Hotel Online  Special Report

 
FastBooking�s Booking Engine Adds Unique Revenue
Generating Features to Sites for Fitzpatrick Hotel
Group, Book Italy Hotels

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NEW YORK�December 9, 2004�Fitzpatrick Hotel Group, a New York-based company with six hotels, and Book Italy Hotels, an on-line hotel portal for more than 100 of Italy�s finest hotels, have seen significant Web revenue results thanks to FastBooking�s Internet booking engine technology. FastBooking provides either local or central access to each of the hotels available through www.fitzpatrickhotels.com and www.bookitalyhotels.com and enables them to manage and customize all their offers including package, promotion and last-minute specials.

�FastBooking enables us to create any kind of inclusive package for each property and tie it to the �Specials� area of our site,� says Dermot Quigley, director of revenue management for the Fitzpatrick Hotel Group. �By being able to offer guests options to select on an à la carte basis, we can up sell more easily.�

�Without FastBooking's flexible booking engine technology, our member hotels would not have the capability to create and distribute special offers quickly and easily,� adds Guido D�Ugo, managing partner of New York-based Book Italy Hotels North America. �FastBooking is flexible, user-friendly and helps each hotel generate revenue in new and exciting ways.�

Specials currently featured at www.bookitalyhotels.com include a Florence cooking school package and a romantic getaway in Venice. Business, group, spa, wedding and honeymoon packages also are listed. The Fitzpatrick Hotel Group�s site features a link to �Specials� on its home page. Current promotions include some of the lowest room rates in New York paired with discount coupons for area stores. Each special, offered by a different hotel, can be booked directly through the websites using FastBooking�s industry leading technology.

FastBooking�s unique one page display of offers is able to show all offers including packages and promotions that are applicable on that search date with available room types. A traveler can click through any offer to see more details. Offer inclusions, photos and conditions also may be shown.

Specials improve conversion rates

Trent Blizzard, president of Blizzard Internet Marketing, Glenwood Springs, Colo., says specials and packages drive consumers to book on-line.

�Sites that offer good specials and packages have better conversion rates,� he says. �Half the battle, however, is having a good booking engine to support them.� 

�Travelers who visit www.fitzpatrickhotels.com and www.bookitalyhotels.com are shown all relevant offers and room types on one page,� adds Ed Brill, chief manager Americas for FastBooking. �This is what differentiates us from other providers who can display just one rate and room type at any one time. The buyer�s advantage is that he sees the information faster and as such is more likely to book. Converting lookers to bookers is what it is all about.�

�Once a customer has been driven to our site, having the ability to convert that visit to a sale with the least amount of steps is advantageous,� Quigley says.

Since implementing FastBooking earlier this year, hotels represented by Book Italy Hotels have experienced an increase in business.

�Especially when using FastBooking to promote specials, our reservation activity jumps,� D�Ugo says. �Because of FastBooking, our member hotels can update their rates and inventory in real time. Having that ability is critical in today�s competitive business environment.�

Quigley says the amount of business generated through Fitzpatrick�s site also has increased since FastBooking was installed earlier this year. The hotel company has experienced significant success with packages that group together low rates with shopping and meal discounts. 

�Since it was implemented, we have been happy with the production levels,� he says. �Bookings have increased.�

Twenty-six language options offered

Visitors to www.fitzpatrickhotels.com and www.bookitalyhotels.com can make their reservations in 26 different languages. When a traveler logs onto either of the websites, the FastBooking system detects the language selected in that customer�s browser and provides all information needed for the booking process in that language. Confirmations and booking error messages are all presented in the booker�s own language.

�For a travel portal as international as www.bookitalyhotels.com, having the ability to make reservations in so many languages is important,� D�Ugo says. �No other company offers so many options.�

�In today�s global business climate, a language component is a necessity,� Quigley adds. �FastBooking covers that with the 26 languages and the number of currency rates that can be displayed.�

Travel agents wishing to make a reservation at Fitzpatrick�s or Book Italy Hotels� sites can log in with their IATA number on each site�s home page. FastBooking tracks all travel agent reservations to ensure proper commission payment. Special rates and packages also can be made available only to travel agents.

�FastBooking has created more opportunities for our company to work with travel agents,� D�Ugo says. �In the long run, that means more business for us and more bookings for the hotels we represent.�

Quigley says FastBooking also makes it easy to generate helpful site activity reports. One report in particular that he looks at is the �turn down� report. It shows him where on the site a guest visited to look for a room but did not find one available. He also reviews statistics showing what room and rate types sell the most.

Booking engines� success rates vary

Blizzard says that many hotels or management companies have booking engines but they do not put a lot of thought into the user experience and what their loss rate is. That is why it is important to choose a booking engine that makes the reservation process as seamless as possible. 

�If you have a destination portal, group of hotels, or an individual hotel today and are looking to increase sales in a cost-effective way, you need to find a powerful booking engine like FastBooking,� Brill says. �It�s all about the guest�s experience on your website. Make it a positive experience and your conversion rates will increase.�

About FastBooking:

FastBooking is a global leader in Internet hotel booking engines with closely integrated global distribution services. With 2,000 hotel clients spanning the globe and representing all property sizes and types, FastBooking caters to independent properties, multi-unit owner/operators, franchisees, franchisors, management companies, destination portals and on-line travel companies. For more information and a free demo, go to www.fastbooking.com, or call (212) 752-8500, option 2.

 

Contact:

Ed Brill, Chief Manager Americas
FastBooking
(212)-752-8500, option 2
Email: [email protected]
www.fastbooking.com

Glenn Hasek, President
Hasek Communications
(440) 243-2055; cell: (216) 702-0334
Email: [email protected]
www.hasekcom.com

Also See: FastBooking Celebrates 2,000th Customer Milestone with Installation of Industry Leading Internet Booking Engine at New York�s Hotel 5A / November 2004
FastBooking�s Unmatched Display Views Open Enormous Windows of Opportunities for Hotel Owner/operators and Guests Alike / March 2004
FastBooking�s Online Reservations Engine Gives Back to the Fitzpatrick Hotel Group Online Control of its Rooms� Inventory / March 2004
FastBooking Hotels Looking Forward To Increasing Bookings In 2004 / January 2004
Merchant Model or Web Booking Engine? / Ed Brill / December 2003
Fastbooking Facilitates Friendly, One-Page Booking In 22 Languages / December 2003
FastBooking- Internet Booking Engine Giant Enhances Its Unique One Page Booking Screen and Facilitates Bookings In More Than 20 Languages / September 2003
Internet Hotel Booking Engine Giant Launches Americas Push / January 2003


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