Uniguest, a provider of digital engagement technology to multiple end markets, announced enhancements to its Hotel TV guest room entertainment offering with the launch of a new SaaS cloud solution. 

The release leverages cutting-edge guest room entertainment technology from Otrum, a hospitality platform acquired by Uniguest in 2022 with a proven track record in providing engagement technology having deployed to over two hundred thousand rooms. 

The integration of Otrum technology into the Uniguest Hotel TV offering means that all aspects of creating and managing in-room entertainment is cloud-based. The solution is accessed via an intuitive browser-based portal enabling hotels and brands to access, manage and monitor guest room entertainment services from anywhere.  

Enhancing the Uniguest Digital Engagement Platform with fully-cloud Hotel TV, backed up by the solution’s proven track record, ensure that best in class uptime and redundancy can be offered, with the additional scalability and benefits that a SaaS deployment brings.   

Uniguest’s new Hotel TV platform also provides hotels and brands with: 

• Intuitive drag and drop content editor 

• Flexible customization tools 

• Casting support for guest devices using apps such as Netflix or Hulu 

• System on chip support removing the requirement for additional set top box hardware.  

• Integrations with other platforms, including leading property management systems.  

Price Barnes, Uniguest VP of Product Management, said, "We are pleased to bring Otrum's powerful cloud-based guest room entertainment solution to the US market as part of the Uniguest platform. This solution solidifies our company's aim to deliver cutting-edge, flexible, and easy to use technology. We see these enhancements as the first step in revolutionising our Digital Engagement Platform, which is already well established within many hotels and hospitality brands.  

“As we drive towards our goal of connected content, deployed everywhere, creating engaged audiences this is a huge next step.” 

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and the Saudi-based Sustainable Tourism Global Center have unveiled groundbreaking new data detailing the total water usage of the global Travel & Tourism sector.

In one of the largest research projects of its kind, WTTC can for the first time ever, accurately report and track the impact the sector has on the environment. 

The findings were launched today at the United Nations in New York at the UN 2023 Water Conference. 

Direct Water Use 

Speaking at the UN Headquarters, Chris Imbsen, Director of Sustainability at WTTC, revealed that Travel & Tourism’s entire water footprint is just 0.6% of the global water use according to the latest figures (2021). 

In 2019, when the sector was at its peak, the sector’s total water footprint was only 50% higher, but still less than 1% of the global total at 0.9%. 

Travel & Tourism’s direct water use is significantly lower – in 2019 it was 0.2% of the global total and has fallen by half to just 0.1% of the global total. 

Much of the sector’s water use is indirect, through its supply chain, with agriculture and food production accounting for two-thirds of Travel & Tourism’s entire water footprint. 

Between 2010 and 2019, the Travel & Tourism sector in Europe and Africa reduced direct water use. In Europe, direct water use fell by 8% and in Africa direct water use by the sector fell by 6%. 

Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said: “This ground-breaking new data reveals our sector’s water consumption for the first time ever, revealing that Travel & Tourism uses less than 1% of the water used around the world, with the overwhelming majority of that usage coming from the sector’s supply chain.

“The data also shows that whilst the sector has grown economically around the world, its direct-use water intensity has decreased. 

“The data is the most in depth study of the sector’s water use, and like the world-first cli-mate footprint data we released at our Global Summit in Riyadh last year, we can also re-veal individual countries Travel & Tourism sector’s water footprints. This will enable gov-ernments to work with the sector to further reduce water usage.” 
 

Water Intensity 
 

The water intensity of Travel & Tourism per unit of GDP has also fallen since 2010, across both direct and indirect use.  

In 2010, the sector used 0.57m³ of water for every $1 USD contributed to the global economy. 

In 2019 this fell by 19% to reach 0.46m³ of water for every $1 USD contributed to the global economy. 

In a world-first, this comprehensive research covers 185 countries across all regions and will be updated each year with revised figures. 

This research was made possible thanks to the partnership between WTTC and the Saudi-based Sustainable Tourism Global Center. Under the Saudi green Initiative, more than 60 initiatives have been launched in the past year, representing more than $186BN USD of in-vestment in the green economy. 

Yum! Brands, Inc. today announced the promotion of Shannon Hennessy to The Habit Burger Grill Division Chief Executive Officer, reporting to Yum! Chief Executive Officer David Gibbs, effective June 6.

Hennessy, who currently serves as President of The Habit Burger Grill Division, will succeed Russ Bendel, who is retiring in June. As CEO, Hennessy will continue to build on the brand’s unique strengths and assume responsibility for driving its overall growth strategies and performance.

“Shannon is an exceptional, heart-led leader who was named President of The Habit Burger Grill Division in July 2022 and has since driven meaningful advances for the brand in development, top line initiatives and digital sales growth,” said Gibbs. “With Shannon’s background as KFC Global Division CFO and her nearly 20 years with McKinsey & Company, she has a unique skillset that will be vital as we continue to scale The Habit, offering our franchisees an investment opportunity in an award-winning, fast-casual concept in the better-burger category with a long runway for growth. I’m thrilled Shannon and Russ have worked so closely together to ensure a seamless transition and am confident in the long-term growth of The Habit.”

As President of The Habit Burger Grill, Hennessy has overseen development, franchising, marketing and international expansion. In this role, she has also been responsible for contributing to the brand’s strategy to accelerate growth, nurturing cross-brand collaboration and driving company culture. Hennessy joined Yum! in 2020 as the Chief Financial Officer of KFC Global Division, where she was responsible for leading the global finance function and ensuring continued growth and profitability of the KFC business. She also oversaw the brand’s global financial planning, supply chain management and strategy functions.

Yum! Brands acquired The Habit Burger Grill in March 2020. In 2022, The Habit grew the franchise base of its approximately 350 restaurants to 18%, up five percentage points from the previous year. In addition, The Habit ended 2022 with a digital mix of 35% and delivered $2 million in average unit volumes.

Incode Technologies, an ID proofing company, announced a strategic partnership with guest technology services companies, Advanced Living Technologies (ALTec) and its sister company, at-visions. ALTec will leverage Incode's innovative biometric, omnichannel identity verification and authentication platform for a variety of services including Know Your Date (KYD)/Age Verification, Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance and reusable identity. The agreement, powered by Incode's AI/ML and biometric solutions, will enable ALTec and at-visions to transition gaming and hospitality away from decades-old technology and redefine the guest experience status quo, respectively.

The combination of increasing data breaches and fraud as well as the frequency hoteliers and gaming establishments repeatedly ask their customers to verify their identities have expedited the need for robust, next-generation identity proofing. By choosing to rely on traditional, centralized methods that store user data and are frequently targeted by hackers, security and privacy are compromised, leading to harm for individuals, businesses, and society at large. With over $8.8 billion reported losses reported by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2022, the importance of secure authentication and seamless customer experience is critical to organizations' success.

ALTec, with its identity product, SONIO, says Incode's modular and fully automated ID, Liveness POA, and Watchlists features stood out from other providers in the gaming industry. While many vendors remain concentrated in a single region or country, and have weaknesses in other locales, Incode offers multiregional and global product offerings, training their AI/ML models to each of a client's target markets. As identification draws more attention from legislators around the world, Incode's comprehensive identity verification (IDV) validates over 4,600 distinct documents against governments and central databases, confirming a person is the genuine owner of the real-word identity they are claiming.

At-visions specializes in IP streaming solutions for mobile applications, networks, and digital signage in the hospitality industry. With their technology, customers can offer state-of-the-art entertainment to match the demands of guests for content such as streaming, as well as providing a communication platform to promote services. At-visions is capitalizing on ALTec's existing verifications customer base to resell SONIO, embedded with Incode's identity verification solutions, into the hospitality sector.

"While we're continuously reminded of both the risks associated with human-in-the-loop verification and how AI/ML helps reduce bias, inaccuracies, and inefficiencies, legacy providers are also challenged to move away from slow, physical commerce and shift to seamless, touchless transactions," said Ricardo Amper, CEO and Founder of Incode. "ALTec and at-visions share Incode's commitment to One Identity Everywhere and this partnership of guest-facing technologies and unrivaled track record in identity systems with ongoing and rigorous certifications completely transforms the customer journey. The ability to offer our identity solutions to at-visions' robust customer base will enable innovation in time-tested industries and, ultimately, a reimagining of the trust between hotel guests, gamers, and the organizations that serve them."

ALTec's Chief Business Officer Dieter Kindl said: "We see that all around the globe, identification in every industry is gaining importance  and it's why we're thrilled to partner with Incode—a pioneering leader in the identity proofing sector. Our vision of combining several fraud prevention and compliance services and ID verification in one platform is possible only with biometrics, a reliable and efficient means of enhancing data security and user authentication."

This agreement comes on the heels of Incode's product showcase at ICE London, and ALTec's vision ushering the next generation of customer experiences at a global scale for gaming and hospitality and shaping the future of trust in verification and authentication.

To learn more, please visit: www.incode.com

RobotLAB, an award-winning robotics integrator that delivers impactful business innovations and solutions for brands across many industries, has been tapped by B2B technology leader LG Business Solutions USA to support the expanded integration of LG’s state-of-the-art robots in commercial venues across the United States. RobotLAB will support two key robot models in LG’s portfolio: the LG CLOi ServeBot, which provides front-of-house food service assistance and table bussing capabilities, and the LG CLOi GuideBot, which offers robotic solutions for guest guidance at large hotels, casinos, airports, hospitals, museums and more.

“Working with an iconic and well-respected brand like LG is an immensely exciting opportunity for RobotLAB, especially since so many businesses and consumers put their trust in LG,” said RobotLAB Founder and CEO Elad Inbar. “This collaboration is an honor we do not take lightly, and we couldn’t be more eager to deploy our years of robotics experience and integration expertise to help LG bring its advanced robots to more restaurants, hotels, hospitals and airports across the country.”

RobotLAB’s 13-year track record of successfully managing the commercial deployment of more than 7,500 robots was an important consideration for LG as it sought to identify key robot collaborators in the United States. With a team dedicated solely to LG projects and products, RobotLAB will leverage its longstanding expertise and keen sector insights to help LG manage various aspects of robot deployment, including sales, marketing, integration and service.

“We hope to accelerate the growth of our robot business by working with professional robotics companies like RobotLAB that have a firm grasp on the integration of robots in commercial environments,” said Tom Carroll, Director of Business Development, LG Business Solutions USA. “This is a pivotal moment for both companies, and we look forward to collaborating with RobotLAB, whose complementary ability, experience and expertise will help us achieve our vision.”

Since its founding in 2007, RobotLAB has provided turnkey robotics solutions to companies of all sizes in industries including foodservice, hospitality, banking, education, assisted-living, education, cleaning, delivery and hospitals. The company’s talented team of roboticists has effectively deployed thousands of robots that have provided an impressive array of businesses with a clear path to the successful and highly specialized integration of robotics solutions. As labor becomes increasingly expensive and scarce, RobotLAB helps businesses harness the power of robotics to improve bottom-line and employee retention by reallocating routine tasks to automated technologies. RobotLAB oversees all aspects of the robotics integration process – from sales, tailored programming, on-site integration and repairs – to ensure businesses can access and understand solutions that will dramatically improve their performance.

As Hooters celebrates 40 years, the brand is signaling the next era of growth and innovation. Entering its third year of same-store-sales growth, company leadership is honing in on U.S. development with territories available across the country. Store model flexibility will play a key role in adapting to various market-dependent real estate options. Hooters is giving away 40 weeks of free royalties for any new franchisee that signs on for a Hooters franchise in 2023.

New Hire

Driving this next era of growth is recently appointed Chief Development Officer, Michael Arrowsmith, who oversees the expansion of corporate and franchise locations, both global and domestic.

International development took center stage in 2022 and continues to accelerate as Hooters opened four stores – two in Mexico, one in Canada, and one in the U.K. resulting in the opening of the world’s largest Hooters in Q4 2022. Hooters now boasts 70 international locations in 17 countries, and there continues to be an increasing amount of interest in key international growth markets.

“With flexible store models, including multiple innovative conversion plans for second generation space, simpler kitchen operations compared to other concepts, and a lower overall investment level, our franchise opportunity is perfect for multi-unit, multi-brand operators...,” said Arrowsmith. 

Hooters provides a full development support system, including site selection and construction assistance, marketing, operation, and access to existing supply chain systems.