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Revenue for Clients through Targeted Promotions, and Hands-On Channel Management |
June 13, 2004 - Travelers are back on planes and in cars taking vacations and doing business. But in the past three years both corporate and leisure travelers have evolved in their booking habits and changed practices for the hotel industry. This year travelers are placing their confidence in the Internet and booking a growing number of airline and hotel reservations online. The accelerating growth of the Internet society makes it a necessity that hotels develop a multi-channel Internet marketing and sales strategy to promote themselves, keep third-party booking site inventory current, and maintain competitive rates across the Web. Unfortunately, most properties do not have the expertise or staff to create a channel market plan, let alone monitor their rates and inventory on the array of channels offering their rooms, and this costs them money. Operators Use Promotions, Tap Revenue Managers to Increase Internet Reservations A growing number of independent and chain properties wanting to increase their reservation productivity through Internet and other booking sources are turning to channel sales providers to tame the complex process of promoting their properties online. Operators are using services ranging from the latest website booking-engines, to comprehensive Internet marketing and promotional campaigns to boost productivity. �We know how to use the Internet,� said Ubaldo Fierros, Corporate Revenue Manager of Brisas Hotels and Resorts. �But our business property in Mexico City was having flat reservation growth because of the complicated rate and city codes required by many travel websites. To correct this we began working more closely with our Revenue Manager from the channel sales company we use at all six of our properties, Lexington Services.� Channel Revenue Managers are experienced online hotel marketing professionals that specialize in developing sales strategies tailored for individual properties and chains. The strategies suggested by Lexington�s Revenue Manager for Brisas included travel agency promotions and new corporate rates for its city properties that improved revenue and raised occupancies almost at once. �Lexington loaded updated corporate rates for two of our properties and negotiated new travel agency commissions that increased Internet and TA production, and this helped improved our ADR immediately,� said Fierros. �Reservation productivity from Orbitz, Expedia and other sites is growing fast thanks to the work of our property teams and our Revenue Manager at Lexington.� Converting Headlines to The Bottomline
About VIP Investment Corp and Lexington Services VIP Investment Corp. acquired Lexington Services in November of 2003 through a wholly owned subsidiary. Lexington Services (www.lexres.com) is a channel marketing organization that drives revenue for hoteliers through a multi-channel reservation sales center, the adoption of leading-edge technology, and partnerships with clients to provide ongoing education. VIP Investment Corporation (www.vipintcorp.com), which also owns VIP International Corporation of Calgary Canada, is the industry's second largest provider of reservation sales services to hotels, car rental companies and airlines with more than 5,000 clients worldwide. The privately held Calgary, Alberta-based firm pursues a mission of being "The number one producer of bookings and profitability per client." VIP accomplishes this through mastering the electronic channel marketing environment, developing and implementing strategies for each client's unique position, and educating customers about how to optimize participation in the changing electronic marketplace. The service provides a central distribution point to every viable Internet Web booking site, and to all of the major global distribution systems including Sabre, Galileo, Pegasus, WorldRes, Amadeus, and Worldspan. VIP Investment Corp. is headquartered in Calgary, Canada with a USA subsidiary headquarters in Dallas, Texas and significant development office presence in Denver, Colorado, London, United Kingdom, Hong Kong and other cities located around the world. |
VIP International
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