Tech Talk

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With Guests Checking Back In, Hoteliers Look to Take Next Step With New Tech
Posted: 03/07/2023

Business travel is picking back up and families may be taking their first or second real vacations since the pandemic cancelled so many plans just a few years ago. To ensure that guests have the best on-site experience possible, hoteliers are increasingly looking to new technologies to make their stay more comfortable than ever. With an advanced property management systems (PMS) and integration platforms, hoteliers can increase operational and staff efficiency, but also meet changing guest expectations for a high-value but relatively low-touch experience. We looked ahead to see what changes we expect to see sweeping the hospitality industry this year.

Long-term readers of this blog know that I rarely focus on a single company or product. My goal is to help readers understand new and emerging technologies, when and why they might be useful, and what to consider if you are buying them.

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The Future of Hotels
Posted: 02/21/2023

Hotels have always been a high-touch low-tech business. Today, and into the foreseeable future, hotels are moving away from the pure ‘people serving people’ model towards a more high-tech low-touch business, and doubling down on digitalization. In the paragraphs below, I envision ways in which tech can innovate and enhance the guest experience throughout the guests’ 6 stage hotel journey: Imagine-Book-Stay-Report-Recommend-Return.

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Definitely Doug 2/10/23: Planning for June
Posted: 02/10/2023

The question I have heard most often in recent months is “where are you going in the last week of June?”. As most readers are aware, two trade shows featuring hotel technology are scheduled during the same dates that week. Many of you are still undecided which to attend. Knowing that your decision will be based at least in part on where others are going (hoteliers and exhibitors both), I decided to try to get some real data that I could share.

The Shiji Distribution Solutions team provided the research on available partners, vendors, and technology, however, for obvious reasons, the chart doesn’t contain every single solution and partner available.

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Shiji Group’s COO Kevin King Revisits the Company’s Decade of Growth

02/10/2020 Tagged as: Kevin King, Shiji Group, StayNTouch

by Kevin King

From the company’s simple beginnings in a Beijing apartment to the global expansion and recent major technology acquisitions, over a short period of time Shiji Group has experienced fantastic growth to serve a fully worldwide customer base. Looking back over the previous decade, Kevin King, COO of Shiji Group, shares the company’s background and pathway moving forward mixed with a desire to push the boundaries of technology for the hospitality industry. Below are some key takeaways from Mr. King’s article:

Foundation: After capturing almost 70 percent of the Chinese hospitality and retail market in the first four years of the decade, Shiji set its sights on a global expansion. Today, Shiji Group is one of the world’s leading innovators in technology, providing an integrated suite of technological platforms to help connect the hospitality, retail, food and entertainment industries. In the past decade, Shiji has grown into a global technology provider, serving more than 74,000 hotels, more than 200,000 restaurants and more than 600,000 retail outlets in 177 countries and 15,000 cities outside of China.

International Growth: Shiji serves more than 74,000 hotels in more than 15,000 cities around the world with 56% of hotels in the United States, more than 29,000 hotels in Europe, and almost 7,000 hotels in Asia PAC leveraging Shiji’s technology. More examples, 45% of hotels in Las Vegas operate with Shiji technology and more than 25% of Australia’s hotels use Shiji. Watch the Shiji Around the World video.

Investment: With a focus on challenges facing the hospitality market and to provide a solution, Shiji looked to better connect business to their own systems. Shiji developed a network of technological solutions to prioritize connectivity and an open API architecture. Shiji’s acquisition of and investment in companies like StayNTouch, MyCheck and ReviewPro has propelled its growth and innovation. For example, ReviewPro now processes more than 272 million online reviews per day and is set to launch an innovative guest experience technology at this year’s ITB Berlin. In addition to providing more mobile applications, Shiji is focusing on security as well to help properties fight fraud and comply with PSD2 regulations.

To read Kevin King’s full article, please visit https://www.shijigroup.com/insights/a-decade-in-review-2010-to-2020 .