Jurys Inn Hotel Group has announced its investment of £1.7m in new software and technology upgrades across its 32 hotels in the UK, Ireland and the Czech Republic. The move will significantly enhance the company’s management system capabilities and services offered to over three million guests who stay in its hotels every year.
As part of the investment, Jurys Inn is rolling out a cloud-based central property management and reservation system, which will give the firm the capability to centrally view and manage a range of functions across its estate of UK, Ireland and European hotels. This includes centrally analysing and managing room reservations and bookings, hotel inventory, accounts and billings. The significant roll-out of the new IT platform is scheduled to be completed this year.
The investment forms part of Jurys Inn’s strategy to adapt cloud-based solutions across the group wherever appropriate – essentially future proofing systems so that they are more intuitive and can adapt to ever-changing customer behaviour.
Shane Doyle, group IT manager at Jurys Inn, comments: “By giving our teams a minute-by-minute overview of what is happening in our business, the new system will allow us to deliver significantly enhanced services to our customers. This includes a more accurate view of last minute room availability across the group, the ability to offer an improved range of offers and special promotions, as well as cross-selling between properties.
“We have seen the number of visits to our website from mobile devices grow by over 85% between January 2012 and January 2013, and our mobile revenue double in the same time period. The new systems will allow us to cater much better to these business and leisure travellers who are using smart phones and tablets to book our room and meeting facilities in the move from desktop to mobile.”
Jurys Inn has plans to introduce innovative services this year as part of the system roll-out, including the trial of online check-in at a select number of hotels in the UK.
In addition to the new property and reservation platform, Jurys Inn’s new technology investment includes the upgrade of the WiFi network and roll-out of a high-speed fibre internet service across its estate – catering for the need for increased connectivity. Jurys Inn is also embarking on a complete replenishment of its hardware, and as part of the group’s sustainability and corporate social responsibility strategy.
The £1.7m investment is part of a significant Jurys Inn hotel investment programme, which has seen the group invest over £25m in property and services upgrades over the last three years.
