Tourism Breaking News
Farnek Hotel Management has developed a ground-breaking hospitality app that digitalises a hotel guest’s journey from the initial reservation through to check out. The app which was developed in-house by Farnek’s award-winning technology and innovation division, interfaces with the hotel’s property management system (PMS) affording guests a whole suite of services from uploading travel documents, such as vaccination certificates, ordering a car on arrival, room service and laundry. The hotel app can also send automated electronic updates and alerts to the guest, as well as e-registration documents, e-invoices and e-receipts, all in one convenient space. Walter Knight, Director of Hospitality at Farnek said, “Flexi-Guest achieves three main hotel objectives. First of all, it offers the guest an enhanced experience, providing a seamless pre-arrival and check-in procedure. “Secondly, during the stay, guests can order room service in advance, have laundry picked up or delivered, request early or late check outs, invoices or order a car to go to the airport. Because the app manages secure online payments, the guest doesn’t even need to physically visit the reception. “Finally, the hotel benefits too. If the experience is good, the guest is more likely to return and also recommend the hotel to friends and colleagues. The hotel operates more efficiently, saving staff time and expense and has the added advantage of driving revenue through F&B and e-concierge services,” added Knight. Farnek has just completed a successful trial of the app, having secured a contract for the Expo Village, situated on the Expo 2020 site. Farnek is currently responsible for managing the reservation services, concierge, front office services and housekeeping, for the 2,273 apartments. “Feedback from the initial guest reviews, has been very positive,” said Knight.
Sustainability is never far from Farnek’s market proposition and Flexi-Guest is no exception. The app can estimate the carbon emissions generated by any guest during their stay and provide a cost should the guest wish to offset their carbon footprint. “The fact that Flexi-Guest can interface with any hotel property management system, makes it extremely marketable. Our business strategy is to offer the app as part of a cluster of services or as a standalone, whereby a hotel or apartment complex could outsource it’s entire front office services to us, or just pay a licence fee to use the app,” said Javeria Aijaz, Senior Director – Technology & Innovations, Farnek. Looking ahead, Aijaz added, “Although we are first to market with this app, we are already looking at additional services and improvements, particularly to the management and operational reporting.” The newly formed Farnek Hotel Management company offers a full suite of services including consultancy, management, outsourcing and manpower services. In fact, as a Facilities Management (FM) provider, Farnek has been supporting hotels and resorts to become more sustainable over the past 15 years.
Indeed, Farnek’s Hotel Optimizer software, can record, analyse and benchmark a property’s energy and water consumption, as well as waste generation, along with expert recommendations to operate more cost-efficiently and sustainably. Furthermore, Farnek is a preferred partner and auditor for Green Globe the worldwide sustainability accreditation system based on internationally accepted criteria for sustainable operation and management of travel and tourism businesses. “We believe that our 360-degree market proposition for the hotel sector, is unrivalled and our participation at the Arabian Hospitality Investment Conference (AHIC) provides us with an ideal platform to showcase our services to a targeted audience of industry leaders, owners, investors and prominent management companies,” added Knight.
