FEBRUARY 25 - MARCH 18, 2004
TOP O' THE NEWS
- Competition between agencies and suppliers heats up, making comparison shopping almost essential
On-line booking seems to be slowing a little as continuing inconsistencies in rate availabilities between suppliers and agencies make comparison shopping almost mandatory. According to PhoCusWright's sixth Consumer Travel Trends Survey, last year 45% of online travel buyers bought ALL their travel online, but now buy almost as often from a supplier (online and offline) as from an online agency. While the total number of online buyers is up 17% (to 35 million Americans), the survey reports that the majority now usually check at least one online agency site (88%) and one supplier site (73%) before purchasing airline tickets online, and half continue to shop online but purchase offline.
Online agencies still offer the lowest prices (56% vs. 24%), better choice (60% vs. 14%) and greater ease of use (43% vs. 32%), but the direct suppliers - hotels, airlines and car rental companies - do better with reliability and customer service, often rating higher than even traditional travel agencies. Suppliers have gained momentum through Web sites focused on better brand promotion, inventory availability and online channel discrimination, and now account for than one-third of the air and more than one-fourth of the hotel reservation markets.
It's becoming increasingly important for all channels to offer combination travel packages, since 79% of online purchasers (air, car and/or hotel) currently create their own by buying from separate sites. Upselling and cross-selling to create vacation packages are also important; 59% of those surveyed reported interest in purchasing pre-bundled packages online in the future. Online agencies are expected to place greater emphasis on their own customers' loyalty, on better booking engine capabilities and even greater ease of use.
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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
- Mark Hedley named one of Computerworld's Premier 100 IT Leaders for 2004
- Kim Yuskiewicz joins IDeaS as Director of Corporate Sales - Americas
- Don Prince joins Sansora as Regional Vice President of Sales
- Deb Chancellor hired by UniFocus as National Sales Director
- Mark Holzberg now President of Bartech USA
- HIS promotes Alan Young to VP Sales - USA and Brian Bowerfind to VP of Global Strategic Sales
Mark Hedley, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Wyndham International, has been named one of Computerworld's Premier 100 IT Leaders for 2004. Mr. Hedley was cited for his contribution to Wyndham's advancement in technology and for exceptional technology leadership. Wyndham also was recognized as one of the twelve "Best in Class" companies.
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Kim Yuskiewicz has joined IDeaS as Director of Corporate Sales - Americas. Ms. Yuskiewicz brings 20 years of hospitality experience to IDeaS Sales team, most recently as Director of Strategic Accounts for SoftBrands Hospitality. She was earlier a Senior Account Executive with MICROS-Fidelio and a Client Services Specialist with Hotel Information Systems.
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Don Prince has joined Sansora International (formerly lebensart technologies) as Regional Vice President of Sales. Mr. Prince has twenty years experience in the tourism industry, including executive level sales and marketing positions with cruise lines and tour companies. He most recently spent eight years with the Arizona Office of Tourism as Deputy Director of Marketing.
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Deb Chancellor has been hired by UniFocus as National Sales Director. Ms. Chancellor brings a strong background in business consultation and solution development, including broad experience in CRM, ERP and other business processes.
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Mark Holzberg will join Bartech Systems International as President of Bartech USA. Most recently CFO of TravelCLICK, Mr. Holzberg was also President and CEO of AlphaNet Hospitality Systems, and earlier served as President of Western Union's Travel Services Division and CEO of an air express company.
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Hotel Information Systems has promoted Alan Young from Director of Corporate Development to Vice President, Sales - U.S.A., and Brian Bowerfind from Director of U.S. Sales to Vice President of Global Strategic Sales.
Prior to joining HIS, Mr. Young was V.P. of Hotel Systems and Integration for Newtrade Technologies Inc. He has over 19 years of hospitality industry experience, with General Mills Restaurants Corporation, The Four Seasons Hotels Group and Australia's Weller Hotels.
Mr. Bowerfind has been with HIS since 1993.
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PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
- USFS orders custom ImagInn Platinum PMS for all 266 Microtel Inn & Suites in US
- Avalon Resorts signs five-property order with Visual One
- Resort Data Processing announces beta release of .NET-based RDPWin PMS
- BookingCenter formally launches Web-based MyPMS
U.S. Franchise Systems (USFS) has ordered a customized version of Ramesys' ImagInn Platinum PMS for all 266 Microtel Inn & Suites in the USA. The agreement is part of Microtel's Project Reveille, which includes free-to-guest local and long distance calls and wireless high-speed Internet access. The Ramesys system will include a two-way interface with USFS' CRS, and will support Internet based check-in (via the Microtel website) and e-folio capability for guests to receive their bill online. Rollout of the project is scheduled to be complete by year-end. (www.usfsi.com, www.us.ramesys.com)
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Avalon Resorts has signed a five-property order with Visual One Systems for Property Management, Point-of-Sale, Guest Activity Planning, and Central Guest Management systems at its five properties in Mexico and Panama. Implementation will start in April 2004. (www.avalonvacations.com, www.visualonesystems.com)
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Resort Data Processing has announced the beta release of RDPWin, its Windows Property Management System based on Microsoft's .NET technology. (www.resortdata.com)
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BookingCenter has formally launched its Web-based MyPMS, which includes Internet reservations and Global Distribution. MyPMS has been in pilot release for eighteen months at ten hotels. (www.bookingcenter.com)
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RESERVATIONS
- Optims S.A. acquires Hotel Data Systems
- Wyndham selects TravelCLICK, puts RateVIEW over the 3,000-user mark
- Pegasus announces PegsTour service to automate allocation-based bookings
- InterActiveCorp acquiring TripAdvisor
- Lexington Services implements Galileo's Inside Shopper for direct access to Lexington's CRS
- Boscolo Hotels signs multi-year agreement with Pegasus for reservations services
Optims S.A. has acquired Hotel Data Systems (HDS), and plans to market and support its revenue management and Internet distribution systems and services to the North American market alongside HDS' xenon CRS system. (www.hoteldata.com, www.optims.com)
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Wyndham International has selected TravelCLICK's RateVIEW pricing/rate comparison application for its 150 properties throughout North America and the Caribbean. This order puts the RateVIEW subscriber base above the 3,000 hotel mark.
TravelCLICK has released version 2.0 of its RateVIEW application. Enhancements include more flexible reporting, custom user templates, week-over-week change analysis, enterprise access and data handoff to revenue management systems.
(www.travelclick.net)
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American Express Europe announced that it will use Pegasus' hotel commission processing and reconciliation functions for its travel offices in Africa, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and New Zealand, totaling approximately 1,200 agency locations in 34 countries.
Pegasus Solutions has announced the limited release of its PegsTour service for automating allocation-based bookings by wholesale travel companies and tour operators with hotel reservation systems by linking them to hotels' central reservation systems and property management systems. General availability is scheduled for late July.
(www.americanexpress.com, www.pegs.com)
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InterActiveCorp (formerly USA Interactive) is acquiring TripAdvisor, an online travel search engine and directory whose clients include American Airlines, Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Orbitz, and Travelocity. In December it was called the seventh most-visited travel web site in the world by comScore Networks. IAC's portfolio of Web brands incudes Expedia, Hotels.com, Hotwire, Ticketmaster, and Lending Tree.
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VIP International subsidiary Lexington Services has implemented Galileo's Inside Shopper, providing Galileo-connected travel bookers with direct access to Lexington's CRS for real-time room and rate availability information, as well as enhanced search capabilities. (www.lexres.com, www.galileo.com)
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Boscolo Hotels has signed a multi-year agreement with Pegasus Solutions for its RezView central reservations system, private-label electronic distribution service and Utell voice services for its 18 properties. The contract also includes a two-way interface between RezView and Boscolo's Micros Opera property management systems. Boscolo will also implement a Pegasus-managed wide area network to connect its Padova headquarters to the Pegasus data center in Scottsdale. (www.boscolo.com, www.pegs.com)
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MARKETING / MANAGEMENT
- Thayer Interactive receives three awards at 2003 HSMAI Adrian Awards
- SRS-WORLDHOTELS and Althoff Hotels sign with Sansora for SMART System CRM
- Cornell University signs with UniFocus for access to data on travel industry consumer behavior
- La Quinta contracts with KnowledgeNet for training courses for its over 7,000 employees
Thayer Interactive Group (TIG) was recognized with three distinguished awards for web marketing excellence by the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) at the 2003 HSMAI Adrian Awards Competition in New York. TIG's services include website development and content management, search engine optimization and pay-per-click marketing. (www.thayerinteractive.com)
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SRS-WORLDHOTELS has signed with Sansora International to use its SMART System for customer relationship management at several properties. SRS-WORLDHOTELS will use Sansora's dynamic form applications to set up its own online data capture forms, and distribute and import data into the centralized SMART marketing database.
Althoff Hotels is also using Sansora's SMART System to create, manage and track marketing campaigns and improve its customer service in a four-month pilot project.
(www.srs-worldhotels.com, www.althoffhotels.de, www.sansora.com)
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Cornell University's Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) has signed with UniFocus for access to its data on consumer behavior in the travel industry. UniFocus' Hospitality Loyalty Management program includes guest, meeting planner, and employee attitude studies, coupled with labor and financial management systems. (www.chr.cornell.edu, www.unifocus.com)
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La Quinta Corp has contracted with KnowledgeNet to develop training courses for its over 7,000 employees. La Quinta will also use KnowledgeNet's Monsoon 6.0 learning management system to manage, track, measure and report on each learner's training progress.
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REVENUE MANAGEMENT
- Taj Group selects IDeaS for Taj Mahal Palace and Towers in Mumbai
- IDeaS appoints IFH Group as distributor of V5 system in Germany
The 60-property Taj Group of Hotels has selected IDeaS Revenue Optimization Solution for their flagship property Taj Mahal Palace and Towers located in Mumbai, India.
IDeaS has appointed IFH Group as a distributor of its ASP-based V5 Revenue Optimization Solution, initially in Germany with plans to follow with other European countries and the Middle East. IFH has offices in Frankfurt, Miami, Dubai and Singapore, and has a long-standing relationship with IDeaS.
(www.tajhotels.com, www.ideas.com)
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SALES & CATERING, MEETING PLANNING
- Meeting planners survey confirms rates, locale and brand reputation are still key factors
- HSMAI launches its eConnect portal
- Las Vegas' Area Technical Training Center adopts Delphi as S&C standard for high school program
- Newmarket receives Omega's NorthFace ScoreBoard Award for third consecutive year
A survey of 367 meeting planners by Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts and the Professional Convention Management Association confirms that rates, locale and brand reputation are still key factors when booking a property. The planners consistently cited meetings incentives (such as a free breakfast), multiple meeting discounts and a daily bill review as important standards all properties should offer. A service-oriented and responsive staff and flexible meeting spaces were also considered highly important. By far the majority of planners require high-speed Internet access throughout the hotel, especially in meeting rooms.
As for billing, the most critical issue was accuracy. Many planners suggested a pre-departure bill-review meeting, an estimated pre-bill prior to the meeting, and/or a daily bill review, and 40% want to see their final bill within two weeks.
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The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) has launched its eConnect portal, offering global information and resources on hospitality and travel sales and marketing topics. eConnect is an HSMAI Foundation program hosted by the University of Houston's Conrad N. Hilton College. (www.hsmaieconnect.org)
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Las Vegas' Area Technical Training Center (ATTC) has adopted Newmarket International's Delphi v9.1.2 as the Sales & Catering technology standard for its Hospitality Operations program for high school juniors and seniors.
Newmarket has received Omega Management Group's NorthFace ScoreBoard Award for Excellence in Customer Service for the third consecutive year, the only hospitality software developer to do so. The NorthFace ScoreBoard Award goes to organizations that offer exemplary customer service and base their missions on a deep commitment to exceed all customer expectations.
(www.ccsd.net/schools/attc/, www.omegascoreboard.com, www.newmarketinc.com)
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F&B/POINT OF SALE
- PGA National Resort & Spa installs MICROS 9700 HMS
- MICROS, Vingcard and RDP partner to let guests' use key cards to charge on MICROS POS
- InfoGenesis designated an IBM Premier Business Partner for the sixth consecutive year
- Radiant Systems expands presence in Spain, establishes subsidiary in Madrid
- Button Pizza Company rolling out PixelPoint POS across all locations by June 2004
PGA National Resort & Spa has installed MICROS' 9700 Hospitality Management System (HMS) for all its food and beverage operations, which cover 339 guestrooms, 52 cottages, 23 meeting rooms, and 11 F&B outlets. The implementation includes Workstation 4 WinCE-based terminals and NetVupoint web-based reporting.
Resort Data Processing (RDP) has partnered with MICROS and Assa Abloy's Vingcard division to allow guests' Vingcard electronic door lock cards to be used as RDP room charge payment cards on MICROS POS systems.
(www.pgaresort.com, www.assaabloy.com, www.resortdata.com www.micros.com)
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InfoGenesis has been designated an IBM Premier Business Partner for the sixth consecutive year, and received IBM's 2003 Solution Provider Excellence Award for achieving the largest number of customer wins in IBM's Retail Store Solutions division for 2003. (www.infogenesis.com)
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Radiant Systems has established a Spanish subsidiary (Radiant Systems Retail Solutions, S.L.) in Madrid, sharing offices with Restasoft, its master reseller for the Spanish hospitality market and its largest reseller in Europe. Radiant has been active in the Spanish hospitality and petroleum/convenience retail markets for some time. (www.radiantsystems.com)
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The Button Pizza Company, a Papa Murphy's franchisee, has rolled out PixelPoint's Enterprise POS Software Suite - HeadOffice across 20 locations in the mid-west. All locations are scheduled for implementation by June 2004. (www.pixelpointpos.com)
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GUEST SERVICES
- New Holiday Inn prototype includes AT&T Wi-Fi and VoIP telephone system
- Mandarin Oriental, New York implements GoConcierge
- Holiday Inn at Six Flags implements wireless high-speed Internet access from StayOnline
- Linchris Hotel Corp implementing Wayport high-speed Internet access in 15 hotels
The new prototype Holiday Inn in Gwinnett Center in Duluth, GA includes free property-wide Wi-Fi coverage and a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone system, both from AT&T. The 143-room hotel is the first of 25 Holiday Inn hotels slated for construction during the next three years. In addition, all guestrooms have wired hi-speed Internet access. (www.att.com)
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The 241-room Mandarin Oriental, New York has implemented GoConcierge.net's Web-based task-tracking and guest information database system. The system has also been implemented at the Mandarin Oriental, Miami and is planned for the Mandarin Oriental, Washington D.C., due to open on March 25. (www.mandarinoriental.com, www.goconcierge.net)
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The recently re-flagged Holiday Inn at Six Flags has implemented wireless high-speed Internet access from StayOnline throughout the 98,000-square-foot facility, including guest rooms, common areas and the hotel's "Holidome," which surrounds the pool area. The hotel structure incorporates an 18th century barn with three-foot thick stone walls. (www.stayonline.net)
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The Linchris Hotel Corp is implementing high-speed Internet access from Wayport in the guestrooms, meeting rooms and common areas of the 15 hotels it operates, which include branded properties from Radisson, Four Points by Sheraton, Best Western, Hampton Inn, Comfort Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Red Roof Inn and Holiday Inn.
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INVENTORY/PURCHASING
- Noodles & Company goes with EatecNetX
Noodles & Company has contracted with Eatec Corp for its EatecNetX back-office system to manage its foodservice operations, with 69 of its 90 restaurants to be on-line by year-end. Three locations currently use EatecNetX for inventory management, purchasing and receiving, interfaced to Noodles' POS system for automatic inventory depletion based on sales data. The EatecExchange XML-based will be added shortly to enable automated data exchange directly with vendors. (www.noodles.com, www.eatec.com)
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ENGINEERING
- Mauna Lani Resort selects Mintek's WinTrack.PM for preventive maintenance control
The 350-room Mauna Lani Resort, on Hawaii's Kohala Coast, has selected Mintek Mobile Data Solution's WinTrack.PM, for preventive maintenance management throughout the property. (www.maunalani.com, www.mintek.com)
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COMMUNICATIONS
- New Holiday Inn prototype includes AT&T VoIP telephone system and Wi-Fi
The new prototype Holiday Inn in Gwinnett Center in Duluth, GA includes a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone system and free property-wide Wi-Fi coverage, both from AT&T. The 143-room hotel is the first of 25 Holiday Inn hotels slated for construction during the next three years. In addition, all guestrooms have wired hi-speed Internet access. (www.att.com)
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SECURITY
- Vingcard, MICROS and RDP partner to let guests' use key cards to charge on MICROS POS
- Kaba launches new Generation E-760 stand-alone hotel lock
- Kaba announces upgraded customer support call guarantee
- All Mandarin Oriental New York rooms have Elsafe Infinity Digital safes and TimeLox DC-One IR5 OnLine electronic locks
Resort Data Processing (RDP) has partnered with Assa Abloy's Vingcard division and MICROS to allow guests' Vingcard electronic door lock cards to be used as RDP room charge payment cards on MICROS POS systems. (www.assaabloy.com, www.micros.com, www.resortdata.com)
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Kaba has launched its new Generation E-760 stand-alone hotel lock, adding two mechanical key override options to the original electronic override.
Kaba also announced a customer support guarantee that all calls will be answered live during normal business hours throughout North America. This coincides with Kaba's recently upgraded ISO 9001/2000 certification.
(www.kaba-ilco.com)
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The 251-room Mandarin Oriental New York, which opened in November 2003, equipped all rooms with Elsafe's Infinity Digital safes and TimeLox DC-One IR5 OnLine electronic locks. (www.assaabloyhospitality.com)
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