Behind Worriken 4.0: Digital Tools for a Sports- and Leisure Park the Size of a Village
Client
worriken.beProperty Type
Sports and holiday park
Location
Bütgenbach, Belgium
The project launch
August 2025
About Worriken Sports and Leisure Park
At first glance, Worriken Sports and Leisure Park looks like a peaceful resort by the lake. But behind the calm surface lies a network of facilities that run like a small city. Stretching over 26 hectares near Lake Bütgenbach, the park combines a holiday village, sports complex for schools, event venues, restaurants, and a campsite, welcoming around 70,000 to 80,000 overnight guests each year.
The park is currently in the middle of a €50 million modernization project to renew its infrastructure. But while new buildings take shape, the management team also wants to replace outdated tools and disconnected systems with a digital platform that could handle hospitality, events, and financial compliance in one place.
That’s where the client turned to HotelFriend.
Challenges Faced by Worriken Sports and Leisure Park
When we first met the Worriken team, it was immediately clear that they had a strong sense of organization and well-established internal processes. However, they were looking for a solution that could bring all these processes together in one place — an All-in-one system to support every aspect of their operations.
Each department worked independently, managing its own responsibilities: catering handled meal orders, the events team managed schedules, and another department coordinated bus trips. What they needed was a way to connect it all seamlessly.
The second challenge was compliance. Since Worriken belongs to the German-speaking Community of Belgium and receives state funding, it must report all finances through SAP and follow Belgian fiscalization rules. That meant the solution had to connect smoothly with government systems.
In short, a park needed a solution that could bring hospitality, events, and financial reporting together while staying compliant with national regulations.
Solutions Provided by HotelFriend
Because of this scale and complexity, Worriken chose the HotelFriend Enterprise Suite, a package designed for properties that need more than a standard PMS setup.
It includes all core hotel modules, but also allows for custom development and integrations.
Together, we focused on four main areas:
- Gather or replace spreadsheets with a central Event Management System
- Build infrastructure to meet Belgian compliance standards
- Connect the restaurants through a POS integration
- Develop custom reporting for flexible analytics
The custom development journey
Event Management System
At Worriken, every event is a small project: locations, staff, meals, and resources all need to align perfectly.
We started by studying their real process. The team shared templates such as their version of a function sheet, and a task list by department. These files told the story of how events actually worked on the ground and became the blueprint for our system.
From there, we designed a central event database that connects every detail:
- Client and event name
- Rooms or areas used
- Items such as coffee breaks or lunch buffets
- Resources like microphones, projectors, or stages
- Assigned departments and daily schedules
Staff can add comments, mark tasks as done, and receive notifications, all within the event dashboard. So, if a sports camp, conference, or barbecue is scheduled, everyone sees the same plan in real time.
Staying transparent and compliant
Because Worriken is publicly funded, every financial transaction must follow strict reporting rules. This includes digital submission of invoices and budgets and fiscalization under Belgian tax law.
To meet these requirements, we ensure two crucial integrations:
- SAP Interface: Automatically exports invoices, budgets, and financial data from HotelFriend into SAP in standardized formats like XML. This ensures full compatibility with the systems used by the Belgian authorities.
- EFSTA Fiscalization: Validates and records every transaction for tax purposes, keeping an audit-proof trail as required by law.
Now, the process is fully automated and error-free. The accounting team can focus on managing operations instead of re-entering numbers into different systems.
Connecting the restaurants
With two restaurants on-site – Mercator and Marco Polo – Worriken needed a seamless way to link restaurant orders to guest accounts.
We developed a direct integration with Lightspeed POS, so that each order placed in the restaurant is automatically sent to the PMS and added to the correct room.
The next morning, or at checkout, the bill is already complete, with no manual reconciliation or lost receipts.
Custom reports that work for Worriken
One of Worriken’s strengths is the variety of programs they offer: from meal plans to sports schedules to team-building events. But that variety also meant they needed flexible reporting.
We created a custom reporting module that allows staff to build and adjust reports themselves. Whether it’s occupancy by area, catering needs, or group schedules, reports can now be generated in minutes and exported for management or public administration.
Instead of adapting their processes to the software, the software adapts to them.
From setup to support
Implementation took place in several steps. After system setup, we provided five online workshops to onboard every department: reception, catering, event planning, and finance. Training sessions were tailored to daily tasks, so staff could apply what they learned right away.
To ensure continuity, Worriken also receives Premium+ Support, which includes a dedicated support manager and extended phone availability. Whenever a new process or feature is needed, the same team that built the system is there to assist.
Integrations Featured
Expected Results and Long-Term Impact
The modernization of Worriken is still underway, but the digital transformation is already well established. The new system supports the park’s current needs and provides a stable foundation for future upgrades, whether that means adding self-check-in kiosks, connecting new sports areas, or managing more group accommodations.
In the coming year, the team expects:
- A 40–50% reduction in manual administrative work, especially in event coordination and financial reporting.
- Faster event turnaround, with fewer planning errors thanks to shared real-time information.
- Improved transparency, both internally and with the German-speaking Community’s financial authorities.
- A better guest experience, as restaurant, accommodation, and event data flow smoothly together.
But the biggest change is in how people work. Instead of multiple separate spreadsheets, the team now relies on a shared digital space that supports them every step of the way.
As Worriken continues to evolve into Worriken 4.0, the digital tools built together with HotelFriend will grow alongside them – ready for new features, new areas, and new guests.
«The Worriken team knew exactly what they needed. Our job was to turn their process into a digital structure that felt natural to use.»
CTO at HotelFriend
Ihor Hladchenko