Pegasus ambitious on its return to the fold

Hotel computer reservation and technology provider Pegasus predicts a rosier future ahead after putting a turbulent few years behind it.

The company was once synonymous with the mechanics behind the the hotel sector, having overseen one of the first CRSs and considered one of the leading providers for many years alongside the likes of Sabre and Oracle.

Following a split in the original business in 2014, when the distribution switch was spun-off to eventually become DHISCO and the main business sold to Regent Equity Partners, Pegasus is attempting to return to its former glories.

This period coincided with a number of its long-term customers deciding not to renew their contracts and other players coming into the marketplace.

Yet, CEO Sean Lenahan, who shifted over from principal role at Regent to take over the running of the company, says the business is growing year-on-year for the first time in five years.

Next moves

The last few years have seen a string of developments behind the scenes, including hiring ex-chief technology officer of American Express, Phil Steitz - a move which triggered the launch of a new booking engine and an analytics system.

These items followed the creation of a new technology stack in late-2016 in a bid to improve the "up-time" of hotel systems.

The company plans to overhaul a number of features over the course of the next months and years.

Services that the company hopes will put it back in the game as a major player in the world of hotel CRSs include a Pegasus API, a new distribution platform and internet booking engine.

Lenahan admits "these are early days" and some of the improvements could be at least two years away before coming to fruition fully.

A key component ("the piece we want to focus on"), he says, is introducing services and content that allow hotels to personalize their technology around the guest and the "experiences that the digital world gives them".

Lenahan says: "We are confident that we can do this. It takes time but our goal is to really step things up."