You’ve checked-in on the way to the hotel, there is a bottle on ice waiting in the room, you have a table reserved in the restaurant later that evening and you did it all without picking up a phone or writing an email.
This is the future Travease founder Adeola Odueke wants to achieve with her digital concierge application, created so hotel guests could manage all of their stay directly through their mobile device.
I recently met with Adeola to find out more about Travease and her journey as an entrepreneur so far.
How will an app improve my hotel stay?
The main function of most apps is to make life easier. Some admittedly have the opposite effect and often make everything more difficult, especially when they do not work correctly. The hospitality industry is no exception to the growth of apps and whether you’re the hotel owner or the guest, there will be an app available for most functions of your stay.
Adeola Odueke’s company ResultsOrient Limited created Travease as a solution technology so guests could check-in, order services and receive rewards by just a few taps on a phone. It can also be used by management to measure staff productivity.
The highs and lows of building an app
The main purpose of Travease is to promote guest engagement. Adeola discovered a gap in the market for hotels and so launched the personalised concierge service. Using her seven years’ experience of implementing enterprise applications, Adeola co-founded Travease with her business partner Sana Al Azwari.
Adeola has always wanted to start her own company, “I toiled with the idea of a guest engagement system aimed at hotels for two years before getting the inspiration to do it after spending some time gathering the opinions of hoteliers and travel enthusiasts.”
Start-ups are often met with financial barriers when taking their concept from idea to practical reality and Adeola to date has overcome this issue by funding the project with her personal savings and loans from her family.
Adeola is quite open when saying the biggest challenge has been getting new clients, but by attending frequent networking events she is able to tap into the wealth of advice offered in the hospitality industry. Once a client is sourced, Adeola explains how she relishes the experience: “The feeling you get when you are commended for coming up with a solution which will make peoples work more effective is priceless.”
However, she is also keen to point out that start-ups are not the easiest of ventures. “You have many sleepless nights and need self-motivation and investment. You learn as you go along to be a better person and also better at what you do.”
By empowering both guests and properties, Travease offers something not offered by other available apps. Adeola is confident now is the right time for her app and is already looking to the future, “My next big target is taking the product to Europe and ideally we want to work with five star multi-national hotel chains. I see the company eventually delivering solutions to the hospitality industry across the continent.”
About the author
Ben V Butler writes for eHotelier’s sister print title EP Business in Hospitality.
