Partner news

This week’s Partner News is highlighted by Best Western Hotels & Resorts being named Best Midscale Hotel Chain—Asia Pacific by Travel Weekly Asia; Agilysys set to acquire ResortSuite; and UniFocus winning this year’s TechOvation Award for the development of ShiftGenius. Read about all that and more below.

Best Western named Best Midscale Hotel Chain—Asia Pacific
Best Western Hotels & Resorts was again recognized at the recent Travel Weekly Asia Readers’ Choice Awards when it was named as the Best Midscale Hotel Chain—Asia Pacific.

This marks the seventh consecutive year that Best Western has achieved the award, setting a new milestone for the group which now operates a collection of more than 60 hotels and resorts in nine countries and territories across the region.

“To have been named as the Best Midscale Hotel Chain—Asia Pacific once again this year is a great honor, and the fact that it was voted for by industry experts and Travel Weekly readers makes it even more special,” said Erwann Mahe, managing director, international operations, Asia, Best Western Hotels & Resorts. “Throughout the challenges of the last 12 months, Best Western has remained true to our core values. I am delighted that our hard work has been recognized by our esteemed industry partners.”

Agilysys to acquire ResortSuite
Agilysys Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire ResortSuite, a Canada-based fully integrated property management solution (PMS) provider focused on the complex multi-amenity and resort market.

This acquisition creates the opportunity to bring next generation SaaS solutions to ResortSuite customers who have been served by a trusted partner for more than 20 years. This combination will enable revenue synergies and delivery of integrated hotel property management and contactless capabilities to the global hospitality industry.

The transaction is expected to close in the beginning of January for approximately $25 million in an all-cash deal subject to customary closing conditions.

UniFocus wins TechOvation Award
UniFocus has won this year’s TechOvation Award for the development of ShiftGenius, a powerful scheduling feature for its Labor Management and Time & Attendance partners. Selected from a list of 10 semifinalists, UniFocus’ ShiftGenius was named hospitality’s most innovative solution thanks to its capabilities in making manager lives easier, ensuring a greater work/life balance for employees and providing employers with a competitive edge in meeting growing trends towards schedule flexibility, according to the company.

Hosted by HTNG, the annual TechOvation Award is among the industry’s most prestigious and was created to recognize the contributions of solution developers in pushing technology innovation forward throughout the global hospitality industry. At this year’s awards which saw up to 19 companies take part, UniFocus with its ShiftGenius solution was able to breeze through the initial round and joined other semifinalists in presenting its innovation in front of a live audience at HT-NEXT. Consisting of hospitality professionals from around the world, audience members were tasked with selecting their choice for this year’s most innovative platform, with UniFocus’ ShiftGenius coming out on top by receiving the highest number of votes.

Launched this year, ShiftGenius serves as a standard feature for UniFocus’ Labor Management and Time & Attendance solutions. UniFocus’ is uniquely equipped to provide this feature because it is informed by an intelligent labor management system that leverages accurate, multi-variable forecasts and specific service level needs to automatically generate optimized schedules that ensure quality service. This makes UniFocus the only provider that can implement flexible scheduling options without risking service quality and significantly increasing manual admin tasks, according to the company.

The Dorm Hotel adopts BeyondTV GuestCast
Hotel Internet Services (HIS), a full-service provider of internet services and solutions for the hospitality industry, has implemented its hospitality-engineered BeyondTV GuestCast platform at The Dorm Hotel in Ithaca, NY.

In adopting BeyondTV GuestCast by HIS, The Dorm Hotel can fully deliver on guest demands for comprehensive, yet seamless and secure access to virtually any content of preference on guestroom televisions. From Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu to Disney+, YouTube and HBO Go, BeyondTV GuestCast ensures that each guest can gain complete control over their in-room experience. With its effortless device-pairing process that is as simple as scanning a QR code, BeyondTV GuestCast further provides guests with both effortless and instant access to their own content without the need for hotel staff assistance.

Caesars Entertainment’s Atlantic City resorts give to Toys For Tots program
Caesars Entertainment’s Atlantic City resorts—Caesars, Harrah’s Resorts and Tropicana—recently surprised the Marine Corps with 120 bikes, more than 12 boxes of toys and a $12,500 monetary donation to their Toys For Tots program.

The resorts collected toys and monetary donations through various initiatives. At the nightlife venues, guests were encouraged to bring a toy in exchange for complimentary admission. Guests staying at any of the properties were entered into a drawing if they donated a toy. Additionally, Caesars Entertainment Atlantic City team members were encouraged to donate and bring toys.