SEPTEMBER 16 - OCTOBER 5, 2004
TOP O' THE NEWS
- Marriott heads hospitality companies in InformationWeek's Top 500 most innovative users of business technology
- Internet bookings now 30% of major hotel chains' CRO bookings, according to TravelCLICK
InformationWeek has published its annual list of "the 500 most innovative users of business technology." You could say that Hospitality in general came out as the winner since the top company was winemaker E. & J. Gallo, but of those companies listed in the actual Hospitality and Travel category, Marriott was placed highest at # 23. Others in the Top 100 were Wyndham at # 54, Carlson at # 86 and Hilton Hotels at # 88. Carlson was also recognized as a Top Performer in the survey areas of Business Practices and Business Optimization.
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Internet bookings continue to grow as a percentage of overall reservations traffic, according to TravelCLICK's eTRAK report for the first half of the year on 30 major hotel brands, which states that Internet reservations received at their central reservation offices (CROs) grew 28% in the first half of 2004 compared with 2003. The report noted that brand websites were the source of 73% of the brands' centrally booked Internet reservations. The other two main channels of business are still strong, though; while the Internet sites (marriott.com, hilton.com, etc.) contributed 30% of total reservations, 36% of CRO reservations come through GDS channels and 34% by phone.
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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
- John Cahill receives HFTP's Paragon Award
- Dennis Law joins Pegasus Solutions as SVP of Product Management
- Drew Hulburd promoted to Major Account Executive in Las Vegas with InfoGenesis
- John Foley hired by Safemark Systems as Vice President
- Michael Pusateri joins Thayer Interactive Group as EVP of Sales, Services, and Marketing
- Thayer also hires Paul Peddrick, Sue Heilbronner and Doug Broujos as Vice Presidents
- Tracey Jacey promoted to Chief Financial Officer at INNCOM International
- INNCOM also hires Dan Miller as VP of Sales/Western Region and Marcello Natera as Sales Director for Latin America
- Tim Tiller promoted to VP of Customer Success at MSI
John Cahill has been selected to receive HFTP's Paragon Award, in recognition of his contributions to both HFTP and the hospitality industry. A past president and the 1993 inductee into the HFTP International Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame, Mr. Cahill was a driving force behind the establishment of the Certified Hospitality Technology Professional (CHTP) certification. His career in technology spans 40 years, with the last 32 in the hospitality industry; he is currently the chief information officer for Affinia Hospitality.
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Dennis Law has joined Pegasus Solutions as Senior Vice President of Product Management, based in Pegasus' Dallas headquarters. Mr. Law has more than 13 years experience in telecommunications, Internet services and managed hosting services, most recently with EDS, where he served as Hosting Services global portfolio executive. He was earlier Executive Director of Internet Applications Services at Global One in Reston, Va.
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Drew Hulburd has been promoted to Major Account Executive in Las Vegas, NV with InfoGenesis. An InfoGenesis employee since 1998, Mr. Hulburd was most recently Account Services Manager; before joining InfoGenesis he spent over eight years of corporate, multi-unit restaurant management.
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John Foley has been hired by Safemark Systems as Vice President. Mr. Foley brings seventeen years of experience in the in-room hotel safe industry, most recently as Vice President of Sales for another manufacturer and distributor of in-room electronic safes and locking systems. He also has experience in POS technology and F&B operations.
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Michael Pusateri has joined Thayer Interactive Group in the newly created position of Executive Vice President of Sales, Services, and Marketing. Before joining Thayer, Mr. Pusateri spent 10 years at Marriott International as Vice President of Interactive Sales and Marketing; he was earlier Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Internet-consulting firm Proxicom, Senior Vice President of Sales at Avendra, Director of Interbrand Marketing for Holiday Corp and held various hotel and airline marketing positions for Avis.
Thayer Interactive has also hired three other key executives:
- Paul Peddrick, Vice President of Strategic Accounts and Chief Creative Consultant, formerly Director of Web Application Strategy at Bixler Incorporated
- Sue Heilbronner, Vice President of Strategic Accounts, formerly Executive Director of Business Development at Discovery Communications, Inc.
- Doug Broujos, Vice President of Client Services, formerly Chief Executive Officer of ChesapeakeNet and Senior Vice President of Marketing and E-commerce at 3Di Technologies.
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Tracey Jacey has been promoted to Chief Financial Officer at INNCOM International; she was formerly Vice President of Finance, and will continue to serve as Treasurer on the INNCOM Board of Directors.
INNCOM has also hired Dan Miller as Vice President of Sales for the western region and Marcello Natera as Sales Director for Latin America. Mr. Miller was Vice President of Hospitality Sales for Percipia; Mr. Natera was Vice President of Sales and General Manager for Latin America with Onity Inc., and Sales and Marketing Director for Vingcard Systems in Mexico.
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Tim Tiller has been promoted to the newly created position of Vice President of Customer Success at Multi-Systems Inc. (MSI); he was formerly Director of Account Management and Training. Before joining MSI in 1998, Mr. Tiller worked for John Q. Hammons Hotels.
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PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
- Boca Raton Resort & Club selects Springer-Miller's SMS|Host product suite
- Visual One receives orders from UK's Lumley Castle, Coombe Abbey and Doonbeg Golf Club
- HIS and IDeaS agree to integrate their systems
The Boca Raton Resort & Club has selected Springer-Miller's SMS|Host suite of products for its hotel, membership club, golf courses, and spa. The Resort & Club includes 146,000 square feet of conference space, a half-mile of private beach, two 18-hole championship golf courses, 30 tennis courts, full-service marina and award-winning spa. SMS|Host modules to be installed include Multi-Property Management, Spa/Recreation Scheduling, Golf Tee Time Scheduling, Activities Management, Retail Point-of-Sale, Club Membership Management, Baggage Handling and SMS|World for Internet reservations. (www.bocaresort.com, www.springermiller.com)
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Visual One announced three more UK orders, from No Ordinary Hotels' properties at Lumley Castle and Coombe Abbey (for Front Office, Sales and Catering, Point of Sale and Web Bookings), and from Ireland's new Doonbeg Golf Club. The latter site is being developed by Kiawah Development Partners; the lodge, clubhouse and Phase I suites are scheduled to open in the spring of 2006, with Phase II suites following. Modules to be installed are PMS, GolfPro (including POS ProShop), POS and Condominium Accounting. (www.lumleycastle.com, www.coombeabbey.com, www.doonbeggolfclub.com, www.visualonesystems.com)
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The Hotel Mallory in Portland, Oregon is installing Hotel Information Systems' (HIS') epitome PMS for Windows.
HIS and Integrated Decisions and Systems (IDeaS) have agreed to integrate their epitome for Windows PMS and IDeaS Revenue Optimization Solution to simplify installation and provide more seamless operations for their shared customers.
(www.malloryhotel.com, www.hotelinfosys.com)
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RESERVATIONS
- Cendant acquires Orbitz
- Kimpton signs multi-year distribution and services agreement with Cendant TDS
- VIP International consolidates operations with Lexington, re-brands as Vantis International
- WestCoast Hospitality implements MICROS-Fidelio's Opera enhanced GDS interface
- Hilton International announces "equitable-practices" standards for Internet distributors
- MSI commits to two-way WinPM interface with Expedia
- Vail Resorts signs Expedia and Hotels.com to book its 10 RockResorts properties
- Magnolia Hotels goes with SynXis for distribution to GDSs, the Internet and its Web site
- Pelican System launches Version 2.0 of booking system
- Hotel Booking Solutions attains Gold Certified status in Microsoft Partner Program
- Wyndham implements Voxify's Automated Agents voice response system at call center
- Wyndham contracts with SideStep to drive consumers directly to its Web site
- La Quinta adds 177 Baymont properties to existing Pegasus commission processing contract
- Priceline.com acquires Active Hotels, European Internet hotel reservation service
Cendant Corp has acquired three-year-old Orbitz, make Cendant the second-largest online travel distributor; it already sells hotel rooms, airline tickets and car rentals through its CheapTickets.com site, and its Trip Network includes more than a dozen brands including Cheap Tickets, Lodging.com and Avis. Cendant intends to maintain both the Orbitz and CheapTickets brands in the leisure travel sector, and Travelport and Orbitz for Business in business travel. CheapTickets and Travelport are expected to combine their technology platforms and operations to form a common platform with Chicago-based Orbitz.
Kimpton Hotels signed a multi-year distribution and services agreement with Cendant Travel Distribution Services, giving its nearly 40 hotels access to Cendant TDS's full range of distribution products and services. The hotel chain will distribute specially negotiated rates through Cendant TDS' various distribution channels, and will provide Cendant with rates for its Galileo Web!Hotels program for discounted leisure hotel inventory throughout North America.
(www.orbitz.com, www.kimpton.com, www.cendant.com)
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VIP International, which acquired Lexington Services last year, has consolidated both companies' operations under the new brand of Vantis International Corp. The newly created company positions itself as a marketing and revenue management consulting organization for hotels, car rental companies and airlines, and offers products and services covering revenue management, marketing, channel management, website solutions and voice reservations. (www.vantiscorp.com)
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WestCoast Hospitality has implemented MICROS-Fidelio's Opera enhanced GDS interface, which provides "Next Generation Seamless" connectivity for real-time rates and availability with three of the GDSs: Galileo Inside Shopper, Worldspan Integrated Hotel Source and Sabre Direct Connect Shop. Certification of an Amadeus connection is under way. (www.micros.com)
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Hilton International has followed InterContinental Hotels' lead in stating that it will only deal with Internet distributors who follow its pricing practices and equitable trading practices, announcing that it has signed a new deal with lastminute.com, Europe's largest independent online distributor. (www.hiltongroup.com)
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Multi-Systems Inc. (MSI) has committed to develop a two-way interface between its WinPM property-management system and Expedia's direct connect technology. The agreement encompasses interfaces for independent hotels as well as in conjunction with chain CRSs.
Vail Resorts Inc. has signed Expedia Inc. and Hotels.com to book its 10 RockResorts luxury resort properties.
(www.expedia.com, www.msisolutions.com)
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Magnolia Hotels has selected the SynXis reservation services and technology to manage distribution to the GDSs, the internet and its own hotel and chain Web site. (www.magnoliahotels.com, www.synxis.com)
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Pelican System launched Version 2.0 of its booking system. Improvements include more accurate management of contract rates for clients, a Web Promotion Engine for package promotion, news and promotion rates delivered from the Reservation Page, a Room Preference Protocol to cover special requests made during reservations, a Room Request to e-mail the property when a desired room is unavailable, and an Un-availability Search Report, which tells the hotel for which dates a requested room was unavailable, allowing it update room allotments to meet demand. (www.pelicansystem.com)
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Hotel Booking Solutions has attained Gold Certified status in the Microsoft Partner Program with a competency in ISV/Software Solutions. Microsoft Gold Certified Partners obtain their stated competency after demonstrating a successful record of developing and marketing packed software based on Microsoft technologies. (www.hoboo.com)
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Wyndham International has implemented Voxify's Automated Agents, a voice response system that greets guests immediately they call the voice center, identifies their needs and routes them to the best available resource, either human or automated. Initial plans project 25 to 40 percent of service calls to be fully automated, though callers will always have the option of reaching a live agent for any request.
Wyndham also contracted with search engine SideStep to drive consumers directly to the hotel company's Web site to book travel.
(www.wyndham.com, www.voxify.com)
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La Quinta Corp has expanded its relationship with Pegasus Solutions by adding the 177 Baymont-branded properties it acquired in September to the existing La Quinta commission processing service contract. (www.lq.com, www.pegs.com)
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Priceline.com has acquired UK-based Active Hotels Ltd., one of Europe's leading Internet hotel reservation services, retaining its current management team and continuing to manage Active Hotels as an independent business. Active Hotels works with a wide range of 8,000 properties from B&Bs to 5-star hotels in the UK and throughout Europe, including major international chains and independents. (www.activereservations.com, www.priceline.com)
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MARKETING / MANAGEMENT
- Accovia releases Sales Contract Tool
- UniFocus partners with BAI to combine satisfaction feedback tools with mystery shopping
Accovia released its Sales Contract Tool, intended to provide travel wholesalers and tour operators with better forecasts by product, client and market, as well as automate and enforce payment policies such as minimum deposits, cancellation and change fees. (www.accovia.com)
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UniFocus has partnered with Bare Associates International (BAI), to combine UniFocus' various satisfaction feedback tools with BAI's mystery shopping evaluations in an analytical service that allows organizations to address the key issues driving loyalty, intent to recommend and bottom line performance. (www.baiservices.com, www.unifocus.com)
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REVENUE MANAGEMENT
- IDeaS and HIS agreed to integrate systems
- Delta Hotels selects Buckhiester USA's REVolution as national F&B RM education program
Integrated Decisions and Systems Inc. (IDeaS) and Hotel Information Systems (HIS) have agreed to integrate their epitome for Windows PMS and IDeaS Revenue Optimization Solution to simplify installation and provide more seamless operations for their shared customers.
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Delta Hotels has selected Buckhiester Management USA's REVolution as its national education program for Food & Beverage Revenue Management. Delta plans to roll out the new program of decision support tools and workshops to its properties during the final quarter of the year. (www.deltahotels.com, www.buckhiester.com)
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SALES & CATERING, MEETING PLANNING
- Daylight Software marks tenth consecutive year of growth
Daylight Software marked its tenth consecutive year of growth with new installations and expanded solutions for existing partners, noting while client/server solutions fueled its initial growth, its ASP solution is now gathering most customer interest. Recent US clients include the Mondrian in West Hollywood, Hotel Oceana in Santa Barbara, the 244-room Westward Look Resort in Tucson, the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City, the Ocean Plaza Beach Resort on Tybee Island, GA and the Delano Hotel in South Beach Miami. In Canada, implementations include the Toronto Board of Trade, the 114-room Fantasyland Hotel in Edmonton, Alberta, the 320-room Grand Okanagan Lakefront Resort and Conference Center in Kelowna, BC and the 192-room Tigh-na-mara Seaside Spa Resort and Conference Center on Vancouver Island. (www.daylightsoftware.com)
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F&B/POINT OF SALE
- Sycuan Resort & Casino in San Diego installs InfoGenesis' Revelation POS
The Sycuan Resort & Casino in San Diego, has installed InfoGenesis' Revelation POS system, using 30 IBM SurePOS 500 screen terminals to manage 15 profit centers. The Revelation system is interfaced to Aristocrat's casino player-tracking software and to Stratton Warren's inventory system for the retail outlet and gift shop. (www.sycuan.com, www.infogenesis.com)
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SPA/GOLF/LEISURE
- Doonbeg Golf Club orders Visual One's GolfPro, PMS, POS and Condo Accounting modules
Ireland's new Doonbeg Golf Club has ordered Visual One's GolfPro (including POS ProShop), PMS, POS and Condominium Accounting modules. Phase 1 of the project, including the lodge, clubhouse and some suites, is scheduled to complete in the spring 2006, with Phase II suites following. (www.doonbeggolfclub.com, www.visualonesystems.com)
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GUEST SERVICES
- Samoset resort on Penobscot Bay installs free wireless Internet connectivity from Guest-Tek
- Third HTNG workgroup launched, covering Guest Room Technology
- MHI Hotels and ANM Hospitality order Telkonet powerline high-speed Internet access
- Emily Morgan Hotel in San Antonio installs wireless HSIA from StayOnline
The 178-room Samoset resort on Penobscot Bay has installed have free wireless Internet connectivity from Guest-Tek throughout the hotel, from guestrooms to public spaces to the 21,000 sq.ft. of meeting space. (www.samoset.com, www.guest-tek.com)
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A third Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG) workgroup has been launched, this one covering Guest Room Technology and sponsored by Cisco Systems, Guest-Tek, LodgeNet, Mandarin Oriental, Microsoft, Paradyne, and Quadriga. Applications from other hotel companies and vendors will be accepted through October 15 to round out a balanced workgroup with a maximum of 17 companies. (www.htng.org)
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MHI Hotels and ANM Hospitality have ordered Telkonet's powerline-based high-speed Internet access for many of their hotel properties. MHI Hotels has installed Telkonet's system in eight hotels, including Holiday Inns in Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. ANM Hospitality has contracted for nine properties in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana. (www.telkonet.com)
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The 177-room Emily Morgan Hotel, adjacent to the Alamo historic site in San Antonio, has installed wireless high-speed Internet access from StayOnline. (www.emilymorganhotel.com, www.stayonline.net)
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BACK OFFICE
- CSM Lodging implements M3's Hotel-Specific accounting software for 34 hotels
CSM Lodging has implemented M3 Hotel Accounting's Hotel-Specific accounting software for the 34 hotels it owns and operates across the United States, which include Marriott, Hilton, Holiday Inn and Country Inn properties. M3 will host the system in Georgia. (www.csmcorp.net, www.hotelaccounting.com)
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COMMUNICATIONS
- Shaner Hotel Group signs with AT&T for next-generation VPN and VoIP to link 23 properties
Shaner Hotel Group has signed a $3-million contract with AT&T to build a next-generation network to link its 23 properties using an Internet protocol virtual private network and voice over IP service.
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