Hotel owners in the Middle East are welcoming digital transformation initiatives to create unrivaled visitor experiences, and stand apart from rivals, Avaya revealed today. With occupancy levels and typical everyday rates decreasing across the area, hoteliers are tapping solutions from Avaya, a worldwide leader in business communications software, systems and services, to modernize their services, produce new profits streams and improve functional efficiency.

Avaya's regional hospitality business grew 40% in the first half of the company's fiscal year, even as the Middle East and Africa were the only regions worldwide to post declines in tenancy and typical daily rate (ADR), according to research firm STR Global, with ADR in the Middle East dropping 10.8% in April. Weak oil prices, geopolitical instability and lowered demand are weighing on outcomes, causing hoteliers looking for solutions that can reduce total cost of ownership while still delivering exceptional guest experiences.

Frederick Sabty, Vice President Hospitality Solutions, World Wide Avaya, stated: "With the region getting ready for significant events such as Expo 2020 in Dubai and the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022, hotels need to offer engaging experiences and distinguished services to stand out from the crowd. Today's tourist is no more pleased with the conventional Hotel Experience-- they anticipate smooth connectivity across numerous devices, real-time access to information and services, personalized in-room entertainment and a customized experience that satisfies their own unique needs."

Minor Hotel Group (MHG), owner and operator of hotels and resorts in 22 nations, has actually released innovative combined interactions, contact center and networking solutions from Avaya across its hotels in the region, as part of its plans to increase its footprint in the Middle East.

Hari Nair, Director of Technology Middle East, Minor Hotel Group, said: "Minor Hotel Group is dedicated to delivering the best visitor experience and exceeding our visitors' expectations every time. With Avaya, we are able to provide the mobile, interactive, secure experiences that our guests should have, meeting their requirements today and for the future. Avaya solutions enable us to provide innovative services rapidly, boost functional efficiency, and minimize overall cost of ownership, while powering our digital change journey."

The digital transformation drive is throughout the market, with Avaya seeing an enhancing variety of hotels buying digital techniques to enhance their visitor experience, while hoteliers are also seeking to combine their ICT infrastructure and resources, and focus on overall expense of ownership.

Digitally transformed organizations in the hospitality sector can benefit from:

- Mobility solutions to enable employees and guests to access their preferred services securely from anywhere on the property, and on their preferred mobile devices;
- Social integration, to enable customers to share their experience on the go. Hotels are also able to build up data banks based on customer feedback and fine-tune their service to further improve the guest experience based on their profiles.
- In-room experience, with a shift from guests having to dial multiple numbers for services to being able to interact with a single agent who is contextually aware of the guest.

In the GCC, more than 80 per cent of all local hotel brands work with Avaya on transforming the guest experience, and globally, eight out of every 10 hospitality brands use Avaya solutions.