LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwired - Oct 16, 2014) - Xirrus® , the leader in high-performance wireless networks, in partnership with ISS and UCOPIA Communications, today announces that Celtic Manor, a five-star golf, spa and leisure resort in South Wales, has upgraded its Wi-Fi infrastructure and introduced a guest management capability to provide tailored promotional offers on-site.
With over a million visitors a year and voted 'Best UK Hotel' at the M&IT Industry Awards for four years running, Celtic Manor is the site for the planned new Wales International Convention Centre, scheduled to open in 2018. The Manor upgraded its Wi-Fi infrastructure for the new exhibition and conferencing centre and also wanted to utilise the wireless network for the rest of the resort to better understand the needs of its guests and provide more personalised engagement.
Celtic Manor deployed Xirrus Access Points and introduced a guest management platform from UCOPIA , to provide the resort with full visibility, capture and management of users across the network. The deployment was managed through solutions partner ISS, which specialises in providing user engagement applications via its customisable App platform.
Russell Phillips, Vice-President of Facilities and Development at Celtic Manor, said: "Celtic Manor prides itself on providing guests with the most luxurious experience possible and wireless is playing an important role in this. As part of our vision to provide this first-class personal experience, we wanted to leverage our Wi-Fi capability to better understand and meet the needs and desires of our customers.
"Xirrus has unrivalled heritage in delivering wireless capability in high-density exhibition centre environments and, combined with the outstanding functionality provided by the UCOPIA management controllers, we now have much greater control of our wireless network. We can easily capture user data, better understand their behaviour and provide them with more compelling content, such as dining offers or training classes."
"In today's mobile first world, it's no longer enough for hotels and resorts to just provide their guests with free Wi-Fi," said Shane Buckley, CEO of Xirrus. "Wireless provides them with the ability to tap into a wealth of behavioural insights that will help them better meet their visitors' needs and ultimately increase the likelihood that they'll become loyal customers."
With better quality user information provided by UCOPIA over the Xirrus network, Celtic Manor will also be able to provide targeted promotions and post them on the guest portal, or send them via text or email to guests while they're on site. Celtic Manor is able to set different user profiles for staff, guests and contractors, meaning they can provide exhibition partners with tailored functionality depending on the nature of the event.
"We will also be able to track the success of our promotional offers, for example by monitoring the uptake of specific spa deals or tracking the length of time that guests spend on specific content," said Phillips. "This will provide us with an effective way to measure return on investment and enable us to monetise the Wi-Fi via additional revenue opportunities for the resort and our partners."
Pete Renson, managing director of ISS, said: "We're seeing growing demand for technologies that enable public venues to deliver more engaging visitor experiences. Whether it be luxury resorts such as Celtic Manor, sports stadiums or concert venues, these organisations are all looking at ways to make their venues as attractive as possible, and Wi-Fi is the enabler."
Due to the success of the deployment, Celtic Manor is working with ISS to extend the wireless capability across the entire resort and deliver more innovative solutions to increase customer engagement.
"The heart of the fast-moving mobility landscape lies in data collection and the business-changing analytics that can be drawn from it. Celtic Manor is staying ahead of the game by implementing the winning combination of UCOPIA, Xirrus and ISS technologies," said Didier Plateau, CEO of UCOPIA.
About Celtic Manor Host venue for the 2010 Ryder Cup and the 2014 NATO Summit, the five-star Celtic Manor Resort is set in more than 2,000 acres of panoramic parkland at the gateway to Wales. With two hotels -- a 330-room luxury Resort Hotel and an historic 19th century Manor House with 70 rooms -- a separate country inn, luxury lodges, two exceptional spas and health clubs, fishing, adventure golf, treetop high ropes course, tennis courts, mountain biking and walking trails, The Celtic Manor Resort provides a complete experience for business, leisure and golf travellers.
For four years running from 2011-2014, the Resort has been voted the UK's Best Hotel by the Meetings & Incentive Travel Awards and Celtic Manor was named UK Sport Venue of the Year and Europe's Golf Resort of the Year for 2011. The Resort is the home of the ISPS Handa Wales Open, one of the premier events on The European Tour, and offers the challenge of three 18-hole championship golf courses, including the Twenty Ten course, the first course in history to be designed and built specifically to host The Ryder Cup.
About Xirrus, Inc. Xirrus is the leading provider of high-performance wireless networks. Xirrus solutions perform under the most demanding circumstances, offering consistent "wired-like" performance with superior coverage and security. The Xirrus suite of WI-FI optimised solutions -- Arrays, access points, cloud services, and wired switches -- provide seamless connectivity and unified management across the network. Xirrus provides a vital strategic business and IT infrastructure advantage to industries that depend on wireless to operate business-critical applications. With tens of thousands of customer solutions deployed globally, Xirrus maintains operations and partnerships across the globe. Xirrus is a privately held company and is headquartered in Thousand Oaks, CA. For more information please visit: www.xirrus.com and follow us on Twitter: @Xirrus .
Xirrus and XMS are trademarks or registered trademarks of Xirrus. Other trade names used in this document are or may be the property of their respective owners.
About ISS ISS' bespoke and customisable Stadium App platform is a fan engagement solution that enables venues to not only greatly improve the fan experience but also generate genuine ROI from their investment. This includes monetisation activities such as in-stadium betting, merchandise offers, concession incentives, ticket promotions and sponsor advertising as examples. The platform also delivers 'fanalytics' -- detailed data intelligence that enables the venue to deploy targeted push advertising and messaging directly to specific fan demographics.
ISS enables both sporting and event venues to deliver a proven interactive experience to the visitor's device (smart phone/tablet). Using unique wireless technology, ISS is able to deliver customisable end user applications with high volumes of interactive content, regardless of the type of media, to enhance fan experience and monetise public Wi-Fi.
About UCOPIA Communications UCOPIA Communications develops solutions enabling mobile users, employees, visitors and guests to connect securely and seamlessly on public or private Wi-Fi networks. UCOPIA also enables venue owners to leverage their Wi-Fi investment to create new revenue opportunities through database analytics and strengthen employee productivity through BYOD. UCOPIA is a perfect match for numerous, fast growing verticals including enterprises, public venues, retail, and government organisations. UCOPIA solutions are deployed exclusively by a worldwide channel of expert resellers in charge of deploying Wi-Fi networks in combination with UCOPIA solutions. More information on our website: www.ucopia.com .
