“It's not possible to run a hotel anymore without the right stack of technologies and systems and processors”, says Mr. Shebin Hassan, Executive Director of Flora Hospitality, who is a firm believer in IT being a necessity when it comes to the Hospitality sector. It is important for hotels to stay competitive and as most customers expect a technologically equipped hotel, the decision to adopt the right technology is an easy one. 

“I think it's important that hoteliers invest in technology - in useful technology, which is very important. I think Hotel information systems are not short term investments, they're not going to pay back on day 1 or day 2, they're long term investments, but in the long term, for the sake of sustainability, it's important that hotels have a reliable plan to hold onto their technology strategies.”

The brand in their early years saw the need for an industry standard software and so switched to OPERA. Since then, they have been using the technology for 12 years and are very happy with the features it has to offer. Over that decade, revenue and management reports have been on the rise and so got more complex to handle but never has OPERA let them down.

KIT has been with Flora Hospitality throughout their journey here in the UAE, providing Oracle Hospitality solutions and round-the-clock support services whenever the brand was in need. KIT has installed OPERA full service package which includes OPERA Premium PMS, Sales & Catering, Vision Reporting tool, 3700 POS, and Oracle MICROS Hardware in five of their properties including the latest one.

“As far as Opera is concerned, the beauty of the solution I've seen is that it is extremely feature-rich.” With OPERA, the brand was able to take on new challenges and keep growing. “We're able to access historic data and transactions from any time of the day without any degrading performance.”

“It has not only been reporting, it has been every department which is satisfied with the system.” Mr. Shebin states that, the Property Management System and Point of Sale modules have a strong and reliable architecture. “OPERA has always met our expectations, especially for the Front Office, Reservations and Finance departments. These three departments I’d say are really, really happy.”

Flora Hospitality has established its presence in Dubai and provides its guest the element of 5 star luxury in their hotel apartments. Covering Royal Suites to Executive and Privilege Floors. They put pure value, quality and service for their guests over all else. Flora is where all guests go to receive a thoroughly thought out level of hospitality and settle into the warmth and comfort of 5 star living. 

The Flora Inn, the 10^th and latest addition to the Flora Family too will be using OPERA. About using OPERA Multi-property feature, Mr. Shebin says, “We'll be able to tap in the synergies of the centralized departments, especially reservations and finance.” He is elated and looks forward to welcoming guests onto this new site. “We feel that we will be able to offer more choices and availability to the customers as well.”

Flora Hospitality is currently upgrading to the latest version of OPERA on his other properties. Mr. Shebin says that they haven’t needed to go through an upgrade for about 5-6 years. “So it has been a very cost effective solution for us.”

“I think Oracle has been doing a great job with OPERA as a product.” Though Mr. Shebin is more than happy with the product, he says there like all technology goes, every product will need enhancements as time goes by and understanding the market in the country is a great way to improve an already great product.

With the new Hotel opening and more future projects on the horizon, Mr. Shebin is optimistic and enthusiastic about Flora Hospitality’s future and hopes for continued success, more so with Expo 2020 right around the corner.