John Denver doesn’t like to call what his company sells “property management systems.” Rather than PMS, IQware markets what he simply calls “hospitality technology.”
“Technology, especially hospitality technology, is constantly evolving so companies in this field must evolve with it,” says Denver, who is vice president of business development for Florida-based IQware. “Companies like ours actually provide hotels with the tools they need to run all of their day-to-day operations and also how they can generate additional revenues and save significant dollars.”
We recently chatted with Denver about changes in the hospitality software market and what hoteliers can expect in the future from technology?

Why do you prefer the term hospitality technology to PMS?
PMS is the tree trunk of hospitality technology, and everything else, whether it’s other solutions like sales and catering or spa management or point of sale or quality management, are the branches on that tree.

What are the biggest misconceptions hoteliers have about technology?
Everyone looks at hospitality technology as a cost of doing business. What they don’t realize is that using the latest in hospitality technology can not only make their jobs easier but also help them generate revenues and save significant dollars. Some hoteliers don’t realize the power of technology and how they can use things like activity bookings, gift cards, yielding tools or travel insurance to give them e-commerce tools.

How can hoteliers take advantage of e-commerce through their technology platforms?
Take gift cards as an example. Research shows 55 percent of gift cardholders need more than one trip to deplete the value of their card and less than 86 percent of gift cardholders ever redeem the full value of their card, which means the money stays on the card and stays in the hotelier’s pocket. I call it the one-percent advantage, and every additional tool can add one percent to a hotel’s revenues. The more tools you add, whether it be travel insurance or loyalty points or other things, can each be another one percent.

You talk about using technology to build revenues. What can modern hospitality technology do to help operators be more efficient?
One thing is to take advantage of their guest histories. It’s your lifeblood and if you’re not taking advantage of it you’re leaving money on the table. You need to be proactive rather than reactive. Are you sending customers targeted mailers? Are you giving them the opportunity to book directly from that mailer? If you don’t pay attention to guest history, you’ll lose out to hotels that are maximizing the use of technology and perhaps reaching the guests you’re not.