Hotel Online Special Report


Omni Hotels First to Implement Passkey Enterprise
Solution Across Entire 40-Property Portfolio
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Service Leverages Efficiencies and Increases Value for Meeting Planners

QUINCY, Mass./IRVING, Texas ­ October 1, 2002 ­  Passkey, the meetings and conventions standard for group hospitality management and distribution, announced today that Omni Hotels is implementing the Passkey Enterprise Solution across its entire 40-property collection.  With this industry first, Omni Hotels creates a significant competitive advantage by providing clients with a brand-consistent portfolio of services that drive incremental group business through a compatible, group inventory management process that meeting planners view as "best-in-class."

The Passkey Enterprise Solution features a fully integrated suite of products, including HotelDirectSM and CityWideSM, as well as the GroupLinkSM and RegLinkSM modules.  The Passkey array of tools manages group housing for citywide and single property events utilizing a Web-based system and is accessible to all constituents involved in the group housing process - hotels, meeting planners and Convention and Visitors Bureaus.  The Passkey digital platform allows for efficient and easy data transfer, as well as the capability to integrate with a host of existing hotel systems.

Greg Pesik, president and CEO of Passkey, observes, "Omni Hotels clearly demonstrates its continued commitment to be a leader in the group space by implementing the Passkey Enterprise Solution.  In Omni Hotels¹ case, Passkey will serve as a seamlessly integrated component of their distribution infrastructure, allowing Omni to operate the industry's most highly optimized distribution of hotel group inventory."

Tom Chevins, senior vice president of sales & marketing for Omni Hotels, explains, "True to our vision to exceed guests¹ expectations, the Passkey Enterprise Solution helps us provide meeting planners with their preferred platform across our entire brand, and makes doing business with any Omni Hotels property that much easier.  After exhaustive research, we determined that Passkey is uniquely positioned to offer a comprehensive range of services that we believe will not only distinguish Omni Hotels as the ideal meeting destination, but will be key to our long-term success."

A fundamental driver of Omni Hotels¹ decision to adopt the Enterprise Solution platform across its entire portfolio was the information gathered from Passkey's proprietary custom-developed return on investment (ROI) analysis tool.  For example, Omni Hotels, whose annual group business averages 45% of the total hotel trade and generates roughly $308 million in room revenue, will realize a three-year ROI from the Passkey deployment, including cost, productivity and revenue gains, of an astounding 778%.  Further, the projected payback period of Omni Hotels¹ total investment in the Passkey Enterprise Solution is as early as the first quarter of the first year of implementation.  In addition, Passkey is expected to reduce Omni Hotels¹ average wash rate by 10% and greatly increase their Web-based transactions, as well as offer their meeting planners a time-saving tool to maintain control over their housing.  Chevins notes, "Every way we looked at it, the Passkey Enterprise Solution just made sense."

All 40 Omni Hotels (owned, managed and franchised properties) will offer meeting planners and delegates access to Passkey.  Every meeting at an Omni Hotel, regardless of size, will be automated with the Passkey group reservation processing system.  As a result, attendees will enjoy a simplified online or call-in booking experience and meeting planners will have tremendous visibility into how their meetings progress and actualize.

Additionally, Omni Hotels will also have immediate access to a variety of reports for any meeting that has taken place at an Omni Hotel, further saving time and money.

Combining the ideal client-based mix of products required to most efficiently deliver group housing management for a single brand or across a portfolio of hotels, the Passkey Enterprise Solution represents a tremendous benefit for today¹s busy hotels, and corporate and association meeting planners.  It provides users with all the critical tools necessary to increase value.  From incremental revenue to reduced wash and attrition, the Passkey Enterprise Solution delivers the most important benefit of all, efficiencies across all departments that improve customer service.

About Omni Hotels:
Omni Hotels, based near Dallas in Irving, Texas, offers luxury accommodations at more than 40 hotels and resorts located throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.  Each property in the Omni Hotels portfolio provides guests with exceptional personalized service and exquisite décor, creating a distinctive experience at each location.  Omni Hotels offers unsurpassed meeting facilities with a wide range of guest services and amenities including high speed Internet connectivity through the meeting space, wine tastings, gourmet dining and unique fitness options from in-room workouts to state-of-the-art fitness facilities.  Through an aggressive expansion strategy, Omni Hotels is steadily entering new markets across North America.  Guests can locate hotels, book accommodations or find out more about Omni Hotels by calling 1-800-THE-OMNI or accessing the company¹s Web site at www.omnihotels.com.

About Passkey:
Passkey (www.passkey.com), the industry leading ASP solution for group reservations management and distribution, provides all channels of this industry¹s planning process with better, more efficient ways to manage events. The Quincy, Mass.-based provider empowers users with Web-based applications that provide all parties with real-time reports and updates on every facet of the planning process. Industries served include Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVBs), Global Distribution Systems (GDS), hotels, travel agencies, associations, corporations, meetings RFP engines and registration vendors.  Travel providers who are Passkey-enabledSM can also leverage Passkey technology to manage group housing for both citywide and single property meetings. Passkey investors include:  Lazard Technology Partners; Sabre (NYSE: TSG) (www.sabre.com); Galileo (NYSE: GLC) (www.galileo.com); Worldspan (www.worldspan.com); TravelCLICK (www.travelclick.net); DRV and McCord Group Travel Services (www.mccord.com).

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Contact:

Passkey
Dahlia El Gazzar 
Marketing Director 
voice: 617-237-8238
email: [email protected]
http://www.passkey.com
 



 
Also See: PGA of America Hits the Green With Passkey / Aug 2002
Nothing But BlueSkyz and Passkey / Sept 2002
Jay Ramadorai Joins Passkey as Senior Vice President & Chief Technology Officer / July 2002
Passkey Names Former Hotel Executives Paul Rantilla and Andrew Mace to Sales Positions / April 2002 


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