Reopening of tourism in the US: new challenges to be solved with the technologies
According to travel company, Fifty Grande, 88% of Americans expressed that even with COVID around, travel is very important in their lives and 77% still plan to travel by the end of 2021.This means that the US is gearing up to face more industry wide reopening’s while navigating new restrictions.
Total upgrade
Since many hotels were shut down or closed during the pandemic but have now opened their doors again, there has been a demand for software updates and upgrades. This has kept us busy running multiple upgrades to latest versions, because of the need to have a certified version to use the newest credit card interface (OPI = Oracle Payment Interface), which enables the Chip and Pin functionality (use of EMV devices) at hotels.
Limited face contact
Tourism demand has skyrocketed in the US despite COVID still being a threat to public health. Hotels are taking extra cleaning and disinfecting measures as well as limiting physical contact once in the hotel to help ease the minds and attract guests. This translates to taking advantage of the full interoperability capabilities that the PMS (OPERA) offers. Those features include:
- using HotSOS or other housekeeping software integrated with OPERA to manage guest requests and maintain house status;
- using CANARY, SERTIFI, or other kiosk interfaces to run credit card transactions prior to guest arrival (full PCI compliant);
- using IDEAS, DUETTO, or other Revenue Management tools to maximize sales and revenue based on the demand and current activities in the area;
- using SmartHOTEL as their Channel Manager to connect OTAs (Booking.com, Expedia, etc.) to their PMS using a direct OXI connection (recently released interface).
OPERA can also assist hotels in moving to contactless check-in to allow guests to self-check in to their rooms.
New requests for new restrictions
Our support desk staff have been taking on many new requests due to the constantly changing COVID restrictions affecting the hospitality industry: the state of New York waiving the Sales Tax during Q3 in hopes of attracting more tourist — resulting in changes to PMS configuration; the state of California requiring guests to confirm any symptoms before their stay — resulting in changes to their stationery (registration cards, confirmation letters, etc.). Now more than ever, hotels need to be confident that their PMS system is as up to date and flexible as possible to align with the consistently changing situation.
Contactless service delivery
Another new challenge is the remoteness of current implementations: pre-COVID we would fly to every hotel whenever we would need to install new servers, run upgrades, provide training to staff, or support during a go live stage, today most everything is done remotely. We learned new ways to deliver the same amount of work, at the same high-quality level, to make sure all of our customers are happy and expectations are met. We strive for exceeding expectations.
The HRS team can handle all of the above mentioned interoperabilities, integrations, and interfaces in house. Our OPERA department is highly qualified and each team member has their own set of skills and strengths which makes us keep pace with technology and the ever-changing situation. We have been through all the new challenges in the hospitality industry and we are ready to offer a solution for each of them.
Author: Miguel Orta,
OPERA Product Manager HRS
