Tag Archives: hospitality

Sabre Corporation announced the integration between Nuvola, its task management and guest engagement software, and the renowned messaging platform WhatsApp. Hotels using Nuvola’s Guest Chat module now have the option to choose between SMS messaging or WhatsApp to power their real-time communications with guests. With over two billion users across 180 countries, the integration with WhatsApp provides hoteliers with a powerful tool to offer a differentiated and seamless guest experience. Additionally, Nuvola recently launched a two-way integration with Sabre’s property management system, SynXis Property Hub. This new integration allows hotel staff to have a more holistic view of the traveler and run operations on-property smoothly. “Properties using Nuvola’s Housekeeping module and Property Hub can send real-time updates to ensure the front desk has accurate room status information, such as if the room is cleaned, and can seamlessly check in guests upon their arrival,” said Juan Abello, Vice President of Product Management at Sabre Hospitality and founder of Nuvola. “Furthermore, if the hotel incorporates Nuvola Guest Chat or the Angel guest app, the information exchanged between the property management system (PMS) and Nuvola has the potential to improve the guest experience and increase the hotel’s guest satisfaction score.” Abello added. SynXis Property Hub is the latest PMS addition to Nuvola’s list of PMS integrations. Nuvola already offers integrations with prevalent PMS providers such as Oracle Opera, SMS Host and Maestro, making it an attractive option for the global hospitality industry. Furthermore, Nuvola currently supports user’s interface in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese languages, enabling each staff member to pick the language they feel most confident using. Additionally, Nuvola is set to release French, German, and Japanese languages next …

The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International Middle East (HSMAI ME) is bringing back its high-impact ROC ME Commercial Strategy Conference for its sixth annual congregation. Held on November 28 and 29, 2023, at the Conrad Dubai Hotel, this exclusive event brings together the brightest minds in the Middle East hospitality industry to provide an unrivalled platform for knowledge sharing and network building. Under the banner of Connect, Evolve and Lead, this year’s must-visit event will harness the knowledge and expertise of the region’s hospitality leaders while also shining a spotlight on the industry’s future frontrunners, inviting you to meet and mingle with the hoteliers of today and tomorrow in a dynamic and enlightening format. Attendees at this year’s conference will have the chance to hear from the top industry thought-leaders, game-changers, motivational speakers, innovators and disruptors, who will take to the stage to host informative and inspirational talks. Dedicated sessions will focus on collaboration and innovation, including how to ensure Marketing, Sales & Revenue Management relationships work hand-in-hand. Attendees will also discover the latest tools and metrics to help implement their strategies, and have the chance to measure their current strategies to ensure they align with global benchmarks and ever-evolving market trends. Over the course of the two days, participants will have the opportunity broaden their network by engaging with exceptional leaders and hoteliers, HSMAI ROC Middle East’s Advisory Board members, General Managers, Marketers, Operations, Sales, and Revenue Management teams. As the only Commercial Strategy Conference for the industry in the Middle East, the ROC ME Commercial Strategy Conference leads the way for education, insights, connections, and inspiration – with curated events created by hoteliers for hoteliers. HSMAI Middle …

Elaf Group participated in the ‘Future Hospitality Investment Summit – Saudi Arabia 2023’, which was held from May 7 to 9, 2023, in the capital city of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh. This year’s summit assembled a huge number of leaders and officials from countries across the globe as well as renowned investors, business owners, developers and operators in the hospitality and hotel services sector, making it the largest edition in the history of this significant event for the region’s hospitality sector. As the event draws industry leaders from around the world, Elaf Group highlighted its most notable hotel services and products as well as the most recent additions to its hotel facilities in Saudi Arabia. The event served as a platform to address challenges and opportunities, promote sustainability and innovation, and enable entrepreneurship in the hospitality sector and shape the future of hospitality in the KSA and the region. During the event, Majed Kaki, Vice President of Elaf Travel and Tourism at Elaf Group participated in the panel discussion titled ‘The Saudi Private Sector and the Saudi Vision 2030’, centred on the private sector’s contribution to the development and growth of tourism sector and execution of developmental projects. In addition, he emphasised the opportunities and possibilities for the expansion of tourism, hospitality and hotel services sectors and reinforced their role as significant private economic contributors in line with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030. He further highlighted Elaf Group’s plans to develop its hotel services and products, modify and expand its hospitality facilities in line with the ambitious national plans for tourism, and ensure readiness to welcome more visitors, tourists, pilgrims and Umrah performers. Kaki said: “Elaf Group …

Knight Frank Middle East announced a collaboration with Pan Kingdom Holding Saudi Arabia to focus on Asset Management Project for a newly constructed 2,000 room hotel in Makkah. Turab Saleem, Partner & Head of Hospitality at Knight Frank MENA, expressed excitement for the collaboration, stating that with 20 years of Asset Management experience in the region, Knight Frank Middle East is eager to contribute to the success of the project. The collaboration will see Knight Frank not only overseeing the hotel project but also providing expertise in brand development and business planning for Pan Kingdom’s growing hospitality portfolio. The partnership aims to cultivate new hotel assets in the Kingdom in alignment with the 2030 vision.

Marriott International announced that its unique hospitality training program, Tahseen, celebrated its first graduating class in Egypt. Developed in partnership with Helwan University and Professional Development Foundation, the company created the unique programme for Egypt in 2018 to support its commitment to further enhance tourism education in the country. The inaugural graduating class featured 80 students who completed the first of its kind Bachelors of Hotel Operations Management Degree. The celebration took place at The St. Regis Cairo with all 80 students accompanied by their families. The milestone event was hosted by Satya Anand, President, Europe Middle East & Africa, Marriott International and was attended by Professor Dr. Hosam Refai, Acting President, Helwan University and Mohammed Farouk Hafeez, Chairman, Professional Development Foundation, along with other senior officials from the organizations. Satya Anand, President, Europe, Middle East & Africa, Marriott International said, “We are excited to celebrate the first group of graduates as part of our Tahseen programme in Egypt.  Tahseen is focused on providing young people with the skills and experience to grow and thrive in the hospitality business and to be part of the success of Egypt’s travel and tourism sector. As a company, we remain committed to enhancing tourism education in Egypt and developing the next wave of exciting and impactful local hospitality leaders in the country.” Tahseen was launched in 2018 in partnership with Helwan University and Professional Development Foundation to focus on fast-tracking the next generation of hospitality leaders by providing them with firsthand experience of the industry and a springboard to launch successful careers in hospitality. In 2019, the programme received the Ministry of Higher Education’s approval in Egypt and earned bachelor’s degree accreditation. Today, …

Nadia Ibrahim, Associate Director of Consultancy & Sustainability at leading UAE-based smart and green facilities management (FM) company Farnek, has revealed how all hotels throughout the region can create a bespoke roadmap to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050. During her webinar presentation in conjunction with the Swiss Business Council, which was attended by key hospitality figures from across the region, Ibrahim highlighted the fact that some international hospitality brands may already have strategies in place to achieve their Net Zero ambitions. However, many independent hotels, particularly three and four-star properties would require external support from consultants to design, plan and execute a carbon neutral roadmap. “Major international hotel brands such as Accor, Hilton and Marriott have the necessary resources to achieve their sustainability goals, but many privately-owned independent hotels will not have the means to access dedicated internal support. “There is also general confusion about what Net Zero means and the process and actions required to make a corporate commitment and how a hotel’s carbon footprint can be measured and reduced without affecting the operation or guest experience,” said Ibrahim. It is widely reported that tourism and specifically hotels account for 8% and 1% respectively of total global carbon emissions. But implementing a carbon reduction plan is not an easy task, with multiple internal and external challenges. The most common of which are carbon footprint assessments across the hotel and its value chain, a lack of financial resources with little or no budget allocated for climate related activities, the higher costs associated with sustainable products and insufficient regulatory incentives to support a hotel’s Net Zero transition. Ibrahim, who was elected to the board of the official Local Network of …

Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA), concluded its participation in the fourth edition of the Tourist Hospitality Initiative held in southwest region of Aseer. SAUDIA celebrated guests on flight SV1644, inbound from King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, with a welcoming event and giveaways. Held under the theme of “1,000 Welcomes,” a phrase traditionally used as a greeting for visitors in the Saudi region of Aseer, and with direct support from the Governer of the region, the initiative is aimed at continuing to welcome a diverse range of visitors to the region. In recognition of the tourism campaign, the SAUDIA sales offices and the arrivals terminal at Abha International Airport were decorated with the initiative’s vibrant designs, highlighting SAUDIA’s role in connecting the capital of Aseer with the rest of the Kingdom. In addition to its scenic nature and charming ambiance, Abha contains a variety of ways to keep tourists interested. SAUDIA’s participation in the initiative is a continuation of the national carrier’s involvement last year and comes as part of its efforts to promote domestic tourism. The flag-carrying airline’s operations out of Abha are continuously being enhanced and scaled, with more seating capacity being made available as required by seasonal demand.

Hudini, and Incode Technologies announced their strategic partnership to transform hospitality guest experiences. The partnership with Incode will enable Hudini cus-tomers to deploy identity verification during the check-in and check-out processes through enhanced digital bio-metric technology. This association will automate these processes making it quick, seamless and at the conven-ience of the guest. The hospitality industry relies on its ability to connect people and the places they visit to create memora-ble experiences for its guests. In its revitalization post-pandemic, the industry is realizing the impact that technology can have on a guest’s stay, and the potential it holds to increase customer loyalty and create additional revenue. In fact, a recent study found that 76% of hotel executives are looking to introduce “a fully contactless experience” by 2025. Prince Thampi, Founder and CEO at Hudini said: “Hotel guests crave seamless experiences when they travel. Long check-in processes and complex payment procedures can ruin a guest’s stay. As a leader in biometric identity verification, Incode’s solution removes these challenges and helps to maximise the dig-ital guest experience, without compromising on security or privacy. Through our partnership with Incode, we are excited to offer fully automated identity verification to our check-in and check-out features across our partner hotels.” Both organizations have realized the potential identity verification holds across the hospitality industry and share the ambition for its widespread adoption during hotel check-in and check-out. To further that vision, the partnership will include the following experiences: Transparent guest identification: In a matter of seconds, even before arrival, the industry’s only fully automated identity verification engine validates the identity of a guest. This allows guests to identify themselves at their convenience, triggering Hudini’s systems to …

The UAE welcomes a new experience-driven, hospitality group to the market, Limestone Lab, a company with a vision of introducing new and innovative hospitality concepts to the UAE social and dining scene. With the notion of “re-imagining” hospitality experiences, Limestone Lab is set to roll out a lineup of unique concepts to the market between Q4 of 2021 and Q4 of 2023, with a disruptive approach to the traditional brick-and-mortar models. The company’s solid pipeline of bespoke F&B venues will be nothing short of innovative and cultural, boasting of interactive experiences, socially-elevated ambiances, which will be paired with culturally-infused cuisines and themes. Limestone Lab will also bring together a team of prominent designers, architects, hospitality experts to create thoughtfully designed properties located in unexpected destinations. All the venues will be unified by a common goal: to create spaces and experiences that hold lasting memories. Founded by Dubai-based serial entrepreneurs, Hassan Ballout and Hani Doueik, the formation of the company was an inherent process sparked by the passion of these two businessmen, accompanied by their extensive hospitality expertise, to bring truly inspirational F&B and nightlife concepts to the UAE. Ballout, CEO of Limestone Lab, is most known for his recent position as Chief Growth Officer for Seven Management, where he launched and managed Seven Sisters and Antika Bar in Dubai. Ballout has in addition co-created and rolled out 12 virtual restaurant brands in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait & Saudi Arabia, including Tawook Nation, Luca, Japang and Vigilante, to name a few. Alongside Ballout, Hani Doueik will also serve as the Co-Founder and COO of Limestone Lab. Doueik prides over a decade of experience in consulting multiple international brands within creative advertising …

Emirates Flight Catering has been selected to lead the hospitality and operations for the New Zealand pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai which will take place from October 2020 to April 2021 with participation from 190 countries. The New Zealand pavilion restaurant will be central to the country’s participation at Expo 2020. International visitors will experience premium New Zealand food and beverage products, prepared by Emirates Flight Catering’s skilled chefs. Saeed Mohammed, Chief Executive Officer, Emirates Flight Catering, said, “New Zealand is a high-profile destination and its innovative approach to hospitality will allow us to showcase our expertise in food, beverage and hospitality, and to provide a world-class experience to anyone who visits the pavilion. The opportunity to work alongside New Zealand and its visitors to Expo 2020, a milestone event for the United Arab Emirates, is something we’re incredibly proud of.” Members of Emirates Flight Catering’s experienced culinary team, made up of 1800 chefs from 52 countries, will visit New Zealand early next year to source food and beverage products from experienced exporters for the pavilion restaurant. Clayton Kimpton, New Zealand’s Commissioner-General to Expo 2020, said, “New Zealand’s manaakitanga or warm hospitality is part of what makes us special. We’re excited to partner with Emirates Flight Catering to share our pavilion experience and New Zealand’s food and beverage with the world at Expo 2020 Dubai.” The agreement with New Zealand at Expo 2020 is further evidence of Emirates Flight Catering’s expertise and expansion outside of its core flight catering business. The company recently commenced construction of its vertical farming facility in Dubai. It’s also expanding further into retail and consumer sectors, combining its culinary and production expertise to produce premium …