IDS FortuneNEXT Enterprise: helping hotels smile their way to profitability

For hotels and hospitality enterprises that work around the clock, on-call tech support is as important as the business automation/ technology solution.

Airways Hotel discovered the advantages of a 24x7 support service with their new property management solution. And now they smile all the way to the bank!

Picture perfect… almost

The Airways Hotel, a 25 year-old hotel in Papua New Guinea is part of a reputed hospitality chain in the Pacific; and a business leader in industry trends. A winner of accolades at the World Travel Awards 2010, its uniqueness has made it Papua New Guinea’s leading hotel and the World’s leading Airport Hotel for the year 2010. Located near Jacksons International Airport in Port Moresby, it overlooks the Bootless Bay and the Owen Stanley Range.

The hotel successfully deployed a technology solution to automate their operations, soon began to see glitches in their solution, which started to impact the seamless operations at the hotel.

The management faced problems with the service provider as they had limited access to technology support since they were not a large subscriber at the time. The Airways hotel also grappled with issues like the vendor interface problems and stalled night audits affecting their operational efficiency.

Serving it on a platter/ A more comprehensive note

The Hotel evaluated alternative solutions and implemented IDS FortuneNEXT Enterprise.

The solution integrated all the hospitality functions – from front office to payroll – creating a single, centralised system of operations. It even simplified front desk management, and payroll, and inventory management.

This meant:

·        No lost interfaces, and therefore, no operational delays;

·        Inventory and payroll linked to finance and accounting, for better financial 

      calculations;

·        Smart features, such as the ialert, to allow efficient communication with guests;

·        Informative financial reports to aid decision-making.

The solution’s key modules included: Front Office Management • Point of Sale • Accounts Receivable • Sales and Marketing • Banquets • Telephone Management • Materials Management • Food and Beverages Costing • Financial Management • HR and Payroll • Maintenance Management • Quality Management • SMS Alerts

Additional features helped the Hotel stay future-ready:

·        Strong reporting and control functions;

·        Compliance with local regulatory requirements;

·        Plug-and-play interfaces for third-party products to enable seamless hotel

      automation;

·        An easy-to-maintain technical build, supporting faster updates, and greater security;

·        100% application uptime and complete scalability;

·        No unique hardware investments;

·        24x7, live, multi-lingual support, and free user training.

“The most commendable part is that IDS is open to modification should users request a feature which will enhance efficiency,” said Kevin Yaxley, Executive Director at Airways Hotel.

It all adds up to profits

The Hotel has begun to see the positive impact on key operational areas.

·       Easy and efficient handling of guest queries, quick access to guest history (such as number of visits) for relevant details, expedited check out processes, and efficient guest messaging have enhanced guest management.

·       Improved monitoring (and control) of costs with weekly F&B cost tracking, informative reports and tools to guide revenue management, and data to support financial plans have resulted in an average increase of 15% in the room rates. Revenue and cost management have never been this easy.

·    Reports on market and enterprise productivity measures, insights into the Hotel’s performance in different sectors, data to support assessments linked to critical decisions, and business intelligence to guide strategy – all these have boosted sales and marketing efforts. 

·       A document centre to give front-desk personnel easy access to information, an SMS alert engine, and a drag-and-drop check-in and check-out tool, have all enabled smart work. Implications: reduced time taken to complete tasks and gains in operational efficiency.

·    User-friendly features, touch screen versions at point of sales to post guest orders, easy communication  of guest requirements to bars and restaurants, and reports to aid menu engineering. All these have reduced errors and set the productivity curve soaring. 

IDS Softwares:   www.idsnext.com

Airways Hotel, Papua New Guinea:   www.airways.com.pg