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Beacons Live at the Hilton London Syon Park

The Go Find It team with MELISSA ZAIDI, PR and Marketing Executive in the Hilton London Syon Park’s Marco Pierre White restaurant

The Go Find It team is proud to announce that beacon technology is now live at the Hilton London Syon Park, a stunning country escape set in the capital. Covering 200 acres of land, this timeless hotel offers a variety of high quality services and facilities including the Kallima spa, the Syon Lounge, and many upscale dining options. Now guests can make the most of their stay at the Hilton London Syon Park thanks to this impressive tool, which enables hotels to communicate directly with hotel guests before, during, and after their stay. These small devices can send push notifications with exclusive offers and invitations when guests are moving around the property and target guests at the most opportune moment; up-selling spas, restaurants, and special events, all conveniently tailored to the guests’ interests. The Go Find It CMS makes it easy to create and manage these customised messages, leaving hotel guests with a truly memorable and personalised hotel experience.

Apps now on Apple TV - Soon in every Hotel room

Apple chief executive Tim Cook recently unveiled the company’s latest products at its annual showcase event in San Francisco on Wednesday, September 9th. From the Apple TV and the Apple Watch to the iPad and the iPhone, it seems that no product was left behind in this major revamp, much to the delight to Apple fanatics across the globe. Among the new products include the iPad Pro, complete with a 12.9-inch screen, four speakers, and an optional stylus “Apple Pencil”. This new and improved iPad is not simply intended for surfing the web and playing games, but also for working, watching and even editing films. That’s not to mention the newest features on the iPhone 6 and 6 plus which now include a camera that has been upgraded to 12 megapixels (from the previous 8) and will be available in four different metal finishes. Arguably the most exciting and innovative addition is the new 3D multi-touch interface, offering an entirely new way for users to interact with their phones. These are simply the highlights of the big launch event. Discover all of the revamped Apple products here.

Congratulations to Hotel Metropole Monaco Monte-Carlo, awarded "Monaco's Leading Hotel" at the 2015 World Travel Awards

We are proud to announce that one of Go Find It’s loyal clients, Hotel Metropole Monaco Monte-Carlo, was awarded “Monaco’s Best Leading Hotel” at The 2015 World Travel Awards held on September 5th, 2015 in Sardinia, Italy. Bringing together hundreds of the top industry leaders across Europe, The World Travel Awards, also known as “the hospitality event of the year”, is the most prestigious awards show in the hotel industry honouring the key players in the tourist industry pushing the boundaries in excellence. With services that are among the best in the world, including the hotel signature Joël Robuchon Monte Carlo 2 star Michelin restaurant and the world class Monte Carlo ESPA, the Hotel Metropole Monaco Monte-Carlo offers a truly luxurious and one-of-a-kind hotel experience. Congratulations to Hotel Metropole Monte-Carlo on this outstanding victory in global travel and tourism!

How Virtual Reality may affect the way we travel

Virtual Reality replicates an environment of choice using sophisticated technology and simulates for the user, his physical presence in this environment. In March of last year, Facebook agreed to buy Oculus, the world’s leading company in Virtual Reality technology. After the deal was closed, Zuckerberg announced it on his Facebook wall and added “Oculus's mission is to enable you to experience the impossible. Their technology opens up the possibility of completely new kinds of experiences”. The first obvious market concerned by the development of Virtual Reality technology is the gaming market as immersive games are soon to be launched and will allow gamers to play in lifelike conditions.

However, the development of virtual reality technologies also opens up a whole field of possibilities when it comes to travelling and seeing the world. What may have once seemed like the stuff of sci-fi and fantasy is far closer than you think. Imagine being able to experience and discover completely different environments without from the comfort of your own home. Which raises the next big question: how will this affect the hospitality industry? Despite vast advances in the field of Virtual Reality, it seems fair to assume that most people would still choose the real deal over a virtual holiday. What do you think?

Food Tourism

Over the last decade, partly because of the growing concern and outrage surrounding the state of the planet and its rapidly disappearing resources, but also because people are growing tired of eating ready-made, fast-food designed for mass consumption, a real interest in food, where it comes from and how it’s made has started to emerge. Today, eating well and living healthily are on everyone’s minds with ‘foodie’ bars, bistros and restaurants popping up all over the world, promoting freshly pressed juices, fair-trade coffee and healthy homemade food. The ‘superfood’ has achieved an almost cult like status whilst the ‘food porn’ phenomenon floods social media and blogs, with some restauranteurs even banning diners from Instagramming their meals.

In short, this reverence for ‘good food’ means that more and more people are now travelling to eat rather than enjoying food as an additional bonus of travel, spending as much time planning where they're going to eat as where they're going to sleep. This phenomenon is called Food Tourism and is, in fact, a superb way to learn about the history and customs of a civilisation. For example, a tourist might travel to Argentina with the sole purpose of dining at Francis Mallmann’s 1884 restaurant, situated in the heart of Mendoza, Argentina’s most renowned winemaking region. But don’t be fooled, there’s more to it than just a meal. It is also an opportunity to discover the area’s breath-taking scenery and wonderful history. Food Tourism is in a way the new travel package deal:an unforgettable gastronomic experience with the usual reasons to travel thrown in. What’s not to love?

Read more about Food Tourism here.

The Power of Meditation

In today’s highly digital fast-paced world where information is constantly being thrown at us, more and more of us are in search of inner peace. So in the midst of countless electronic distractions and diversions, how can we maintain focus and lower our stress levels? Increased research findings have discovered links between meditation and boosts in focus, productivity, and stress levels. And if you thought mediation was just for yogis, think again. Everyone from corporate CEOs to celebrities, are taking up this new mindful practice in their daily lives and reaping the many benefits. Now for the first time ever, a medical based study has proven that meditation can play an active role in the brain while increasing our quality of life. The 8-week study on meditation led by Harvard University suggests that mindfulness meditation can produce significant changes in the brain’s gray matter leading to cognitive and psychological benefits that last throughout the day. Discover the power of meditation and read more about this fascinating study here.

The world’s most powerful passports

When it comes to travelling across borders, not all passports are equal. So which nationalities fare the best and why? Financial advisory firm Arton Capital, has put together an index of how many countries different passport holders can visit without having to obtain a visa in advance. Unsurprisingly, USA and UK passports top the list with a total of 147 destination countries that can be visited, while Australian passports come in at #9 with a total of 138 countries. Economic stability and good diplomatic terms are two of the biggest influencing factors, giving certain passport holders access to more countries. So just how “powerful” is your passport? See if your country makes the short list and check out the world’s most powerful passports featured by rank on traveller.com here!

Is a Robot Revolution Underway?

Did I remember to lock the front door? Are the lights still on? Did I set the alarm? New robots are not just making these worries a thing of the past, they are taking robotics to the next level. From household robots to therapy robots, companies across the world are recognising the potential of next generation robots to change the way we live. In Japan, Pepper the robot stands at 1.2 metres-tall, has two arms, round eyes, and a screen on its chest that enables it to understand and respond to human emotions. In collaboration with MIT’s Media Lab, Cynthia Breazeal is planning to launch what she refers to as “the iphone of robotics” also known as Jibo; a robot that can take care of organisational tasks and provide companionship. With promises of human understanding and even camaraderie, it’s clear that the intelligent home robots have come a long way since the functional “Roomba” self-vacuuming system launched over ten years ago. So what does the future of robots look like? Discover the next generation of robots and read the full article from FN.com here.

Triggers: Send advanced push notifications to your clients

Go Find It, leader in mobile solutions for luxury hotels with a global client base, is proud to announce the release of its latest feature: Triggers.

This innovative business intelligence tool offers hotels a new way to communicate with their guests. Using an advanced push messaging interface, hotels can now track guests, pushing and promoting offers within the hotel directly from their app to a targeted audience: from exclusive hotel offers and promotions, to the latest articles in the daily updated Today magazine. “Triggers” not only offers a new way to boost sales, but also the potential to drive client loyalty. And all of this is fully customisable within a simple, minimalist interface.

Don’t let your app go to waste: unleash its full potential by pushing the very latest of what your hotel has to offer.

Take it from us, you’re going to love it!

Retrace your steps with Google Maps’ latest feature

It’s no secret that Google Maps is just about any traveler’s favourite companion. Now you can go one step further: imagine navigating your way through any city while keeping track of all of the places you’ve been- from museums during vacation to random discoveries from months before.

Google Maps' latest feature enables users to 'revisit the world that they've explored' thanks to a tracking system that remembers various addresses throughout the day along with the mode of transportation used during the day’s journey.

Read more about the new and improved Google Maps and discover other fun and useful features by checking out this review from Digital Trends.

GFI’S BEACON TECHNOLOGY IS FINALLY HERE

Go Find It is excited to launch the latest Beacon technology! These cutting-edge devices will transform your mobile app into the ultimate communication tool, helping you connect and interact with your guests in real time. This level of personalised communication has never been possible until now.

SO WHAT ARE BEACONS?

Beacons are small wireless devices, able to determine your guests' proximity to specific locations and outlets within your property.

TURN LOCATION INTO LOYALTY

Our new Beacon technology will help take your guests’ experience to the next level. Imagine if you could automatically send your guests a welcome message when they enter your property for the first time? Offer a complementary drink for loyal customers who have paid a second visit to your bar? Or even a guided tour of your property with messages introducing key areas as your guests walk through? Well now all that’s possible!

WE SUPPLY, INSTALL & TRAIN YOU

Find out how to use this incredibly powerful tool to up-sell services and outlets, generate crucial marketing data and surprise your guests with an amazingly personalised service.

We’ve already got two great properties on board, so check in soon to read how they got on thanks to our case studies.

5 tips to renew the customer experience via mobile

Today’s customers are ultra connected meaning there is a growing expectation for seamless and personalised interactions via a mobile app. As quality customer experience has taken center stage, it is vital for brands to distinguish themselves from their competitors by delivering the very best services and options, both physically and digitally. Today’s consumer is more demanding than ever: they want convenience at competitive prices, and they want it now. At GFI, we develop our products with these basic tenants in mind and have rounded up our top 5 tips on how to transform the customer experience:

1. Tap into the customer’s mind: Deliver a product or feature that will not only catch the attention of your customer, but also appeal to what they are thinking and feeling, producing an emotional response. This will lead to a memorable and longer-lasting experience between your brand and the customer, while fostering a sense of trust and loyalty.

2. Optimise analytics tools: Analytics are extremely powerful tools, helping you understanding your customers' behaviour in the most efficient way possible and thus evaluate where the best options lie. Using data, brands can develop products to meet their customers' expectations and even surpass them by breaking a pattern and introducing an element of surprise in the form of a special voucher, loyalty program, or an unexpected limited-time service.

3. Captivate the customer: In today’s experience-based economy, it is essential to highlight and improve the experience as a whole and not simply the product. Place the customer at the center of it all by providing more personalised ways to connect and interact with your brand via various platforms.

4. Customise the journey: Today’s customers are active, aware, and above all, far from predictable. They control their own experiences and want to explore independently to create their own unique journey. Brands must not only embrace this fact but more importantly, capture the customer experience via a mobile app that delivers to them at lightning speed. Remember, today’s consumer is impatient!

5. Personalise the experience: Without overstepping privacy and personal data, modern technology allows companies to send meaningful and relevant invitations based on personal information. Just remember that there is a fine line between being intrusive and inviting, depending on the target customer.

#mobile #customer #app #hotel

Endless Summers Around the World...

For many the summer brings warm weather and longer days in which to enjoy the outdoors. As we approach the summer solstice, a day of endless twilight when the sun doesn’t set, we invite you to take a look at how 5 towns celebrate this natural phenomenon.

Stockholm, Sweden

After a long, cold and often lightless winter, it’s understandable that Scandinavians are eager to make the most of their mild summers, with Midsummer festivities and al fresco dining spilling out into the streets wherever possible.

St. Petersburg, Russia

The town holds the world’s oldest White Nights festival, with performances starting as late as midnight during the summer solstice, and which culminates in the Scarlet Sails, a massive celebration with fireworks and a mock pirate battle in the harbour.

Dawson City, Yukon, Canada

With 21 hours of sunshine on the longest day of the year, sleep isn’t exactly on most people’s agenda. Instead, they indulge in a one-of-a-kind challenge: an all-night golf tournament that tees off at midnight. In the morning, people gather at the clubhouse of beer and eggs.

Reykjavic, Iceland

The summer solstice has always been of great importance for the Icelandic people and according to folklore, the shortest night of the year is an enchanted time when animals can suddenly talk and elves and trolls venture down from their mountains. Nowadays, thousands of people flock to the Secret Solstice music festival for a never-ending night, held close to an active volcano.

Longyearbyeb, Norway

If you thought 21 hours of sunlight was extreme, try 3,094 hours and 56 minutes. Far above the Arctic Circle, this town in Northern Norway sees constant daylight from April 20 to August 22. So if your neighbour invites you over for lunch in the middle of the night, don’t be surprised.

#Summer Sweden Sunset Holiday

How connected are your travels?

Over the past few decades, times have changed. People, especially younger generations, are travelling more and more and seem to be increasingly savvy about the way they do it. With the expansion of the Internet and social media, our favourite type of travellers, the Millennials, have discarded books and paper maps in favour of having everything grouped on their smartphones or tablets, freeing up a considerable amount of space in their luggage (always useful for shopping!) and allowing them to get an authentic feel for a new city. Thanks to reviews and comments found on websites they make interesting selections of places to visit during their stay. The 2.0 traveller wants to be seen as “in the know”, wherever they are: after all tourism is very 2000-and-late. Here at Go Find It, we are all about making your travels more interesting and connected, through the used of our constantly updated app. We offer city guides and lifestyle magazines that allow our users to experience whatever city they’re in, like a local. Go Find It: the mobile solution for Millennials.

#Travel Apps Hotels CityGuide

The future of travel: what will holidays look like in ten years?

With the world becoming increasingly wireless, and our limits of possibility receding by the day, the face of travelling is on the course to changing completely over the next decade. But what can we expect? Check-in by robot? Budget flights to the moon? Virtual reality holidays? While these things may sound crazy, the technology exists. Believe it or not, here are a few changes you may well be seeing over the next decade:

The Hotel Room 2.0 From wrist bands that monitor your heart rate, count the calories you’ve burned and analyse your sleeping patterns, to wireless house remote systems, it comes as no surprise that the hotel room of the future will be hyper-interactive and hyper-connected. And we’re not just talking about a bluetooth connection to unlock the door or turn the lights off. From pillows ‘embedded’ with electronics to massage your neck and wake you up in the morning to hologram personal trainers, even your shower will interact with you, using sound technology to ‘agitate’ the dirt from your body and telling you when you’re clean enough to get out thanks to a traffic light system.

Space Travel No longer relegated to the confines of Sci-Fi, space travel is becoming an increasingly real possibility and increasingly affordable possibility. For a mere $75,000, you could earn the ultimate in traveller’s bragging rights with a brief trip spent floating weightlessly in low Earth orbit. Those who had in mind a more Apollo-style excursion to the moon will, unfortunately, have to wait a little while longer. Once they get there however, they may well stay in a lunar hotel. Architects Foster + Partners have teamed up with the European Space Agency to explore the ways in which they could build structures on the moon thanks to 3D printers.

Staycations With the rise of peer-to-peer collaboration sites such as AirBnB and Couchsurfing.com, you no longer even have to leave town to take a vacation. Just rent your neighbour’s house for the thrill of the unknown. Within the next decade, 5-10% of people could be renting out their homes to travellers creating a surge in the phenomenon of ‘social travel’. No longer wanting to feel like tourists, more and more travellers are opting for a personalised and authentic experience, with supper clubs and the like set to become a part of the traditional travel industry.

Extreme Tourism Most people would get a sufficient kick out of bungee jumping, or a quick dip with the sharks, but for some that’s not enough. Cue ‘extreme tourism’, where more and more travellers are journeying to so called ‘forbidden-zones’, or destinations made inaccessible due to conflict or political turmoil. Whilst the prospect of flirting with danger and possibly even death, may sound appealing to some, our advice is to opt for a nice countryside mini-break. Who knows, you may even spot some wild animals!

Underwater Tourism By 2024, sub-aquatic hotels are set to be just another of the accommodations options on offer to travellers. But you’d better start saving now. A week at the Poseidon resort, an underwater structure in Fiji will set you back a cool £9,000. That being said, being able to sleep with the fishes and living to tell the tale is probably priceless.

User generated content

It’s a nondescript Tuesday evening, and you’re browsing through your Facebook newsfeed, looking enviously at your friends’ latest holiday adventure and thinking, “I should do that”. Well you’re not alone. According to a 2014 Google report, 83% of people reference social networking, video or photo sites for travel inspiration. These authentic testimonials in high resolution images and sound make travellers feel as if they’ve undergone these experiences before even making a single a click to reserve.

Armed with this knowledge, it seems logical that major travel brands would want to increase their user-generated content. In fact, it’s been proven to extend a user’s time on a site up to almost 7 minutes, but acquiring that guest media is easier said than done. Austin-based tech company Rivet where the first to recognise this and built a consumer engagement platform helping hospitality brands cultivate and deliver the authentic user generated content they need to inspire travellers and thus drive bookings.

So when you next get inspired to book a holiday thanks to your Instagram or Facebook feed, make sure you upload your travel snaps to return the favour!

5 New Travel Trends

Today inexpensive and easily accessible transportation are making new travel experiences across the world possible for all kinds of travellers of varying ages, budgets, and demands. With this new wave of travel comes a lengthy list of travel trends for hotels, travel companies, and travellers to look out for. We’ve rounded up the top 5 trends are already taking off and are expected to increase sharply in cities worldwide.

1. Fantasy Flying: Flying can be just as entertaining as the destination itself thanks to flat-bed seats, on-board celebrity chefs, extravagant French wine lists, and much more. Even budget airlines are now offering guests extra perks such as free on-board wifi, and relaxed couch style seating, perfect for those travelling with families.

2. Mobile travel planning: Alter determining your travel itinerary according to the local weather, hit all the city's special events, and have all this (and more) sent to you directly on your tablet. Next step? Local recommendations, navigation, and photos by voice command with the highly anticipated Google Glass.

3. Sustainable Travel: The world is going green and travel is no exception. Eco-tourism is on the rise, and now more than ever before, travellers are expecting travel and tourism companies to play their part in protecting the environment. In response to this demand, hotels are making a “greener” effort by opting for solar power options, investing in local conservation projects, and establishing links with charities and NGOs.

4. Local is best: Travellers want to experience the city as locals, not tourists. Hidden, secret gems, authentic experiences, and local recommendations are now prized higher than ever before, with sponsored content gaining a bad rep.

5. Virtual Travel: Online searches and Google Streetview offer a glimpse of life in another part of the world, but as today’s eager traveller knows, this doesn’t even begin to compare to the real thing. Bold and curious travellers are seeking virtual travel options as a source of inspiration, but they certainly won’t settle unless they’ve experienced it for themselves. Still, you have to start somewhere!

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