Advanced Solutions from ISTRA TECH: Your New Waiter Can Also Be AI-Powered

ISTRA TECH, a company specializing in software solutions and the digitalization of systems in tourism, is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. A large number of hotels and camps are already using various software solutions from ISTRA TECH, which now integrates artificial intelligence (AI) into them and develops solutions for AI robots.

– Our software solutions cover all major business processes in hotels and camps. PMS – Property Management System covers planning and managing sales, check-in, tracking services provided during the stay, up to check-out and billing for services rendered. GAS and POS software is used for managing food and beverage, starting from procurement through storage to food and beverage production in kitchens and pantries. Regarding business digitalization, we offer various solutions: self-check-in and check-out, self-ordering of hotel and catering services, web-reservations for tables in restaurants, digital invoices for paperless hotels, and a range of other solutions that enhance the customer experience – lists Davor Brenko, director of ISTRA TECH.

AI Team

Just a few months after the emergence of chatGPT, the company established an AI team and began working on its own AI-based or AI-supported solutions. According to Brenko, by the end of last year, they had developed and offered two AI solutions on the market. One solution is AI digital assistants that interactively communicate with guests via text or speech and answer various questions about the hotel, significantly relieving or replacing sales and reception staff.

– We have also integrated it into a robot that serves as a concierge. The second developed AI solution allows for the scanning of personal documents via cameras and automatically entering data into a database, reducing the receptionist’s data entry task from several minutes to a few seconds and is cheaper and simpler than previous scanners. Considering that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find labor in hospitality, especially quality labor, such solutions that replace human work not only reduce operating costs but also create a positive customer experience – explains Brenko.

The AI solutions from the company positively impact hotel operations as they not only reduce costs but are increasingly used for generating revenue. For example, in revenue-management, AI calculates the service price for a guest that will maximize profit at that moment. AI also continuously analyzes guest satisfaction published on booking.com, trip advisor, and other web-sites and social media, alerting hoteliers to bad or good trends, what guests were satisfied with, and what they were not, allowing for business corrections and service improvements, thus leading to increased sales, revenue, and profit.

For a Better Guest Experience

As a result, more and more hotels are using these solutions.

– The number of users of our software is continuously growing, and currently, more than 250 hotels and camps in over 150 companies in Croatia and a few in Austria are using it. Users include some of the largest Croatian tourism companies managing dozens of hotels and camps: Valamar Riviera, Imperial Riviera, Aminess, Jadran hoteli Rijeka, Supetrus hoteli, Arena Hospitality Group, Jadranski luksuzni hoteli, but we also have many independent hotels and camps. The smallest hotels have only about ten accommodation units, while the largest have more than 400 – emphasizes Brenko.

He adds that they are currently working with partners on an EU co-financed project for data collection and AI analysis of guest preferences with the aim of offering guests services and products that they are more likely to purchase rather than offering everything and anything. This will enable hoteliers to achieve higher revenues along with a better guest experience.

– We plan to use AI in financial analysis of operations and in predicting and planning revenues and costs. Additionally, besides AI software for robots that assist at receptions, we plan to develop software for AI robots that bring food and drinks to guests in restaurants and take away dirty dishes, as well as those that distribute various household supplies throughout the hotel, both to guests and housekeepers – concludes Brenko.

Content provided by Istratech.