Partner news

This week’s Partner News is highlighted by four Innisfree Hotels properties in Pensacola Beach, FL earning Green Key certification; P3 teaming up with Arvoia on a booking engine powered by artificial intelligence (AI); and Cloud5 Communications opening a Toronto contact center. Read about all that and more below.

Four Innisfree hotels earn Green Key certification
Gulf Coast hotel operator and management company Innisfree Hotels has revealed that all four of its Pensacola Beach, FL properties have been recognized by the Green Key Global Eco-Rating Program for their ongoing commitment to improving their environmental and fiscal performance.

The Green Key Global Eco-Rating Program is a first-of-its-kind “eco-audit” that awards hospitality and tourism enterprises up to five Green Keys based on their sustainability practices and diligence when it comes to eco-friendly operations. The Green Key Program is recognized by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), an international accreditation body that manages sustainability standards in travel and tourism.

Of the four properties, the Hilton Pensacola Beach (shown above), Hampton Inn Pensacola Beach and Holiday Inn Resort Pensacola Beach have each received a rating of four Green Keys, while the Surf and Sand was awarded three Green Keys.

P3 collaborates with Arvoia
A new AI-powered booking engine has been launched via a collaboration between Arvoia, an AI provider in hospitality, and hotel software solutions provider P3. Arvoia’s AI utilizes technology similar to that used by Netflix and Instagram in order to deliver a unique booking experience to each guest.

The booking engine works by deriving a behavioral understanding of the needs of each guest in real-time and altering accordingly to prioritize the most relevant rooms, hotel amenities and content rather than just showing room rates in order of price.

It is already driving increased direct bookings at hotels across Ireland and the U.K. Ireland’s largest hotel group, Dalata Hotel Group, has seen its average booking value per guest and conversion rate for potential customers rise consistently over the first three months of deployment. Significantly, one third of the increase has come in the last three weeks, demonstrating that the AI booking engine is becoming more effective at predicting human behavior as it learns over time.

Cloud5 Communications opens Toronto contact center
Cloud5 Communications, a provider of communications solutions and managed IT services for more than 5,000 hotels, MDUs and commercial facilities across the Americas, has opened a 15,000-sq.-ft. contact center in Toronto.

The new facility is the company’s second new contact center location to be opened during the pandemic and will complement its five other contact center sites and agents working from home throughout the New Brunswick, Canada area. Staffed by highly trained on-site agents from the Toronto area, Cloud5’s new contact center will deliver dependable, detail-oriented support to its premium customers as they leverage travel planning services. This includes providing expert assistance in arranging airport transportation, hotel reservations and car rentals.

Toronto, the fourth largest city in North America, was chosen based, in part, on its large labor pool. Access to a talented workforce is critical to Cloud5 as it continues to grow its contact center business, not just within the hospitality industry but in other markets that have significant demand for contact center and business process outsourcing services as well.

UniFocus COO appointed to Cornell’s Hospitality Labor Advisory Board
Kenneth Heymann, COO, Unifocus, has been named as an advisory board member at the Cornell Center for Innovative Labor and Employment Relations (CIHLER). With a mission to spur education and discussion over the modernization of labor and human resources management, CIHLER’s appointment of Heymann will ensure that future hospitality leaders will continue to have access to the latest industry knowledge and best practices on maintaining a productive and loyal workforce.

An expert on organizational development, change and quality management, Heymann’s professional background includes serving as a founding partner of the Heymann Group Inc. A consulting and asset advisory company, the Heymann Group ultimately merged with Strategic Quantitative Solutions to form UniFocus. Over the course of his career and as COO for UniFocus, Heymann has been credited with a range of achievements, including the overseeing of major software and consulting projects for a range of properties and major hotel brands.

From budgeting and demand forecasting to staff planning and service quality management, hospitality organizations that have leveraged Heymann’s labor management expertise to drive workforce productivity and engagement include White Lodging, Loews Hotels, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, KSL Resorts and Hilton.

Tarkett partners with Adleta Corporation
Tarkett, a provider of sustainable flooring and sports surface solutions, has entered into a distribution partnership with Adleta Corporation. Effective immediately, Adleta will represent the company’s product portfolio in the South Central U.S., with a territory that encompasses New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana.

Adleta will be inventorying Tarkett LVT, commercial and residential vinyl sheet, rubber tile, standard and premium wall base, finishing accessories and more, helping serve customers in all key segments.