Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has launched new platforms for owner and guest engagement to enhance the hotel ownership experience for its franchisees worldwide. Franchisees can use the platforms at no additional cost.
The platforms debuted at the company’s Global Conference in Anaheim, Calif, on Thursday. The theme of this year’s three-day in-person event is “Opening Doors.”
“Every day, we’re helping our owners open doors to best-in-class technology, more efficient operations, better guest experiences and more profitable hotels,” said Geoff Ballotti, president and CEO, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. “With award-winning brands, the number one hotel rewards program, a record development pipeline and historic levels of franchisee engagement and retention—there’s never been a better time to be a part of the world’s largest and fastest-growing, pure-play hotel franchising company.”
WYNDHAM COMMUNITY
Wyndham Community, the new owner engagement platform, is a big step up for hotel owners looking to streamline and simplify management of their hotel operations, regardless of how many properties they have.
The platform offers insights to maximize profitability and connects hoteliers to the daily performance of their business while delivering a constant connection to the scale and resources of Wyndham.
Through Wyndham Community, owners can access real-time insights on key business performance metrics across their portfolio from any device while also checking important tasks and other action items.
The platform will also offer a direct connection to operational support while serving as the owners’ primary destination for important updates and news.
ENHANCED GUEST EXPERIENCE
Powered by Canary Technologies, the new guest engagement platform further enhances the guest experience by providing hoteliers with a series of mobile-centric tools. This will help them better cater to travelers’ evolving needs.
The tool is expected to roll out in the coming weeks and is built on four key areas:
- AI-driven property messaging: Integrated directly with Wyndham’s management systems using SynXis Property Hub and Opera Cloud, guests can communicate directly with hotels over text messages for any need during their stay. Frequently Asked Questions will be answered by Wyndham Hospitality AI, enabling hotel staff to focus on other guest requirements.
- Smart check-in: This will help protect hotels against unwarranted chargebacks and fraud by incorporating guest’s credit card and ID verification ahead of their arrival, thereby speeding up the check-in process.
- Dynamic upsell: Hotels can engage guests before their stay and offer enhancements, such as early check-in, late checkout and room upgrades. This will help hoteliers open up newer avenues to increase revenue and, in turn, the bottom line.
- Smart checkout: Once a guest checks out, housekeeping will be automatically alerted about the room becoming ready for cleaning and the checkout screen of the guest’s device will ask for a review of their stay. On average, pilot properties have reported a 25% rise in positive reviews.
WYNDHAM ADVANTAGE
These new platforms are the latest addition to the tools and resources, which collectively provide franchisees ‘The Wyndham Advantage.’ Wyndham offers a host of resources for the long-term success of their franchisees, like the latest property and revenue management systems, revenue-boosting ancillary services (Signature Reservation Services) and loyalty-building incentives (The Rewards Circle).
In the past five years, Wyndham has invested over $275 million in technology while growing its on-the-ground operational support of hotels.
Wyndham’s new OTA reconciliation tool aims at rectifying OTA overbilling, which can happen when a guest does not turn up, cancels or shortens their stay. This tool automatically compares the stay information for each hotel with the commissions charged at the time of booking. In case of a misalignment, it corrects the stay records to ensure the appropriate commission is charged.
Traditionally, a manual procedure or one which hotels would outsource to a third party for a separate charge, franchisees can avail of this Wyndham-provided service at no extra cost. The service currently covers all bookings made through Expedia and its affiliated brands.
The world’s largest hotel franchising company in terms of the number of properties, Wyndham currently has 9,100 hotels totaling 852,000 rooms in more than 95 countries on six continents.