Nor1, Data Driven Upsell Solutions Provider Secures $9 Million Series B Funding From Concur
Nor 1, a data driven company in Silicon Valley that provides upsell solutions for hospitality industry raised $9 Million in Series B funding by Concur. This funding will be utilised for continued growth through product innovation and market expansion. Nor 1 has various products like eStandby Upgrade, PRiME, eReach, FrontDesk Upsell. As part of this investment,
Apple Working On Head Mounted Display (Glass) – What This Means For Travel Industry
The only thing that is constant in this world is – Change. We could not agree more on this statement. Looking at the various technology spins that happened in the last decade+ years in travel industry, this statement will remain relevant for years to come. Among all technology advancements, lets look only at consumer gadgets that influenced travellers and travel companies. These are primarily – desktops, laptops, mobiles, tablets. With every introduction
Expert Talk: Timo Kettern, IT Director, Westbridge Europe: "Guests Bring Upto 7 Gadgets To Rooms"
Information Technology is playing a key role in the success of a hotel. IT can either make or break a hotel brand. We had the opportunity to discuss with Timo E. Kettern, a 16+ years experienced Hotel Technology Professional, currently IT Director, Westbridge Europe and Hotel IT Advisory Board Member, Hospitality Technology EXPO (HTE). Westbridge Europe is a hospitality industry investment fund managed by the Westmont Hospitality Group, one of the largest privately owned organisations of its type in the world. Timo speaks about the role of IT in hospitality sector and what are the IT-led innovations (this is truly innovative, trust us) in Westbridge. Interview below.
Hospitality India Conclave – Part 4 – Exceeding Expectations, Catering To Next Generation Guests
Previous three editions of Hospitality India Conclave 2012 series can be read here – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. In this edition we will discuss about the role play of IT in exceeding the changing customer expectations. This topic was discussed by team of experienced hotel industry professionals for 60 minutes where the executives explained various IT strategies implemented in their hotels. Following were the panel members:
Next Generation Hotel Guest Experience Scenarios
The primary goal of a hotelier is to increase occupancy by keeping the rates in mind. Hotels are adapting to the changing consumer behaviour and technology trends to offer a great experience to their customers during stay. We at Travopia have built many next generation experience usecases and created below picture that depicts the various types of experiences a guest enjoys during the hotel stay. The concept is that every guest is given a device (size of iPhone) that will think, act and behave like a personal concierge for the guest.
Tablets Replacing Paper Menu In Restaurants – Is This Trend Going To Work or Backfire?
Traditionally, restaurants had their food menu in paper. In the mobile revolution from 2004 to 2008 – many restaurants gave their waiters a mobile with custom app loaded in it for taking orders from customers. Now, Tablets are given to the customers for them to browse food menu and place order. This trend is in market from mid 2011 onwards (usecase discussions started as soon as the first iPad was released in 2010) and its gaining momentum now. Few companies that provide tablet menu service: POSLavu, TouchBistro, iPOS, SquareUp, eMenu, OwnPoint of Sale, Imenu, E Menu India, MenuPad, Deploid. Many hotels globally are adopting this trend.
Sabre Red App Centre – What’s in Store For You?
Last month, Sabre Holdings released “App Centre” for their Sabre Red system. Sabre Red is a desktop system for the travel agents to do their day to day tasks like – making reservations, reconciling payments, customer profile management etc. Sabre Red is used by 2, 00, 000 travel agents across the world in 116 countries generating annual transaction amount of 100 Billion dollars.Now, this Sabre Red system has got an “App Centre”. Yes, its the same concept as Apple’s App Store or Android’s Marketplace (now “Play”). But, Sabre Red App Centre works little different.
"Room Connect" product integrates with OPERA PMS
A new product called ‘Room Connect’ is developed, that will integrate with OPERA PMS and SMS the guests automatically on the room availability (check-in time, confirmation #s etc)
Source: http://www.eyefortravel.com/news/hotels/new-service-allow-hotels-communicate-sms-text-messaging
IDeaS V5i Forecasting application
IDeaS V5i Forecasting Revenue Management Application released: http://tinyurl.com/ltakph
Channel Management Tools
Two Channel Management Tools:
- TravelCLICK’s ChannelDirect: http://www.travelclick.net/reservation-solutions/channel-direct/index.cfm. You may also want to click “Take a Channel Direct Tour” link and view the video, its jaw dropping.
- RateTiger. But, analysts in LinkedIn say RateTiger is complex to use (w.r.t ChannelDirect).
