Meliá Hotels and Microsoft join forces to develop innovative tourism solutions

Meliá Hotels International and Microsoft Ibérica have signed a collaboration agreement whose objective is to promote innovative tourism solutions applicable in the 350 hotels that the company has in 35 countries, apostando por las soluciones cloud computing que le aportarán al grupo hotelero importantes ventajas, among which stand out better cost management and increased productivity, scalability, safety and reliability.

Meliá Hotels International has partnered with Microsoft Ibérica to work together on innovative tourism solutions. As part of this agreement, The hotel chain will migrate its collaboration solution to a model based on Microsoft cloud computing technology, reinforcing the hotel group's offer of innovative and avant-garde services and responding to demand, increasingly sophisticated, from a customer base spread all over the world.

Gabriel Escarrer, vice president and CEO of Meliá Hotels International and the president of Microsoft Ibérica, Maria Garana, have signed this agreement, which provides for several lines of action that range from the complete provision of a technological infrastructure based on Office 365 to the evaluation of the implementation of a digital marketing platform that can offer a 360º view of the customer, as well as integrated management of marketing actions and multichannel experiences. Besides, Innovative projects will be developed with the aim of enriching the customer experience, such as the creation of virtual receptions in hotels where associated services such as information on tourist attractions can be offered, events, restaurants, flights, etc. These projects will evaluate the incorporation of the latest technologies in the areas of augmented reality and geolocation. Besides, Both companies will work on the development of technologies applicable to the so-called “hotel room of the future”.

Thanks to this agreement, the hotel group will renew its current productivity solutions, making it easier for your employees to access the Office platform 365 from Microsoft based on the cloud computing model (cloud computing). In addition, The incorporation of value-added services and customer relationship management into its technological platform will be evaluated. (Customer Relationship Management, CRM) as social marketing, online content and audience management, loyalty programs, etc. Besides, Meliá hotels will be able to incorporate new entertainment and communication spaces through Xbox, Kinect, PixelSense, MSN, Skype and applications with for Windows 8 y Windows Phone.

Improved competitiveness and customer service

Meliá Hotels International is committed to Microsoft cloud computing solutions, applying a fundamental technological change in the structure of its organization that will provide it with important advantages, among which stand out better cost management and increased productivity, scalability, safety and reliability.

Meliá Hotels International will implement, among others, Office technologies 365 y Lync, solutions based on the cloud computing model that include productivity and collaboration tools, instant messaging solutions, unified communications, email and video conferencing. Thanks to them, the group will be able to create a distance training infrastructure, create spaces for collaboration and sharing of virtual content, improve customer relationship management and do thorough enterprise resource planning.

Besides, The hotel chain will have preferential access to the services offered by the Microsoft Innovation Center in Tourism Technologies (MICTT) installed in the ParcBit in Palma de Mallorca, and will work together in the development of advanced technological applications, participating in technological innovation projects that incorporate the use of new devices applied to the tourism industry such as Xbox, Kinect y PixelSense.

Gabriel Escarrer has highlighted the importance of “committing to innovation in the tourism business, and the key role that technology must play to reinvent the relationship with the global customer”, while María Garaña has stressed: “At Microsoft we are absolutely committed to the development of the tourism sector and we are committed to cloud computing technology to promote its modernization.”. Este acuerdo”, added the president of Microsoft Ibérica , “reinforces the leadership of Meliá Hotels International in the field of innovation through the implementation of the most advanced Microsoft technologies, at the same time that it manages to satisfy the demand of its clients who request increasingly sophisticated services”.