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Definitely Doug 11/17/23: The Hotel TV Dilemma
Posted: 11/17/2023

In case you missed the memo, people no longer watch television the way that they did ten years ago. Not at home, and not at hotels. Nielsen reported that streaming services cornered 34.8% of TV screen time in July 2022, when they overtook cable for the first time.

Property management systems (PMSs) fundamentally have changed very little since the 1980s. And many hotels still use systems that were built in the eighties, nineties, or aughts. Since then, massive technology changes have occurred: the mobile revolution, cloud computing, distributed ledgers, AI-based large language models, Web 3.0, and other innovations have fundamentally changed both the technological capabilities of software, the way it is designed and built, and expectations for user experience.

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Definitely Doug 10/20/23: Gluing It All Together
Posted: 10/20/2023

Hardly a day goes by that hotels do not express frustration about the inability to tie together key data sources and technology systems. This is not a new problem; it has been around for decades. Progress has been made on many fronts to be sure, but digitalization has created new issues much faster than solutions.

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What’s the Buzz Among Today’s Hoteliers?
Posted: 10/17/2023

What’s on the minds of hoteliers? What’s keeping them up at night? And what makes travelers happy and eager to return? Some of the best places to have these candid discussions are at the industry’s conferences and events, and this year’s lineup has not disappointed. From AAHOACON and BITAC, to HITEC and The Hospitality Show, I’ve been traveling steadily, attending 13 events since January.

Technology has become an indispensable part of the guest experience. As travelers increasingly expect tech-enabled convenience, hospitality businesses must continue innovating to meet these demands. While WiFi was once the primary tech offering for hotels, today's guests want more. Integrated proptech solutions are becoming the new standard.

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2017 HITEC Report: The Wi-Fi Edition

08/02/2017

by Dan Phillips

I went to this year’s HITEC in Toronto in search of three main things: Wi-Fi providers offering personal area networks (PAN), TV providers showcasing casting capabilities, and vendors working in the guest experience and personalization space. On all three accounts, this HITEC delivered.

There were more than 68 vendors touting Wi-Fi on the floor and pretty much all of them have some form of PAN solution. Of all of the companies I visited I would say that the folks at Ruckus continue to lead the industry. The company has a very wide array of product sets that can meet most any brand requirements and owner’s budgets and always work hard on new developments.

Interactive TV boasted over 45 exhibitors, and, pretty much all of them tout a method for casting. I found InnSpire to have one of the more seamless solutions, and a neat new way to replace the set top box. Another interesting development in casting was provided by TeleAdapt.

For the last few years, my passion has been guest experience and personalization. From my perspective, HITEC this year might have been a coming-out party for experience as every vendor was screaming “experience” in every marketing slick at their disposal. Leveraging off of another of my passions, Lord of the Rings, I’d like to steal the outline: Nine rings for men, seven rings for dwarves, three rings for elves and one ring to rule them all.

My nine rings go to newcomers in this space, many of which were in E20X. Though these might be thought of lesser entities at this point in time – just like men – one or more of these vendors might eventually rule the industry. This list includes Angie Hospitality, Arrivedo, GEMtouch, GuestFolder, iPalapa Corporation, Kognitiv, OnceThere Inc., Stay Wanderful and Zootle Inc.

The seven rings title goes to companies that have been around for a while, and have begun to make their reputations in this niche. This group is made up of ALICE, Cendyn, Crave Interactive, Guestware, HeBS Digital, Listrak and NAVIS.

To be in the three-ring category a company must have established itself as an industry leader, and therefore, Agilysys, Infor and Springer-Miller Systems are recognized.

But for me, the one ring that rules them all, is Protel hotelsoftware GmbH. What the industry is sorely lacking is an agnostic service bus. Not only does Protel have this, but the solution also has a very feature rich PMS that it may work with. Protel can be a one-stop shop, but they also sell components, meaning you can buy some of the tools and add them to what you already have. If you haven’t looked at Protel yet, I strongly urge you to set up a demo. I think that they have a strong chance to replace many of the “top” vendors in the PMS space.

About The Author

Dan Phillips
Owner
Dare to Imagine

Dan Phillips is the owner of the consulting firm, Dare to Imagine (www.dare2i.com). He started behind the front desk of a Holiday Inn in 1987 and has been consulting to hotel companies since 1991. Dare to Imagine enlists hotel experts with decades of C-level experience at many of the major hotel companies in the world. He can be reached at dphillips@dare2i.com or by phone at 678-852-5913.