INTERNATIONAL REPORT—Across the globe, tech companies have entered partnerships and introduced new tools and services to help simplify hotel operations and improve the guest experience:
Shangri-La Group Launches E-Services Within WeChat Ecosystem
Shangri-La Group launched its WeChat Mini Program and WeChat online pay services, making it the first hotel company to offer a range of e-services under the WeChat eco-system including online pay and offline deposit for guests with WeChat accounts.
These initiatives are a result of the Shangri-La and Tencent strategic partnership on digital transformation inked in 2018, which has enabled the group to tap into a wide range of platform resources and to engage with a broader base of WeChat users in China and globally.
The WeChat Mini Program and WeChat online pay service will be available in all 50 Shangri-La properties in mainland China. The full suite of WeChat e-payment functions will be followed in stages for the other properties worldwide, with the service eventually covering the group’s over 100 hotels globally including Shangri-La, Kerry, Hotel Jen and Traders properties. The introduction of the Shangri-La WeChat Mini Program will also enable Golden Circle members to link their membership with their WeChat ID. Shangri-La’s official WeChat service account will also be upgraded by adding access to the mini program.
Dimension Development Maximizes Broadvine Planning Capabilities
Dimension Development revealed the ability to forecast room revenue within an accuracy of 3% using the planning module of Broadvine.
“Broadvine’s Planning application is one of the most robust tools for budgeting and forecasting on the market,” said Shawn Barber, CEO of Broadvine. “As one of our largest management company partners, Dimension continues to prove the strength of our application by delivering accurate revenue forecasts to the benefit of their owners. The success of this partnership continues to enable opportunities for us to innovate and further serve our entire customer base.”
Broadvine’s Planning application takes the struggle out of using multiple spreadsheets and moves the budget and forecast process to a web-based application providing security, standardization, and data integrity, according to the company. Once historical plans and actuals are imported into Broadvine, year-over-year results are available to simplify performance evaluation and future planning. Users create plans that are managed collaboratively across departments as well as between the property and corporate office. Broadvine’s Planning application manages complex revenue segmentations, leverages driver-based expenses, and protects items from inadvertent revisions and incorrect manual calculations.
Concord Hospitality Standardizes Accounting on ApTech’s PVNG
Aptech Computer Systems will standardize Concord Hospitality’s accounting processes for 112 hotels on the PVNG Enterprise Hotel Accounting System to support expansion of Concord’s multi-brand portfolio.
In evaluating systems, Concord was seeking a partner that could enhance back-office financial functionality and would include tight integration to the hospitality company’s reporting, budgeting and forecasting platforms. Concord selected the PVNG Enterprise Hotel Accounting Software System for implementation at all of the company’s hotels.
The PVNG implementation is expected to take place this year and into early 2020.
Noble House Hotels and Resorts Expands Services with Venza
Noble House Hotels and Resorts Ltd. is making efforts to further enhance its data protection efforts by shifting from Venza’s Denali program to the more advanced Everest program.
After four years utilizing Denali, the change brings a myriad of increased functionality and benefits to Noble House’s fingertips, according to the company. The Venza Everest program addresses PCI requirements and helps hotels better safeguard its properties while satisfying compliance regulations—a natural progression increasing its existing security measures. The Everest package includes a policy template library, phishing campaigns, posters/job aids, webinars, internal vulnerability/breach scanning and data breach coverage. Additionally, 20 properties under the management of Noble House Hotels and Resorts will participate in PCI SAQ preparation, external ASV scanning (quarterly), endpoint protection, logging/alerting services and PCI SAQ portal access.
Kerten Hospitality Partners with Ireckonu
Specialist mixed-use operator Kerten Hospitality, has selected Ireckonu as its IT platform partner to accelerate the group’s innovative and customer-centric service strategy and to enable its hotels and serviced offices to deliver a smart, efficient and personalized guest experience.
Kerten Hospitality will implement Ireckonu’s Core and IKnowU products across all its hotels. The two solutions will work synonymously with one another—Core will gather and consolidate all the data flowing within a property and showcase the newfound data in a viewable dashboard. IKnowU will implement the same data consolidation features with guests’ profiles, offering a truly holistic depiction of each guest entering a Kerten property.