News Briefs

The World Travel & Tourism Council's (WTTC) Hotel Sustainability Basics (Basics), the global initiative helping hoteliers on their first steps to improve their sustainability ratings, has reached a significant milestone with over 1,700 hotels verified across 70 countries worldwide.

In her speech at ITB Berlin, WTTC President & CEO Julia Simpson celebrated the achievement and highlighted the commitment of the industry towards a more sustainable future. Basics is a key pillar to making hotels more sustainable and giving the public an at-glance verification. 

Hotels groups from major Travel & Tourism destinations such as France, China, Mexico, India, Germany, South Africa, Philippines, and Norway, amongst many others, have joined the groundbreaking initiative.

Major hotel brands which have now adopted ‘Basics’ include Jin Jiang, one of the world’s biggest hotel groups with more than 10,000 hotels, European hotel giant Louvre Hotel Group, Choice Hotels, and Radisson Hotel Group.

During its inaugural year, Hotel Sustainability Basics also gained endorsements from destinations worldwide, including the Caribbean, Mauritius, Colombia, UAE, Azerbaijan, Mexico, and Ecuador.

Other major Travel & Tourism brands joining the initiative include adventure travel specialist Intrepid, British Airways Holidays, HBX Group, WebBeds and Abercrombie & Kent.

This independent global sustainability verification programme, overseen by internationally recognised verifiers Green Key and SGS, empowers hotels of all sizes to follow a 12-step programme aimed at reducing carbon emissions, promoting nature conservation, and ensuring local communities benefit from the hotel's operations.

Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said: “Our goal is to have a globally recognised trademark that shows customers at a glance, that a hotel is supporting the planet by saving energy, cutting plastics, protecting nature, and supporting their local community. It is a win win.

‘We launched the scheme only a year ago and the uptake has been incredible. 70 countries have signed up with over 1700 properties verified with a long waiting list. It will bring lasting change.

‘I would like to thank Glen Mandziuk at the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, Randy Durband at GDST, along with our partners at the Azerbaijan Tourism Board for providing the intellectual rigour and drive to make this happen’ 

WTTC is committed to leading the charge in sustainable Travel & Tourism, following the demand of the industry, to further advance their work on globally aligned sustainability indicators, hand in hand with the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance.

Domino's Pizza Inc. introduces its new and improved loyalty program. 

Domino's Rewards offers loyalty members even more opportunities to earn and redeem points across its corporate and franchise store locations. Domino's enhanced rewards program allows customers to:

• Earn points for less
  • Loyalty members will now earn 10 points on every order of $5 or more
• Redeem points for even more menu items – and earn free Domino's after just two orders
  • Members can redeem a variety of points for more menu items:
    • 20 points: A free dipping cup, a 16-piece order of Parmesan Bread Bites or a 20 oz. drink
    • 40 points: An order of Bread Twists or Stuffed Cheesy Bread
    • 60 points: A medium, two-topping pizza; pasta; Oven-Baked Sandwich; or a 3-piece order of Chocolate Lava Crunch Cakes
• Earn more rewards
  • Loyalty perks are now even better, as members will have exclusive access to member-only deals, special discounts and opportunities to earn bonus points!

"We are thrilled to give the brand's loyal customers additional ways to earn free Domino's items more often," said Mark Messing, Domino's vice president of digital experience and loyalty. "At a time when most brands are scaling back their loyalty programs and making it more difficult to earn and redeem points, Domino's is doing the opposite. We want to make it easier to reward our customers and give them more options so they can get rewarded faster."

Marketing a LTO 

From now until Oct. 22, 2023, rewards members can take advantage of a limited time offer to redeem 20 points for a free order of Domino's new Pepperoni Stuffed Cheesy Bread, which is normally a 40-point redemption, in celebration of the product's recent launch. 

Amadeus, leveraging its proven leadership in hospitality distribution for business travel, is expanding its expertise in the dynamic world of leisure travel. The latest offering, Amadeus Leisure Connect, unifies three complementary products: Private Agreements, Amadeus Value Hotels™, and the Amadeus Travel Platform™, to deliver a connected traveler experience, more personalization, and an optimized distribution strategy for leisure travel sellers.

The Leisure Connect portfolio streamlines hotel content distribution by connecting hoteliers and travel sellers throughout the booking process and eliminates the need for multiple content provider integrations. Travel sellers enjoy enhanced data sharing and revenue management, while hotels benefit from enhanced customer experiences. With Leisure Connect, both parties can optimize their distribution and sales strategies.

The components of Leisure Connect for Travel Sellers: 

• Travel sellers can use the Private Agreements solution to access real-time rates, availability, and inventory for their directly contracted hotels worldwide. Beyond enhancing the customer experience, travel sellers are empowered to upsell additional services and personalize their offerings with room preferences, flexible dining, spa and fitness options, additional activities, and experiences to maximize returns.
• Additionally, Amadeus Value Hotels equips leisure travel sellers with a range of exclusive prepaid net rates and allows sellers to set their selling prices to optimize revenue. There are over 600,000 properties within the Amadeus Value Hotels program.
• These solutions are supported by the centralized Amadeus Travel Platform which streamlines the overall booking experience.
• Together, these solutions come together within Amadeus Leisure Connect to drive profitability, optimize operations, and guarantee the delivery of tailor-made offerings to every leisure traveler.

Leisure Connect for Hotel Providers:

• Leisure Connect allows hotels to improve their control over distribution, manage inventory, optimize pricing strategies, and ensure rate parity. From hosting content to handling payments and providing innovative analytics, it offers everything hoteliers need to attract the leisure traveler.

The Amadeus Leisure Connect launch partners value the solution for its scalability, speed to market, and exclusive deals, which help both hoteliers and travel sellers meet customer demand and optimize revenue.

Mirja Sickel, Vice President, Hospitality Distribution, Amadeus, explains, “The key concept behind the launch of Amadeus Leisure Connect is ‘hotel selling made simple’. Our aim is to leverage our experience and continued investment in innovation to make global leisure hotel distribution easy, directly connecting hoteliers and travel sellers and empowering them to optimize their distribution revenues. By expanding our services in the realm of leisure travel, we will be better able to serve the evolving needs of today's travelers.”

Mews and Amadeus announced their extended strategic partnership to better connect the hospitality technology ecosystem.

Mews, which has over 1,000 partners in its marketplace, empowers hoteliers to build the tech ecosystem that perfectly suits their goals and provides an exceptional experience for their guests.

Since 2018, Mews has integrated with Amadeus’ iHotelier®, an industry leading reservations and booking engine that makes it simple for hoteliers to capture, curate and convert more bookings with hundreds of channel partners and GDS connectivity for a larger distribution network. The integration has almost 100 joint customers to date.  Central to the strategic relationship is the addition of three new integrations to provide a best-in-industry solution for both Mews and Amadeus customers. This approach empowers hoteliers to build their own bespoke technology stack, now including:

• Amadeus Delphi®: One of the most trusted names in sales and catering software, the cloud-native solution enables hoteliers to streamline their sales and event processes from lead to execution.
• Amadeus Guest Management System (GMS): More than just a customer relationship management tool, GMS offers a suite of marketing automation capabilities to engage hotel guests and drive incremental revenue and deeper loyalty.
• Amadeus Demand360+®: The most comprehensive, forward-looking market insight data available in the industry to inform hotelier marketing and revenue strategies.

With these integrated solutions, customers can enable a more seamless guest journey, improve guest experience and reduce administrative work for hotel staff.

“Amadeus is one of the biggest names in travel technology and we know its people are full of passion and expertise,” said Matt Welle, CEO, Mews. “Offering these new integrations as part of our growing partner network is key to delivering our vision for the industry. We want to provide access to modern technology solutions that hoteliers can use to fit their own unique needs and maximize their potential.”

"Partnerships are a core element of our strategy in Amadeus to constantly reinforce our value proposition and bring a more connected hospitality ecosystem to life,” added Javier Campo, Vice President, Partners, Hospitality, Amadeus. "We are excited to work closely with Mews to shape a more dynamic and innovative industry for hoteliers and their guests." 

Leading consumer privacy and security company ExpressVPN and Europe’s oldest luxury hotel group, Kempinski Hotels, are partnering up to offer hotel guests a premium VPN experience during their stay and beyond¹.

Safe and reliable Wi-Fi access is essential for anyone who travels or works remotely. No matter where they are in the world, travelers are looking to stay connected privately and securely.

Through this partnership, Kempinski guests can enjoy a complimentary 7-day trial of ExpressVPN’s premium VPN service, to enjoy even greater security and privacy throughout their journey.

With its firm dedication to delivering exceptional services, Kempinski is further supporting guests with enhanced digital privacy through ExpressVPN’s best-in-class VPN service. Together with ExpressVPN, both industry leaders are addressing the evolving digital needs of travelers—allowing them to experience the internet as safely as they do in the comfort of their own homes.

“As a leading global luxury brand, Kempinski tailors every aspect of our service and offerings to meet the expectations of our discerning guests. As digital connectivity continues to play a vital role in their travel experiences, this partnership with ExpressVPN signals our unwavering commitment to make guests feel at home throughout their journey”, said Riko van Santen, Chief Information Officer and Member of the Management Board Kempinski Hotels. “It allows them to easily access their favourite shows and apps with additional privacy.”

“Whether traveling for business or pleasure, Kempinski Hotels and ExpressVPN are coming together to offer guests a premium VPN service that brings them greater privacy and unrestricted internet access during their luxury stay,” said Lauren Hendry Parsons, Privacy Advocate, ExpressVPN. “This new relationship reflects the fact that VPNs are now a digital essential, especially when traveling. Our best-in-class VPN service offers connections optimized for speed, security, and stability—providing peace of mind for travelers when they connect to networks in their home away from home .”

From today, Kempinski Hotels guests can unlock even safer browsing experiences by simply connecting to the wireless network available throughout the hotel. Upon connection, guests will be able to redeem their 7-day VPN trial via ExpressVPN and Kempinski Hotels co-branded web page.

1 - In selected hotels

Hotelbeds, part of HBX Group, consolidates its strategic partnership with H World International, marking an expansion of its preferred portfolio. This distribution agreement offers clients enhanced access to premium lodging options across 21 countries.

Through this alliance, Hotelbeds will leverage its global network of more than 71,000 travel distributors across 190 source markets to seamlessly integrate H World International’s properties. These include hotels from the Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts, IntercityHotel and Zleep Hotels brands, amplifying distribution opportunities for clients worldwide, including in hard-to-reach areas.

Carlos Muñoz, Chief Commercial Officer of HBX Group, said: "This strategic alliance underscores Hotelbeds’ steadfast commitment to delivering unparalleled value and choice to our clients, reaffirming our position as the preferred partner for travel professionals worldwide. With H World International, we are poised for a journey of mutual growth and success."

H World International’s portfolio encompasses a wide range of acclaimed hotel brands, each offering distinctive experiences tailored to meet the diverse needs of travellers. From luxury experiences at the Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts, urban vibes at IntercityHotels to Zleep Hotels which combine Scandinavian simplicity and quality where it matters: These brands embody excellence in hospitality catering to a wide range of traveller preferences.

"The partnership with Hotelbeds is an important pillar of our distribution strategy. It enables us to increase awareness of our strong brands like Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts and IntercityHotel and make our portfolio available to a global B2B network. Overall, it helps us continue our international growth, giving us access to new markets and segments", said Johanna Lamke, Senior Vice President Commercial H World International.

In the picture, from left to right, Contracting Manager Chains at Hotelbeds, Eve Vranken; Chief Commercial Officer at HBX Group, Carlos Muñoz; Senior Vice President Commercial H World International, Johanna Lamke; Regional Manager Chains at Hotelbeds, Mónica Pascual and Digital Senior Director, Jade Liu, at ITB Berlin on Tuesday 5 March.