Industry News

Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts Is The First In Croatia To Introduce Free Service ‘Handy’ For Guests

Aspire Executive Lounges, Swissport's global airport hospitality brand, has joined the British Institute of Hospitality, the world’s leading and award-winning membership body for hospitality professionals. Aspire Executive Lounges becomes the first business partner from the airport lounge hospitality sector to join the Institute of Hospitality. Aspire Executive Lounges, the fast-growing Swiss brand in the airport hospitality business, has joined the British Institute of Hospitality (IoH), the world’s leading membership body for professionals working and studying in the hospitality leisure and tourism industry. Aspire Executive Lounges is the first business from the airport lounge sector to become a member of IoH. The collaboration will foster an exchange of expertise and insights: IoH will benefit from Aspire's expertise in airport hospitality, while Aspire, by sharing its wealth of experience with IoH members, can extend its professional network to the hotel and catering sectors and hospitality management schools. “Our vision for Aspire Executive Lounges is clear and simple: We want to deliver a guest experience that is similar to what our guests are used to from their preferred hotels, meeting the needs and exceeding the expectations of today’s travelers,” says David Collyer, Global Vice President of Executive Lounges at Swissport International AG. “We strive to deliver an unparalleled experience and set a benchmark that transcends our industry, redefining excellence across the hospitality sector. The Institute of Hospitality is a great network to exchange insights and experiences, and to learn from others in the hospitality sector, which will help us bring our vision to life.” Robert Richardson, CEO of the Institute of Hospitality: “Our aspiration at the Institute of Hospitality has been to develop and grow our membership, the number of countries we operate in, and the number of hospitality sectors represented within our organization. With that in mind, it is a natural partnership for us to welcome Aspire into our family, and to learn from their teams, who serve travelers with passion and dedication. As two organizations with similar values, we look forward to collaborating in promoting high levels of excellence within our profession.” With over 30 years of experience, Aspire Executive Lounges is Europe’s largest brand in the airport lounges sector. In 2023, Swissport welcomed more than five million customers worldwide at over 69 lounges in 20 countries. The airport hospitality brand recently opened new lounges at Toronto City Airport in Canada, and Helsinki-Vantaa Airport in Finland. Aspire Executive Lounges recently created a new lounge concept in partnership with the airline alliance oneworld. The first oneworld branded lounge was launched at Incheon Airport in Seoul, Korea, in December 2023. Aspire Executive Lounges is owned by Swissport International AG, the global leader in aviation services, serving airlines at 286 airports in 44 countries across 6 continents
Written by Amy

Guests can enjoy free calls and free internet access throughout their stay without additional charges.

Contemporary hotels Park Plaza Arena Pula and Park Plaza Histria Pula in Croatia have introduced the new service ‘handy’, an integrated mobile service that provides hotel amenity features for guests. The service is the latest mobile and digital offering introduced by parent company Arena Hospitality Group whereby every room features a mobile device offering unlimited international and local calls and free Internet access throughout guests’ stay.

After check-in at the reception, the handy device will be waiting for guests in their room or apartment and will be at their disposal to access key features including live special offers and promotions, free destination guides, the reception on speed dial and information about making emergency calls.

Mobile devices come with a handy operating system, a customised Android system that can be personalised by the hotel to allow guests to make reservations and purchase its services. handy also offers language adaptation so hotel guests can enjoy its features, regardless of what language they speak.

Arena Hospitality Group is the first hotel Group in the world to offer the new platform. After the implementation of this new service in Pula, by the end of 2017 the same service will be introduced in another eight of the group’s hotels in Germany (Berlin, Nuremberg, Cologne and Dresden) and Hungary (Budapest).

Arena Hospitality Group’s CEO, Mr. Reli Slonim, said regarding this news: “Arena Hospitality Group is the first hotel company in Croatia to introduce free international calls and Internet access for its guests. This development of mobile and digital technology is a significant step forward in achieving market competitiveness and will be recognised by guests staying in our hotels or resorts and their satisfaction. We will continue to monitor the development of advanced technologies and endeavour to be leaders in the implementation of digital applications across all of our hotels. “

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Amy