In the news: Swissôtel The Stamford implements smart hotel management system, Sabre has four launch partners to its Beyond NDC programme, TripAdvisor launches new photo feature
Hotels: Swissôtel The Stamford gets ‘smart’ with new technology
On entering a room Interact Hospitality turns on the lights automatically after sensing movement. (Image credit: Swissôtel The Stamford)
Giving guests the ultimate in experience and making staff more efficient is what many hotels are working towards, with many achieving this to some degree with the help of technology.
AccorHotel’s Swissôtel The Stamford in Singapore is doing just that, as it is the first hotel to showcase a new management smart system – Interact Hospitality – which promises to “redefine the guest experience, simplifies hotel operations, saves energy, improves staff efficiency and satisfaction”.
Signify (the new company name of Philips Lighting) launched Interact Hospitality, the first commercial implementation of this smart system for the firm globally, at Swissôtel The Stamford earlier this week. It said the system was “designed with the Internet of Things (IoT) in mind”.
Hotel guests do not have to fiddle with a key card to switch things on when they enter the room. The lights come on automatically on entry and they, together with HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) and other systems, shut down to conserve energy when they leave the room. To change lighting and temperature or make room service requests they just need to touch a button (see video).
Signify said as Interact Hospitality integrates lighting, sensors, HVAC and Property Management Systems (PMS) hotel managers are able to monitor their entire property via a single dashboard. There is also real-time information in operational areas, such as housekeeping and engineering, due to connectivity of the system’s open Application Programme Interface (API).
This technology also helps the hotel’s staff eliminate unnecessary work as it displays information on room status so that staff do not reach out to guests unnecessarily, thus saving staff unnecessary trips and time.
Katya Herting, hotel manager of Swissôtel The Stamford, said as the hotel caters for the next generation it is always looking for way to enhance its operations and services. “This new system helps us to improve levels of service even further and gives our managers a 360° overview of our operations across the entire hotel.”
By the end of this year the hotel, on completion of its renovation, will have the system fully installed in each of its 1,261 guestrooms.
Travel Technology: Sabre enlists industry partners to its Beyond NDC programme
Industry partners collaborate to develop Beyond NDC programme. (Image credit: den-belitsky/iStock-Getty Images)
Four travel companies – American Airlines, American Express Global Business Travel, Carlson Wagonlit Travel and Flight Centre Travel Group – have joined Sabre Beyond NDC programme as launch partners.
In announcing its strategic relationships with the “travel industry giants”, Sabre said the programme is a collaborative innovation initiative that aligns the company with its industry partners, and to drive the industry forward through the development, integration and testing of end-to-end capabilities to process NDC-enabled offers and orders.
The partners will participate in the solution design process, leverage beta testing capabilities and establish their position as drivers of NDC. It will announce additional participants in the programme at a later stage.
“By partnering with the world’s largest airline and several of the world’s leading travel management companies, we will bring to market NDC-enabled solutions that go beyond shopping and booking to integrate with the retailing, distribution and fulfillment systems that support the travel ecosystem,” said Dave Shirk, Sabre president of Travel Solutions.
“Launching this programme with such heavyweights illustrates that we are looking past the near-term goals of NDC to define the future of intelligent airline retailing at scale in both direct and indirect channels.”
In October last year Sabre CEO Sean Menke outlined Sabre’s position on NDC and the company’s drive to lead an industry evolution. Earlier this year, in May, the company announced its roadmap to offer NDC-enabled solutions by end 2018.
Technology: TripAdvisor introduces new photo feature using machine learning technology
New auto-select feature for primary photos for accommodations, (Image credit: TripAdvisor)
“A picture is worth a thousand words” is a common saying, and for accommodations good photos play a key part in attracting new guests.
This is the reason behind TripAdvisor’s recent launch of a new auto-select feature for primary photos (first images travellers see of a property) for accommodations to help them drive more engagement from travellers. The new tool uses advanced machine learning technology to evaluate and select the best images, as it has been shown to select photos that drive higher levels of engagement from travellers..
TripAdvisor decided to introduce this feature as it said certain photos on the site, such as a slightly blurred selfie of two hotel guests in a corridor or a close-up of the bathroom taps at a B&B, could end up as the primary ‘hero’ photo for an accommodation when an owner does not choose the photos.
“While many of these traveller photos in the gallery are undoubtedly helpful to travellers, they are not always the most representative photos of the business, nor are they the photos that an owner would choose to show off the best of their property,” it added.
The primary photo is the best way for a property to make a strong first impression to travellers – an image that draws potential guests to a property’s listing means they are more likely to choose that place to stay, it added.
The auto-select tool analyses a number of factors, which user testing has shown to influence the impact of photos on engagement, from image resolution, orientation and sharpness to whether there are people in the photo.
TripAdvisor said this new feature was optional. Accommodation owners who still prefer to manually select their primary photo can opt out any time and continue to choose their own primary photo via the Management Centre.
Martin Verdon-Roe, VP B2B Hotel Product & Marketing for TripAdvisor, revealed research showed 79% TripAdvisor travellers said that photos were important when choosing to book an accommodation. “In more recent live site testing with partners we can see that optimised photo selection have been show to increase user click through rates.”
