Hotel Companies Turn to Tech to Attract Travelers, Maximize Revenue

NATIONAL REPORT—Technology is an integral part of running a hotel. Here’s a look at some of the solutions providers that hotel companies have chosen to team up with recently.

Luxe Hotels
For two of its Los Angeles properties, Luxe Hotels will offer mobile payment through two providers. Via a partnership with Citcon, the Silicon Valley, CA-based cross-border mobile payment solution provider, guests at Luxe Rodeo Drive Hotel and Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel will be able to pay with Alipay and WeChat Pay.

Accounting for 90% of the total market share and 70% of the total Chinese population, Alipay and WeChat Pay are the most popular mobile payment solutions for Chinese travelers.

“Harnessing the growth of both e-commerce and China’s outbound tourism market by providing an omni-channel payment solution will help position Luxe Hotels as a preferred destination for the throngs of Chinese travelers that visit Los Angeles and Beverly Hills annually,” said Adam Sydenham, regional general manager of Luxe Hotels.

FCS Computer Systems’ new housekeeping tool offers features designed to boost efficiency and guest satisfaction.

Both Alipay and WeChat Pay will be available for guests of the Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel and Luxe Rodeo Drive Hotel starting in December.

Magnuson Worldwide
Similarly seeing the potential of the Chinese traveler, Magnuson Worldwide has partnered with Ctrip, adding its 1,000-plus properties to Ctrip’s distribution network.

Ctrip, with more than 300 million members, provides Magnuson a new customer base, servicing the growing outbound Chinese traveler.

“Our partnership with Ctrip gives our hotels access to a vast international customer base, and grants these travelers access to Magnuson Hotels’ quality properties located across North America, South America, U.K., PAC and Western Europe. We are completely committed to this expansion,” stated Thomas Magnuson, CEO and co-founder of Magnuson Hotels.

Atahotels
One year after completing its merger with UNA Hotels & Resorts, Atahotels has partnered with SiteMinder to further capitalize on Italy’s rising tourism numbers. SiteMinder will power the distribution of Atahotels’ more than 4,700 rooms online.

Atahotels merged with UNA Hotels & Resorts in 2016 to form the first wholly Italian-owned and operated hotel group. Together, the two brands have 43 properties located in 25 destinations across the country.

Italy consecutively ranks among the five most popular destinations in the world, according to the country’s chief national tourist organization, the Touring Club. Italy’s tourism sector welcomed 50.7 million visitors in 2016 and recent figures show visitors this year-to-date have already surpassed 55 million.

InterContinental Hotels Group
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has expanded its partnership with TravelClick, a global provider of cloud-based and data-driven solutions for hotels to maximize revenue.

IHG will utilize TravelClick’s data-driven Hotelligence360 Business Intelligence solutions, including Demand360, Rate360 and Agency360 at the corporate level and recommend them for all IHG properties. These solutions will provide IHG with the data and analytics that are required to improve decision making, maximize channel mix and increase RevPAR, according to the company.

Andrew Rubinacci, SVP of global distribution and revenue management strategy, IHG, commented: “Access to the right technology and data is vital to providing our brands with a competitive edge to significantly improve performance. By deepening our relationship with TravelClick in this way, our hoteliers will have the ability to use powerful forward-looking data to implement strategies that are tailored to their specific markets, enabling them to stay ahead of the competition.”