loyalty in 2023, examines how travel rewards can help companies meet their engagement, revenue, and growth goals while also revealing disparities between most loyalty programs' offerings and what their members expect from their travel loyalty experiences. Among the report's overarching findings are four areas of opportunity for loyalty programs to improve their performance and better meet consumer demands: the booking experience, sustainability, personalization, and payment technology.

"This new research shows that American consumers have clear expectations for what their travel loyalty programs should deliver, and that they want more control over their experiences," says Kenneth Purcell, Founder & CEO of iSeatz. "That means there's a huge opportunity for companies to drive revenue and improve customer engagement if they make flexibility and value the core of their travel loyalty offering."

Broad-based data reveals untapped potential

The report is based on two surveys conducted in November and December of 2022, one of over 2,000 American travelers and members of loyalty programs and another of nearly 300 loyalty program professionals. Survey questions covered a range of topics from current consumer attitudes toward travel to the technological capabilities of loyalty booking platforms.

In addition to the disparities between member expectations and program offerings and the focus on booking, personalization, sustainability, and payments, the report also highlighted key differences in generational attitudes and priorities regarding travel loyalty. Other major findings include:

• 43% of consumers say saving money on travel is what they value most from their loyalty programs
• But only 32% of companies surveyed include travel rewards as part of their earning and redemption options
• 63% of industry respondents say their programs are members' first choice when booking travel, but only 51% of consumers report the same.
• Over 70% of consumers who said they receive personalized recommendations through their travel loyalty booking site say their current loyalty programs provide them with the value they are looking for, while only 44% of respondents who receive no personalized content said the same
• 37% of Gen Z respondents would book more travel if their loyalty program had sustainability-related redemption options
• 31% of consumers want "buy now, pay later" options for purchases made via their loyalty programs, but only 37% of programs support that payment method

Crafting a better travel loyalty approach

The report's findings point to areas where new technologies or updated strategies can have a major impact on a travel loyalty program's performance. Booking technology that gives members more control and options can create more connected experiences. Including more sustainability-related redemption options can help companies engage younger members and boost overall spending. Incorporating personalized recommendations can boost members' affinity for the programs they belong to.

"The most important takeaway from this report is the need for travel loyalty programs to put the member's wants and needs front and center," continues Purcell. "When customer centricity is the guiding idea, alignment between expectations and experience happens naturally, and growth follows closely behind."

Qu has released its fourth consecutive State of Digital Report with market trends and findings from the largest multi-brand, multi-unit operators.

Qu heard from CXOs at 85+ brands representing over 35,000 locations about their key priorities and initiatives for the next two years. 

The top findings:

• Off-prem digital growth spikes are cooling down and settling into a more predictable pattern. Digital sales growth will continue in 2023 and 2024, but at a more predictable rate. Average digital sales are 25% for the largest category of brands; with prior year top performers (50%+ from digital sales) continuing to stay above. QSRs expect stronger digital growth in 2023 than fast casual counterparts.

• Tech proliferation has generated a new trend towards platforming - 50% of operators reported they’ll make the move to a unified ordering system in the next 2 years. Improved data capture, integrations/APIs, and internal efficiencies were cited as top reasons for unified ordering systems and solutions. According to HT’s2 2023 POS Software Trends Report, 71% say the ability to integrate with other systems is driving their POS purchase decisions,

• Order inaccuracy is the biggest problem plaguing the off-prem guest experience, with 15-20% lower satisfaction rates reported by guests. 65% of operators are looking to solve inaccuracies with unified fulfillment systems and processes, using both AI and updated systems.

• Technology investment priorities are shifting. Online ordering, which ranked as a top investment area for the previous 3 years, dropped down to the fourth investment priority, following Cloud POS, Platforms, and Mobile/Loyalty solutions. 

• AI & Machine Learning sailed to the top of the innovations priority list with 70% of operators citing they’ll use it this year to increase efficiency, automated processes, profitability, and data collection/intelligence. 

Get your free copy of the complete report here.

Conversational AI is one of the hottest concepts in hotel management. The notion of having a friendly auto-attendant answering frequently asked questions over the phone is no longer a fantasy – the technology is here and available to assist hotels to provide enhanced service for guests.  A recent survey of more than 5,000 consumers and 600 hoteliers across nine global markets revealed that 73 percent of consumers want hotels to offer technology that minimizes contact with staff and other guests.

Curator Hotel & Resort Collection focuses on developing preferred vendor agreements with best-in-class service providers and innovative technology for the benefit of its members, which consists of independent hotels delivering unique travel experiences, in top and memorable destinations across the United States.  Curator’s hotels are known for providing exceptional levels of service, so it is important to Curator to find the best AI technology to interact with its valued clientele.

Curator vetted multiple AI solutions and recognized an opportunity to incorporate the innovative technology into the Travel Outlook scope of services, helping lead the development of Annette, The Virtual Hotel Agent.  Annette’s proprietary conversational AI understands how people actually speak, by using tools like movie dialog and Facebook for design and programming.  The result is that Annette is better at understanding a guest request or question, removing one of the major objections with AI technology.

Annette's warm, human, and friendly AI-powered voice assistance creates an engaging, on-brand experience for valued hotel guests, accurately understanding the guest's request, even when they narrate or speak in long-winded sentences.  Travel Outlook has built an internal team to program and manage Annette, ensuring that she is operating at the highest level of performance, conveying the latest and most accurate information during guest interactions.

John Smallwood, President of Travel Outlook said, "Annette can help to relieve call volume challenges at the front desk, providing guests with the information they are seeking, delivered instantly and with near 100% accuracy.  Annette allows guests to lead the conversation with natural, human-like interactions, leaving the front desk team free to give guests visiting them in person their complete attention."

“Curator recognizes the growing opportunity with conversational AI to alleviate operational pain points, reduce support costs, and improve overall guest satisfaction,” said Austin Segal, Vice President of Curator Hotel & Resort Collection.  “In Travel Outlook, Curator has a partner that shares in an interest of helping our members to achieve these goals, both in delivering best in class service and exploring and adopting new technologies, like Annette. Annette presents an opportunity for our members to deliver tech-forward call center solutions while optimizing the owner’s bottom line.”

Honeywell announced a new collaboration with Marriott International to improve in-room comfort and control for guests who stay at hotels across Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio of extraordinary hotel brands. Together, Honeywell and the Marriott Design Lab will explore opportunities to test and deploy personalized and innovative guestroom control offerings building on the Honeywell INNCOM product suite that features leading guestroom automation, energy management and operational efficiency offerings.

The effort will take a guest-centric approach to create better experiences. Honeywell will work with the Marriott Design Lab to explore how a guest’s interactions with technology can affect mood and energy, anticipate a guest’s desires to offer them a proactive solution, and create a guestroom experience that is more accessible, inclusive and delightful.

“Technology can help create a more intuitive in-room experience for guests. Imagine arriving to your hotel room after a long day of travel and it’s already adjusted to your preferred settings – from temperature, lighting and even the drapes,” said Steve Kenny, vice president and general manager of building management systems, Honeywell Building Technologies. “Together with Marriott, we have an opportunity to create a next generation guest experience that is intuitive, engaging and authentic. We want travelers to feel like they are not just staying somewhere but have a personalized experience.”

“We’re looking to exceed our guests’ expectations from arrival to checkout. The guestroom experience and comfort play a significant part of that equation,” said Jeff Voris, senior vice president, global design strategies, Marriott International. “Our work with Honeywell will help us provide guests with more customized control in the guestroom that best suits their needs while providing our operators better insight into system performance metrics.”

The Marriott Design Lab is a research and development hub working at the leading edge of design and innovation. The Lab, located at Marriott’s new headquarters, provides a proving ground for technology products and services that can be integrated into daily hotel operations to save energy, reduce costs, increase operational efficiency and encourage customer loyalty through enhanced experiences. The Honeywell collaboration exemplifies how Marriott is working with industry leaders to explore new products, technologies and solutions for the hospitality industry.

The Honeywell INNCOM guestroom automation and energy management software and hardware solutions are designed to help hoteliers enhance guests’ experiences by providing proactive analytics that can help hoteliers identify and resolve issues before they affect guests.