FEBRUARY 15 - MARCH 1, 2006
TOP O' THE NEWS
- Survey reports states Search Engines and Websites are critical for marketing, yet 10% of properties still don’t have their own Web site
- Newmarket buys Daylight
The value of the Internet for both marketing and booking purposes is emphasized by a recent survey of sales and revenue managers, but nevertheless 10% of the hotels surveyed still don’t have a Website of their own, and 10% of those that do still can’t use it for booking. Sponsored by the HSMAI Foundation, NYU and TIG Global and conducted by The Estis Group and NYU, the survey covered 60 properties ranging from city to suburban, branded to independents and upscale to mid-scale hotels and resorts.
The report concluded that, in general, maintaining awareness in the Internet marketplace is one of the most difficult tasks hotels have, and the most effective use of additional marketing funds would be on improved marketing of their website. Among the report’s findings are:
* Respondents believe their own website to be more effective than any other online distribution channel, and their off-line reservation department to be the most effective at delivering business volume at the desired price points.
* The average annual spending for online marketing was just over $50,000 a year, yet a quarter of the respondents stated that their online budget was “too small to note.”
* Revenue managers were on-site in most hotels and spend almost two and a half hours per day on channel management.
* Two thirds of the properties are beginning to collect customer profile information through their online channels, and half of them do use it to drive marketing campaigns.
* Most respondents consider search engines to be the online channel with the greatest impact, followed by third-party travel agencies. Their greatest concerns over the next five years are the visibility of their property on those two channels, and of their own website.
* Most hotels anticipate online business volume to grow at least 50% over the next three years, excluding changes in GDS volume.
More information on the “Survey of Attitudes and Approaches: Hotel Internet Marketing and Distribution” is available at www.hsmai.org.
**
March started with a bang as Newmarket announced that it has acquired Daylight Software, it’s only major US competitor in the dedicated S&C application arena. It’s interesting to speculate whether Newmarket will maintain the Delphi and Daylight product lines as distinct entities for long, or will combine the best of both into a new product.
**
Back to Top...
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
- Marc Freundlich appointed President of ASSA ABLOY Hospitality North America
- MSI announces five management promotions
- Jenny Pike joins Safemark Systems as Sales Manager for the Central States
Marc Freundlich has been appointed President of ASSA ABLOY Hospitality North America, replacing Tod Fitzpatrick has stepped down after completing an 18-month consulting agreement to help reorganize operations. Mr. Freundlich brings nearly 20 years of global experience in international security business management, most recently as President and CEO of ASSA ABLOYs Indala Corp, a maker of RFID tags for the security industry.
**
Multi-Systems Inc (MSI) announced five management promotions:
Judy McKinney becomes Vice President of Customer Success, responsible for customer service and support. Ms. McKinney joined MSI in 1996, and brings more than three decades of hospitality industry experience.
Bridget Oliva becomes Vice President of New Business Development and Marketing, overseeing all marketing but with an emphasis on building relationships with the larger brands in the industry as well as management companies. Ms. Oliva has been with MSI for more than ten years.
Adam Williams joins MSI as Director of Sales; he was previously with Pegasus Solutions, and played a key role in the smooth transition of the NovaPlus product and customer base.
Brian Primeau becomes Vice President of the Americas, to expand MSI’s sales efforts in Canada as well as Mexico. Mr. Primeau joined MSI in 2001 and has been in the hospitality industry for more than 30 years.
Troy Wells has been promoted to Director of Quality Assurance for the Customer Assistance Center, to implement MSI’s CAC Quality Assurance Plan using Supportlogix. He brings more than 15 years of Call Center and Customer Service experience to MSI, primarily from Fortune 500 companies in the Telecommunications, Technology, and Health Care Industries.
**
Jenny Pike has joined Safemark Systems as Sales Manager for the Central States from Illinois to Texas. With ten years of hospitality experience, Ms. Pike most recently served as hospitality advisor with Jani-King International, a commercial cleaning franchise company.
**
Back to Top...
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
- Hogatex-Optims renamed Amadeus Hospitality, now includes distribution and IT Hosting
- SoftBrands releases version 6.5 of Medallion PMS
- Value Place designates REMco as its PMS provider
Amadeus has added responsibilities for distribution and IT Hosting to its Hogatex-Optims unit, and has renamed it Amadeus Hospitality. (www.amadeus-hospitality.de)
**
SoftBrands has released version 6.5 of its Medallion property management system, with improvements to group reservation handling, revenue management and more extensive guest profiles. Enhancements include a flexible block/pickup model for group management with new sharing functionality and improved travel agent commission processing, better rate management capabilities with flexible triggers based on lead time, length of stay and occupancy levels, and guest profiles that now include photos, documents and multiple addresses per guest. (www.softbrands.com)
**
Value Place has designated REMco Software as its official property management software provider. REMco's PMS is already used in all fourteen of Value Place’s current properties, in South Carolina, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas, and will be the standard for the nine more under construction. Value Place plans to have properties open or under construction in 27 states over the next two years. (www.remcosoftware.com)
**
Back to Top...
RESERVATIONS
- Worldchoice creates technology testbed panel
- Pelican Systems announces "Flexi-Package" functionality
- FastBooking doubles traffic in 2005, adds over 1000 new hotels
- Yahoo! Travel designates Cendant TDS’ Neat Group as dynamic packaging provider for Vacations, and CheapTickets.com as exclusive cruise business provider
UK travel agency consortium Worldchoice has created a technology panel to test future technology initiatives and enhancements to existing systems. The panel consists of 15 agent members chosen for their geographical spread and the cross-section of sectors their businesses cover. Worldchoice is also putting together a list of suppliers whose technology meets criteria such as pricing elements and the level of helpdesk support, and hopes to release the list to members in May. (www.worldchoice.co.uk)
**
Pelican Systems has announced its "Flexi-Package" functionality to help to create packages that adjust to changes such as room rates per market segment and per room type, number of adults and children. (www.pelicansystem.com)
**
FastBooking announced that room-nights booked through its system grew 105% in 2005, to 915,000, and it added over 1000 new hotels. Although 85% of this traffic comes from the European market, FastBooking’s American and Asian subsidiaries showed growth rates of 7% and 8%, respectively. (www.fastbooking.com)
**
Yahoo! Travel has contracted with Cendant Travel Distribution Services to use its Neat Group unit’s dynamic packaging technology on its Vacations Web site. Cendant’s CheapTickets.com will also become the exclusive provider of Yahoo! Travel's Cruise business. (http://vacations.travel.yahoo.net, http://cruises.travel.yahoo.net, www.neatgroup.com)
**
Back to Top...
MARKETING / MANAGEMENT
- Noble House Hotels & Resorts selects Clairvoyix for database-marketing services
- PAS announces Hospitality Data Transfer & Reporting eService
- The Venetian selects TIG Global as its Internet marketing agency
- Alabama implements custom virtual tours from VRX Studios on its official tourism websites
Noble House Hotels & Resorts has selected Clairvoyix for database-marketing services for its 12 hotels and resorts. Clairvoyix will build targeted traditional and electronic-marketing campaigns based on guest data imported from a hotel’s property-management system and appended from third party data providers. (www.noblehousehotels.com, www.clairvoyix.com)
**
PAS announced its Hospitality Data Transfer & Reporting eService, an online application that automates the collection, centralization, reporting and distribution of daily and monthly operational information for multi-hotel organizations. Data includes daily average occupancy percentage, average daily rates and RevPAR information of individual and groups of hotels, and competitive set information when available. Monthly reporting includes actual, budget, monthly, year-to-date and last-year-actual financial information along with standard key performance indicators for operating and activity ratios. (www.profact.com)
**
The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino has selected TIG Global as its Internet marketing agency, to provide a program that includes search engine optimization, pay-per-click marketing, strategic linking, online advertising, statistical reporting and analysis, detailed revenue tracking, and proactive, consultative client support. (www.venetian.com, www.tigglobal.com)
**
The State of Alabama has implemented custom virtual tours from VRX Studios on its official tourism websites; the newly certified content will also be added to VRX’s archive of destination content and made available to all online travel intermediaries. (www.alapark.com, www.800Alabama.com, www.vrxstudios.com
**
Back to Top...
REVENUE MANAGEMENT
- HBSI contracts with IBS Group for IT services, system integration and technology consulting
- Travelocity develops interface with TravelCLICK’s RateVIEW hotel rate shopping tool
- Home-Towne Suites selects AnyRate Software for competitive rate shopping reports, tools
- EZ Yield releases Version 2 of S.P.I.D.E.R.
Hotel Booking Solutions Incorporated (HBSI) has contracted with IBS Group (IBS) for IT services, system integration and technology consulting. IBS will support, enhance and maintain the HBSI core platform and products, which link travel agencies, Global Distribution Systems and hotel chains. (www.hotelbookingsolutions.com, www.ibsplc.com)
**
Travelocity has developed an interface with TravelCLICK’s RateVIEW hotel rate shopping tool, to deliver direct content for competitive analysis and reporting. (www.travelocity.com, www.travelclick.net)
**
Home-Towne Suites has selected AnyRate Software for competitive rate shopping reports and tools for all of its properties. (www.htshotel.com, www.any-rate.com)
**
EZ Yield has released Version 2 of its S.P.I.D.E.R. software. Improvements include more flexible customized yielding settings for clients, and “Sessionized Yielding”, which allows a hotelier to load information into the system and store it there until ready to yield, thus previewing changes prior to submission, eliminating date overlapping and data entry error. Enhancements have also been made to streamline the yielding process, requiring fewer steps to update rates, minimum night stay restrictions, cutoff dates, inventory, etc. (www.ezyield.com)
**
Back to Top...
SALES & CATERING, MEETING PLANNING
- Newmarket buys Daylight Software
- HelmsBriscoe renews five-year contract with StarCite
- Hamilton Island Resort signs with Newmarket for Delphi suite for its five Whitsunday Island properties
Newmarket International announced that it has acquired Daylight Software, it’s only major US competitor in the dedicated S&C application arena. Newmarket stated that it sees the Daylight “enterprise” software as complementary to its existing Delphi range. (www.daylightsoftware.com, www.newmarketinc.com)
**
Conference resource firm HelmsBriscoe has renewed a five-year contract to incorporate StarCite's Online Marketplace into its 'HB Express' tool. The companies will continue to collaborate on a technology platform that combines HelmsBriscoe's account management and back office systems with StarCite to improve the tracking of business and internal operations flow. (www.helmsbriscoe.com, www.starcite.com)
**
Hamilton Island Resort, in the Whitsunday Islands of Australia, has contracted with Newmarket International for Delphi, Delphi Diagrams, eProposal and other system modules for its five island properties. The systems will be installed during the first quarter of 2006. (www.ozhorizons.com.au/qld/whit/hamilton/hamilton.htm, www.newmarketinc.com)
**
Back to Top...
F&B/POINT OF SALE
- Corner Bakery Cafes go with ParTech for PixelPoint POS software and ViGo terminals
- Locos Grill & Pub orders Posera’s Maitre’D Software Suite for 28 locations
- CBORD Group named a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner
CBC Restaurant has contracted with ParTech for PixelPoint POS software and ViGo terminals for its Corner Bakery Cafe units. (www.cornerbakerycafe.com, www.partech.com)
**
Locos Grill & Pub has ordered Posera’s Maitre’D Software Suite for its 28 locations. Modules to be implemented include Corporate Reporting, Inventory Management, Time & Attendance, Accounts Receivable, EFT, and Delivery. (www.locosdeli.com, www.posera.com)
**
The CBORD Group has been named a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, entitling it to special software licensing, training, marketing tools, technical support and other tools to improve operations and customer satisfaction. (www.cbord.com)
**
Back to Top...
GUEST SERVICES
- TeleAdapt announces new guestroom connectivity units
- StayOnline releases GuestPass Director bandwidth shaping tool and intelligent firewall
TeleAdapt announced new guestroom connectivity units, including:
- the HarmonyHub, with multiple power outlets and a retractable CAT5 compatible ThinLine cable,
- updated wired and wireless models including the Pull-Through Pro and DeskSpool Pro
- the DeskPoint Wi-Fi upgrade for wired properties
- the AVI-Hub, which allows guests to plug in their iPod, MP3, DVD players, laptops and digital still and video cameras.
TeleAdapt also launched its AnyFill mobile phone speed charger, claimed to recharge most mobile phone batteries in minutes. (www.teleadapt.com)
**
StayOnline has released its GuestPass Director bandwidth shaping tool and intelligent firewall, which allows individual properties to monitor and control the use and distribution of their internal bandwidth, both by application and by user. Limiting bandwidth is helpful in controlling Peer-to-Peer file sharing, and Bit torrent traffic, which can swamp network bandwidth. Network administrators can also prioritize mission-critical, conference room traffic, enabling them to prioritize bandwidth within the hotel. GuestPass Director also includes spyware control, anti-virus protection, content filters and a SPI firewall. (www.stayonline.net)
**
Back to Top...
COMMUNICATIONS
- SDD enters European market with JAZZ FUSION
SDD, Inc, is entering the European market with its JAZZ FUSION centrally managed web-based telecom management service. JAZZ FUSION continuously collects, measures, analyzes and monitors data about a hotel's on-property telecommunications infrastructure and revenue activity, while its analysts provide ongoing ‘yield management’ analysis using that technology. (www.jazzmanagedservices.com)
**
Back to Top...
SECURITY
- Fairfield Resorts designates Safemark Systems as preferred exclusive provider of in-room safes
- Fairwind Hotel & Suites implements first Salto Systems proximity-key guestroom locking system in US
- MAVIDA Balance Hotel & Spa implements first VingCard Signature locks in Europe
Cendant’s Fairfield Resorts vacation ownership subsidiary has designated Safemark Systems as its preferred exclusive provider of in-room safes. (www.fairfieldresorts.com, www.safemark.com)
**
The Fairwind Hotel & Suites in Miami Beach, FL has implemented a proximity-key guestroom locking system from Salto Systems, using RFID keycards and wireless links from the locks to the central control unit. This is Salto Systems’ first USA installation; based in Lezo, Spain, Salto has over 3,000 clients in Europe, including the French Parliament. (www.fairwindshotelmiamibeach.com, www.saltosystems.com)
**
The MAVIDA Balance Hotel & Spa in Zell am See, Austria has implemented VingCard’s Signature series locks, the first Signature installation in Europe. (www.mavida.at, www.vingcard.com)
**
Back to Top...
