Business Travel Executive, August 2018

TECH FILES 60Business Travel Executive AUGUST 2018 Marriott Relaunches Arabic Website Marriott International has announced the relaunch of its Arabic website to provide an end to end solution for a seamless Arabic booking experience for nearly 400 million Arabic speakers in 22 countries The relaunch follows the recent announcement outlining Marriotts ambitious plans for the Middle East and Africa region to expand its current portfolio there by 50 percent The revamped website was launched in a phased approach allowing over 5000 Marriott and The Ritz Carlton Rewards properties globally to be made available and bookable in Arabic Marriott International will continue to add localized in language content and will further improve sites functionality for the Arab online traveler SPG properties will be progressively added to the new site between August and year end AccorHotels Acquires Catering Platform Adoria AccorHotels has announced the acquisition of Adoria a SaaS platform that enables the catering industry to optimize supply management Founded in France in 2003 Adoria offers centralized solutions for managing tendering procurement logistics and production along the catering value chain from producer to consumer The platform is used by 2700 organizations bringing together 300000 active users and more than 800 manufacturers and distributors Consumers Reward Businesses That Put Data Protection First With the introduction of the European Unions General Data Protection Regulation consumers are more aware than ever of the risks to their personal data However according to new findings from a global research study by data management firm Veritas Technologies more than a third of consumers 38 percent believe most businesses dont know how to protect their personal data The research commissioned by Veritas and conducted by 3GEM shows nearly two thirds of consumers 62 percent say they would stop buying from a business that fails to protect their data while 81 percent say they would tell their friends and family to boycott the organization However the study of 12500 people across 14 countries shows that the majority of consumers 59 percent say they would spend more money with organizations they perceive as taking data protection seriously Outdated Tech Increases Worker Frustration Job Dissatisfaction The key to keeping todays digital worker productive positive about their job and on the payroll is to equip them with updated technology That conclusion is among the findings of a new global survey by Unisys Corporation of more than 12000 workers across 12 countries The study gauged the attitudes of digital workers on the impact of technology in the workplace According to the findings over half 56 percent of digital workers at technology laggard organizations in the UK expressed frustration with their employer as compared to only nine percent of workers at technology leader organizations More troubling 14 percent of the respondents working at technology laggards were more likely to want to leave for another job as compared to two percent of workers at technology leaders BTE IHG Launches Smart Rooms In Greater China InterContinental Hotels Group has announced a collaboration between InterContinental Hotels Resorts and Baidu to introduce the next generation of Smart Rooms powered by artificial intelligence Guests staying at InterContinental Beijing Sanlitun and InterContinental Guangzhou Exhibition Centre will be among the first to experience the convenience of AI Smart Rooms The solution developed by Baidus DuerOS Platform integrates AI technology with hotel operations supported by hardware upgrades and cloud service A total of 100 AI powered Club InterContinental suites will be available at InterContinental hotels in gateway cities and key destinations across China within the year