As technology seeps into every facet of our lives, high-tech systems are taking the hospitality industry by storm. It’s no secret the pandemic accelerated a digital transformation, influencing people to become accustomed to greater convenience as businesses adapted and deployed digital solutions and virtual customer service. A barometer for the innovation and changes taking place in technology, now more than ever the hospitality and hotel industries need to address these new consumer expectations, while still navigating tighter budgets and the industry-wide staff shortage.

According to hospitality entrepreneur Cam Northway, founder of globally renowned drinks agency Sweet&Chilli, hospitality consultancy ATYPICAL and Bondi restaurant and bar Rocker, with innovation at our fingertips, utilising smart technology isn’t as complex as it once was, and can transform your business in the long-run with reduced costs, increased revenue and improved guest satisfaction is just the tip of the iceberg. When it comes to operating below the surface, here are six ways technology is shaping the future of hospitality:

Contactless Goes Mainstream

Over the past two years contactless technology has become a buzzword across all industries. It’s mainstream, it’s the new normal – and thankfully it’s fairly straightforward. Phasing out human-to-human touchpoints will streamline operations and enable access to a wealth of data that can be used to create seamless, personalised experiences and a fully integrated customer view. Digital payments and cashless transactions create an environment where from start to finish, a guest can enjoy the freedom of movement without stop points and checkpoints, and also sanctions pre-order or click-and-collect for wine and grocer style delivery, direct from in-house restaurants and cellar doors.

Concierge Culture

Fact: people of all ages literally live on their smartphones in today’s world, and how you operate at a hotel is no exception. Guest software – whether web-based or a native mobile app – allows your customers to interact with and purchase goods or services from the palm of their hands, allowing hospitality operators to increase guest revenue and manage their properties without increasing staff. An effective concierge delivers a level of personalised service that becomes one of the leading reasons your customers decide to come back – and rolling this out digitally will enable them access to whatever they like, whenever they like, in a way they’re all too familiar with – their mobile devices. From making reservations at your restaurant, in-room services, ordering food and drink, housekeeping and more – this digitally optimised tool creates a seamless customer journey from the pre-booking phase through to post-stay.

Keep Your Head In The Cloud

The current and future impact of cloud-based solutions within the hospitality industry is colossal, revolutionising the way hoteliers run their businesses and how they interact with their guests. Cloud POS and inventory management systems offer a single, scalable methodology where every aspect of your business can be managed – ranging front desk, restaurant, reservations, and accounts, all the way through to tracking inventory and stock levels in real-time, assessing menu trends and more. By implementing cloud-based tech, hospitality operators can offer personalised experiences and capture customer information – such as their preferences, transactions and behaviour, maximising revenue and guest satisfaction.

The Internet Of Things

In an industry as asset heavy as hotels, it’s simply easier and more cost-efficient to install connected room strategies as opposed to equipping hundreds or thousands of rooms with the latest piece of hardware or physical items. This is where smart rooms come in, aka the process of fitting everyday devices with internet-connectivity. From smart occupancy sensors that push menu notifications to smartphones at optimal times when the guests are in their rooms, offering personalised suggestions based on past orders, in-room entertainment and smart-room controls for lighting and temperature control, the bottom-line means greater personalisation, improved sustainability and enhanced guest experience.

Chatbots 2.0

Bots are blossoming in innovation as the AI applications move far past generic responses and basic human conversation. Within the hospitality space, chatbots can be deployed to several touchpoints, ranging from your web, social media or in-house branded apps. The digital assistants streamline interactions between consumers and your products or services, enhance customer experience and streamline engagement, reducing traditional support costs. From recommending dishes, suggesting food & drink pairing, processing payments, asking for feedback and announcing events or promotions, Chatbots have the ability to revolutionise your business on a daily basis.

Relief Is In The Air

It’s no secret COVID-19 has forced leaders in the hospitality space to rethink what defines an outstanding guest experience. Critical to this is making guests feel safe and comfortable throughout every part of your service delivery. While restrictions and travel bans have eased, the importance of healthy spaces is paramount, especially in the hotel and hospitality industry given the density and sheer volume of people involved. Upgrading sanitisation systems through various air purification technologies will promote ‘clean air’, offering a solution that delivers a higher-quality indoor environment and helps support healthy buildings. Ensuring consumer confidence is critical to maintaining the millions of jobs in this expansive industry.

While world events have changed the hotel and hospitality industry in many ways, it’s also highlighted just how necessary adopting new tech into your experience for a successful and sustainable business that’s on par with the changing guest expectations. Understanding how people use technology at home and in their day-to-day life will allow hospitality brands to replicate that experience, resulting in increased customer satisfaction and lower overhead costs.

Today’s $220 million announcement by the Coalition to support Aussie timber production, manufacturing and research is good news for builders.

“Master Builders has been calling for this type of action to address timber shortages in the future and boost local industry capability,” Denita Wawn, CEO of Master Builders Australia said.

“The acute shortage of Aussie timber and reliance on imports to meet excess demand has contributed to massive spikes in the price of timber,” she said.

“We do not have enough plantation timber to supply housing needs in the future,” Denita Wawn said.  

“It’s in Australia’s national interest to secure our local timber supply by ensuring our timber plantation stock can meet future housing demand,” Denita Wawn said.

“A joint report released last year by Master Builders Australia (MBA) and the Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) shows Australia is headed towards a major cliff in timber framing production, concluding we will be 250,000 house frames short by 2035 – the equivalent of the cities of Newcastle and Geelong combined,” she said.

“In Australia, there is one company in WA manufacturing laminated veneer lumber (LVL) timber.  We should have the local capability here in Australia to do more manufacturing of structural engineered wood products,” Denita Wawn said.

“More also needs to be done to address shortages, cost increases and delays causing the current cost and cashflow crunch being experienced by the industry,” Denita Wawn said.

In response to trades and materials pressures facing the construction sector, Master Builders is seeking the following from the government:

• Incentives to improve sovereign capacity in product supply.
• Better coordination with industry, states, and territories to facilitate greater investment in softwood plantations to meet long-term structural timber needs.
• Government taking a more active role in enabling trade access arrangements for imported building products.
• Investment in and boosting Australian building product manufacturing and product appraisal/traceability capabilities.

WP Engine, the world’s most trusted WordPress technology company, today announced Atlas, its award-winning headless WordPress solution, is now available to businesses of all sizes with four new headless WordPress plans, ranging from $49 to $499, allowing developers to learn, build and grow their sites on Atlas. It also announced the launch of Atlas Blueprints, which are free, professionally-designed starter sites allowing anyone to get started fast with headless WordPress. Developers can also try out Atlas by signing up for a free Atlas Sandbox account, which allows developers to learn more about developing with headless WordPress and create prototype projects.

Headless WordPress. Perfected.

WP Engine’s Atlas is the complete headless WordPress platform, enabling exponentially faster dynamic sites with the flexibility and security that comes with headless solutions. Delighting both developers and content publishers, Atlas brings together the customer’s choice of modern development framework with powerful front-end Node.js hosting and headless WordPress all in one complete package. Users can rely on WP Engine as a trusted partner with one support organisation with the expertise to troubleshoot everything that’s included. 

 “We created Atlas because it allowed developers to use the modern frameworks they prefer and build personalised, omnichannel experiences integrated with back-ends at the speed normally reserved for static brochure sites,” said Jason Cohen, Founder and Chief Technology Officer at WP Engine. “The WordPress industry’s reaction to our Atlas launch last year was nothing short of amazing. In talking with our customers around the world, we found there was a strong desire to learn more about headless WordPress, provide an easy onramp to using it and make it available to brands and agencies everywhere, regardless of their size or budget.” 

Cohen continued, “Developers are tinkerers, always pushing the boundaries, finding new ways to harness the power of WordPress. Most have extensive WordPress and PHP experience and are looking to work in more API-centric and headless web engineering. With the launch of our new Atlas plans, Atlas Blueprints and Atlas Sandbox, we are enabling more developers and marketers to try out headless WordPress and build amazing, powerful, secure sites faster than ever before and scale them as their business grows.” 

Atlas for All

Developers are constantly under pressure to deliver highly performant + secure omnichannel digital experiences that rank higher and convert better on a platform that easily scales and integrates with an increasing array of martech SaaS tools.

Atlas unlocks a world of possibilities by leveraging all the content-creation power of WordPress while making it easy to implement on the front end with JavaScript and more modern web practices. From e-commerce to corporate websites to newsrooms and media sites, developers and marketers gain the security, stability and performance needed to engage audiences with their story or products today, and the control they’ll need for updating and evolving content tomorrow with autonomous page editing.

WP Engine is launching four new Atlas plans to help Atlas span the entire spectrum of headless WordPress needs for sites of all sizes. These new plans are in addition to the existing Atlas offerings for enterprise developers and agencies with high traffic sites. From startups to enterprises, these plans have you covered. 

Atlas Blueprints

Many developers want the added security and flexibility that headless WordPress brings and they simply want to create a beautiful site quickly. Atlas Blueprints comes with pre-installed plugins for headless WordPress publishing, and a React-based front end that is pre-configured for WordPress data fetching, routing, and search, enabling them to create a fully-featured headless site in less than 5 minutes.

Atlas Blueprints are professionally designed and leverage the best of WP Engine’s headless products, including WPGraphQL, Faust.js, and Atlas Content Modeler. Blueprints can be deployed using Local or a free Atlas Sandbox account. It can also be used to learn about headless development, rapidly create a prototype project, or even deploy a production site.

Free Sandbox Accounts

An Atlas Sandbox account is a free “playground” account where developers can dive into Atlas, play around with all the Atlas features and tooling, and explore, what is for many, a new way of developing in WordPress.

For more information about Atlas for All, Atlas Blueprints and to sign up for a free Atlas Sandbox account, go to https://wpengine.com/atlas/. 

​​The State of Headless 

Discover why organisations are choosing headless, the technologies they’re using, how much they’re spending, and what the future of headless holds in “The State of Headless: A Global Research Report.”

Learn more at DE{CODE} 2022

The new Atlas plans and Atlas Blueprints will be discussed in a session at WP Engine’s award-winning DE{CODE} 2022 developer conference. The completely virtual event will take place April 20-21 and will be broadcast across three different time zones, making it more convenient for developers attending from North America, EMEA, and Australia. The agenda is packed with 19 expert-led sessions that dive into the latest trends and technologies in WordPress.

This year’s event is organised around four key areas of development most requested by previous DE{CODE} attendees: eCommerce, headless WordPress, managed WordPress hosting and the builder experience. To learn more and register, go to https://events.wpengine.com/event/61de3570-be6a-4182-a365-c12d5236cef3/websitePage:5bbe0ca6-fd0c-4e77-b99b-de21baff9062. 

Limepay, the innovative payments platform, has introduced Limepay STACK, a new solution that simplifies B2B payments for Australian businesses. Just as customers of B2C companies enjoy Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) payments with multiple instalments or other options, business customers can now choose from a range of efficient digital ways to pay.  

Limepay STACK makes it easier to make, receive and process payments for B2B businesses as well as their customers. By shifting to an all-in-one payments platform, businesses can better predict cash flow, simplify their accounts, save processing time and improve security, all while simplifying the experience for their customers. 

All payments made through Limepay STACK come with added fraud protection and offer businesses greater access to analytics and insights compared to traditional payment methods. B2B brands can offer white-labelled Pay Now or Pay Later options to customers, including single or multiple instalments, as well as monthly, fortnightly, weekly or daily frequencies for regular payments. 

Willie Pang, Chief Executive Officer at Limepay says, “Many B2B businesses are still relying on paper for payments. By offering Limepay STACK, we’re helping them improve the reliability of their cash flow, increase the speed at which they do business and help deliver safe, convenient payment options for their business customers.” 

The number of B2B businesses offering end-to-end customer experiences and omnichannel sales has increased over the past two years in response to the changing nature of commerce during the global pandemic.¹ 

With Limepay STACK, businesses can cost-effectively sell from anywhere; in person, online, over the phone or through their website, all while keeping customers within their branded ecosystem. Businesses can easily conduct sales where and how their customers prefer with the white-labelled payment options offered by Limepay STACK. 

Limepay STACK supports a range of card types including VISA, MasterCard, Amex, Apple Pay and Google Pay, as well as eCommerce plugins for Magento 1 & 2, WooCommerce and Salesforce Commerce Cloud.  

You can learn more about Limepay STACK on YouTube. 

With Australians expected to make significant charitable donations to support flood-impacted areas, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is urging taxpayers to make sure that if they want to claim a deduction in their tax return for a donation they have made, it meets the criteria to be a charitable tax deductible.

Assistant Commissioner Tim Loh said, “We know Aussies are very charitable and after the recent floods, we are expecting to see a lot of donations and deductions in tax returns this year.”

In the 2019-20 year, around 4.2 million Australians claimed deductions for $3.7 billion in gifts and donations to charities and not-for-profits.

“Before rushing to claim a donation in your tax return, it’s important to understand what makes a donation charitable tax deductible. The donation needs to be made to a deductible gift recipient (DGR).”

Organisations or funds endorsed as DGRs are entitled to receive tax deductible gifts or donations. Not all charities and not-for-profits are DGRs. DGRs are either endorsed by the ATO, or in exceptional cases listed by name in the tax law. Additionally, many crowdfunding campaigns that raise money for charitable causes and individuals in need, are not run by DGRs.

“We know crowdfunding campaigns are growing in popularity, but they may not be run by a DGR, so it is important to check whether your charitable gift or donation will be deductible at tax time. Taxpayers can confirm an organisation’s DGR status by checking the ABN Lookup on business.gov.au.”, Mr Loh said.

“Further, in return for your donation, you can only accept items that would be considered promotional advertising for the DGR such as pens, wristbands or badges. If you receive something in return for your donation, for example, you make a gold coin donation for a sausage sizzle or buy vintage goods from an Op Shop, this isn’t considered a tax-deductible gift.”

“Most importantly, you must have a record of your donation. Most DGRs will usually issue you with a receipt, but they don’t have to. We will accept third-party receipts as evidence if the receipt identifies the DGR and clearly states that the amount is a donation.”

“If you made donations of $2 or more to bucket collections conducted by a DGR for natural disasters, you can only claim a tax deduction of up to $10 for the total of those contributions without a receipt.”

“We want to make it easier for you to support the charity of your choice. The myDeductions tool in the ATO app can store photos of donation receipts throughout the year. Then simply upload your donation information to myTax or send them through to your registered tax agent.”

The ATO may ask a taxpayer to provide evidence to support their claim or amend their tax return to remove the claim. Last year, we had to adjust a large number of charitable claims because the taxpayer incorrectly claimed the donation. Unfortunately, this will delay the tax return from being finalised and any refunds being issued.

“So, if you are claiming a donation this tax time, make sure it’s charitable tax deductible, you didn’t receive anything of personal use in return, and you have a record of the donation.”

“For those that have had their tax records lost or damaged in the floods, we are here to help you reconstruct them so you can be prepared this tax time.” If your records have been damaged, destroyed or lost, there are a number of ways we can help you reconstruct your tax records

Jo Palmer, a passionate advocate for remote work recognised for her positive impact on rural and regional communities 

Every year the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) awards a Small Business Champion at their National Small Business Summit to recognise and acknowledge small business influencers who are making a genuine difference to their industry or the sector. 

This year’s winner Jo Palmer is the Founder and Director of Pointer Remote, an online platform connecting businesses with talented professionals living in regional, rural and extreme remote situations.  

Alexi Boyd, CEO of COSBOA, said that this is an individual who is worthy of this prestigious award. 

“It is with great appreciation and congratulations that COSBOA announce Jo Palmer as the 2022 Small Business Champion. She truly deserves this award after years of dedication as a rural advocate, mentor and voice for enhancing women’s economic opportunities,” announced Ms Boyd.

“Jo is a passionate small businesswoman who saw an untapped pool of talent in rural areas that could be mobilised through remote work. She has worked tirelessly to job-match individuals and businesses from all over the country and has had a huge impact on building capacity in regional Australian communities.” 

Jo Palmer received her award at the COSBOA Summit gala dinner and was thrilled with this recognition for her and her team. 

“In the company of so many small business community leaders, owners and advocates, I am really honoured to receive this award,” said Ms Palmer.  

“In the five years that Pointer Remote has been in operation, it is small businesses from across the country who have really been able to leverage remote work to access the skills and experience they need for their organisation to grow. With talent in such short supply, businesses that have adapted to flexibility are finding it easier to attract new team members. We are so appreciative of those companies who have trusted us to help!” 

For more on Pointer Remote visit: https://pointerremote.com/   For more on COSBOA visit: www.cosboa.org.au/

While more Australians are looking to work for themselves post-pandemic, many lucrative business opportunities are going unrealised by business buyers– ironically because of their best attribute.

• Less competition, market dominance, and emerging industries give “quirky” businesses a significant competitive edge.
• Many business buyers are overlooking this growth potential by fixating solely on traditional business types.
• Profitability, and customer demand is key to determining a business’s value – regardless of what it sells.

The easing of pandemic restrictions and border closures has seen a surge in the number of Australians seeking to become self-employed. However, leading business sales marketplace AnyBusiness.com.au is urging buyers not to overlook the commercial benefits of owning and operating a more unique business with a highly specialised product or service.

While cafés and retail stores are among the most commonly traded businesses, those that operate within a particular niche or have a distinctive “quirk factor” often have greater growth potential and fewer – if indeed any – local competitors, making them potentially lucrative investments, explains Mary Tamvakologos, Director of Operations, AnyBusiness.

“People are always looking for a profitable business with an edge or a point of difference. Most of these businesses offer both! They are unusual because they typically offer uncommon services or products. Their uniqueness sets them apart from anything else in the market,” says Mrs Tamvakologos.

“However, buyers often overlook them simply because they fall outside of the standard business categories such as a café, motel, restaurant, or car wash – the businesses we all know and recognise.”
Mrs Tamvakalogos adds that purchasing an innovative business with a novel offering can also be an opportunity to buy into a newly emerging market.

“At AnyBusiness, we have repeatedly seen businesses listed for sale before they have shown their full potential. For instance, bubble tea businesses are immensely popular now, whereas just 3 years ago, they would have been considered unusual. The same for capsule hotels. And food trucks have exploded in popularity over the past two years on the back of the pandemic.”
Another unique business to have grown strongly on the exclusivity of its products, combined with renewed interest in Australian-made goods, is Cedar Bath Company, which manufactures custom-made cedar baths, spas, and accessories from its Perth-based premises.

Owner Phillip Jenkins launched the business 3 years ago having constructed a cedar bath for his own home, which attracted strong interest when circumstances changed and he was reluctantly forced to sell it.

“There are very few manufacturers in Australia selling cedar baths – typically most that are available are poorer quality ones imported from overseas. Therefore, I obviously had something unique to offer and people loved it!” Mr Jenkins says.

“Being made locally means we can also customise each one – people sometimes have unusual requests and l like to make that extra effort to meet their needs.”

Mr Jenkins, a serial entrepreneur, is now seeking a new owner for the business to oversee its continued growth into the future. And he is more than willing to help its new owners achieve this vision long after a sale takes place – hands-on support which is often lacking in more transactional business sales.

“I am the third generation of business owners in my family and am looking for someone who will carry forward this legacy. I will always be there to help this unique business flourish and reach new horizons,” Mr Jenkins says.

“It’s not just a sale to make a sale: I will still be nearby and available to help the new owner continue it on and leverage the specialised skillsets of our dedicated employees.”
AnyBusiness’s Mary Tamvakologos says that when purchasing a business, its uniqueness is just one aspect over which due diligence is required.

“Regardless of the type of business, valuing a business normally involves a number of factors – not only uniqueness but also profitability, operational requirements and customer demand,” she says.

“A buyer needs to know that there is a demand for its particular product or service to ensure it is profitable into the future – no matter what it sells.”

From helping small business owners lower suicide rates and empowering women with self-defence in Australia to getting new mats for a Pilates studio in New Zealand, BizCover is committed to helping small businesses grow and has launched the latest round of its BizGiver grant program.   

The $2,000 grant aims to remove some barriers to growth that business owners face every day. Previous winners were granted prizes such as SEO packages, website design services, advertising, iPads, hardware and equipment, and training courses.

“So much of BizCover’s success is due to the small business community, who have embraced our services over more traditional methods of buying insurance,” said BizCover Founder and CEO Michael Gottlieb. “This program is just one way we aim to give back to that community, to thank them for their support and for sharing in BizCover’s vision.”   

Suicide prevention trainer and BizGiver winner Josh Roach says the grant helped his business be more professional after his wish for a new projector was delivered.    

“I saw the competition being promoted in an email from BizCover shortly after I purchased insurance and thought I might as well give it a shot,” Josh said.    

Josh began his small business in early 2021 to help equip his community to better respond to people having thoughts about suicide. He has since delivered training across many different communities ranging from high school students to veterans, nurses and more.   

“I wished for a projector to help deliver my training because previously I had to borrow or hire this equipment,” Josh said. I have not been able to deliver training throughout the numerous COVID-19 lockdowns, so this grant is so helpful.”   

Another recipient of the BizGiver program is Empowered Today, a not-for-profit organisation near Byron Bay dedicated to providing Empowerment and Self Defence (ESD) training for women and girls.   

Certified ESD trainer Lisa Evans said the grant helped grow her business, providing extra support to her Empowered Today’s critical services.    

“Winning this prize allows us to offer regular self-defence classes and workshops and cover different scenarios that women might find themselves in,” Lisa said.    

In its 46th round in Australia and tenth in New Zealand, the quarterly initiative receives hundreds of applicants waiting for their wishes to be granted. So far, BizGiver has given away over $80,000 in grants.    

To enter the competition, small business owners will need to say in 200 words or less what item or service would help take their business to the next level and why they deserve to win.    

The latest round is now open until May 5, 2022. Finalists are named May 6, and the winners are announced May 11.    

 For more information, click here.