Sep 15, 2023

Chang’s is revolutionizing its catering capabilities through a strategic collaboration with  Cartwheel , an enterprise delivery management platform. Cartwheel recently invested in integrating with ezCater. This integration further streamlines and optimizes catering management and delivery capabilities for the restaurant chain and centralizes once disparate channels into a single, unified platform. Efficient order and delivery management lead to exceptional customer experiences, which, in turn, drive repeat orders. P.F. Chang’s has worked with Cartwheel to power deliveries through its online catering channels since 2021. The brand is committed to providing a personalized experience to its customers and has long understood the positive impact an efficient delivery has on the holistic customer experience. "P.F. Chang’s has used Cartwheel to power deliveries for years. We’re thrilled that ezCater orders are now integrated into the platform, enabling us to centrally manage and control delivery across all order sources and channels,” said Jessica Jami, Director of Off-Premises Dining at P.F. Chang’s. “Cartwheel’s real-time tracking capabilities are especially crucial in providing an excellent experience to our guests ordering catering, We've seen a significant increase in repeat orders since implementing Cartwheel and are optimistic about the potential increase in catering revenue with this new integration” Cartwheel provides P.F. Chang’s with comprehensive solutions for in-house delivery operations, including a user-friendly driver app, advanced dispatch tools for managers, and real-time order tracking capabilities. Delivery drivers have shown their appreciation for Cartwheel’s tools and interface, consistently providing high ratings and positive feedback on the app. Cartwheel also offers catering-specific features such as proof of delivery and the ability to automatically select vehicle types based on order size. Image Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, the world's largest hotel franchising company with approximately 9,100 hotels across more than 95 countries, today announced new efforts to further elevate the hotel ownership experience for its franchisees around the globe—debuting new, state-of-the-art, owner and guest engagement platforms. Unveiled today during the Company's 2023 Global Conference in Anaheim, Calif., the tools come at no additional cost to Wyndham franchisees. "Every day we're helping our owners open doors to best-in-class technology, more efficient operations, better guest experiences and more profitable hotels," said Geoff Ballotti, president and CEO, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. "With award-winning brands, the number one hotel rewards program, a record development pipeline and historic levels of franchisee engagement and retention—there's never been a better time to be a part of the world's largest, and fastest growing, pure-play hotel franchising company." Driving Performance Through Community Developed with help and insight from Wyndham's franchise advisory and brand councils, Wyndham Community—the Company's new owner engagement platform—marks a significant advancement for hotel owners looking to streamline and simplify management of their hotel operations, regardless of whether they own a single hotel or a portfolio spanning multiple brands and segments. Offering actionable insights to help maximize hotel profitability, Wyndham Community seamlessly connects hotel owners to the day-to-day performance of their business while delivering a constant connection to the scale and resources of the world's largest hotel franchisor. Through the tool, owners can access real-time insights on key business metrics across their portfolio, from anywhere and any device, while also keeping tabs on high-priority tasks and other key action items. Wyndham Community also provides a direct connection to operational support while serving as owners' primary destination for vital news and updates. Enhancing the Guest Experience Wyndham's new guest engagement platform, powered by Canary Technologies, further enhances the guest experience by providing hotel owners with a series of best-in-class, mobile-centric tools, helping them better cater to today's travelers and their evolving needs. Slated to start rolling out in the coming weeks, it's built around four key areas: AI-Driven Property Messaging Integrating directly with Wyndham's next-gen property management systems (SynXis Property Hub and Opera Cloud), guests can text hotels directly for any needs throughout their stay. Frequently asked questions are answered by Wyndham Hospitality AI, freeing hotel staff to focus on other guest needs. Smart Mobile Check-In Building on Wyndham's first-mover status to bring mobile check-in and checkout to the economy segment, this newest offering helps protect hotels against unwarranted chargebacks and fraud by incorporating credit card and ID verification prior to guests' arrival, significantly speeding up the check-in process. Dynamic Upsell Hotels can engage guests in advance of their stay, offering enhancements like early check-in, late checkout and room upgrades. In doing so, hotel owners can now easily unlock new opportunities to boost revenue and their bottom line. Smart Mobile Checkout Upon checkout, housekeeping is automatically notified a new room is ready for cleaning while the checkout screen on the guest's device asks for a review of the stay. On average, pilot properties are seeing a 25% increase in positive reviews. Unlocking the Wyndham Advantage Wyndham's new owner and guest engagement platforms join a growing list of additional tools and resources, which collectively offer franchisees The Wyndham Advantage. From next-gen property and revenue management systems to opt-in, revenue-boosting, ancillary services like its Signature Reservation Services to loyalty-building incentives like The Rewards Circle; Wyndham continues to dedicate the full scope and scale of its resources to the long-term success of its franchisees. Over the last five years, the Company has invested more than $275 million in technology—delivering industry-first sales, marketing and digital innovations—all while expanding its on-the-ground operational support of hotels. Adding to that growing list of firsts is Wyndham's new OTA reconciliation tool. Aimed at correcting the OTA overbilling that can occur when a guest no-shows, cancels or shortens their reservation, the tool automatically reconciles each hotel's stay data with the commissions previously charged at the time of booking. In instances of misalignment, the tool reconciles those stays so the appropriate commission is charged. Historically a manual process, or one which hotels needed to outsource to a third-party for a fee, the Wyndham-provided service is available today at no additional cost to franchisees and currently covers all bookings made through Expedia and its affiliated brands. Wyndham's 2023 Global Conference runs through Thursday, September 14. Built around the theme of "Opening Doors," the 3-day, in-person event is known for being one of the largest gatherings of hoteliers and hotel suppliers in the world. For more information about Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, including franchising opportunities, visit  www.wyndhamdevelopment.com . Image   HotelIQ , a global hospitality technology company and member of Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN), announced that their business intelligence and analytics tool,  Decision Cloud , is available on  Oracle Cloud Marketplace  and can be deployed on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and integrates with  OPERA Cloud  Platform via  Oracle Hospitality Integration Platform (OHIP) . Hotels are now able to more quickly and easily integrate HotelIQ Decision Cloud with OPERA Cloud, enabling more efficient implementation and increasing ROI. Oracle Cloud Marketplace is a centralized repository of enterprise applications offered by Oracle and Oracle partners. Leveraging the power of OHIP to enable integration between HotelIQ Decicsion Cloud and OPERA Cloud offers significant benefits for hoteliers. HotelIQ is able to capture and analyze property data and provide hoteliers with easy-to-digest, accurate, and consistent data to internal departments which were previously siloed. This makes it easy for revenue management, marketing and sales teams to work together to identify revenue opportunities and discover new ways to optimize operational processes. Hotel IT teams also benefit from OHIP’s self-service onboarding process, which eliminates the need for outside vendors to get a partner connected. In addition, OHIP’s APIs allow partners to ensure both systems are in sync, minimizing the work for hotel IT or outside vendors. “Traditional PMS data integration and implementation have historically been our biggest pain points when onboarding new clients,” said Andrew Fessenden, Director of Implementations and Integrations at HotelIQ. ”By making OHIP free for hotels using OPERA Cloud, we are able to offer self-service implementation benefits to users of HotelIQ Decision Cloud on OPERA Cloud.” Oracle Cloud Marketplace is a one-stop shop for Oracle customers seeking trusted business applications offering unique business solutions. OCI is a deep and broad platform of cloud infrastructure services that enables customers to build and run a wide range of applications in a scalable, secure, highly available, and high-performance environment. From application development and business analytics to data management, integration, security, AI, and infrastructure services including Kubernetes and VMware, OCI delivers unmatched security, performance, and cost savings. In addition, with multicloud, hybrid cloud, public cloud, and dedicated cloud options, OCI’s distributed cloud offers customers the benefits of cloud with greater control over data residency, locality, and authority, even across multiple clouds. As a result, customers can bring enterprise workloads to the cloud quickly and efficiently while meeting the strictest regulatory compliance requirements. Image IDeaS, a SAS company, a provider of hotel revenue management software and services, announced today that Summerstar Tourist Parks has adopted the IDeaS’ G3 Revenue Management System (RMS) across fourteen of its Australian-based caravan and holiday park sites. Summerstar previously relied on manual-based approaches to forecast demand and set prices. However, as its business grew, manually collecting multiple data sets and calculating information via spreadsheets became time-consuming and susceptible to errors and missed opportunities. To modernize its business processes and evolve its approach to pricing, Summerstar adopted IDeaS G3 RMS across all its properties. Assessing property performance and market demand: IDeaS G3 RMS will automatically assess Summerstar property performance and market demand while deploying pricing decisions and length-of-stay controls across distribution channels. G3 RMS generates prices that adapt to market changes while considering the competitive landscape and a guest’s willingness to pay. Streamlining head-office resources: IDeaS will help Summerstar grow as a business without additional head-office resources dedicated to revenue management. Using its advanced, automated RMS the properties can minimize the loss of ‘in-head’ knowledge and user error in the revenue management space. Optimizing revenue streams to increase profitability: By continually analyzing data and adjusting pricing strategies, IDeaS enables the optimization of revenue streams to increase profitability. Through monitoring market trends, competitor pricing, and customer behaviors, hoteliers can better adjust pricing and distribution strategies and maintain a competitive edge to capture market share. James Corbitt, director, Summerstar Tourist Parks, said: “Summerstar Tourist Parks sites are located across western and southern Australia, all of which have different peak seasons, special events, and guest preferences when it comes to booking. We realized that to continue operating successfully, Summerstar must provide both the best customer experience and prices possible. As a result, it was critical that our length of stay and pricing be balanced through practicing effective revenue management.” Jurgen Ortelee, managing director of APAC, IDeaS, said: “To provide accommodation options for every budget and attract guests at the right price, Summerstar must continually meet the market from a revenue management perspective. By analyzing historical data and market trends, IDeaS enables Summerstar to forecast future demand accurately. This forecasting capability helps them to plan resources, inventory, and capacity effectively, ensuring that their properties can attract guests while minimizing costs and maximizing revenue.” Image Azul Hospitality Group, a premier hospitality company providing innovative approaches to maximizing an asset's performance, announced today the promotions of Alvaro Fraile to Chief Executive Officer, and Mark Crisci to President of the organization. Fraile joined the company in 2021 as Chief Operating Officer. He previously held senior positions with AC Hotels and Marriott International. He will provide oversight for all of Azul's hospitality-related operations. Crisci joined the company in 2014 as Chief Investment Officer. He previously held senior positions with several hospitality management firms and brands and will focus on the company's administrative, legal, and business matters. Rick Mansur, one of the company's founders and current President and CEO, will continue with the organization as Executive Chairman, focusing on senior talent acquisition, along with client and partner relationships. Doug Leiber, also a founding partner at Azul, will continue his responsibilities for talent acquisition and team member retention for all levels of the organization. "Alvaro and Mark have extensive expertise and will continue providing industry-leading results," said Rick Mansur, Executive Chairman, Azul Hospitality Group. "I am confident that they will ensure Azul, as a dynamic hospitality organization, properly serves our guests, team members, clients, and partners. I look forward to working alongside these two highly talented professionals as they oversee the operations of our company." This leadership transition is a natural progression, allowing Fraile and Crisci to collaborate in providing oversight to the day-to-day operations of Azul Hospitality Group and focus on top-line emphasis, paired with rigorous cost controls, best-in-class service standards, and the strongest possible bottom line for their clients & partners. Fraile and Crisci will continue the commitment to a deep service culture at the company, providing strong support for the team members with dedicated servant leadership. Azul Hospitality Group, an award-winning lifestyle hospitality platform based in San Diego, CA, currently has 54 hotels under contract. Their hotels include over 8,000 guest rooms in the western and midwestern United States. The company has strong relationships with all the major hotel franchise companies and manages over 25 different and unique brands within its portfolio. Azul's Distinctive and Delineated Food & Beverage concepts are also a significant focus of their business. Image Raydiant , a provider of in-location digital experiences, has partnered with NCR, a provider of  point of sale (POS) technology for the restaurant industry, to deliver an unparalleled dining experience. This partnership leverages the power of  NCR's Aloha POS system  to allow Raydiant's clients to create dynamic digital menus that reflect their brand's unique image and can be updated instantly. This new integration empowers retailers with seamless control over their inventory from a single access point. They can seamlessly adjust pricing, mark items as out of stock, or add new products — all from one central platform. These updates can be rolled out to a single store location or instantaneously across the entire retail chain. This unprecedented centralized control enables retailers to respond to local market conditions more nimbly. Beyond shaping customer experiences, the collaboration also addresses a critical challenge in the restaurant industry: employee retention. The integration of  Raydiant's Employee Engagement  product provides a unique way for restaurants to motivate and unite their staff through the gamification of sales data from the NCR Aloha system. Restaurants can leverage real-time sales metrics to create friendly competition around promotional menu items or overall sales goals. This fosters teamwork and a spirit of friendly competition among employees to drive higher productivity and sales. This collaboration between Raydiant and NCR is set to redefine the restaurant industry, making digital experiences more accessible, manageable, and engaging for businesses of all sizes and their customers.