News Briefs

Visual Matrix, a leading provider of advanced technology solutions for the hospitality industry, is working with the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and its charitable giving arm, AHLA Foundation, to provide expanded access to the organization’s resources and training materials to help educate hoteliers in the fight against human trafficking.

Through the partnership, hoteliers will know of and be able to use free training content developed by Marriott International, in collaboration with Protect All Children from Trafficking PACT (formerly ECPAT-USA) with input from Polaris, two leading non-profits that specialize in combatting human trafficking, with easy access through the Visual Matrix Learning Management System.

Additionally, Visual Matrix will be providing free access to its Panic Button for all MOP users, which are designed to increase worker safety and confidence on property. Once activated, these buttons immediately begin recording audio and video, silently alert other staff members to the worker’s location, and can even contact authorities. Users will have access to Panic Buttons bundled directly into MOP so that workers can have expanded access to the most effective safety tools available today.

“Visual Matrix has chosen to take part in efforts to expand human trafficking awareness by working closely with hotel owners to combat human trafficking,” said Charlie Rhodes, CSO at Visual Matrix. “Our team is invested in the fight against human trafficking, and we want to provide direct support to the hoteliers in a position to make a difference.”

Since it began tracking statistics in 2007, the National Human Trafficking Hotline has identified more than 100,000 cases, accounting for more than 197,000 victims. With this in mind, Visual Matrix has worked to provide a tool to hoteliers that can combat human trafficking while creating a safer environment for hotel operators and guests. Visual Matrix will continue to develop new features and tools designed to promote safety in the hotel environment, from panic buttons for housekeeping staff to automated notifications when a guest declines housekeeping for too long and educational materials for hoteliers on how to identify and report suspected human trafficking or other criminal activity.

Starting October 28, 2024, Visual Matrix will also donate 1% of proceeds, earned through new MOP purchases to AHLA Foundation’s No Room for Trafficking (NRFT) initiative Survivor Fund. NRFT builds on the hotel and lodging industry’s longstanding commitment to combat human trafficking by elevating the issue higher within the public consciousness, educating industry employers and workers to identify and report suspected trafficking on property, and empowering survivors with the support they need to thrive.

“Human trafficking training and awareness has never been more important because it is an increasingly nuanced and complicated issue,” said Eliza McCoy, Vice President of Programs and Impact at AHLA Foundation. “Thanks to partners like Visual Matrix, hotel operators can be more informed on what combination of factors may indicate human trafficking and how to respond effectively.”

“AHLA and the AHLA Foundation have been an indispensable force in the fight against human trafficking, and we are excited to join with them to provide expanded training, awareness and safety tools to hoteliers,” said Georgine Muntz, CEO of Visual Matrix. “We are working hard to provide training material and technology that helps hotels improve not only operational efficiency but also the safety of guests and workers. We are delighted to help support the No Room for Trafficking initiative.”

The Hotels Network (THN), a full-stack growth platform for hotels worldwide, and Cloudbeds, the premier hospitality management software platform, have entered a strategic partnership designed to help hoteliers optimize their direct channel strategies.

With this collaboration, Cloudbeds clients can now leverage THN’s advanced personalization platform, which includes AI-powered tools for crafting tailored website messages, real-time price comparison, and predictive analytics, all aimed at boosting conversion rates and revenue. Combined with Cloudbeds’ comprehensive platform for property management, booking engines, and channel management, hoteliers will gain valuable insights into guest behavior and preferences, enabling them to create seamless, personalized booking experiences that drive direct revenue and improve overall operational efficiency.

Sebastien Leitner, VP of Partnerships at Cloudbeds, commented: “Our partnership with The Hotels Network marks a significant step forward for our clients. By joining forces, we’re enabling our clients to enhance their marketing efforts and boost direct bookings through THN’s innovative tools.”

Mercedes Blanco, Chief Partnerships Officer at The Hotels Network, added: “Partnering with Cloudbeds was an obvious choice for us. Our aligned visions of delivering cutting-edge technology and empowering client hotels to succeed in today’s competitive market make this collaboration a natural fit. Together, we are helping hotels boost direct bookings while strengthening their guest relationships.”

Both The Hotels Network and Cloudbeds have been ranked #1 by hoteliers in the prestigious 2024 HotelTechAwards—THN for Best Direct Booking Tool and Cloudbeds as the top Hotel Management System. This recognition highlights the trust the industry has placed in both companies to deliver cutting-edge technology that transforms hotel operations.

The integration is now available globally, providing hotels with a powerful solution to enhance guest engagement, streamline operations, and maximize direct channel revenue.

George Hutto III, a data architect for MOD Super Fast Pizza and staunch supporter of Restaurant Technology Network, died October 1.  

Restaurant Technology Network Co-Founder Angela Diffly took to LinkedIn to share a tribute.

"In addition to his 'day job' quietly and unassumingly behind the scenes, George contributed heavily to the industry at large as a key contributor to the Restaurant Technology Network’s (RTN) technology standards, including the Open API Framework, Menu Synchronization Standard, Customer Record Data Standard, Transactional Data Standard and Restaurant Technology KPIs, as well as Labor and Technology Best Practices.

These working groups were voluntary, and George spent countless hours working alongside a strong, steady contingency of fellow data enthusiasts in an altruistic and commendable effort to make the restaurant industry better, and solve collective challenges."

Read Diffly's full post, Remembering Restaurant Technology’s Data Ninja, George Hutto on LinkedIn.


A GoFundMe page has been established to support George’s family. If you’d like to donate, please visit here.

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.

Orascom Hotels Management (OHM), one of the largest hotel owners and operators in the MENA region, has transformed its business operations with the Oracle OPERA Cloud hospitality platform. With the OPERA Cloud property management system and OPERA Cloud Central across its properties, the group has been able to reimagine its operations, boost automation, and deliver superior guest experiences. The first hospitality group in Egypt to adopt OPERA Cloud, it took just 12 days to complete the implementation at the initial property.

“Working with Oracle has allowed us to modernize our operations rapidly, and the results have been remarkable,” said Sanjay Sharma, Chief Technology Officer, OHM. “From day one, we saw immediate benefits. We’ve been able to eliminate more than 30 redundant processes across departments, and optimized some tasks to take 90% less time. Our call resolution time has also decreased by 60%, and we have seen a 90% reduction in external vendor distribution fees. The partnership with Oracle has empowered us to rethink our entire operation for the betterment of our business, staff, and guests alike.”

Together with Oracle and regional technology integrator Advanced Computer Technology (ACT), OHM seized the opportunity to redesign workflows from the ground up, helping to determine best practices for each of its business processes. With these changes, the group has been able to dramatically streamline its operations to free up staff to focus on more high-value, personalized service. 

Introducing ‘Experience Ambassadors’ 

Formerly just desk agents, newly coined ‘Experience Ambassadors’ are now empowered to guide guests throughout their entire stay, from greeting them by name upon arrival, to escorting them directly to their rooms and completing the check-in process on mobile devices in under a minute. This new model significantly reduced wait times and offers more high-value touch points with guests.

By transitioning to OPERA Cloud, OHM has also shifted its focus from purely operational metrics, such as check-in volumes, to a more holistic approach to enhancing the guest experience. With real-time guest preferences tracked across all its properties, OHM can ensure personalized service from visit to visit, from dietary preferences to room amenities. Guests also leave with memorable parting gifts tailored to their preferences, creating lasting impressions that drive loyalty.

“Outside of our guest facing staff, OPERA Cloud has also had a truly meaningful impact on our other team members, such as housekeeping,” added Sharma. “By digitalizing their tasks and providing them with iPads to coordinate on key details, such as once a room is clean and ready for the next guest, they feel more integrated and can see their role as an integral part of how we are serving our customers.” 

“Orascom Hotels Management’s adoption of Oracle OPERA Cloud exemplifies how hoteliers can harness technology to deliver both operational excellence and exceptional guest experiences,” said Alex Alt, executive vice president and general manager, Oracle Consumer Industries. “By modernizing key aspects of their business, OHM has optimized efficiency and positioned itself to increase revenue while delighting guests with truly personalized service.”

Artificial Intelligence is expected to have a profound impact on the travel and hotel industries as reported by the 2024 Customer Engagement Technology Study. For travelers, AI offers a powerful tool to enhance decision-making and personalize experiences. For hoteliers, embracing AI can lead to improved guest services and more efficient operations. Hotel Communication Network (HCN), a provider of interactive in-room tablets, is leveraging AI to enable guests to request services, communicate their needs, place F&B orders from local restaurants, control the room environment and more via voice commands in multiple languages.  

This week at The Hospitality Show in San Antonio, hotel operators can engage with HCN’s AI-powered Navigator 2.0 tablets in Booth #1755 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. Called AiMe (pronounced Amy), the AI Concierge uses natural language processing to respond to guests’ unstructured requests and creates actionable tasks that can be relayed from the tablet to the hotel’s service system and then to staff.

“Today’s travelers are quite comfortable using consumer-grade generative AI (such as ChatGPT and Perplexity), and soon they will expect it to be a standard part of their hotel experiences,” said HCN Chief Product Officer Neil Schubert. “When asked how they would use generative AI before, during, and after their hotel stays, 30% of consumers said they would use it to learn more about a hotel and the local area; 28% to select a hotel with a desirable price and amenities; 27% to explore hotel options in a region; and 26% to plan a hotel budget for a trip. While those numbers have not reached critical mass yet, they will soon, and operators need to be prepared. If AI is already being leveraged prior to a guests’ arrival to find the right hotel, then once on premises people will surely delight in using it to enhance their experiences.

“For instance, guests can ask AiMe to help them order lunch and have it delivered poolside, bring their car around front, make a recommendation to a local restaurant, wake them at a specific time, purchase tickets to a show, or have maintenance come make a repair,” he said. “This isn’t a pie-in-the-sky theory; it is coming directly from guests who say they are eager to engage with voice-enabled AI during their stays.”

According to the CET Study:

• 57% of guests said they want to control the guestroom environment via voice-enabled AI
• 48% would use it to request services
• 47% would like to use a chatbot (like AiMe) to request services and ask general questions

What Hoteliers Want

The wish lists for today’s hotel operators is vastly different, as the 2024 Lodging Technology Study shows. Participants said their goal is to invest in technology that drives guest loyalty (80%), improves employee productivity (76%), improves the physical safety of guests and staff (68%), reduces the cost of managing technology (56%), and enhances guestroom technology (40%). They also plan to invest in technologies that streamline daily operations, improve communication, and empower staff not only results in more efficient service delivery but also contributes to higher job satisfaction among employees.

“AiMe is designed to accommodate the wish lists of both groups equally,” Schubert said. “It can interpret the tone of a guest message and identify key words spoken so if a hotel guest is frustrated, for example, the request can be escalated to a hotel manager . . . provide granular information to pinpoint the exact location of a housekeeper in distress when integrated with panic button platforms . . . update rooms status via its back-office mode that is integrated with the hotel’s PMS so housekeepers or room supervisors can speak or type updates rather than using room phones with dial codes . . . replace in-room electronics and room clutter . . . and drive loyalty by personalizing experiences, such as allowing guests to control lights, set do not disturb status, request make up room and more.”

Tackling ROI

Deriving a return on technology investment remains a challenge for operators. Improving guest experiences and operational efficiency is great, but realizing a clear ROI can be complex if investments are made in the wrong solutions.

“Tablets are quickly becoming a hotel’s newest source of revenue and cost reduction,” Schubert said. “For example, our DineIN program – that enables hoteliers to outsource their roomservice operation to HCN – has proven to increase revenues by 20% to 30% (a net gain above $10 per room per month in incremental revenue from f&b upsell opportunities) while Guest Choice reduces labor costs by 5% (between $15 - $30 per room) with each opt-out of room cleaning. Also, digitalizing the compendium saves printing costs while digital marketing earns thousands of dollars in advertising, spa, golf, tours, extended stays/late check-out fees, rebooking, and group branding and sponsorships. More importantly, the device enables brands to drive membership in their loyalty programs and increase mobile app use.

“We hope everyone stops by HCN Booth 1755 at The Hospitality Show to see AiMe in action,” Schubert said. “This AI-powered tablet is making it possible to achieve a 100% reach to hotel guests and drive better customer engagement.”