News for the Hospitality Executive |
Historic Hotels of America® Connects History and Historic Hotels With Dynamic New Website Comprehensive site developed by Sabre Hospitality Solutions boasts exclusive functionality, content, and more
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WASHINGTON, DC - May 18, 2011
- Historic Hotels
of America® is pleased to announce
a new website that seamlessly integrates history and heritage travel
with
technology enabling guests to discover, explore, and celebrate great
moments
and people as they journey through American history. Launched this week
and
developed in partnership with Sabre Hospitality Solutions, www.historichotels.org makes
researching, planning, and booking cultural travel
accommodations easy, engaging, and educational. By connecting Historic
Hotels of America’s unique collection of more than 235 historic hotels
with the
locations, events, and places in history, the new website provides an
unforgettable experience for guests seeking rich cultural and historic
travel. With
an enhanced search criteria console, a dynamic map-based hotel finder,
and an
interactive timeline that mixes historic events, famous people,
inventions, and
economic milestones with member hotel openings, www.historichotels.org
proves to be as much
of an interactive history guide as it is a hotel booking site. The new interactive website includes historic hotel members ranging from small historic inns to city-center icons, and from converted factories to grand dame hotels and resorts. The site enables visitors to navigate through America’s rich history in order to find their next heritage travel experience and choose from more than 1,200 packages, historic experiences, and special offers at participating historic hotels across the country. “We were truly impressed with the innovation of the team at Sabre Hospitality Solutions and their ability to support Historic Hotels of America’s vision,” said Lawrence Horwitz, Executive Director, Historic Hotels Worldwide. “Our ‘Hot Deals’ section features more than 1,200 promotional packages and an easy-to-use way for visitors to search historic events through either our website’s search engine or via the individual profile event calendar. Historic Hotels of America’s commitment to celebrating our members, history, and preservation shines through on our new website, and we are thrilled that it has proven to be so much more than just another hotel reservation site.” Exclusive
Search Functionality
Historic
Hotels of America’s new website provides visitors with the ability to
search
beyond just availability and location. Now, visitors may locate their
hotel by favorite
historic era; 39 different architectural styles--ranging from Art Deco
to
Victorian; 15 property styles--from mansions to factories to resorts,
and four
distinctive levels of service categorized by platinum, gold, silver,
and
bronze. With the site’s dynamic map-based hotel finder, locating a historic hotel in a specific area of the country has never been easier. Found under ‘Destinations,’ the map allows visitors to search by geographic location, and then further refine their search by luxury level, property, and architectural style. Travelers will enjoy planning their itinerary with a detailed map. With a quick click, visitors can research local attractions, museums, battlefields, and historic sites. Visitors also have the option of searching for their next travel experience by theme. Catering to a vast range of interests, the ‘Experiences’ section enables visitors to find hotels based on distinctive experiences and activities that include Vacations and Leisure, Spas and Retreats, Golf and Outdoor Activities, Food, Family, Groups, and Romance. From the Early Settlement days of 1650-1763 to Post-War years of 1946-1969 in the United States, the new interactive timeline mixes over 350 years of American history with member hotels’ original opening dates. Additionally, fans of Historic Hotels of America’s Facebook page are given the opportunity to contribute to this timeline by adding significant historic highlights from the worlds of art, music, literature, sports, and more. “This project gave our team an exciting challenge and a chance to really push the envelope with a balance of design and functionality,” commented Felix Laboy, president and general manager for Sabre Hospitality Solutions. “We have enjoyed working with the talented group at Historic Hotels of America to help make their vision a reality, and we look forward to their continued success.” The award-winning design and development team at Sabre Hospitality Solutions created a site that captures the essence of Historic Hotels of America while ensuring its place in the future of both business and leisure travel. The site was designed to generate qualified traffic through search engine optimization; engage visitors with interactive and informative design and content; convert visitors to guests; generate revenue for the member hotels with the Guest Connect booking engine; and establish and maintain loyalty through engagement and online social communities. In order to make this new site a success, Historic Hotels of America relied on the extensive worldwide expertise of the eCommerce department and additional colleagues at Preferred Hotel Group, the experience and advice of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the hundreds of hours given by the many Historic Hotels of America volunteer leadership advisory board members, and the extensive global resources of Sabre Hospitality Solutions. Historic Hotels of America invites travelers to discover more on www.historichotels.org. About Historic Hotels of America® Historic Hotels of America®
was founded in 1989 by the National Trust for Historic
Preservation® with
32 charter members. In 2007, Preferred Hotel Group partnered with
the
National Trust for Historic Preservation to grow and enhance Historic
Hotels of
America. With more than 235 hotels that have faithfully maintained
their
authenticity, sense of place and architectural integrity in the United
States
of America including the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, Historic
Hotels
of America is comprised of mostly independently owned and operated
properties. More than 30 of the world’s finest hospitality
brands, chains
and collections are represented in Historic Hotels of America. To
be nominated and selected for membership
into this prestigious program, a hotel must be at least 50 years old,
listed in
or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places or recognized
as
having historic significance. Historic Hotels of America partners with
Historic
Hotels of Europe, a federation of 21 hotel associations in 21
countries, and
with Historic Hotels of Mexico, an association of hotels and
restaurants located
in buildings of historical significance including haciendas, palaces,
monasteries, convents, fortresses, country estates. For more
information please
visit www.historichotels.org.
About Sabre Hospitality Solutions Sabre
Hospitality Solutions
provides the most comprehensive distribution and marketing tools
available in
the hospitality industry. Our innovative solutions combined with
our
experienced team help hoteliers solve today’s challenges to generate
demand, increase
revenues, identify savings and improve customer service.
Sabre
Hospitality Solutions products include: the SynXis Central
Reservations
System, Internet marketing services, Sabre GDS Hotels and Sabre
RFP. For
more information visit www.sabrehospitality.com.
Sabre Holdings connects people with the world’s greatest travel possibilities by retailing travel products and providing distribution and technology solutions for the travel industry. More information is available at http://www.sabre-holdings.com. For
more information on the new
Historic Hotels of America website
or to receive a complete fact sheet on the website, please contact Gina
Galatro
at [email protected].
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Contact: Historic Hotels of America Gina Galatro Manager, Marketing Communications Tel: +1 646 465 9778 | Fax: +1 212 541 7245 [email protected] Sabre Hospitality Solutions Carol Levitt Director, Marketing & Communications +1-682-605-3614 [email protected] |