Jan Jaap van Roon, Founder and CEOCreating Gateways to Remove Roadblocks
According to van Roon, organisations in the hospitality industry must harness the power of connectivity to transform customer experiences and create better outcomes. Touching upon how outdated API frameworks cause significant hiccups in establishing seamless connectivity, van Roon emphasises the need for enhanced synchronisation and integration of new technology with traditional property management systems (PMS). “What comes as a major setback is even after connecting to the hotel website and making the telephonic reservation, the data from the PMS does not flow up to the servers of the central reservation system where hoteliers can connect it with other workflows. This leads to discrepancies as customers, upon logging in, fail to see their booking status,” says van Roon.
He goes on to mention that in their attempt to create an efficient booking engine that supports mobile-based reservations, hotels employ modern web agencies. However, the outdated APIs and legacy server interfaces obstruct the implementation of latest website-building tools, leading to an increase in costs and complicated certification processes. Ireckonu puts such issues to rest. “Unlike PMS suppliers that often come without mobile check-in/check-out options, Ireckonu changes this narrative with robust APIs that open the door for newer scenarios that amplify guest experiences,” remarks van Roon.
Ireckonu provides a middleware solution that streamlines workflows,drives deeper guest engagement, and reduces operational costs.
Data-Driven at the Core
With enriched information, consolidated guest profiles, and live operational overviews, Ireckonu successfully creates a “single source of truth” across all the existing hotel databases and offers a one-of-a-kind, distinctly personalised ecosystem that enhances business continuity and interoperability. “We offer an integrated experience from beginning to end, at every step of a hotel’s customer experience journey. Be it the reservation systems, check-in/check-out, or the stay, we are unique in the way we add a modern touch to everything we do,” affirms van Roon. Ireckonu’s robust APIs act as the gateway between hotel brands and its guests by answering the queries (room rates and availability) of customers in real-time. van Roon cites that Ireckonu seamlessly integrates silos and offers a transparent experience.
Highlighting yet another important area for transformation, van Roon reveals that consumers today prefer auto-fill features rather than manually entering the particulars (like name, e-mail, DOB, and others). However, collecting this customer data accurately and presenting it online is easier said than done; most of this information available comes from disparate sources that fail to flow up to the hotel’s central reservation systems. To that end, hotels need to ensure that all operational processes are connected and updated with information gathered before making it available online. “As such, these aspects that hotels often overlook play an important role in conversions. We have done a lot of work at the back-end, and this allows us to present the right data to customers,” says van Roon.
Innovations that Bolster Hospitality
With that being said, van Roon stresses that the higher conversion rates also call for a guest recognition program. To take the process further, Ireckonu offers the advanced recency, frequency, and monetary (RFM) plus module, an advanced version of the conventional RFM systems. “We have added dimensions like including the duration of stay, number of times guests have stayed under the same hotel brands, and many others to make the entire process more guest-friendly,” explains van Roon. He adds that using these indicators, hotels can recognise brand loyalists and value their ambassadors. van Roon suggests that hotels can also add these elements to their booking engine in real-time, empowering guests to choose personalized amenities, based on their preferences.
In essence, along with being guest centric, Ireckonu is moving the needle in modernising hotels. “We want to create a hotel reservation experience similar to Uber booking,” expresses van Roon. Ireckonu has devised a System of Record (SOR)for profiles that maintains and updates relevant guest information, proactively sending these updated profiles to each connected system. van Roon mentions that with Ireckonu's account functionality, the guests and make bookings according to their preferences, including choosing the same services from their previous stay.
As the next step in their growth journey, Ireckonu intends to bring contactless experiences for guests into direct spotlight. “We are currently focused on becoming the singular data source for hotels and their guests by using the functionalities of our customer data platform(CDP),” says van Roon. Using CDP as the base, Ireckonu plans to draw insights into customer behaviour and predict the likes and dislikes of guests. van Roon feels that the hospitality industry has to become more creative and proactive in catering to their guests. With innovation at its core, Ireckonu is positioning itself as an eminent partner that offers limitless solutions to help the industry stride into the future of hospitality.
Our company acts as the middle ‘glue’ layer between all the systems of a hotel and creates stability among them
With enriched information, consolidated guest profiles, and live operational overviews, Ireckonu successfully creates a “single source of truth” across all the existing hotel databases and offers a one-of-a-kind, distinctly personalised ecosystem that enhances business continuity and interoperability. “We offer an integrated experience from beginning to end, at every step of a hotel’s customer experience journey. Be it the reservation systems, check-in/check-out, or the stay, we are unique in the way we add a modern touch to everything we do,” affirms van Roon. Ireckonu’s robust APIs act as the gateway between hotel brands and its guests by answering the queries (room rates and availability) of customers in real-time. van Roon cites that Ireckonu seamlessly integrates silos and offers a transparent experience.
Highlighting yet another important area for transformation, van Roon reveals that consumers today prefer auto-fill features rather than manually entering the particulars (like name, e-mail, DOB, and others). However, collecting this customer data accurately and presenting it online is easier said than done; most of this information available comes from disparate sources that fail to flow up to the hotel’s central reservation systems. To that end, hotels need to ensure that all operational processes are connected and updated with information gathered before making it available online. “As such, these aspects that hotels often overlook play an important role in conversions. We have done a lot of work at the back-end, and this allows us to present the right data to customers,” says van Roon.
Innovations that Bolster Hospitality
With that being said, van Roon stresses that the higher conversion rates also call for a guest recognition program. To take the process further, Ireckonu offers the advanced recency, frequency, and monetary (RFM) plus module, an advanced version of the conventional RFM systems. “We have added dimensions like including the duration of stay, number of times guests have stayed under the same hotel brands, and many others to make the entire process more guest-friendly,” explains van Roon. He adds that using these indicators, hotels can recognise brand loyalists and value their ambassadors. van Roon suggests that hotels can also add these elements to their booking engine in real-time, empowering guests to choose personalized amenities, based on their preferences.
In essence, along with being guest centric, Ireckonu is moving the needle in modernising hotels. “We want to create a hotel reservation experience similar to Uber booking,” expresses van Roon. Ireckonu has devised a System of Record (SOR)for profiles that maintains and updates relevant guest information, proactively sending these updated profiles to each connected system. van Roon mentions that with Ireckonu's account functionality, the guests and make bookings according to their preferences, including choosing the same services from their previous stay.
As the next step in their growth journey, Ireckonu intends to bring contactless experiences for guests into direct spotlight. “We are currently focused on becoming the singular data source for hotels and their guests by using the functionalities of our customer data platform(CDP),” says van Roon. Using CDP as the base, Ireckonu plans to draw insights into customer behaviour and predict the likes and dislikes of guests. van Roon feels that the hospitality industry has to become more creative and proactive in catering to their guests. With innovation at its core, Ireckonu is positioning itself as an eminent partner that offers limitless solutions to help the industry stride into the future of hospitality.
Ireckonu News
Okura Nikko Hotel Management partners with IRECKONU to implement a global digital guest experience strategy
IRECKONU appoints hospitality industry expert Rupert Gutteridge as Chief Operations Officer
AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS – Ireckonu, the industry leader in hospitality middleware, CDP, and digital guest relationship systems integration, today announced the appointment of 25-year hospitality industry veteran, Rupert Gutteridge, as their Chief Operations Officer (COO). Gutteridge comes to Ireckonu after successful appointments at Oracle, Guestline, and Oaky where he successfully demonstrated his ability to grow businesses with a hands-on approach by creating great teams to drive a successful sales engine. For Rupert, a key focus has always been building long lasting relationships that keep the customer’s needs at the core of collaborative and productive partnerships.
What attracted me to Ireckonu is their potential to grow globally. They really address what hoteliers need to succeed, and in so many areas. Rupert Gutteridge, COO Ireckonu
Rupert believes that the hotel industry is just now starting to understand the value of middleware and how valuable the Ireckonu approach is. He wants to extend the company’s products and services that have been developed for lighthouse customers like citizenM Hotels and Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, build on their strengths, and make them more accessible to more hoteliers worldwide. The challenge is to continue the Ireckonu commitment to working closely with their clients in a scale-up approach that will leverage the latest technology. He points to the toolsets that the company has created using AI and Machine Learning as major facilitators for fast implementation to drive economy of scale in a global marketplace.
I have always been passionate about hospitality and technology. What I love about hoteliers and the hotel experience is how they create moments of joy and lasting memories, and using Ireckonu solutions to make everything work in concert is something I am really looking forward to.Rupert Gutteridge, COO Ireckonu
Ireckonu announces this appointment at a strategic moment after a reorganization of their product stack, an extended global partnership with Okura Nikko Hotel Management, and in preparation for rapid worldwide expansion. They believe now is the time to build on their unique client-centric foundation building approach to hotel industry middleware integrations and Gutteridge has the experience and vision to lead the company and its people in a successful scale-up.
Success is not achieved by one person alone, but by a united team with a shared vision. With Rupert’s expertise, leadership, and dedication, we are confident that, together, we will surpass our goals and reach new heights, bringing our vision to life.Jan Jaap van Roon, CEO Ireckonu
What attracted me to Ireckonu is their potential to grow globally. They really address what hoteliers need to succeed, and in so many areas. Rupert Gutteridge, COO Ireckonu
Rupert believes that the hotel industry is just now starting to understand the value of middleware and how valuable the Ireckonu approach is. He wants to extend the company’s products and services that have been developed for lighthouse customers like citizenM Hotels and Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, build on their strengths, and make them more accessible to more hoteliers worldwide. The challenge is to continue the Ireckonu commitment to working closely with their clients in a scale-up approach that will leverage the latest technology. He points to the toolsets that the company has created using AI and Machine Learning as major facilitators for fast implementation to drive economy of scale in a global marketplace.
I have always been passionate about hospitality and technology. What I love about hoteliers and the hotel experience is how they create moments of joy and lasting memories, and using Ireckonu solutions to make everything work in concert is something I am really looking forward to.Rupert Gutteridge, COO Ireckonu
Ireckonu announces this appointment at a strategic moment after a reorganization of their product stack, an extended global partnership with Okura Nikko Hotel Management, and in preparation for rapid worldwide expansion. They believe now is the time to build on their unique client-centric foundation building approach to hotel industry middleware integrations and Gutteridge has the experience and vision to lead the company and its people in a successful scale-up.
Success is not achieved by one person alone, but by a united team with a shared vision. With Rupert’s expertise, leadership, and dedication, we are confident that, together, we will surpass our goals and reach new heights, bringing our vision to life.Jan Jaap van Roon, CEO Ireckonu
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ONHM to take a fresh approach to their guest intimacy strategy by leveraging profiles and data in ways that will generate a more meaningful relationship between their hotels and valued guests.
After a thorough investigation of available solutions, we have determined that Ireckonu would be our strategic technology partner for our CDP project as they possess a credible track record of success with a strong focus on the hospitality sector and combines it with the functionality of a CDP to offer an efficient and proven solution specific to our industry. We favored their ability to connect and consolidate various information scattered across different systems within the company, providing a unique solution that is not commonly seen. We are confident that our chain will continue to grow as a hotel operator with Ireckonu through the delivery of "Omotenashi", our distinct art of hospitality beyond service and effective marketing. Kikuhiko Okura, Okura Nikko Hotel Management President & CEO
To provide the ONHM with a new digital foundation that will enable specific guest engagement innovations, Ireckonu will deploy their keystone products, CORE Middleware for platform agnostic systems integration, and IKnowU to consolidate all guest related information in a central System of Record (SoR). This will give ONHM a huge advantage over Hotel Groups that rely on siloed systems as Ireckonu works with them to unlock the full potential of their guest data and collects, cleans, and activates that data to power a range of features including:
• Guest Segmentation to create targeted lists based on aggregated transactional and profile data.
• RFM + and Loyalty calculation engine assigns values to guest profiles based on Recency, Frequency, Monetary, Duration, and Diversity to create up-sell opportunities.
It is an honor and makes us extremely proud to partner with ONHM. This most prestigious portfolio joins other global industry leading companies who are dedicated to being guest centric and do so by enabling solid technology architecture and data stream from multiple sources. This approach is the basis of their business processes and guest life cycle engagement. Jan Jaap van Roon, Ireckonu Founder & CEO