Customer-centricity is at the heart of High Return Hospitality. Resort and leisure activity customers expect experiences that go above and beyond the norm to keep them returning for more.

In fact, Gallup reports that fully engaged customers — those who are 23% more likely to spend at a facility — expect property employees to know more than just their name. They crave easy-to-book rooms and activities, simple ordering and payment solutions and more emotional connections.

To create guest and staff champions at every touchpoint, from booking to re-engagement to referral, UK-based Serco Leisure Operating Limited has selected a suite of intuitive, integrable solutions from the Agilysys Hospitality Cloud™. Agilysys, Inc. is a leading global provider of next-generation SaaS hospitality software solutions and services that will empower Serco Leisure to optimise Return on Experience (ROE) for guests and staff so they can achieve High Return Hospitality. ROE measures how technology creates more engaged and empowered staff members as well as guests that return more often, spend more, and leave stronger reviews.

Serco Leisure is one of the UK’s leading national operators of leisure centres, destination venues, and elite sporting facilities. Founded in 1988, it is part of Serco’s UK Citizen Services business unit, which has 6,000-plus employees. Serco Leisure provides leisure services on behalf of Community Leisure Trusts, local authorities like Nottinghamshire County Council and the Wheelpower Trust, and Sport England. The organisation provides world-class facilities for elite athletes, supporting them with resources to help in their pursuit of becoming part of Olympic teams and/or perfecting their sport. The leisure properties are also open for use by the general public.

Agilysys will provide hospitality solutions that range from a cloud-based property management system (PMS) to a booking system to a sales and catering solution for Serco Leisure’s current 550-bed estate, which includes:

• Holme Pierrepont Country Park, home of the UK’s National Water Sports Centre and base for amateur and world-class athletes in a variety of sports set on 270 acres.

• Stoke Mandeville Stadium, known worldwide as the birthplace of the Paralympic Movement. It boasts on-site accommodations and catering, an air-conditioned gym, a 25-meter swimming pool, an outdoor track, floodlit tennis courts and more.

• Lilleshall National Sports Centre and Lilleshall House & Gardens, the former of which is one of the UK’s National Sports facilities for elite and community sports and the latter of which is a stunning 19th-century stately home and an idyllic venue for weddings, events and private parties.

• Bisham Abbey, which provides similar services as Lilleshall, plus accommodations, and was once home to Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. The historic property sits on the borders of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire.

Serco Leisure is investing in Agilysys’ intuitive and easy-to-use PMS and its latest modern point-of-sale (POS) system, which combines highly interactive terminal and tablet touchscreen applications supporting Windows, Android and iOS devices and includes strong information security for data protection. Its robust reporting and analysis features, extensive enterprise-grade menu and item configuration capabilities and multi-language support help drive service flexibility and increase operational efficiency. The company expects to scale up the cloud-based technology in other divisions in North America, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, as well as the larger corporate organisation that includes Serco UL and Europe PLC.

Additionally, Serco Leisure will also adopt and implement three hospitality solutions from the Agilysys Experience Enhancers™ Collection:

• a commission-free booking experience that encourages upselling unlimited amenities, such as room upgrades, and activity appointments — as part of an integrated itinerary that makes it easy for each customer to see and manage their trip details.

• an Activities booking system for experiences that enhance revenue per guest while creating loyal enthusiasts.

• a comprehensive sales and event management solution enabling an intelligent view of every group, event and attendee to optimise outcomes.

“Our previous system provided a less-than-ideal experience for customers and staff. Also, it did not integrate with other applications or provide proper reporting functionality,” said Steve Nelson, operations director of Serco Leisure’s National Sports Centres. “With Agilysys solutions, we’ll be able to deliver a more personalised service for our diverse range of customers, which includes Olympic and Paralympic athletes as well as members of the public. We’re looking forward to working with Agilysys, which will allow us to provide an end-to-end customer journey in a secure environment.”

“Serco Leisure understands the need to modernise its hospitality solutions to be the best in the market,” said Ben Curtis, managing director – EMEA for Agilysys. “We are grateful to help the company improve its offerings, which will attract more guests, customers and employees, enabling the company to maximise guest and staff experience and ultimately increase revenue.