Past employment: HRS, Scandic Hotels, Micros
Mervi will join the team as the VP Hotel Systems and oversee all integrations to Property Management Systems (PMS) and other related venue software such as Sales & Catering systems. Connecting in real-time to meeting room inventories is one of the most crucial parts of MeetingPackage's value proposition and, as such, Mervi will play an important role in driving success for our hotel partners.
Due to her long career with Micros she knows PMS solutions inside out and is considered as one of the most knowledgable people in the industry when it comes to detailed understanding of how PMS solutions operate, what can be done and how integrations need to happen. Mervi will work closely with our hotel partners that are integrating with Opera Sales & Catering and benefit from her years of experience working with the platform.
Fun fact: Mervi was sitting on the other side of the table when we first met. From day one, when testing our integration with Oracle Opera Sales & Catering, Mervi understood the value of our solution and saw its future potential. A few years later she is now part of our growing family. We are so happy to have Mervi part of the team!
We wanted to ask Mervi some questions about her thoughts on the Hospitality industry as well as her feelings after a few weeks with MeetingPackage.
As you have a long background in the industry what got you interested in joining MeetingPackage?
I wanted to see change and be part of it – getting hotels to sell meeting rooms online and delivered to the property system directly. This is something new and innovative.
Being a few weeks now part of the team at MeetingPackage, what is your first feeling of the company?
I love the positive energy and solution oriented thinking and working as well as the flexibility the solution offers. Not to forget all the dedicated very nice people who work here!
What are you most excited about in your future role?
I am a bit of a geek, so I’m looking forward to seeing how the technology can be used to make it possible to book online and get the bookings directly to hotels/venues own booking systems.
What would you like to say for hotels that are still considering if they should sell their meeting & events online?
Just do it. You will still have control over which rooms and which rates you sell. Start with small meeting spaces and see how it goes! On Monday mornings your inbox will not be full of email RFPs waiting for quotes – some of them will be already booked and confirmed.
What do you see as the biggest challenges in the Hotel industry in the coming years?
There is a change ongoing with systems moving to cloud – I hope all the smaller hotels and venues can follow. If they follow then they will be able to benefit from the latest technology available for integrations in the same way as larger chains.
Do you think that in 5 years we will laugh about today's working practices (RFP spam & manual hours spent creating offers)? Will online booking of M&E become a standard or is it only for the “tech-savvy' hotels?
Yes I believe that we will be laughing about the ways things were done in the 'old days'! I’ve completed my first project and it is not that difficult to activate online meetings bookings. Technology will not be the obstacle, it will be fear of change that can slow down progress, I reckon, but that will change as booker behaviour evolves.
Feel free to reach out Mervi if you have any questions related to how your existing solutions will work with MeetingPackage and what should be done to bring your meeting rooms online.
Pss... If you are also interested in joining our growing team. Check our open positions below.
