Internet Merchandising Systems

President Obama Signs Travel Promotion Act Into Law

Enactment of Historic Legislation Caps AH&LA Lobbying Effort

President Barack Obama signed the Travel Promotion Act (TPA) into law today, ending a multi-year legislative journey that now embarks upon the legislation’s implementation phase.

“Thank you, Mr. President, for your signature today—the American lodging industry will take the opportunities given through this legislation and make the most of it,” remarked American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) President and CEO Joseph McInerney. “There have been many industries and companies involved with the long legislative campaign to get this bill to the president’s desk, from our association, the U.S. Travel Association, Asian American Hotel Owners Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, all the leading top hotel brands, and the hundreds of AH&LA members who took the time to contact their members of Congress to let them know how important this bill was to their livelihood.”

AH&LA has long promoted legislation that would re-establish America’s overseas tourist promotion program. When the Travel Promotion Act was first introduced in the 109th Congress, AH&LA took the lead to educate the U.S. lodging industry as to the many benefits the legislation would deliver to hoteliers in increased jobs, sales, and visitors. AH&LA lobbying efforts included numerous grassroots advisories, visits to key Congressional lawmakers, and even at the request of Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) a appearance by AH&LA President Joseph McInerney to a 2009 U.S. Senate hearing to explain the legislation’s many benefits to the industry.

President Obama signed the bipartisan bill in a White House ceremony this morning. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and several members of Congress witnessed the president’s signature.

President Obama was a co-sponsor of the legislation in the 110th Congress and supports the efforts of the travel industry to create new jobs to support his Administration’s stated mission of economic recovery this year. His recent remarks in Las Vegas about TPA also signaled his support of the bill and what it will achieve to boost international tourism and improve the image of the United States abroad.

The Travel Promotion Act’s next steps include creating the Corporation for Travel Promotion, a public-private entity managed by the Commerce Department that will begin the job of promoting the United States to international visitors. If all goes well, the first set of advertisements may be released in early 2011.

To find out more about the Travel Promotion Act and what benefits it will bring to the industry and nation’s economy, please visit http://www.ahla.com/government.

Serving the hospitality industry for a century, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) is the sole national association representing all sectors and stakeholders in the lodging industry, including individual hotel property members, hotel companies, student and faculty members, and industry suppliers. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., AH&LA provides members with national advocacy on Capitol Hill, public relations and image management, education, research and information, and other value-added services to provide bottom-line savings and ensure a positive business climate for the lodging industry. Partner state associations provide local representation and additional cost-saving benefits to members. For more about AH&LA and its 2010 centennial anniversary, visit www.ahla.com.

Expedia Signs Global Partnership Agreement With Top International Hotels

German hotel brand partners with global online travel leader to support growth
Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE), the world’s leading online travel company, today announced it has signed a global partnership agreement with TOP INTERNATIONAL Hotels, a Germany-based hotel brand with more than 250 three- to five-star properties across Europe. Under the new agreement, all of TOP INTERNATIONAL’s properties will be available on the more than 90 Expedia®- and hotels.com®-branded sites worldwide.

“This partnership with Expedia allows TOP INTERNATIONAL Hotels to reach more travelers than with any other online travel partner, helping us extend our reach outside of Europe and across the world,” said Mr. Hans R. Mueller, Chairman and Owner of TOP INTERNATIONAL Hotels and Corporate Partners. “We are pleased to offer our portfolio of properties with greater ease to a wider audience of travelers through Expedia and hotels.com.”

”We are pleased to enhance our selection of European hotels by adding TOP INTERNATIONAL properties to the Expedia marketplace,” said Matthew Crummack, Senior Vice President of Lodging, Expedia. “This partnership brings benefit to Expedia and our global audience of travellers, and we are confident it will bring value to TOP INTERNATIONAL as well.”

About Expedia, Inc.
Expedia, Inc. is the leading online travel company in the world. Since launching in 1996, the company's Expedia.com brand has grown to become the world's single most popular online travel booking site, generating more leisure travel bookings than any other travel agency - online or offline. Worldwide, the Expedia, Inc. family of brands today includes 20 Expedia.com sites; more than 70 Hotels.com sites; leading agency hotel company Venere.com™; leading U.S. discount travel site Hotwire®; Egencia™, the world's fifth largest corporate travel management company; the world's largest travel community TripAdvisor® Media Network; destination activities provider ExpediaLocalExpert®; luxury travel specialist Classic Vacations®; and China's second largest booking site eLong™. With more people booking travel online in Expedia, Inc's global marketplace than anywhere else, the company delivers consumers value in leisure and business travel, drives incremental demand and direct bookings to travel suppliers, and provides advertisers vast opportunity to reach the most valuable audience of in-market travel consumers anywhere through Expedia Media Solutions. Expedia also powers bookings for some of the world’s leading airlines and hotels, top consumer brands, high traffic websites, and thousands of active affiliates through Expedia® Affiliate Network. (NASDAQ: EXPE)

About Expedia Partner Services Group
Expedia Partner Services Group (PSG) is the central point of contact for travel suppliers to access the global Expedia marketplace of leading travel brands comprising more than 80 points of sale worldwide. With hundreds of employees in local markets throughout the world, Expedia® PSG makes it easy for suppliers to meet their global distribution objectives, and delivers a portfolio of innovative connectivity solutions, rate and inventory management tools, business intelligence reports, and online marketing expertise.

Expedia is a registered trademarks or trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. hotels.com is either a trademark or registered trademark of hotels.com, L.P., a subsidiary of hotels.com in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners.

About TOP INTERNATIONAL Hotels & Corporate Partners

TOP INTERNATIONAL HOTELS & Corporate Partners, head quarter based in Duesseldorf Germany, unites more than 250 hotels throughout Germany, Europe and the World. With this TOP counts to one of the leading voluntary hotel chains in Europe. Next to the own exclusive line, TOP CITY&COUNTRY LINE Hotels, the hotel group is a joint-venture partner of the VCH-Hotel Germany and affiliated through a marketing partnership with FAMILOTEL AG and FALKENSTEINER Hotels and Residences.

© 2010 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved. CST: 2029030-40

For more information, media only:
Katie Deines, Expedia
+1 425 679-7991
press@expedia.com

Travel Video And Mapping Technology Merge To Create An Exceptional Online Shopping Experience

TripTelevision and PlanetEye, Inc. announced a partnership to combine TripTelevision’s High Definition (HD) quality, professional videos, technology, and marketing services with PlanetEye’s mapping, technology and geo-tagged content for the travel industry.
The combined offering is the first time that videos, still photography and maps are combined using geo-tagging in a single, integrated platform. Travel marketers can now engage consumers with detailed city guides, travel maps and reviews, supported by inspirational videos.

"Our partnership with PlanetEye provides our customers with a great tool to help organize and create context for consumers who are researching and buying travel. We know from our experience that consumers are interested in viewing content that is geographically related to their accommodations, activities or destination,” said Kulin Strimbu, Founder and CEO of TripTelevision. “PlanetEye’s focus on quality and technical innovation made them an ideal partner for us.”

The partnership leverages the convergence of content and medium that is driving the way consumers interact with content today. Both companies bring innovative and proprietary technologies that work seamlessly, enabling quick and easy integration.

“The ability to provide High Definition quality professionally shot video’s to our clients in the hospitality space is essential,” commented Jonah Sigel, President & CEO of PlanetEye. “TripTelevision allows us to provide a reasonably priced solution to our growing number of clients who are looking for an exceptional user experience for their websites and or mobile devices,”

About TripTelevision:

Based in Denver and Vancouver, TripTelevision continues to set the bench mark in how travel marketers leverage video to engage and inspire consumers. The company is at the forefront of convergence in High Definition (HD) video, technology and web platforms to help clients leverage and monetize video content. TripTelevision’s award winning ‘smart' video technologies offer solutions that are unique in the industry. The company advocated the use of video to create experiential messages to increase online viewership, retention, and sales as the key to a successful video strategy.

About PlanetEye:

Founded in 2006 in Toronto, PlanetEye is an advanced content platform specialized in the travel space that was born out of Microsoft Research. Its clustering and visualization techniques allow for the retrieval of large volumes of content in any given region of the world, with a single, efficient query. In tandem with its team of travel writers and large database of points of interest, PlanetEye enables clients to create engaging travel websites.

Contact:
TripTelevision - Christopher Chong, VP Sales and Marketing /
303-482-1707 x804 / Sales@TripTelevision.com

PlanetEye – Jonah Sigel, President & CEO
647-728-4847 / business@planeteye.com

Now Installing IMS Voyager V3.5.0

As of March 1st, 2010, we are now installing our latest V3.5.0.

Too many additional features have been added to mention here, but we stand by our claim that its the most cost effective, feature rich software package for reservation, booking and ticketing in the market today. More features at http://www.imscart.com/website_promotions_marketing.html

Does Anyone Remember When A Suit Came With Two Pair Of Pants? - By Neil Salerno

Isn't That Like A Hotel Offering 3 Nights For The Price of 2?
For those too young to remember, there was a day when tailors actually sold suits which came with two pair of pants. It seems that the perceived-value concept to consumers is really nothing new; smart tailors preferred this over reducing the price of each suit. That was their way of presenting a better value while preserving price integrity. These days many haberdashers still offer extra value.

The value-added concept is really very simple. People don't buy price, they buy perceived value. Value-added is all around us; if you are really bored, just watch the next infomercial selling products for $19.95 but "act now and get two for the same price". Many years ago, some hotels included breakfast, and created a value-added program, which is still used today.

There are a couple of very different approaches to marketing hotels today. There are some hoteliers who still believe that reducing rates will boost lagging room sales, while others stand firm that value-added promotions and robust marketing will turn the tide. The problem with reducing rates is that it simply doesn't work. When the economy recovers, these hotels will find it very difficult to get their rates back to normal.


Advertisement

Using The Internet To Promote, Not Just Present, Your Hotel

Some hotels ignore the Internet entirely; others embrace it, but are unsure of how much time and financial investment they need to devote to Internet marketing, and still others have improved their websites, but are not using their sites to promote new business; they let their site just let there.

There is no doubt that most hoteliers now recognize the many benefits offered by the Internet; the controversy lies in the approach and the actual use of their site. The net is evolving and changing; site design is more important than ever before, search engines are more sophisticated than ever, and social media, with its user-generated content, is making a huge impact on hotel selection.

Understanding the importance of using the Internet, there are still many hoteliers reluctant to using it fully. Your website is similar to a media-ad and is exposed to thousands of people each month; why not use that opportunity to promote value-added offers on your site? Savvy hoteliers are using their sites to promote packages and destination-oriented offers.

We see hotels very involved in using social media, yet they have websites which are dysfunctional and have terribly conceived, poorly-written, sales text. And, these hoteliers can't seem to find the time or investment to upgrade their sites to make them more effective.

Many hoteliers appear focused on FaceBook and Twitter with little concern or activity with TripAdvisor. When did we get more concerned about numbers of fans and followers than on using comments made by actual past guests? It's fine if you have the time to work on all three, but if you don't, at least work on travel social media and do it right.

Privately-Owned Websites For Franchised Hotels

One often discussed controversy , is the question of whether or not franchised hotels should have their own, privately-owned proprietary websites in addition to the pages they get on their franchise site. Of course, I realize that, merely introducing this suggestion is tantamount to heresy to franchisors, yet, those hotels with proprietary sites are seeing great results.

Many hoteliers with franchised hotels have discovered that, having their own proprietary website, provides additional hotel find-ability on search engines and vastly increased control of their product's sales message, because they can easy and quickly update the information on their own site, often within hours.

In spite of all the evidence, some franchises still frown upon the very idea of allowing their franchisees to have and maintain their own websites. I have honestly tried to understand their resistance; you would think franchises would enjoy the additional exposure and increased reservations. After all, their proprietary site will use the same booking engine. Hopefully, more franchises will recognize this in the future.

Internet Proficiency Varies By Franchise

While researching information for this article, it quickly occurred to me that the amount of proficiency in Internet marketing varies greatly from franchise to franchise. Honestly, there are several franchises which "get it" while some others don't. Which side is your franchise on?

Due to the proficiency factor, it just doesn't make good common sense to leave your entire Internet marketing effort solely in the hands of your franchise. They are into brand-building, you should be into business-building. Besides, the Internet could represent 40% or more of your total business.

Website Development Cost

Failing to understand how and why consumers choose a hotel on the Internet is the primary reason why many website designs fail to produce acceptable results. However, every website project must meet your financial requirements to produce a good return-on-investment.

Your website design, or re-design, plans should be able to withstand the same financial scrutiny as any other capital expenditure for your hotel. This payback is highly influenced by how well the site is designed for search and sales.

In summary, develop value-added packages and use your website to promote, not just present, your hotel. Search engine optimization and website optimization will get more visitors to your site, but visitors mean nothing unless your site, through its text and promotional content, drives those visitors to your booking page.

Contact:
Neil Salerno, CHME, CHA
Hotel Marketing Coach
www.hotelmarketingcoach.com
NeilS@hotelmarketingcoach.com

Ferry Reservation Software

**You may think you don't need a reservation system, but due to the Homeland Security Act (US Operators), boat operators must now submit plans for stepped up security at the 3 MARSEC levels. Our Patron ticketing with the ferry reservation module gives all boat operators and their ticket agents the ability to instantly switch from MARSEC level 1 to a higher security level and begin collecting stepped up passenger identification at any time, with minimal impact to your existing procedures.

Hotel room rates may jump back to pre-crisis levels sometime during 2012 to 2013 as companies start to ramp up their travel budgets, the head of private travel and hospitality company Carlson said on Tuesday.

"Fundamentally, in order to grow businesses you need to travel, you need face-to-face contact," Carlson Chief Executive Hubert Joly said at the Reuters Travel and Leisure Summit.

Companies pared back their travel spending last year as global economic activity slowed and unemployment grew. Hotel room rates tumbled nearly 9 percent in 2009, the worst year for the hotel industry since the Great Depression.

The downturn has forced some firms to make permanent changes in the way they book travel, Joly said. But other companies are likely to revert to previous levels of spending.

"Try investment bankers and tell them on a permanent basis that they're going to be in the back of the plane -- they're not going to do deals," Joly told reporters.

Joly's comments echo sentiments from another hotel operator this week.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Chief Financial Officer (HOT.N) Vasant Prabhu noted that as the economic outlook improves, it is likely that companies will loosen some of their more onerous restrictions on travel spending.

External Source - For the complete article click here.

Source - Reuters

IMS Voyager Reservation software is celebrating TEN years of continuous & expansive customer driven development!!

IMS Voyager Reservation software is celebrating TEN years of continuous & expansive customer driven development of our Powerful Online Reservation & Booking Software Solution that will add value to your Tour, Hotel, Rental, Ferry, Bus, Shuttle or Restaurant business.

A truly scalable value added 'Mix & Match' reservation & booking software with NO commissions!

Designed for web sales, call-center, front desk & kiosk sales, the IMS Voyager reservation software system integrates on a modular basis and is highly customizable, which means you only purchase the software modules you need from the tour reservation, hotel reservation, ferry & bus reservation, rental, small airlines, restaurant or the powerful ecommerce module, etc.

This powerful multi-platform online reservation software Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) application, with it's powerful pre-built functionality, delivers features, benefits and price performance, that allow it to outperform any other product of its type in the market place today, for hotels, tour companies, ferry & bus operators, online restaurants, rental agencies and e-distribution websites.

Reservation Software Web Check-In & Print Boarding Pass

Ferry, bus and airline reservation software, Self-Print Boarding Pass service - the latest innovation to help simplify the travel experience for your passengers. Offer More Options When Checking In Online with IMS Voyager to Your Customers.

With the increased security at airports today, anything that can save time would be a big help.

With the Boarding pass feature, your clients have more options than ever for retrieving and printing a boarding pass!

More - http://www.imscart.com/boarding_pass.html

Electronic Marketing - The Great Hotel Equalizer ...And You Can Do It Without Going Broke - By Neil Salerno

For many independent hotels, electronically generated sales are the only viable tools to compete with franchised hotels. Yet, there are still many independent hoteliers who think that volume electronic sales are out of reach, too costly or too complicated to implement.
Perhaps the most frequently asked question I hear is “I know about electronic sales, but where do I start?” Start with a commitment to do more than simply hire someone to design a website. There are several elements involved to create and maintain a successful electronic sales program. The primary three are the Global Distribution System, the Internet, and third-party travel aggregators.

Hotel Website Basics Revisited

In the last few years, hotel web site development has matured tremendously. Gone are the days of web sites designed by the office techie, ad agency, or by some company picked out of the yellow pages. Knowledge of hotel marketing has become a necessary ingredient in the process.

We’ve learned that there are several important factors involved in the design of an effective and productive web site; knowledge of how search engines function; utilization of hotel marketing techniques in the overall design; the great importance of text content; and that flashy design may be attractive, but seldom works well on hotel sites.

In the past few years, we’ve learned that search engine optimization is worthless unless the site’s design has first been optimized. Please do not believe that hiring someone to perform SEO, without first maximizing the functionality of your site, will do anything to help productivity. More people may find your site, but the primary goal is for them to make a reservation; not simply visit. Website content is king.


Advertisement

Website design optimization requires knowledge of how and why people choose hotels on the Internet; how visitors read and evaluate site data; the technical requirements necessary for search engines to find your website; and ways to improve your chances of success against your competition set.

It’s not rocket science, but it does take some technical and marketing knowledge. Many owners and managers still judge their hotel’s web site by its aesthetic values instead of how well it functions. For those who are content with simply having an attractive website, instead of a functional site which produces reservations, sit-back, relax, stop reading, you won’t read anything of interest here.

Online Booking Engines

With the sophistication and affordability of today’s online booking engines, there is absolutely no excuse for not having one on your web site. Simply trying to impose your will on visitors to phone or email their reservation requests will not cause them to do so. The majority of online visitors want the gratification of making an online “real-time” reservation with an instant confirmation to complete the transaction. I’ve heard all the typical excuses such as “we want to give people personalized service by making them call us” is hogwash. People who believe this simply don’t understand the online traveler. Will some visitors see your site and then call to make a reservation, sure, but how about the many visitors who won’t?

Most people today don’t want to deal with busy phone lines, being placed immediately on hold or the dreaded unanswered call and sending an emailed information sheet into never, never net-land has too much uncertainty for most people.

For those of you who are concerned about the expense, booking engines are very affordable. With most, the return-on-investment is only one or two reservations a month. Shop around for the best booking engine for your hotel. Some are better than others in function and use; some are better for International feeder-markets than others.

Simplicity is important. Before you commit to a booking engine, try it out. How many clicks are necessary; evaluate the navigation; can they design it to look like it's a part of your website? Does the booking engine charge a commission or booking fees? The best engines charge a simple flat monthly fee.

Web 2.0 Social Media

By now, just about every hotelier has discovered social media, although most still have no idea how to use it to drive business. It's fun, free, and easy to work with and that partially explains its popularity. With few exceptions, hotels are participating, but even fewer have seen any measurable results.

Social media can benefit hotels in the form of search results and link development. Social media blogs, created and maintained by hotels, can show tremendous search and link results. But, don't kid yourself, maintaining a blog takes skill and a lot of hard work; it's better done by professionals.

Electronic Marketing

Electronic marketing has evolved from a novelty, just a few years ago, into a necessity since the early days of the 90’s; especially for independent hotels. Its affordability and effectiveness, compared to the marketing days of old, make electronic marketing the best value of our time.

Franchised hotels have taken the GDS for granted, ever since most franchises began to deliver GDS production automatically through their reservation systems. Although production from GDS travel agents has been negatively impacted by the Internet, their potential production could help to supplement any hotel’s top-line.

The GDS is available through official GDS providers; one of the best is Genares.com. You can find more on the Internet. Independent hotels need to take advantage of the Global Distribution System also for exposure to third-party travel business. Being online with the GDS automatically gets your hotel listed with third-party giants like Expedia, Travelocity, and Orbitz; powerful room producers.

First, put aside all those horrible stories you may have heard during the franchise-brand/third-party war of a few years ago. Those days are in the past. Third-party travel aggregators can produce valuable room nights and unprecedented world-wide exposure you could never obtain on your own.

Choose a partner among the top third-party aggregators and form a relationship. Some of them have special partner programs designed to pump needed business to your hotel. Through managing rates and inventory, these marketers can provide your hotel with a base of business, which can enable you to leverage sales and increase your revenue-per-available room.

If no one on your staff knows how it works, get them educated by an expert. The return-on-your-investment can be huge. There are many knowledgeable hotel consultants who can coach your team in this invaluable market.

Revenue Management

Hotel Revenue management has many faces. No matter how you apply it to your hotel, revenue management can reap great rewards, if done properly. The basic principle of revenue management is that your occupancy will consist of several layers or types of business. Creating the maximum or optimal mix of business for your hotel is the key to profitability.

We know that each type of business will produce varying levels of rates. Rack rate business, corporate travelers, motor coach business, leisure travelers, and others all have different levels of rate tolerance. Revenue management can maximize occupancy and average rate.

Creating a base of lower-rated business will allow you to appropriately close lower rates as room supply diminishes and allow higher rates to kick-in. Remember, average rate is not what you sell some rooms for; it’s what you sell all your rooms for. The goal is not 100% occupancy; the goal is to sell as many rooms as possible, at the highest rates possible.

The relationship between revenue management and electronic sales is obvious. Utilizing all forms of electronic sales can create that base of business which will allow you to get better rates from call-ins and walk-ins. Reach-out and take advantage of opportunity.

Electronic marketing is here to stay, but it's changing and improving every day. We need to change and improve with it.


Contact:
Neil Salerno, CHME, CHA
Hotel Marketing Coach
www.hotelmarketingcoach.com
NeilS@hotelmarketingcoach.com