World Travel Market, the leading global event for the travel industry, is showcasing a world first with Palladium Hotel Group’s (formerly Fiesta Hotel Group) innovative biometric and facebook initiatives throughout the event (Monday 5 – Thursday 8 November).
Palladium
Hotel Group has become the first hotel group worldwide to offer
Paytouch, which allows visitors to its Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel to
make purchases with the touch of their fingertips though biometric
technology giving guests and partygoers a secure, cash-free holiday
experience.
In
2011 Palladium Hotel Group successfully pioneered a live Facebook
sharing experience. A first of its kind in the hotel, music and
travel market, visitors to Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel were able to
share their holiday experiences on Facebook in real time using RFID
bracelets and totems distributed across the hotel. In just over two
months, Ushuaïa Ibiza Beach Hotel had in excess of 70,000 facebook
‘likes’, and more than 2000 registered users of the new
RFIDwristbands,
of which approximately 90% became facebook ‘fans’. Today Ushuaïa
Ibiza Beach Hotel has over 176.000 facebook followers and more than
32,000 followers on Twitter.
For
WTM 2012, Palladium Hotel Group in collaboration with Paytouch is
bringing a combination of the two technologies to WTM 2012.
World
Travel Market delegates will be able to log in to facebook using
their fingertips at the four Palladium Facebook Pods placed around
ExCeL – London. From the pods, users will be able to update their
status and upload picturestaken
directly from the camera totems.
Alfonso
Giménez, Associate Director of Marketing said: “Palladium Hotel
Group is proud to be leading the way in technology and looks forward
to demonstrating the practical applications of Facebook for the hotel
and travel industry.”
The
biometric technology developed by Paytouch, twinned with the existing
Facebook sharing options mark a significant advancement for
technology and WTM is the ideal platform to launch this exciting
initiative.”
Reed
Travel Exhibitions Director World Travel Market Simon Press said: “We
are delighted to be able to demonstrate Palladium Hotel Groups’
innovative technological initiatives.
“Both
the facebook totems and the fingerprint payment system offer the
hotel’s visitors and party goers a great experience and I am
pleased that World Travel Market delegates will be able to sample and
enjoy this experience at WTM 2012.”
