WHAT A YEAR! A look back at 2018 by Criton’s Founder & CEO Julie Grieve

On the 4th December Criton hit a big milestone – we turned two! Since the initial idea of digitising the guestbook for a luxury serviced apartment I was managing; to the business we have today, it’s fantastic to see what’s been achieved. 2018 has been a phenomenally busy year across product developments and launches; events attendance and team growth. It’s hard to pick a few highlights, but as we look ahead to an even busier 2019 it’s a great opportunity to reflect on the last twelve months.

NEW YEAR, NEW BRAND

At the start of this year we refreshed the Criton brand in time for our marketing campaigns going live and to build into our emerging events programme. In February we launched our revamped brand which was designed to highlight how easy our content management system is for businesses to use. The brand was rolled out across all our digital assets and our first major campaign went live in mid-February!

PRODUCT LAUNCHES

February was also the month we launched our WebApp product – ideal for businesses that are looking to digitise their guestbook content. It was then a very busy summer as we launched our group app functionality – a real game-changer for the sector – in June. Multi-Location Operators can now have a product for their suite of locations which gives them the opportunity to compete with the big chain technology that brands such as Marriott and Hilton already offer.

Over the summer we announced new integration partners and are delighted to now be working with Benbria Loop on guest fulfilment, Kumulos on geo-location push notifications and 4Suites on our first digital door key. In October at the Association of Scottish Self Caterers conference we launched our first consumer product – Pip! Created specifically for the self-catering industry, Pip lets owners digitise information for their guests at an extremely affordable price.

As we look ahead to 2019 we’ll be sharing more information on how we’re working with PMS systems, including Mews, Guestline, Infor, Clock and Opera and guest feedback with GuestRevu. If you’d like to find out more information about any of these, please do contact our sales team who will be delighted to offer a demo.

EVENTS & TRAVELS

In February we attended our first major event – Travel Technology Europe (TTE) in London’s Olympia – just one of 44 exhibitions and events the team have attended and delivered this year! It was important that we had a presence at key technology and accommodation trade shows and it was a great opportunity to meet and network with new contacts.  

March and April were busy with attendances at SKIFT, Phocuswright, VisitScotland Expo, ITB Berlin and HITEC Amsterdam. We also attended various events being run during English Tourism Week and Scottish Tourism Month(!). In the autumn key highlights included the Independent Hotel Show, the Annual Hotel Conference, the HOSPACE annual conference and the ASAP annual convention. I can’t count the number of air/rail miles we’ve travelled, but meeting colleagues face-to-face has been of true value to our team as we continue to develop our client base.

TEAM GROWTH

In June Hotel Owner Magazine named us as ‘One to Watch’ in 2018!  It’s hard to believe that this time last year we were a team of 8 and today we’re now 33 FTE staff! Unlike many of our competitors we have a large tech team in-house which includes design and QA which means that our business can be truly agile and fast to adapt to the changing needs of our industry, partners and clients.

AWARD-WINNERS

Industry awards are fantastic recognition of what the Criton team have delivered in 2018. In October we were thrilled to win the Best Technology Provider award at the Travolution Awards and we were also highly commended in the Best Use of Mobile Category. We ended the year by winning Industry Breakthrough & Innovation at the ASAP Awards – a fantastic moment for me as it was at the 2016 ASAP conference where I launched Criton!

2018 has gone by in a flash, and as I look ahead to 2019, I’m excited about the next phase of Criton. I’d like to thank our clients, partners and stakeholders for a fantastic year and look forward to working more closely in the months and years to come.  

OPENING HOURS OVER THE FESTIVE PERIOD:

Criton’s offices will be closed from 2 pm on Christmas Eve. You can contact the team via during the below hours:

• Live Chat (10 am - 4 pm GMT) on the 27th-29th December inclusive
• Live Chat (10 am - 2 pm GMT) on the 31st December
• Business as usual from 10 am on January 3rd 2019

We will be monitoring support@criton.com for urgent queries throughout the festive break, although there may be a slight delay in our response.

Wishing you a fantastic festive break and a prosperous 2019!