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MEXICO CITY, Mexico/HORSHAM,
Pennsylvania; February 10, 2011 – City
Express Hoteles, the fastest growing hotel company in Mexico, has
partnered
with LRA Worldwide, Inc. on a comprehensive Brand Assurance Audit
Program
designed to ensure consistency and quality across a rapidly expanding
portfolio. The company has 50 hotels in
operation and another 18 in the pipeline.
The City Express business model is to provide “quality and specialized services at a fair rate” for business travelers within Mexico. Located in strategic urban markets throughout Mexico, the company operates under three brands – City Express, City Suites and City Junior. “We are committed to our aggressive growth plan, but also to executing that plan responsibly, with a premium on quality,” explained Rogelio Avendaño, Director of Operations for City Express. “LRA has a proven track record in helping hotel brands of all types define, measure and enhance guest experience, service levels and brand consistency. We look forward to a long partnership.” LRA, the leading provider of quality assurance evaluation and mystery shopping services for the global hospitality industry, worked with City Express leaders to build a customized evaluation protocol that captures all of the operational and brand standards required of each property. From there, LRA deployed a team of its full-time consultants to undergo an “LRA University” on the City Express program, ensuring that they became virtual extensions of the City Express brand in the field. To date, the comprehensive measurement program has helped drive property performance and improve guest satisfaction by six percentage points. “We are very pleased that City Express selected LRA for this initiative,” said Ray Velasquez, LRA’s Operations Manager for Mexico and Latin America. “Our approach to quality assurance is a good fit for their brand goals and growth plans, they were willing to invest in quality and they have been a great partner in building their program and using the findings to improve performance.” LRA provides a variety of branding, standards development, training and performance measurement services to seven of the top ten hotel companies in the world, as well as a number of other smaller companies and brands. In all, LRA’s Quality Assurance (QA) practice conducts nearly 13,000 site visits and evaluations each year, either as a stand-alone offering or as an integrated part of an overall Customer Experience Management project. In addition to its work with other lodging clients such as Hyatt Hotels Corporation, InterContinental Hotels Group, Carlson Hotels, Sofitel Luxury Hotels, Grupo Posadas, Pestana Hotels & Resorts, Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Sol Meliá, LRA conducts evaluations and mystery shops with industry leaders in Sports, Conference Centers, Timeshare, Gaming, Homebuilding, Retail and Travel, as well. About LRA Worldwide, Inc:  LRA Worldwide is a leading
research and consulting company in the emerging discipline of Customer
Experience Management (CEM). We work with our clients to help them
design and
deliver consistently exceptional customer experiences in order to drive
customer
satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy, and company growth and
profitability. In LRA’s 25-year history, we have grown from a provider of customized quality assurance evaluation programs for the hospitality industry, to a leading CEM consulting company offering a variety of client solutions. The evolution has been driven by our clients asking us one question – "How do we get better?" In response, we have built a range of performance measurement, research, training and consulting solutions to help them do so. Today, we are a growing company operating in more than 120 countries throughout the world, helping clients such as Starwood Hotels & Resorts, the National Basketball Association, the PGA TOUR, InterContinental Hotels Group, Hyatt Hotels Corporation and Ritz-Carlton Clubs deliver exceptional customer experiences. Every touch. Every time. For more information, visit us at www.LRAworldwide.com. |