Shiji launches Meridian Experiences for resort operations

By Elena Vasquez

Shiji launched Meridian Experiences globally, while the company’s broader cloud-based portfolio serves more than 91,000 hotels worldwide. The Berlin-based company introduced Meridian as a system for resorts and hotels to manage, sell and fulfill the activities surrounding a stay, including spa treatments, golf tee times, tours, rentals, wellness programs and destination activities.

Meridian extends Shiji’s connectivity beyond rooms, reservations and core operations. When operators run it within Shiji Platform, the cloud product draws on an enterprise-wide guest profile and a single itinerary. Shiji said the system already supports resorts and hotels around the world, although the launch announcement did not identify customers, chain affiliations or a Meridian property count.

What changes for a resort?

Meridian replaces the patchwork of disconnected tools that many resorts use to run spa, golf, wellness, activities, staff and equipment. It brings availability, reservations, rates, correspondence, payments, staff assignments, locations and equipment into one environment. The practical change is fewer handoffs between booking, operations and payment workflows.

Properties also gain a consolidated view of guest engagement and opportunities for ancillary revenue. Shiji did not disclose implementation costs, subscription or transaction fees, labor savings, return on investment or a deployment timetable. The economic case therefore rests on its stated potential to simplify operations and reduce dependence on disconnected systems, not on a documented margin, labor-cost or cost-of-goods improvement.

Shiji sells Meridian to resorts and hotels. The announcement did not explain whether charges take the form of subscriptions, transactions or implementation fees. Operators can use Meridian as a standalone product or connect it natively with Shiji’s property-management, guest-engagement, payment, distribution and data-intelligence capabilities. The wider portfolio also includes point of sale.

Shiji describes its foundation as the “only truly global hotel technology platform.” That is the company’s own positioning. Its portfolio serves more than 91,000 hotels worldwide and includes what Shiji calls the largest chains, but the announcement did not provide a Meridian-specific hotel count or identify company-operated or franchised deployments.

Where the economics show up

Meridian’s operating scope covers:

• Unified management of spa, golf, leisure, wellness, activities and recreational services.
• Centralized inventory, reservations, resource allocation and scheduling.
• Connected guest journeys across resort and hotel touchpoints, plus one guest itinerary when Meridian runs within Shiji Platform.
• Flexible rates, cashiering with integrated payment workflows and guest correspondence.
• Visual Planner for reservations, staff, locations and equipment.
• Visibility into guest engagement and ancillary-revenue opportunities.
• Connectivity with the wider hospitality-technology ecosystem.
• Advanced resource scheduling and commission management across staff, services, locations and activities.

Shiji built the cloud product with more than 25 years of specialist experience across the spa, activities and golf market. Teams focused on the operating requirements of luxury resorts, golf resorts, wellness destinations and hotel groups developed Meridian. Shiji also says it created the underlying Shiji Platform in collaboration with some of the hospitality industry’s most demanding businesses.

Anthony Hunt, Shiji vice president of strategy and product, said: “Most resorts still manage spa, golf, wellness, activities, staff, and equipment across disconnected systems. Meridian Experiences changes that.” He described Meridian as one purpose-built environment for the complete experience lifecycle, whether used independently or inside Shiji’s ecosystem.

Kevin King, Shiji CEO, said: “By bringing the guest profile, itinerary, operations, and commerce together, we are helping hospitality brands deliver more personal experiences while running a more efficient business.” King also said the experiences around a stay influence why guests book, how they remember a property and whether they return.

The launch advances Shiji’s long-term plan to connect every stage from booking and arrival through on-property experiences, guest engagement and ongoing loyalty. The next commercial test is whether named deployments can turn the shared profile, itinerary, scheduling and payment workflow into measurable ancillary revenue and lower operating effort.