1980
felix · since 1980

Hotel software.
Since 1980.

The story of felix begins at a time when hospitality and computers were still two completely different worlds. 47 years later, the pioneer has become an AI-native system, the same promise, new technology.

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47
Years of experience
1980
First hotel PMS
1
One system for everything
2026
Reinvented with AI
The origin, Computerwoche 1980
Team 80 offers a hospitality software package on CTM systems: Felix, Factotum for the hotelier

A Munich consulting group for hospitality, gastronomy and tourism is bringing the first comprehensive software solution for hotels to market, felix, developed in cooperation with Software Institut Rickert GmbH.

"Team 80", a Munich consulting group for hospitality, gastronomy and tourism, has developed a software package called felix for the hospitality industry on CTM systems, in cooperation with Software Institut Rickert GmbH. The solution covers front office and back office all the way through to owner accounting for hotels and owner-operated apartments.

The system is modular in both hardware and software and can therefore be deployed to match the organisation and the financial resources of the business. The screen workstations are intelligent, that is, equipped with their own memory and processor.

The programs can be run on small floppy-disk systems, on small disk systems with a single screen workstation, and all the way up to multi-user systems with high disk capacity. Thanks to its on-screen guidance, the program is easy to learn and can therefore also be operated by less specialised staff.

Reservations: Reservations are taken for a period defined by the user. When a reservation is entered, the system checks whether the requested rooms are available for that period. For a regular guest, personal data is taken automatically from the guest file. If the overbooking threshold is reached, the reservation can be booked into alternative categories. As soon as rooms in the originally requested category become available again, the system rebooks them automatically.

In a matter of seconds, the operator can display, change or cancel reservations. On screen, they can get an overview of available rooms, occupancy for a given period, and arrivals and departures.

Guest arrival, guest in-house: On arrival, all data is taken over from the reservation. The system supports the hotelier with a room allocation suggestion. All contractually agreed services are posted automatically at the end of the day. If the accumulated revenue exceeds a preset amount, the hotelier is alerted by the system. Moving a guest into a different room can be handled with just a few entries.

Invoicing: Fast invoicing is achieved by displaying the guest's invoice on the screen so that it can be corrected or supplemented immediately. Services usually captured at departure (minibar or phone) can be entered during the invoicing process. The invoice can be split according to the guest's wishes and printed as several partial invoices.

Guest file: All important information about regular guests or regular corporate clients can be stored. The scope of business relationships is recorded in the company master data, for example. Targeted mailings to all guests or companies can be run against a variety of selection criteria.

With felix, the vendor concludes, they have succeeded in delivering a hotel system that, despite its high program complexity, offers the hotelier an optimum price-performance ratio. felix was presented to the hospitality industry for the first time at IKOFA and HOGATEC.

Computers in the hotel: "Felix" for happy guests

One year after its market launch, felix is already being shown in Austria, at an information seminar in Innsbruck.

INNSBRUCK (Pi), The presentation of the hotel reservation and billing system "Felix" took centre stage at an information seminar held by the Tyrolean office of VRZ (Vorarlberger Rechenzentrum GesmbH) at the Weiherburg in Innsbruck.

The system is an impressive demonstration of what computer-assisted hotel management can deliver: from reservation through check-in to invoicing, all in one. For the Austrian hospitality industry, which at that point still works largely on paper, felix is a glimpse of the future.

1980 vs. 2026, Then & today
1980 felix on CTM systems
💾
Hardware
Floppy disks and CTM screen workstations, each with its own storage
📋
Reservation
Manual entry at the terminal, regular-guest data from a local guest file
🖨️
Billing
On-screen display and printouts, manual minibar and phone entry
👤
Operation
Easy to learn thanks to on-screen guidance, even for less specialised staff
🏨
Reach
Munich and Tyrol, first shown at IKOFA and HOGATEC
2026 felixUnity, AI-native
☁️
Infrastructure
Cloud-native, runs on any device, no local hardware required
🤖
Reservation
AI recognises guest requests, checks availability and prepares offers on its own
⚡
Billing
Automatic posting of all services, complete and without manual rework
💬
Operation
Natural language, you ask, felixUnity answers and acts
🌍
Reach
Multilingual, multi-currency, scales from a boutique to a hotel chain
From felix to felixUnity, the journey
1980
The first hospitality software called felix

Team 80 and Software Institut Rickert GmbH develop felix on CTM systems. Front office, back office, reservations with automatic regular-guest recognition, revolutionary at the time. For the first time, hotels can reserve, manage and bill digitally.

Founding moment
1981
felix comes to Austria

Just one year after its market launch, VRZ (Vorarlberger Rechenzentrum GesmbH) presents felix at an information seminar in Innsbruck. The Tyrolean hospitality industry discovers the system, felix grows beyond Munich and into the Alpine region.

Austria
1985
New platforms, more modules

As PC technology takes hold, felix moves onto new hardware. New modules for accounting, statistics and housekeeping are added. GMS Softwaremanufaktur becomes a household name in the Austrian hospitality industry.

Growth
1999–2001
The Windows era: felix goes graphical

The graphical user interface arrives. felix gets windows, mouse control and a modern look. What used to be driven by keyboard shortcuts is now intuitively clickable, making the system accessible to a whole new generation of hospitality operators.

Windows & GUI
2000
Digitisation of the hospitality industry

Internet, online bookings, channel managers, complexity grows dramatically. felix evolves but stays true to its core: easy to use, practical, reliable. Integrations to GDS systems and OTAs emerge.

Digital transformation
2006
Acquisition by GMS Softwaremanufaktur

GMS Softwaremanufaktur takes over felix, making a clear commitment: hospitality software made in Austria, with deep industry expertise and a long-term perspective. A new era begins, with the aim of developing felix into the leading solution in the German-speaking market.

GMS acquisition
2010
Cloud & mobile arrive

Smartphones, tablets, web access, hospitality goes mobile. felix keeps pace with web-based components. At the same time, the number of third-party systems explodes: revenue management, spa, restaurant, loyalty, each one its own tool.

System complexity
2011
JUFA Hotels, Austria's largest hotel group becomes a customer

The JUFA Group, Austria's largest hotel group, chooses felix. A milestone: the managed inventory grows to more than 30,000 rooms. felix proves that it works not only for individual hotels but also for complex group structures with central control and decentralised operations.

30,000+ rooms
2018
Lanserhof, a milestone in medical spa

With the Lanserhof Group, one of the world's most respected medical spa destinations, GMS enters entirely new territory. A unique product emerges for the medical-therapeutic segment: software solutions for diagnostic workflows, treatment planning and holistic guest care, built specifically for the medical spa market, which until then had no suitable system.

Medical spa
2020
The realisation: it has to be rethought

The hospitality industry is drowning in systems. PMS, channel manager, RMS, CRM, payment, housekeeping, each tool its own interface, each integration a risk. 40 years of experience make one thing clear: patching no longer helps. A radical fresh start is needed.

Turning point
2020–2022
Lockdown, Covid brings hospitality to a halt

From 15 March 2020, the hospitality industry comes to a standstill. Lockdowns, travel bans and WRONG political decisions cripple tourism as never before in post-war history. Years of growth are wiped out. For many companies it becomes a matter of survival, and for the industry, a wake-up call to rethink operations from the ground up.

Crisis & standstill
2022
Russia's war on Ukraine, a new turning point

On 24 February 2022, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine begins. Strikingly, from one day to the next, incidence figures disappear from the mainstream media, as if they had never existed. The war pushes the pandemic out of the headlines but leaves new uncertainties behind: energy prices, inflation, geopolitical tensions. For global tourism, another watershed moment, and proof of how fragile the industry is when external shocks hit.

Geopolitical watershed
2024
Development of felixUnity begins

Based on 47 years of industry knowledge, GMS Softwaremanufaktur launches the felixUnity project. Not an update, a complete new start. AI-native from the ground up, designed for the way hotels really work.

Fresh start
2026
felixUnity, AI-native, rebuilt from the ground up

The same promise as in 1980, easy to learn, practical, reliable, now with genuine artificial intelligence as its foundation. One system for everything. No more app-hopping. The guest at the centre. felix, reinvented.

felixUnity

47 years of hospitality. Rethought.

47 years of experience are built into felixUnity. Not as baggage, as a head start. We know how hotels really work. That is our biggest advantage, and yours.

Sources

felix in the press, 1980 and 1981.