Merlin Entertainment, the world’s second-largest operator of family entertainment destinations, including Legoland theme parks and Sea Life aquariums is looking to ensure guests have the best visit from the theme park to hotel room, as they collaborate with Oracle Micros Simphony Point-of-Sale (POS) and Oracle Hospitality OPERA Property Management technology.
With Oracle’s digital solutions, Merlin guests can use their mobile devices to better plan their vacation in advance and save precious time. This includes taking advantage of mobile check-in at hotels and the ability to pre-order food at their favorite attractions.
“The attractions are always the stars, but today there is more demand for people’s attention, so we really need to stand out from the crowd,” said Lee Cowie, Chief Technology Officer at Merlin Entertainments. “We do that by constantly innovating, delivering new experiences, and creating new reasons for guests to come back. Oracle offers a strong, reliable, and well-thought-out suite of technologies that help us accomplish these goals.”
Merlin Entertainments operates 140 attractions, 23 hotels and six holiday villages in 24 countries, which in addition to Legoland and Sea Life Aquariums, includes global attractions Madame Tussauds, Alton Towers, and Gardaland Resort.
Personalizing the experience
Recent research from Oracle Food and Beverage and Merlin Entertainments shows that 52 per cent of consumers are increasingly looking to plan ahead and personalize their trips. Merlin Entertainments is constantly seeking out innovative technologies to help deliver on these evolving guest expectations. Using OPERA at select hotels, guests can manage reservations from their mobile devices, check-in to their hotel rooms with the click of a few buttons or use the digital QR code generated by the system to get a room key at convenient kiosks.
Visitors can also use a mobile app connected to MICROS Simphony to order and pay for their meals in advance. Simphony’s built-in restaurant analytics ensure the kitchens at the hotels and parks are receiving the orders quickly and prioritizing them based on pick-up expectations, helping ensure meals are on time. For example, a Legoland Windsor Resort visitor can pre-order food at their favorite destination and have it ready at a set time– eliminating time wasted standing in line and enabling more time to spend on their favorite rides.
“For Merlin Entertainments, the future is about how we make our guest experience even better, and we see state-of-the-art technology as a route to be able to deliver the very best day out. This allows us to be even more guest obsessed than we already are,” said Chris Ireland, Commercial and Hotel Director at Legoland Windsor Resort. “Oracle’s innovative technology has allowed us to create a seamless guest journey from the moment they book on the site, to when they arrive on the day.”
The MICROS Simphony systems also enable Merlin Entertainments to break down the barrier between staff and guests. With mobile tablets, staff can do everything from upgrade a guest’s accommodations, to take drink and snack orders at the pool. With better intelligence on each customer’s profile and preferences at their fingertips, team members can make more helpful and relevant recommendations to ensure guests have a magical and memorable visit.
“Easy, contactless, and fast is what consumers now expect whether they are simply eating out, or planning a great theme park getaway,” said Simon de Montfort Walker, senior vice president and general manager at Oracle Food and Beverage. “Merlin Entertainments is at the cutting edge of this trend, extending new Oracle tech innovations across a guest’s experience – from the hotels to the park. Not only is this helping create a more seamless, memorable visit for the guest, but it also helps keep staff agile, responsive, and fueling new revenue streams.”
