and check-out and apps … but it has implications on how we communicate to our customers .” He adds , “ The selling is going to be different .”
GEORGE TURNER , CHIEF COMMERCIAL AND TECHNOLOGY OFFICER , IHG “ We ’ ve learned a lot in 2020 ,” says George Turner , IHG ’ s chief commercial and technology officer , particularly around guest preferences . IHG is amping up the distribution of digital check-in across the U . S . and Canada ; the goal is 5,000 hotels by the end of March . It also is adapting revenue management systems to guests who need more flexibility in booking , changing or refunding a reservation .
“ The days of what I call huge capital projects in order to make massive changes over a period of time are probably long gone ,” says Turner , who is based in Atlanta . “ We ’ re having to now shift to a working model which says that we ’ re going to make small , impactful , incremental changes and add value to the business in a shorter timeframe .” the guests and not be distracted by other things which actually we can automate .”
SCOTT STRICKLAND , CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER , WYNDHAM HOTELS & RESORTS When the pandemic hit in early 2020 , several technology initiatives that were internally focused on newly irrelevant were “ crash-landed ,” says Scott Strickland , New York-based CIO of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts .
Projects that prioritized contactless communication , guest engagement and personalization of its 80 million-member database got attention . In August , the company launched Wyndham Direct , which offers virtual card payment through direct channels and real-time access to individual traveler folios . Customers likely to stay at Wyndham ’ s budget brands , like Days Inn and Super 8 , tend to be construction or crew workers who might not have a corporate card but who could now directly bill their company for the room .
ADD VALUE IN A SHORTER TIMEFRAME
Speed to market is key . Early in the pandemic , when the company was deluged with customer calls , it leveraged cloud-based solutions and employee devices to allow more than 1,500 contact center agents to work from home . “ Pre-COVID , I ’ d been told that we couldn ’ t do that ,” Turner says . The transition took three weeks .
Tech investments require longevity and must give guests more options . “ In 2021 , we ’ re going to have to move faster than we ’ ve ever moved before ,” he says . “ We ’ ll be under pressure to do so — and probably even more pressure as a result of the fact that some things really had to pause in 2020 while we dealt with the challenges that we face from the pandemic .”
Turner ’ s priority is to continue focusing on how technology can contribute to “ above-property solutions ” — “ areas where the hotel will not have to be concerned around , for example , taking reservations because the system is doing that for them , which allows people at the front desk to focus on
The company also used more targeted offers , and intends to deliver a new mobile app this year . “ We ’ re bringing features to the economy segment and the mid-scale segment that traditionally you would think are luxury features ,” he says , such as mobile check-in and check-out , and contactless payment . There ’ s also an app for housekeepers as room-cleaning protocols have changed .
And there is the familiar lesson from 2020 : “ We ’ re working faster ,” Strickland says . “ That speed is something we didn ’ t have pre-COVID .” The speed is necessary for upcoming projects : The mobile app will introduce chat bots and a plug-in that will allow guests at higher-end resorts to see their rooms before they check in ; a next-gen , cloud-based PMS system and a next-gen revenue management system will be introduced . “ Offering our guests all the options in terms of how they want to engage with us is something that we ’ re accelerating into ’ 21 , as well ,” Strickland says .
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