Back in 2002, the commitment was made to create an 800-acre waterfront resort featuring the world’s largest enclosed and integrated structure that would operate 100% free of fossil fuels. Located in Syracuse, New York, DestiNY is readily accessible to 130 million residents throughout the northeast United States and Canada and features 75 million square feet of dining, shopping, entertainment, hospitality and recreation venues.

DestiNY is projected to create 250,000 new jobs in the area, 125,000 of which representing salaries of more than $60,000. Furthermore, DestiNY is projected to generate $25,550,000 revenue annually while providing incremental tax revenue of $16.5 billion over a 30-year period.

When Destiny approached GotCoders they were looking to marry hotel accommodations with resort activities, modern day e-commerce and traditional point of sale retail. DestiNY’s mission is to provide 31 million customers annually , of which 12.5 million are members, with the ability to browse and purchase any good or service offered by Destiny without seeing paying a bill until the customer exits DestiNY.

Technical Overview

GotCoders was responsible for overseeing the build and integration of three individual systems. Each of the systems were designed and integrated to facilitate the guest experience across all aspects of Destiny. In order to provide a fully operational microcosm, the project required inventory and guest tracking, next generation customer relationship management, and an in-room hotel remote that controlled every Destiny service.

Guest and Inventory are tagged with Radio Frequency Identifiers (RFID). This technology gives guests the ability to purchase items without opening their wallet or interacting with a customer service agent. When guests arrive at Destiny they are issued a bracelet that contains an RFID tag. Similarly, each inventory item is issued a tag upon acceptance by one of Destiny’s 1000 retail stores. If a guest picks up an item and exits a store, the system charges the guest’s account automatically, eliminating checkout lines and reducing labor costs.

The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system had to profile guests on the basis of demographic information collected during registration, and monitoring their behavior during their stay at Destiny. As the guest enters stores, looks at products, and/or makes purchases the system tracks their preferences and then uses them to tailor advertising, recommend products, modify climate control, and much more.

Destiny’s 12,000 hotel rooms require a sophisticated, intuitive remote control (right) that goes beyond walls of the guest suite. The remote had to be capable of lowering the shades, personalizing a burger, purchasing the bedspread, or scheduling a round golf. This unique remote control communicates with a server, which in turn sends commands to in-room devices (i.e. TV, DVD player, climate control, etc…) and integrates with Destiny’s backend inventory, commerce, and scheduling systems.