APRIL 7 - 27, 2004
TOP O' THE NEWS
- Farewell to Larry
- Hotel Habits Survey
An era passed when Larry Chervenak died on April 13. Many pioneers worked to develop the early hotel systems and burnt vats of midnight oil making them progressively more functional and reliable, but Larry was the one who publicized the whole concept. He was tremendously influential in making hoteliers understand the benefits of technology, and never lost an opportunity to promote its value in the hospitality world. He launched the annual conference that became HITEC, and published the first industry-wide, internationally-available newsletter, the source of much valuable information to me and many others in the early years. The progression of his illness was painful to watch, but he refused to give up his love for the industry, and was always ready to greet acquaintances old and new with a smile and a quick comment or shared memory. He's much missed.
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In a lighter vein, a recent Orbitz survey reveals some of the things we try to get away with when we're staying at hotels. According to its "Hotel Habits" survey, 52% of adult Americans on a leisure stay at a hotel do things they don't normally do at home, like throwing towels on the floor (25%), using more towels than necessary since they don't have to do the laundry (24%), eating in bed (19%) or leaving the television on when not in the room (13%).
Not surprisingly, 61% of people take some of the toiletries home, but almost 20% of respondents (and almost a third of males ages 18 - 35) have or have considered taking them from the housekeeping cart when the housekeeper isn't looking. Other "souvenirs" include towels (18%), ashtrays (14% - do this many people still smoke?), bathrobes (2%) and bathmats (2%). As for sneaking things INTO hotel rooms, top of the list is extra people (29% overall, and 52% of 18 - 34 year olds), cigarettes in a non-smoking room (12%) and pets (11%).
Most astonishingly, 31% admitted to locking themselves out of their room, and needing help to get back in. No word on how many of them were naked. Or were locked out by the extra person they'd sneaked into the room.
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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
- Adam Werner hired by Diversified Computer Corp as Sales Associate
Adam Werner has been hired by Diversified Computer Corp as a Sales Associate. Mr. Werner previously worked as director of the Six Sigma quality assurance program at the Westin Seattle, and earlier in sales and other managerial positions at the property.
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PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
- Agilysys to develop link between LMS and Expedia
- Sheraton implementing Speed Check multi-function self-service kiosks brand-wide
Agilysys Hospitality Solutions Group (formerly Inter-American Data) is developing links to Expedia's direct connection reservations technology for its LMS property management system. The interface will provide LMS users with automated tools for uploading or changing inventory and rates for rooms offered on Expedia.com, and eliminate the cost of non-automated confirmations. (www.agilysys.com)
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Sheraton Hotels & Resorts is implementing its Speed Check self-service kiosks across the brand. In addition to check-in and check-out, the kiosks offer guests the ability to receive messages, generate additional room keys and upgrades, change room type, and view, print and email personal folios. After tests at two other properties, the production version of the kiosks has been installed at the newly renovated Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers in midtown Manhattan, and will be implemented at over 25 other US properties in the next few months. (www.starwood.com)
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RESERVATIONS
- TIA reports 30% of U.S. used the Internet to get travel information or make purchases in 2003
- TRUST releases version 4.0 of Voyager Web-based CRS
- Small Luxury Hotels of the World signs with TRUST for five more years
- Accovia integrating QlikView analysis tools into its Travel Package Management application
- InterContinental to work only with distribution companies that automate booking, payment and settlement
- Hilton reports record-breaking online reservations and revenue in February 2004
- Empire Hotel Group signs with SynXis for revenue management and electronic distribution
- VIP International adds 336 new client properties worldwide in first quarter of 2004
- Pelican launches web-based service linking hotels and retail travel agents
- Riv Consulting takes over eMark Services, re-launches rate monitoring services as RateGain
- Daily Management signs with SRS-WORLDHOTELS for sales, marketing and distribution services for 11 properties
The latest Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) survey reports that over 64 million online travelers - 30 percent of the U.S. adult population - used the Internet to get travel information or make purchases in 2003. Hotel bookings were up 20% over 2002 data, and hotels are the second largest online travel purchase, booked by 71 percent of online buyers.
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Cendant's TRUST International subsidiary has released version 4.0 of its Voyager Web-based CRS, available either as a stand-alone system or as a TRUST-managed service. Enhancements include the addition of Japanese, Cantonese and Mandarin to the Multilingual Web Booker , an enhanced, XML-based PMS interface supporting reservation and rate downloads and uploads, profile uploads and availability uploads, an interface with IDeaS' revenue-management system, and improvements to its Business Intelligence reporting module, Voyager View.
Small Luxury Hotels of the World announced hat it has renewed its CRS service contract with TRUST International, covering its 310 global members, for five more years.
(www.slh.com, www.trustinternational.com)
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Accovia is integrating QlikTech International's QlikView business intelligence and analysis software into its Travel Package Management application to help users to determine which combination of packaged offerings will yield the highest margins, which suppliers and distributors are the highest producers, and which marketing promotions are most effective. (www.qliktech.com/na/, www.accovia.com)
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InterContinental Hotels Group is adopting new on-line booking standards for its brands, effective May 20, 2004. In addition to requiring clear pricing (including statements of taxes and other fees) and other marketing practices from its future distribution partners, IHG is committed to working only with companies that either have already automated the booking, payment, and settlement processes or are committed to automating them in a short period of time. (www.ichotelsgroup.com)
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Hilton Hotels Corp reported record-breaking gross online reservations and revenue from its brand websites in February 2004, including a 34 percent increase in the quantity and 41 percent increase in revenue of online reservations over February 2003, a new one-day record of over 25,000 reservations, and a record 11.4 % of overall net reservations through the brand websites. (www.hiltonworldwide.com)
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The Empire Hotel Group has signed with SynXis for revenue management services and electronic distribution for its hotels, which include The Newton, The American and Travel Inn. (www.synxis.com)
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VIP International announced the addition of 336 new client properties worldwide in the first quarter of 2004, a 229% increase over the fourth quarter of 2003 when the company acquired Lexington Services. (www.vipintcorp.com)
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Pelican has launched a web-based service providing a direct connection between hotels and retail travel agents. The site, www.hoteldealdirect.com, contains publicly-available hotel rate and room availability data; travel agents who join a particular hotel's network of retail agents will be granted secure access to discounted rate and allotment information, and will be able to make direct bookings through the hotel's own website without the need to negotiate confidential rates or confirm room availability. (www.hoteldealdirect.com, www.pelicansystem.com)
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Riv Consulting has taken over eMark Services, a provider of Internet based airfare and hotel- rate monitoring services, and will re-launch them under the RateGain name with improved data detail and more flexible reporting formats. (www.rategain.com)
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Daily Management has signed with SRS-WORLDHOTELS for sales, marketing and distribution services for its 11 timeshare properties, located principally in Florida. The resorts are now online in the SRS-WORLDHOTELS' reservation system. (www.srs-worldhotels.com)
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SALES & CATERING, MEETING PLANNING
- Newmarket offers statistics on growing volume of electronic meeting bookings
- Newmarket updates Optimum Settings, re-brands it as Delphi Diagrams
A press release from Newmarket International offers statistics supporting the growing complexity of dealing with electronic meeting bookings. As face-to-face conference sales are replaced by Internet-based research and decision-making, the significant migration of conference booking business to on-line channels is forecast to increase still further in 2004, according to an MPI FutureWatch 2004 survey. StarCite reports that the number of inquiries and leads distributed from its meeting planner sites increased 428 percent in the last two years. PlanSoft reported that lead automation on both the planner and supplier sides has shrunk the sales cycle for closing group business from an average of 12 months to as low as three months.
Newmarket International has updated its recently-acquired Optimum Settings ii (OSii) floor plan/meeting space application and has re-released it as Delphi Diagrams. Enhancementgs include detailed CAD drawings of meeting and function rooms, integration with iPIX InfoMedia 360-degree panoramic digital images of each meeting/function space, and seamless integration with Delphi.
(www.newmarketinc.com)
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F&B/POINT OF SALE
- Shift4 develops enhanced interface between $$$ ON THE NET and MICROS 8700
- Moscow President Hotel implements InfoGenesis with four-level frequent-guest program
- Scottsdale Plaza Resort installs InfoGenesis POS and restaurant reservations systems
Shift4 Corp has developed an enhanced interface between $$$ ON THE NET and the MICROS 8700 POS system, enabling merchants to accept credit, debit (US & Canadian) and gift card payments right from the point of sale, including connectivity to signature capture and PIN pad devices and using Shift4's Dynamic Currency Conversion functionality. The latter displays exactly what will be billed to the card in the cardholder's local currency, and allows merchants to earn a percentage of every foreign cardholder transaction. Similarly-enhanced interfaces to MICROS 3700 and 9700 will be completed this summer. (www.shift4.com)
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The five-star Moscow President Hotel has implemented InfoGenesis' Revelation for all food and beverage transactions, including a loyalty program for hotel patrons with four levels of discounts cards to award percentage discounts on food, beverages, and other hotel amenities to returning guests. The sale and installation were made by ImagePoint Ltd., an InfoGenesis reseller working through Hogatex Software GmbH.
Arizona's Scottsdale Plaza Resort has installed InfoGenesis' Revelation POS and Rendezvous restaurant reservations systems, including wireless handheld units for pool-area use.
(www.scottsdaleplaza.com, www.infogenesis.com)
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GUEST SERVICES
- GoConcierge.net doubles client base over the last year
- Whitehall Hotel contracts with Broadband Hospitality for high-speed Internet services
- Sage Hospitality signs with SuiteSpeed for wireless HSIA in fifty Marriott Fairfield Inns
- Hong Kong's Langham Place Hotel to offer complete IP voice and data throughout the hotel
- Comcast Cable launches HospitalityONE HSIA service
- Canalta selects Guest-Tek as exclusive HSIA provider for 15 properties
- Kimpton Hotels to offer free HSIA at all 39 hotels by the end 2005
- Rezidor SAS joins iPass Global Network
- Homewood Suites by Hilton implementing free HSIA in all 131 U.S. hotels
GoConcierge.net reports that it has doubled its client base over the last year, to over 100 users. Its most recent clients include theBoca Raton Resort & Club and the InterContinental Mark Hopkins. (www.goconcierge.net)
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Chicago's 221-room Whitehall Hotel has contracted with Broadband Hospitality for high-speed Internet services, including wired connections in all guestrooms and second floor meeting rooms and a wireless system in the lobby and restaurant area. (www.thewhitehallhotel.com, www.broadbandhospitality.com)
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Sage Hospitality Resources has signed with SuiteSpeed for wireless high-speed Internet access in fifty Marriott Fairfield Inns it manages. Fairfield Inn expects to provide free high-speed Internet access at approximately 500 hotels by the middle of 2004. (www.sagehospitality.com, www.suitespeed.com)
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Hong Kong's Langham Place Hotel, due to open in Mongkok this summer, will offer complete voice and data Wi-Fi services throughout the hotel using portable guestroom wireless Internet Protocol (IP) phones and other wireless broadband devices in the guestrooms and all public areas. The communications system is designed and implemented by PCCW, and comprises a converged network based on Cisco's AVVID technology and an Avaya LazerSpeed structured cabling system carrying voice, video and data communications across a single IP-based system. It includes over 5Km of fiber optic cables, 4,000 network connections, 1,500 IP phones, 500 wireless access points and carrier-grade networking equipment. The 665-room hotel will use Cisco's 7970 color Internet Protocol (IP) Phone in every guest room. (www.langhamhotels.com)
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Comcast Cable has launched its HospitalityONE high-speed Internet access service for guest rooms, meeting rooms and hotel public spaces, with Amelia Island Plantation as an early customer. (www.comcast.com)
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Canadian motel ownership group Canalta has selected Guest-Tek as its exclusive provider of high-speed Internet access, which will be offered in 15 Canalta properties by the end of 2004. Brands owned by Canalta include Super 8, AmeriHost, Best Western, Holiday Inn, Ramada and Travelodge. (www.canaltagroup.com, www.guest-tek.com)
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Kimpton Hotels has contracted with Portland-based Eleven Wireless for Wi-Fi software and network services at all of its 39 hotels by the end of 2005. The complimentary service will cover the public areas, lobbies, guest rooms and some of the hotels' adjacent restaurants. Wi-Fi access will be available at the Onyx Hotel in Boston and the 70 Park Avenue Hotel in New York when they open in May and July this year, respectively. (www.kimptongroup.com)
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Rezidor SAS has joined the iPass Global Network, and will require its 110 Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts to have their high-speed Internet access services, installed and managed by Netpoint, certified as part of iPass' Global Broadband Roaming network. (www.radissonsas.com, www.ipass.com)
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Homewood Suites by Hilton has begun implementation of complimentary high speed Internet access. All of the brand's 131 U.S. hotels are planned to offer the service in all guest suites, in at least one meeting room, and wireless access in the hotel's Lodge area just off the lobby and business center. (www.hiltonworldwide.com)
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SECURITY
- Gaylord Texan Resort using ASSA ABLOY TimeLox locks and Elsafe electronic safes
The recently opened Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Gaylord, Texas, is using ASSA ABLOY Hospitality's TimeLox DC-One dual-card locking system to secure all 1,511 guestrooms and suites, and Elsafe M28 electronic safes to provide in-room security for guests.
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