MAY 11 - 31, 2005
TOP O' THE NEWS
- Metasearch engines begin to make an impact
First search engines, now meta-search. Just as hotels are beginning to learn how to manage their Web site keywords and pay-for-position advertising to suit the major search engines, meta-search engines are starting to gain traction and complicate the scene. General-purpose meta-search sites such as Dogpile have been around for many years, running a user’s query through multiple standard search engines and aggregating the results into easy-to-review groupings. The new travel sites, though, focus very specifically on air, hotel and car sites to present the widest possible consolidation of available rates and fares matching the user’s search parameters. And the more ways users can search sites, the more different query word combinations they use, complicating site optimization.
A new survey from Hitwise reports that although the five major online travel sites (Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Yahoo! Travel and CheapTickets) still account for 65% of hits on travel agent sites, travel meta-search engines like Kayak, Mobissimo and Yahoo! Farechase have grown fast over the last six months. Kayak.com showed the largest increase in market share with visits up a phenomenal 6,019%, but the others also posted gains from 56% to over 650%, admittedly all from small baselines but still impressive.
Whether they have the staying power to make a real difference is another story, of course. Their growth comes as travelers try to save time in a confusing marketplace by checking as many sources of travel data as they can before making a decision, and certainly the meta-search engines can cover a lot of ground quickly. But they still don’t cover all possible fares or rates, and it’s still often possible to find lower rates on either the hoteliers’ “brand.com” sites or on the established sites such as Expedia or Travelocity.
Much will depend on how fast the meta-search engines can expand the set of search sites they cover to be as all-encompassing as possible, on their ease of use and on how the stand-alone travel agencies react to them. But there’s no denying the attraction of the concept, at least to the inveterate rate-shoppers among the general public, and their rate of growth is not to be denied.
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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
- Bob Post promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer at TravelCLICK
- Scott Gibson hired as CIO and Senior Vice President of Distribution at Best Western
- Mark Houser promoted to Chief Information Officer at MSI
- Tim Tiller promoted to Chief Operating Officer at MSI
- Mr. H.L. Chong promoted to Chief Executive Officer at Oasis Hospitality Software
- Richard Benoit is HFTP’s 2005 Certified Hospitality Technology Professional of the Year
Bob Post has been promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer at TravelCLICK, succeeding Richard Gray and Ray Cohen, founders and co-CEOs of the company. Mr. Post joined TravelCLICK a year ago as Chief Financial Officer, and has over 20 years of executive experience in travel and hospitality, as well as in the home security and defense electronics industries. Prior to joining TravelCLICK, he was the principal of Pconsulting LLC, and had earlier held executive positions with MICROS Systems and Westinghouse Electric.
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Scott Gibson has been named Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of Distribution at Best Western International. Mr. Gibson brings over 20 years of hotel technology experience, most recently as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Kerzner International Resorts. He had earlier served as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Cendant’s hotel division, and before that had been Reservations System Development Director for Red Lion Hotels and Inns. Mr. Gibson began his hotel technology career with Ramada, followed by a six-year term with Anasazi as reservations systems project manager.
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Mark Houser has been promoted to Chief Information Officer at Multi-Systems Inc. (MSI). One of MSI’s founding partners, Mr. Houser was most recently responsible for overall operations, technology and infrastructure development, including heading the company’s product development.
Tim Tiller has been promoted from Vice President of Customer Success to Chief Operating Officer at MSI. Mr. Tiller joined MSI seven years ago, after beginning his lodging industry career with John Q. Hammond.
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Mr. H.L. Chong has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer at Hong Kong’s Oasis Hospitality Software. One of the founding partners of the company, Mr. Chong was previously Chief Technology Officer, and had earlier worked as a software developer for several US based hotel software and POS companies.
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Richard Benoit has been designated Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals’ (HFTP’s) 2005 Certified Hospitality Technology Professional (CHTP) of the Year, as the person who scored the highest in a given year on the CHTP exam. Mr. Benoit is IT Manager for the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Kissimmee, FL; he had earlier served with The Ginn Company and Loews Hotels at Universal Orlando, as well as IT consulting for clients such as Siemens Westinghouse, AT & T, Lucent Technologies and IBM.
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PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
- Russia’s Heliopark standardizes on HIS’ epitome Enterprise Solutions
- Northwind announces Profitability Tools suite
- HTNG forms casino/gaming systems Special Interest Group
- Oasis appoints U.K. based Sensible Information Technology as first European distributor
- Utah’s Pavilion Inn installs Ramesys’ Entirety PMS
- ExpressCLERK announces front desk kiosk that makes future reservations, runs Night Audit
- InterContinental now has MICROS OPERA/OPERA Xpress in over 1,100 hotels in North America, almost 1,400 hotels worldwide
- MICROS ranked on three magazines “fastest-growing” lists
- The Heritage selects Hogatex-Optims systems for two properties in Ireland
- US Franchise Systems selects MSI’s WinPM system as its exclusive PMS platform
Russia’s Heliopark Hotel Management Company has standardized on Hotel Information Systems’ epitome Enterprise Solutions, in a contract negotiated through HIS’ Russian distributor Libra International. Heliopark will mandate the epitome for Windows PMS for all its managed properties (six currently use it, and eight more are under development for openings in 2005/6) and will implement epitome Enterprise for Central Reservations, Central Rate and Availability Management, Distribution Channel Management, Central Guest Management and Web Reservations Management. (http://management.heliopark.ru, www.hotelinfosys.com)
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Northwind has announced its Profitability Tools suite, bundling its current Rate & Yield Management and Maestro CRM modules with the new Maestro Analytics business intelligence system, based on Qliktech’s QlikView engine. All modules are fully integrated with the Maestro PMS; Maestro Analytics is also integrated with Microsoft Office for instant e-mailing and/or Performance Reporting, and is accessible over the Internet or an Intranet. (www.maestropms.com)
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Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG) has formed a Special Interest Group to focus on gaming systems, addressing both unique casino-systems issues and their integration with more traditional hotel-based systems. The initial Executive Committee of the SIG includes Marshall Andrew (Station Casinos), Glenn Bonner (MGM Mirage), Mike Day (Kewadin Casinos), Dan Ives (Golden Nugget) and Tim Stanley (Harrah's). (www.htng.org)
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Oasis Hospitality Software has appointed U.K. based Sensible Information Technology as its first European distributor, with exclusive U.K. rights to the Linux-based Oasis PMS, Call Accounting System and POS system. (www.oasis2000.com)
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Utah’s 98-room Pavilion Inn in the Salt Lake City Valley has installed Ramesys’ Entirety PMS and Web reservations, on a local server rather than Ramesys’ alternative web hosted server basis. (www.us.ramesys.com)
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ExpressCLERK has announced its self-service front desk kiosk. In addition to check-in/check-out functions, the kiosk allows guests to make future reservations for the same property, and, with the appropriate PMS interface, can run the Night Audit functions for the hotel. ExpressCLERK can register guests either with or without advance reservations, can accept cash and make change. It is currently integrated with HSS’ Property Management System and Tesa, Ving Card and Saflok key systems, with interfaces to MSI, Innsure and Kaba Ilco’s key system under development. Best Value Inns and Hospitality International have both named ExpressCLERK as a preferred vendor. (www.expressclerk.com)
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InterContinental Hotels has now installed MICROS OPERA and MICROS OPERA Xpress in over 1,100 hotels in North America. The worldwide total is almost 1,400 hotels, including 53 in Latin America, 158 in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and 58 in Asia Pacific. Both systems are interfaced with IHG's HIRO revenue management system and HOLIDEX Plus central reservations system.
MICROS Systems has been ranked #97 on BusinessWeek’s Hot Growth Companies list, #32 on Business 2.0’s 100 Fastest-Growing Tech Companies list, and #45 on InformationWeek’s Global 50 list.
(www.ichotelsgroup.com, www.micros.com)
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The Heritage, Ireland has selected Hogatex-Optims systems for the five star golf & spa hotel The Heritage at Killenard and the four star hotel The Heritage Portlaoise. Modules installed include the multi-property Starlight Front Office, Corporate Conference Manager (CCM), the Reservation Assistant for spa & sport booking management and Otedis.WebRes for electronic distribution. (www.theheritage.com, www.hogatex-optims.com)
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US Franchise Systems (USFS), parent of the Microtel Inns & Suites, Hawthorn and Best Inns & Suites hotel brands, has selected MSI’s WinPM system as its exclusive PMS platform. All Hawthorn Suites will transition to WinPM system, although no deadline for the transition has been established, but all properties that joined the franchise system after March 1, 2004, are required to install WinPM. (www.hawthorn.com, www.msisolutions.com)
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RESERVATIONS
- Orbitz adds group booking functionality from Group Travel Planet to its Web site
- Historic Hotels of America selects Vantis for reservation/distribution services
- Wynn Las Vegas selects Unirez for electronic distribution services
- Sabre acquires lastminute.com, to be managed as part of Travelocity Europe
- Choice developing an OTA-standard direct connection with Expedia and Hotels.com
- Best Western claims industry record for online bookings, immediately topped by Choice
Orbitz has added group booking functionality from Group Travel Planet to its Web site, for travelers looking to book discounted group hotel rates for five or more rooms. Functionality includes searching group inventory and discounted group rates, on-line ability to assign names to each room, add or drop rooms, and e-mail itineraries and updates about payments and room lists from the group reservation management tools at any time. (www.orbitz.com)
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Historic Hotels of America (HHA) has selected Vantis for voice reservation services, Internet and global distribution system (GDS) connectivity, online booking and revenue management support for its 128 properties. (www.historichotels.org, www.vantiscorp.com)
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The new 2,700-room Wynn Las Vegas Resort and Country Club has selected Pegasus’ Unirez for its electronic distribution services. (www.wynnlasvegas.com, www.pegs.com)
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Sabre Inc. and lastminute.com plc have reached an agreement for Sabre to acquire lastminute.com, one of Europe’s leading travel and leisure groups. Sabre plans to manage lastminute.com as part of its Travelocity Europe operations.
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Choice Hotels is developing a direct connection interface between its central reservations system and Expedia and Hotels.com, based on the Open Travel Alliance (OTA) standard.
Trading claims of industry records: Best Western International’s claim to an industry record for online bookings - single-day reservations made via the company’s website have hit the $1 million mark already 70 times in 2005 – was immediately topped by Choice Hotels, which reported that on-line bookings through its Web site had topped $1 million in revenues per day for a total of 110 days thus far in 2005. Either figure is an impressive testament to how far Internet booking has come in the last three years. (www.choicehotels.com)
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MARKETING / MANAGEMENT
- Blue Square Studios announces version 2.2 of Web site creation/management suite
- TIG Global launches RFP tracking and reporting system
Blue Square Studios announced version 2.2 of its Web site creation/management suite, which it has re-branded as the Hospitality Toolkit. Enhancements include Content Management functionality, eMarketing/ROI tools for creating, editing and delivering targeted email campaigns, Channel Management, on-line reservations for a flat monthly fee, and an improved media library. (www.bluesqstudios.com)
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Interactive marketing service provider TIG Global has launched its RFP tracking and reporting system, which compiles individual inquiries and group leads from websites’ RFP and Contact Us forms. (www.TIGglobal.com)
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REVENUE MANAGEMENT
- Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne working with IDeaS as part of Cyber Hotel Project
- Yield Channel releases version 2.0 of Yield-O-Matic channel management program
The Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne (EHL) is working with IDeaS towards developing the next generation of technology-based hospitality solutions as part of EHL's Cyber Hotel Project, a specially equipped and fully functional room on the EHL campus that features the hotel industry's current best practice IT solutions. (www.ehl.ch, www.ideas.com)
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Yield Channel Inc. has released version 2.0 of its Yield-O-Matic channel management program. Upgrades include additional yielding features, increased performance capacity and more yieldable providers, including ARES.com, LastMinute.com, Wotif.com, Hotwire.com, OrlandoInfo.com, Travelhero.com and BookIt.com. (www.yield-o-matic.com)
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SALES & CATERING, MEETING PLANNING
- L'Auberge de Sedona deploys Daylight Software’s ASP sales & catering system
- Three Canadian properties go live with Daylight’s enterprise Advanced Sales & Catering
- Wynn Las Vegas implements Delphi MPE, Diagrams, MeetingBroker and e-Proposal
- Convention Strategy to use Avante’s RFID attendee label technology
The L'Auberge de Sedona has deployed Daylight Software’s ASP sales & catering system. The 58-room property has five meeting rooms with 4,200 square feet of space.
Three Canadian properties have gone live with Daylight Software’s enterprise Advanced Sales & Catering, the 355-room Fantasyland Hotel at West Edmonton Mall (Edmonton, Alberta - 16 conference rooms and a ballroom), the 320-room Grand Okanagan Lakefront Resort and Conference Centre (Kelowna, British Columbia - 320 guestrooms, over 25,000 square feet of function space, plus the Lake City Casino) and the 192-room Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa Resort & Conference Centre (Parksville, British Columbia - 13 meeting rooms, approx. 10,000 square feet).
(www.westpaceshotelgroup.com, www.fantasylandhotel.com, www.grandokanagan.com, www.tigh-na-mara.com, www.daylightsoftware.com)
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The new Wynn Las Vegas hotel-casino has implemented Newmarket’s Delphi Multi Property Edition, Delphi Diagrams, MeetingBroker and e-Proposal software to manage its more than 200,000 square feet of convention and meeting space available. (www.wynnlasvegas.com, www.newmarketinc.com)
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Convention Strategy is adding Avante International Technology’s patented radio frequency identification (RFID) attendee label technology to its suite of convention and meeting management services. An encoded computer chip is adhered to the back of attendee badges, allowing the badge’s information to be read by strategically placed readers throughout a meeting space. Benefits include exhibit lead retrieval, session control access, continuing education unit (CEU) tracking, cyber-cafe access, crowd flow tracking, traffic pattern reporting, post-show attendee demographic analysis, and customized exhibitor fulfillment. (www.conventionstrategy.com)
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F&B/POINT OF SALE
- Microsoft awards Squirrel Systems its Gold Certified Partner status
- Whitbread to upgrade all 43 franchised T.G.I. Friday's to MICROS RES3000
- Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises selects MICROS’ RES 3000 as standard for all 50 sites
- HSI announces plans for wearable/mobile tablet PC POS hardware and self-ordering kiosks
Microsoft has awarded Squirrel Systems its Gold Certified Partner status in recognition of its commitment and expertise in delivering Microsoft technologies.
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All 43 of Whitbread's franchised T.G.I. Friday's restaurants will upgrade their current MICROS point-of-sale with MICROS RES3000 for point-of-sale, MICROS Kitchen Display System for kitchen management, Mobile MICROS for tableside ordering, mymicros.net for real-time business intelligence, and RES Product Management for inventory management, all operating on MICROS Workstation 4 touch screen terminals.
Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises (LEYE) has selected MICROS’ RES 3000 suite as the standard for all 50 of its restaurants. The suite includes MICROS 3700 POS running on a combination of MICROS Eclipse and MICROS Workstation 4 terminals. Eighteen locations are currently installed, with a full-scale deployment to be completed by Fall 2007.
(www.whitbread.com, www.leye.com, www.micros.com)
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MICROS’ Hospitality Solutions International (HSI) division announced plans for wearable/mobile tablet PC POS hardware and self-ordering kiosk solutions. The wireless tablet PC provides the same full-sized point-of-sale screens as a wired terminal and may be used as a desktop or workstation when coupled with a docking cradle and keyboard. The touch-screen kiosk allows customers to place food orders and select multiple payment options (credit/debit cards or cash, with change to the penny). (www.hsi-solutions.com)
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SPA/GOLF/LEISURE
- TravelHero’s GolfHero division announces HOTELPAR affiliate program
TravelHero’s GolfHero division has announced a new affiliate program called HOTELPAR, which allows hotel Web sites to include real-time tee time booking along with their room booking. (www.golfhero.com)
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GUEST SERVICES
- All Howard Johnson properties to provide free high-speed Internet access by March 2006
- Locatel Europe Group acquiring 2M Electronic A/S
- LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort installs Gold Key Solutions’ The Concierge Assistant
- LodgeNet Entertainment to distribute HBO HD TV programming
- Marriott to roll out 50,000 flat panel TVs in next four years, with guest-device connectivity
- InterContinental completes project to make HSIA a standard amenity in all North American brands
Howard Johnson will require all its properties to provide free high-speed Internet access, wired or wireless, in all guest rooms, and wireless service in the lobby, breakfast areas and meeting rooms by March 2006. (www.cendant.com)
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Locatel Europe Group is acquiring 2M Electronic A/S, a Danish provider of interactive hotel guest room technology with more than 2,500 installations worldwide. As part of the deal, Locatel Europe Group now controls 45% of Roombase, founded in 2002 as Grundig Entertainment Network GmbH and a provider of cable and satellite hotel communications services. Locatel Europe Group supplies interactive guest room systems for video entertainment and high-speed Internet access, TV sets, minibars and safes. (www.2m.dk, www.roombase.de, www.locatel.com)
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Noble House’s newly-renovated LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort has installed Gold Key Solutions’ The Concierge Assistant to track members’ and guest’ activities and preferences. The system produces custom-printed itineraries with meeting times and function room locations for group members, and provides guests with personalized schedules for spa appointments, tee times and dinner reservations. (www.goldkeysolutions.com)
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LodgeNet Entertainment has contracted with Home Box Office for the distribution of HBO HD programming specifically to the lodging industry, through its sigNETure HDTV guest room television platform. The agreement was enabled by the Pro:Idiom digital content protection solution developed by LG Electronics in collaboration with LodgeNet. (www.lodgenet.com)
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Marriott International gave its hotels the option to install flat-panel, digital high-definition television in guestrooms and lounges, and expects to roll out 50,000 LG Electronics 32-inch sets over the next four years, primarily at full-service JW Marriott, Marriott and Renaissance brands. The screens will come with a desk-level connectivity panel to let guests connect laptops, PDAs and personal entertainment devices, including DVD players, MP3 players, camcorders and video games. (www.marriott.com)
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InterContinental Hotels announced the completion of its project to make high-speed Internet access a standard amenity in all North American brands; it is now available at approximately 2,700 hotels. Access is free at Candlewood Suites, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo and Staybridge Suites (in the Guest Library); Crowne Plaza and InterContinental charge for the connection, at prices that vary by market.
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BACK OFFICE
- Starwood to implement Planet Payment DCC services in all Asia Pacific properties
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide will begin implementing dynamic currency conversion (DCC) services throughout its Asia Pacific properties, and has selected Planet Payment as its preferred DCC solution for the region. (www.starwoodhotels.com)
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INVENTORY/PURCHASING
- Sutton Place Grande Hotels signs Avendra for procurement services for its five properties
Sutton Place Grande Hotels has signed with Avendra for procurement services for its five properties in North America. (www.suttonplace.com, www.avendra.com)
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