Technology
areas ,” Roelens says . “ You can also use this technology for electronic payments ; we are using it for our retail shops , for example . The wristband stays the same , but you need RFID readers connected to your Micros and Book4Time terminals , and the guest needs to present the band close to that technology , or have wireless technology present .”
TUI ’ s Smartband is a silicon wristband with Bluetooth 4.0 battery and Watch results a chip card . A battery
Another major capsule makes the band reusable , whereas the player in the hotel bands are not . wearables space is
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide , which began tinkering with applications for the Apple Watch at a few of its tech-savvy hotels this year . Although some observers wonder if Starwood will ever be able to handle the logistics of rolling out similar wearables to large , aging hotels like those in its Sheraton and Westin brands , its newer , hipper flags like Aloft and W are surefire candidates . The company has pioneered a host of uses for the technology , even if proliferation of the Apple Watch is still in its infancy among consumers .
“ We approached the Apple Watch as a unique platform with distinct use cases ,” says Alyssa Waxenberg , vice president of mobile strategy for Starwood . “ Therefore , we focused on providing the inthe-moment information guests need to make their travel experiences frictionless , such as reservation details , SPG rewards
TUI GroUp : It ’ s all In the wrIsts
One hospitality hoping to innovate in the wearables space is multinational travel and tourism operator TUI Group , which recently piloted its multifunction TUI Smartband
( developed through a partnership with vendor Quadriga ) at several properties . The Hannover , Germany-based entity is considered the world ’ s largest travel company — it owns travel agencies , hotels , airlines , cruise ships and retail outlets — so it has both the resources to experiment with leading-edge technology and numerous venues where its Smartband could be applied . HOTELS spoke with Maria Bobrowska , TUI ’ s commercial mobile manager ( Europe ), who led the TUI Smartband project out of TUI ’ s London office . HOTELS : How did the Smartband project get started ? Maria Bobrowska : A group of our senior managers worked on an innovation project , which focused on wearables . They decided that the best business unit to take it forward would be our centre of excellence for mobile — that ’ s our mobility hub in central London — and I ’ m part of that business unit . They approached us and said , “ We ’ re set up to do some use cases , take it wider and see what we can do , and what can happen .” H : What was the initial goal for the device ? MB : We want to provide a very seamless and integrated experience within the resort , so we decided on our specific wearable , which focuses on a silicon wristband with Bluetooth 4.0 battery and a chip card . One key thing is we use a battery capsule , so it ’ s reusable , whereas the ( one-piece ) bands are not . H : What can the TUI Smartband do ? What ’ s the range of functionality ? MB : They enable our customers to access the room , pay for things at the resort , access certain areas within the resort , and also one of the quite exciting features : to connect to mobile phones and our app ( My Holiday ), and allow customers to view their spend throughout their holidays . You can even track what the individual members of the family have actually been spending because very often at the end of your stay in a hotel , you go to check out , and customers are quite surprised ... Also , once you enter the room wearing your wristband , the air conditioning and electricity go on . H : What about security ? Are there any hacking concerns ? MB : We relied on what was running in the previous [ Quadriga ] system because we integrated with it , which ensures certain securities . As of this trial , we didn ’ t have any breach of security . It ’ s been checked by our specialists within the mobility hub , so I do believe it ’ s safe and secure .
54 HOTELS January / February 2016 www . hotelsmag . com