Cyber experts have warned that the travel industry as a whole is particularly exposed to criminal activity

At a special Travel Weekly summit, a group of travel experts examined the growing threat from cyber criminals and what travel firms can do to protect themselves from attack. We heard from experts in cybercrime and data security. It covered fraud, security, cyber-crime, compliance, payments, data, company structures to cope with all this and disaster recovery.

In the hospitality industry, as in the wider travel industry, it has become vital that IT security is given priority focus as firms become increasingly global, embrace new forms of payment, outsource to third-party Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions and move to cloud computing. The threat of cybercrime has never been so acute as some major companies outside of the travel sector have found to their cost. Indeed, most recently here in the UK we have also seen the widespread chaos in the NHS that the huge ransomware attack brought about.

Within the broader travel industry, the travel industry association ABTA was targeted earlier this year when hackers exploited a third party service provider and stole the personal data of 660 members and some 430,000 of their customers. Cyber experts have warned that the travel industry as a whole is particularly exposed to criminal activity due to the sheer amount of data that is collected by companies and the degree to which that data has to be shared.

Official figures put the cost of cybercrime to the UK economy at £10.9 billion in 2015-16 and yet it is estimated that only 10% of chief executives have taken steps to protect their companies. In addition, with the new EU GDPR regulations governing the protection and processing / handling of data due to come in during May next year, along with the associated severe penalties for companies that breach them, it is more important than ever for senior management to take steps to protect their companies and the personal data they hold.

In this world of increased threat to a company’s IT infrastructure, there are many areas of focus for companies to understand the importance and relevance related to safety and security in their business processes. One area in particular of utmost importance in our super connected and highly transactional hospitality industry is that of payment security.

With the explosion of service providers in the hospitality industry enabling payments in the online environment, it’s never been more important to provide customers and hospitality providers with secure environment and functionality to ensure payments are made safely and securely with as seamless a customer journey as possible. In addition, the rise of virtual digital payments in travel and the implications for security, has made this a very hot topic for the industry and we’ve seen several hospitality providers experience cyber security threats in recent times.

For Guestline, ensuring that the provision of payment services in the world of hospitality offers peace of mind to customers - with Level 1 PCI compliance – is vital. Secure payment gateway services enable hoteliers to process their customers’ card payments in a totally PCI compliant way, when the company’s suite of hospitality software solutions are utilised.

Clients benefit from a safe and secure method of storing and processing credit card details which can form part of the hotel’s overall PCI compliancy policy. Guestline has Level 1 PCI –DSS compliancy for hosting and payment processing and is listed on the VISA approved merchant list. PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is the standard payment card issuers have created to help reduce the level of fraud and card data loss.

There are strong reasons for maintaining PCI-DSS compliance. Guestline has developed a very simple, efficient and completely compliant suite of solutions for hotels and hospitality businesses in order to address all these issues, along with money-saving and revenue generating opportunities.

For further information on how you can work with Guestline to ensure your business is Level 1 PCI Compliant please contact the Guestline team on 01743 282300 or request further information on enquiries@guestline.com

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Guestline announce partnership agreement with Digital Alchemy

Guestline and Digital Alchemy, a leading provider of CRM solutions in the hospitality marketplace, are pleased to announce a partnership agreement.

Digital Alchemy's team of hospitality veterans create industry-leading CRM solutions for hotels, spas, and resorts. Their passion for the hospitality industry has driven them to develop digital marketing solutions that drive revenue and empower property management teams to raise the bar for guests like never before.

Digital Alchemy has a proven solution that, when paired with Guestline solutions, will allow properties to drill down into customer data and ensure every opportunity to drive revenue is optimised. They offer pre- and post-stay targeted email communications, including Confirmation Emails, Pre-Stay Reminder Emails, PostStay surveys, targeted email offers and more. Digital Alchemy’s professionals are dedicated to increasing guest engagement while turning your guests into customers for life.

“Phase 2 of Guestline’s growth is well under way with focus being put into our 3^rd party integrations and partners. We are passionate about collaborating with a huge selection of hospitality focussed, industry-leading services to ensure every aspect of managing a property is met. Digital Alchemy are leaders in the field of guest management, relationship management and using social engagement to increase revenue, which we recognised as a fantastic addition to the Guestline product suite. We are looking forward to working closely with the team at Digital Alchemy to empower our users with the latest technology available.”

Andrew Williams, Development Director at Guestline

Nigel Allport, Vice President, Business Development at Digital Alchemy added, “We are very pleased to be partnered with Guestline to offer our mutual clients hospitality-specific Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and email marketing solutions. This will enable properties to increase sales, reduce no-shows and drive additional revenue.

Digital Alchemy’s aim is to help personalise the guest experience while simultaneously assisting the hotels’ overall marketing and revenue generation objectives.

We recognised Guestline as a leader within the hospitality sector. Our partnership will give Guestline clients access to world-class guest communication and digital marketing services which will bring a new dimension to driving revenue and empowering hotels to raise guest loyalty and repeat visitors”

To arrange a demonstration of the suite of hospitality software solutions available from Guestline and details on Digital Alchemy, please contact us via enquiries@guestline.com.

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Guestline’s latest newsletter has been released

You may have noticed that we have not issued a newsletter in a little while, and that is because we have been busy working behind the scenes to give it a new look and feel alongside lots of new content too!

In this issue, hear from our new CEO Andrew MacGregor on page 2, take a look at the events and shows we have coming up on page 10 and be sure to catch up on all of our partnership developments on page 11.

Also in this issue you will find tips and tricks on how to gain more direct bookings and information on how to look after the heart of your hotel, the PMS.

Read the newsletter here.

For more information on any products featured in the newsletter, please feel free to contact a member of the team here.

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Important notice - Is your EPoS running on Windows XP?

Replace your hardware and be fully PCI compliant

As you will be aware Microsoft Windows XP has come to the end of its life and Microsoft is no longer supporting this product. Regardless of which patches and updates you apply to your hardware, EPoS terminals running under this operating system are no longer PCI compliant.

Contact your account manager today to ensure you are PCI compliant or to talk though your options on 01743 282300. Alternately leave your details here and a member of the team will be in contact shortly.  

Why risk your hotels security when you could update to the latest hardware and upgrade to Guestline's latest hospitality specific EPoS system.

Guestline EPoS is a multi-functional point of sale solution with the added benefit of mobility for bars and restaurants. Designed to streamline operations across your property, EPoS allows staff to quickly and easily process sales.

Our next generation EPoS is:

Fully PCI compliant for improved security and peace of mind.

Faster and more intuitive for improved efficiency, service and increased revenue.

Scalable to accommodate mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones.

Fully integrated with your the Guestline PMS

Why choose to upgrade your EPoS?

New features you can benefit from include - bespoke terminal configuration, unlimited tabs, streamlined price banding, improved housekeeping, easy to use text search, secure back office, increased speed and much more! Extensive advanced reporting now available, which provides a full operational overview including stock consumption, sales, discounts and splits.

Contact Guestline today here

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Guestline tap into the Student Accommodation sector to generate additional revenue for owners and operators

Guestline’s move means that accommodation owners and operators can source additional streams of revenue from existing room stock and facilities. The company’s property management, distribution and digital marketing software deliver next generation, cloud hosted software as an effective accommodation solution, which can be readily integrated into standard operating procedures.

Guestline recently showcased their property management system, Rezlynx at ASRA, a conference specifically catering for professionals within the student accommodation sector. Seeing a gap in the market, Guestline, with over 25 years’ experience in property management solutions, are well placed to deliver Rezlynx as a preferred choice for the Student Accommodation sector. 

Guestline can provide owners and operators with access to extra revenue streams from the implementation of the Rezlynx PMS, enabling them to optimise room usage and room rate levels during non-term periods. Connection to leading online travel agents is also available from Guestline, which will provide distribution of rooms to a wider accommodation marketplace. 

Guestline customers benefit from system security and accommodation processing peace of mind with Level 1 PCI compliance for hosting and payment processing. This means customers benefit from an all in one, end to end solution from one supplier, widely experienced in delivering cloud hosted hospitality software.

With the use of Guestline’s integrated and open solutions, student accommodation operators therefore don’t have to ‘make do’ with workaround / sub optimal implementations for their booking systems and processes. The solutions offered are fully integrated and automated and allow for simple integration with other operational / payment systems that operators may have currently in use. In addition, they are also accessible from any place, on any device, at any time.

The Guestline suite of solutions can also help student accommodation providers expand their conference and banqueting business to provide a fully functional commercial solution for your entire accommodation provision and associated services.

“With Guestline’s Rezlynx PMS, Student Accommodation providers can reap in the benefits of distributing room inventory across Online Travel Agents traditionally used by hotels. Connecting to leading players such as Booking.com and Expedia can supply operators with a stream of reservations to fill room stock that would ordinarily stand empty during non-term time.  Guestline’s solutions are giving Student Accommodation providers a quick, easy and scalable suite of accommodation software solutions to generate additional revenue”

Alex Wigmore, Regional Strategic Sales consultant at Guestline

To arrange a demonstration of Guestline’s Student Accommodation solutions click here.

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B2 Hotel group select Guestline for 30+ hotels in Thailand

Guestline, market leaders in innovative cloud hosted property management solutions and services for the hospitality sector, are pleased to announce B2 Hotels in Thailand as the latest group to opt for the company’s next generation software.

With 33 properties across Thailand and 20 more in the pipeline, including B2 Riverside Premier Hotel in Chiang Mai, B2 Monethong in Laos, B2 Pai Premier Resort in MaeHongSon, B2 Phuket Boutique & Budget hotel in Phuket, B2 Bangna Premier Hotel in Bangkok and B2 South Pattaya Premier Hotel, B2 Jomtien Boutique and Budget both are in Pattaya, B2 Hotels are an impressive addition to the hotels already utilising Guestline solutions in Thailand.

Mr Niran Chawla, CEO at B2 Hotels, recently visited Guestline’s UK based head office to participate in the signing ceremony with Guestline CEO, Andrew McGregor, Head of Commercial Development James Cannon and Sales and Marketing Director, Rupert Gutteridge.

B2 Hotels have chosen Guestline’s award winning property management system Rezlynx, Guestline distribution and a number of industry integrations to power the day-to-day management of each property.

Explaining the decision to implement Guestline solutions across the portfolio, Mr Niran Chawla commented,

Guestline are the right fit for our business needs as we expand our portfolio of properties throughout Asia Pacific. Cloud hosted solutions will enable us to manage our accommodation offering from one system, in real time, from any place and on any device.

Management will be able to access reports on each property easily and the integrations offered by Guestline will allow us to operate more efficiently. We recognised Guestline as an industry leader in technology for the hospitality marketplace and are therefore very happy to be working alongside the team.

Andrew McGregor – CEO at Guestline said,

“B2 Boutique and Budget Hotels has become a well-known and successful boutique and budget hotel chain in Thailand and neighbouring countries, and is continuously expanding and welcoming new properties into the group. We are extremely pleased to have been selected to support B2 Hotels with their technology needs and look forward to increasing our presence across Thailand.”

To arrange a demonstration of Guestline solutions in the Asia Pacific region, please contact the team here.

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Guestline release upgraded Rezlynx PMS to deliver more advanced and powerful property management solutions

Guestline, experts in cloud-hosted property management, distribution and digital marketing technologies for the hospitality industry, have released the latest upgrade to Rezlynx – the popular cloud hosted property management system. The new release of Rezlynx is packed with new and enhanced functionality to cater for the ever-changing needs of today’s hotelier.

Guestline have a UK-based development team, comprising experts from across the hospitality industry that is continuously enhancing the comprehensive range of hospitality solutions and planning an ongoing programme of new product development. These upgrades are processed quickly and remotely to ensure smooth adoption by hospitality customers.

The latest release of Guestline’s Property Management System (PMS), Rezlynx 1.476, brings an extensive range of enhancements to deliver greater operational efficiencies. Included are advanced workflows and profiles development, the introduction of a profile feedback feature, extended flexibility in cancellation options, additional invoicing options, further enhancements to rate plan management, improved room booking allocations and the introduction of more integrations to simplify usage of software supporting properties.

“We are continually developing our solutions to ensure our customers have access to cutting-edge technology. Rezlynx’s new release brings a new level of integrations and functionality, designed to arm hoteliers with superior revenue driving tools. We pride ourselves on delivering upgrades free of charge to our client base and that our system is developed from the user’s requests and recommendations.”

Rupert Gutteridge, Sales and Marketing Director at Guestline

These enhancements will save the users valuable time, allow for better customer insight and ensure better customer understanding. The extended management intelligence and the enhanced rate plan management tools enable the optimisation of the use of rate types and increased revenue management opportunities.

Additional integrations have been developed to make the use of the integrated software much easier in conjunction with Rezlynx, and to allow flexibility in choice for Guestline users.

For more information on Guestline’s award winning property management system, Rezlynx, or to register for the upgrade to be activated please click here.

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