09/10/2023 - Edinburgh, UK
Personalised guest experience provider Obvlo today announces the appointment of James Parsons in the newly created role of Chief Revenue Officer.
James has joined Obvlo from OTA Insight, where for 6 years he served as Strategic Account Director, managing the company’s major chain relationships to ensure greater penetration and adoption within Marriott, Hilton, IHG & Hyatt globally.
Before taking on that position, James previously led the Customer Care Team and managed various departments including Service Delivery and Account Management.
James joins Obvlo at the beginning of a period of growth which has recently seen the company’s primary product, Obvlo Connect, adopted by both global brands and independents to provide personalised local recommendations to their guests. Both branded and independent hotels have been seeing huge success from Obvlo in guest satisfaction and staff time saving, with an average Guest Satisfaction Score of 96% reported across all guests at all hotels using the platform.
Obvlo CEO Callum McPherson said -
“I have known James for quite some time and have been blown away by his industry knowledge, passion and network. It is clear that his background, first in Marriott International and then in leading hotel data businesses, stems from a genuine interest in the hospitality sector and a desire to see it thriving. James has been following our journey for a while and we are excited to now have him as part of our leadership team as we enter this phase of growth.”
James joins Obvlo following additional funding secured earlier this year and will lead Obvlo’s growth programme and commercial team ahead of a Series A financing round and international expansion planned for 2024.
The appointment also follows hospitality veteran Robert Cook joining Obvlo’s board as a Non-Executive Director in 2023.
James Parsons said -
“I’m absolutely delighted to join the brilliant team at Obvlo at this critical moment in our growth. What the team are building demonstrates a clear focus on guest experience, while delivering actionable data back to hotel stakeholders. AI is all over the hospitality industry - but this use case knocks it out of the park, saving hotels valuable time and enhancing guest experience. I cannot wait to get started!”
Both Callum and James will be in attendance at Phocuswright 2023 in Fort Lauderdale, FL in November which this year is centred around the implications of AI in the travel space. To meet the team either at the event or virtually, reach out via obvlo.com or directly.
About Obvlo
Obvlo is an AI platform that creates and distributes personalised local recommendations. The platform enables hotel and travel brands to tailor their guest experience from end to end and gather rich data to hyper-segment their market. The platform is proven to have a positive impact on guest satisfaction, a reduction in staff effort and yield guest data insights that enhance marketing and future bookings. Obvlo Connect is a fully hosted solution that can be set up for new properties in just a few hours.