A customer centric digital transformation
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Undergoing a digital transformation in Germany’s hotel industry WRITTEN BY
SEAN GALEA-PACE PRODUCED BY
MANUEL NAVARRO
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F I D E L I S H O S P I TA L I T Y
Sascha Dalig, Chief COO at Fidelis, discusses how the company is putting its customers at the forefront of decisions amidst digital transformation in the hotel industry
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ith technology redefining the way companies operate, particularly in the hotel industry, it’s become vital to embrace the latest
trends as part of a digital transformation to maintain an edge over rivals in the field. 04
As a manager of a number of key Ibis hotel brands under its parent organisation AccorHotels in a franchise agreement, Fidelis Hospitality oversees the development of its hotels through a firm customer centric approach. Sascha Dalig, Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Fidelis, believes that by operating with its customers at the forefront of decision making, it has enabled his company to thrive in the industry. “Our customers are extremely important. We’re always looking out for their comments to understand where we can do better,” says Dalig. “It’s up to us to put ourselves in the shoes of the guests and ask: what would I expect if I was staying here? If you’re able to set this point of view within the mindset of your team, then it’s an extremely successful mentality to have.” Dalig worked in a variety of different positions in the hospitality sector across Germany, including
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F I D E L I S H O S P I TA L I T Y
“Our customers are extremely important. We’re always looking out for their comments to understand where we can do better” — Sascha Dalig, Chief Operating Officer 06
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the IBIS Hotel in Landshut, Fidelis has
Management and Vice President
continued the collaboration with Häfele,
Operations Franchise before moving
an international family owned business
into his current role as COO in March
with a comprehensive range of products
2019. “My background has completely
and services. “We love to work with
revolved around hotels, from an appren-
Häfele and they’ve really emerged in
ticeship to senior management position.
the hospitality market. It’s a strategic
People always tell me that it’s an extraor-
partnership for us because it’s a partner
dinary way to go because I didn’t study
that’s running a secure system and also
or go to university – it’s all been hard
enabling the connectivity to Accor,”
work and gaining experience to reach
says Dalig. “Häfele are putting a lot of
this position.”
effort in to selling us the best solution and it’s that sort of support we look for
UTILISING TECHNOLOGY In order to choose the right partner for electronic access control system for
when choosing a partner to work with.” Fidelis operates with three property management systems – Oracle Opera, w w w.f i de l i s - ho spi t a l it y. com
360° COMPREHENSIVE HOTEL SOLUTIONS Häfele – Your partner for doors, furnishings and access control systems. With a diverse range of systems and products for the hotel sector, Häfele offers comprehensive solutions facilitating the effortless realization of your hotel concepts. This means that our company is a valuable source of inspiration for the hotel business: from an international assortment of hotel room articles, harmonized as if from one cast, to the hotel room door designed as a complete system, the Dialock electronic access control system, through to functional furniture solutions such as the Teleletto II folding bed and the bathroom mirror with light, demister and sound all in one unit – and much, much more. Häfele is an internationally organized
corporate group with headquarters in Nagold, Germany. The family owned and operated business was founded in 1923 and today serves the furniture industry, architects, planners, joiners/cabinet makers as well as dealers in over 150 countries around the world with furniture fittings and architectural hardware, electronic access control systems and LED light. Häfele develops and produces in Germany and Hungary. In the 2018 financial year the Häfele Group achieved exports of 80% with over 7,800 employees in 37 subsidiaries and numerous additional dealerships around the world and revenue of over 1.4 billion Euros.
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Additional information and references:
Häfele Project Business Worldwide (PWW) Adolf-Häfele-Straße 1 D-72202 Nagold Phone: +49 (0)7452 95 1111 EMail: projects@hafele.com www.hafele.com
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Hotel InterContinental, CH-Davos Fairmont Nile City, EGY-Cairo Hilton Pattaya, TH-Pattaya The Ritz-Carlton Chengdu, CN-Chengdu Hotel ibis Styles Nagold, D-Nagold Falkensteiner Hotel & Spa Jesolo, I-Lido di Jesolo JW Marriott Hotel Hanoi, VN-Hanoi JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai, VAE-Dubai Hotel ibis Landshut City, D-Landshut
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F I D E L I S H O S P I TA L I T Y
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Protel and FOLS. Dalig believes these
device. One of the guests’ biggest
systems have allowed the company’s
concerns is about how they can settle
processes to take a step forward during
their bills without a reception desk.
its digital transformation. “In our latest
However, that is easily remedied
opening we don’t have a reception
because all they need to do is submit
anymore because we have enabled
an email address when they check in
checking in on a mobile device,” explains
and the invoice is emailed when they
Dalig. “Initially, it was quite a strange
check out.”
experience for the guests. For instance,
In order to allow guests a more stress-
I saw a guest arrive and ask where the
free stay from the beginning, Accor’s
reception was and he couldn’t believe
software has expanded to enabling its
that you could check-in via a smartphone
guests to check in prior to arrival at the
hotel. “As soon as a guest arrives, all that’s left to do is to collect their key,” Dalig explains. “It’s a huge step forward because guests don’t need to sign on paper anymore and we have all of the information we need during the online check in. Guests can simply sign by using fingertips on a mobile device and it’s done. It’s really sped up the whole process.” With Fidelis embracing technology that Accor originally implemented, Dalig stresses how important it is that new processes are strategic and purposeful. “Launching new technology is based around lots of trial and error. For every tool you introduce, it’s important to see the benefit for the team and the customer. E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE
Sascha Dalig Dalig is vastly experienced in the hospitality sector, having worked in a variety of roles across Germany. Beginning his career with an apprenticeship at Best Western, Dalig worked his way through a range of positions in the hotel sector with jobs such as Assistant Manager, Revenue Manager and Vice President Franchise Operations at Accor Hotels before moving into his current role of Chief Operating Officer at Fidelis Hospitality in March 2019.
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F I D E L I S H O S P I TA L I T Y
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“ Häfele are putting a lot of effort into selling us the best solution and it’s that sort of support we look for when choosing a partner to work with” — Sascha Dalig, Chief Operating Officer
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F I D E L I S H O S P I TA L I T Y
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I believe we can roll out 10 or 15 tools
managers that overlook what resources
every year if we wanted to, but we have
are being used,” he explains. “A sustain-
to ask ourselves, why are we doing this?
ability journey starts with small things
If you can’t answer that question then
such as checking to see how many news-
there’s no point implementing new
papers are in the hotel and how many
technology for the sake of it.”
pieces of paper are thrown away each day. Through Accor, we have the oppor-
REMAINING SUSTAINABLE
tunity to take part in the Planet 21 pro-
With the future in mind, Dalig has clear
gramme, which is a piece of software
ideas on how the company can remain
that monitors all your resources, energy
sustainable. “You have to be sure of the
and training of staff, and is considered
resources you use. We have hotel
the complete sustainability tool.”
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“One of the next advancements that
the decision to build a new hotel if we
we hope to implement is the ability to
don’t see the rentability of it. There’s
open rooms with an NFC chip or via
no point building one in a city such as
mobile devices which will negate the
London or New York just because
need for a room key. It could be the
we want a hotel in those cities. We must
next major step to evolve this level of
continue to calculate the risks to
technology and we hope through impl-
ensure there will always be a return
ementing these processes it will enable
on investment.”
us to become even more customercentric,” summarises Dalig. “We want to continue to grow but it’s vital this happens in a smooth way. We won’t take w w w.f i de l i s - ho spi t a l it y. com
Fidelis Hospitality KasinostraĂ&#x;e 6 64293 Darmstadt Germany T +49 162 2825 617 www.fidelis-hospitality.com