TOP NEWS

💳 POS systems gained traction in the hotel industry in the late 1990s and early 2000s due to the need for modernization and complexity of hotel services. They are vital for both larger hotels and limited-service properties, offering cloud integration, advanced analytics, personalization capabilities, omnichannel functionality, and enhanced integrations. Silverware Pay, launched at HITEC, distinguishes itself by providing integrated payment processing within the Silverware POS ecosystem, supporting various payment methods, and enabling data-driven decisions across multiple properties. Future enhancements may include AI-powered personalization, voice/gesture recognition, sustainability integration, and hyper-integration with various operational systems.

🌳 Aldar, in partnership with Dubai Holding, announced The Wilds, their third Dubai development, featuring 1,700 homes across mansions, villas, and apartments. Architect Nabil Gholam designed the eco-friendly community, which includes a premium school, retail hub, and clubhouses. Unique elements include The Nest pavilion, wildlife habitats, and LEED Platinum and Fitwel 3-star certifications. The Wilds, opposite Global Village on Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road, launches for sale on 27 February 2025 at Coca-Cola Arena Dubai.

🛏 Hotel Directors of Sales are challenged by Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) which enforce rate parity, manipulate pricing, and damage hotel brands, pushing dependency on OTA platforms. Rate parity clauses prevent hotels from offering lower rates on their own websites than on OTAs. Tactics used by OTAs include loyalty member discounts, hidden fees, bundled pricing, and geo-targeted discounts. These practices undermine hotel credibility, control hotel presentation online, and force hotels to pay commissions to stay visible. Hotels are encouraged to respond by offering value-added incentives, exclusive membership rates, and metasearch marketing. Some countries are pushing for legal changes in rate parity laws to combat the restrictive agreements imposed by OTAs.

📖 Club Med, celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2025, has scaled up its 70 global resorts and introduced new technology in 2024. A 200% increase in usage followed the June 2024 launch of a more efficient B2B portal. Additionally, a Whatsapp integration launched in October 2024 has led to over 1,000 active conversations and 700 quotes, with a bot resolving 41% of queries independently. The company processes 5 million data points daily, analyzing 1.2 billion data points from a million customers each year. New AI technology for reducing food waste was piloted successfully at Club Med Da Balaia, Portugal, with plans for wider deployment.

📄 RoomKeyPMS, with over 25 years of success and serving more than 70,000 guestrooms in North America, is releasing new tools in 2025 for improved security and operational connectivity. The technological roadmap includes Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) for stronger remote access security, tokenization of credit cards to reduce fraud, and enhanced mobile check-in. Gift cards can now be sold and redeemed directly through RoomKeyPMS. Upcoming Mobile Check-In enhancements will allow guests to bypass the front desk, with full credit card processing and room access via mobile devices. RoomKeyPMS is expanding its interface library for point-of-sale integrations and mobile communications, aiming to streamline enterprise communication and improve guest experiences.