Restaurant And Hospitality News – September 16, 2014
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
In news this week, a study suggests that the key to regaining Millennial traffic is service, while Shangri-La Hotel Singapore engages guests with a new social app. Meanwhile, TravelClick partners with Roomlia on a new mobile OTA, and the GBTA Foundation has launched a new Travel Technology Maturity Index.
Restaurants Seek Ways to Regain Lost Traffic From Millennials
According to recent findings from The NPD Group, a global market research company, the key to regaining lost traffic from millennials may be in restaurants’ ability to appeal to their specific sensibilities, including their strong desire for a unique dining experience. Service, not technology, is most important to most Millennials, the study suggests.
Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore Partners with Wechat to Engage Guests in Asia
According to eHotelier, Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore has become the first hotel in Singapore to engage with guests in Asia via WeChat, a fast-growing social application that is changing the way people connect and communicate with each other. WeChat users can make accommodation and dining reservations, learn about special offers, understand the hotel's facilities and check their reservation status upon subscribing to Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore's WeChat official account at ShangrilaSG. To celebrate this new partnership, the hotel has launched a "Share and Win" campaign to encourage users to share the news of this initiative.
TravelClick Partners with Roomlia to Enable Hotels to Provide Rates and Inventory on New Mobile OTA
According to Hotel News Resource, TravelClick, a global provider of innovative cloud-based solutions that enable hotels to grow revenue, has announced a partnership with Roomlia, a streamlined, design-driven mobile app offering two-way connections for instant hotel-bookings. The mobile travel agent is the newest addition to TravelClick’s Channel Management solution that connects hotels to more than 800 online travel agents (OTAs) around the globe. The partnership will initially provide hotels that are based in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, San Francisco, New Orleans, Orange County, Honolulu, San Diego, Seattle and Orlando with a two-way connection via TravelClick Channel Management to provide rates and inventory on the OTA.
GBTA Foundation Launches Travel Technology Maturity Index
The GBTA Foundation, the research and education arm of the Global Business Travel Association, has created a breakthrough tool to help travel managers determine whether they are using the most effective travel technology tools for their organization. Sponsored by Orbitz For Business, this Travel Technology Maturity Index enables organizations to objectively evaluate their use of travel-related technology against a set of best-practice standards and provides feedback on opportunities to improve their travel management program by adopting more efficient use of technology. Available exclusively to GBTA members, it can be accessed here.
Restaurant and Hospitality Talking Points:
According to the Arab News, the Hospitality sector is experiencing fast growth in Saudi Arabia in investments and this growth is further expected to continue with 149 new hotels in the pipeline in different parts of the Kingdom
The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills has booked Etiquette Specialist Julie Ann Ulcickas to lead an etiquette session for children seven to 15 years of age on Saturday, October 11, 2014 from 11:00 am to 1:30 pm