News for the Hospitality Executive |
June 20, 2012 - Regarded for
its culturally distinct hotels, Heritage Hotels & Resorts offers
six properties
including the Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town, Nativo Lodge, Hotel St.
Francis,
The Lodge at Santa Fe, Hotel Encanto, and the recently transformed
Hotel
Chimayo de Santa Fe (previously Hotel Plaza Real).
Heritage Hotels & Resorts made the strategic decision to leave its representation service, at the same time switching from its legacy central reservations system (CRS) to Pegasus’ RezView® NG, and tapping Pegasus Connect for global distribution. The brand subsequently moved to full marketing and representation with Utell® Hotels & Resorts. After making the CRS switch, all Heritage properties realized a +12.2% growth in reservations and +11.6% increase in revenue. The brand’s bookings through the global distribution systems (GDS) have yielded a 23% increase in revenue year-to-date, beating already solid numbers from 2011. Why they needed Pegasus Heritage Hotels & Resorts initially left its representation service to renew focus on its heritage of offering unique independent hotels, carefully tailored to the respective property’s local culture. The exit would require Heritage to make the decision to either stay on the central reservations system (CRS) chosen by the representation service, or to migrate to a new system altogether. Additionally, Heritage was faced with how to maintain global visibility. “Flexibility of the platform was one of the most important factors we considered when researching our new platform,” said Kathleen Cullen, vice president revenue strategies for Heritage Hotels & Resorts. “Customer service was another major factor in our decision. We are a young and small company so it was important to ensure that we identified a business partner that would help us grow our business. As a smaller fish competing for global business, we needed to go with a company that would not treat us like a number, but was still able to deliver the sophisticated technology we were looking for.” How Pegasus met their needs After careful consideration, the decision was made to go with a new CRS solution that had generated significant buzz in the industry. Pegasus’ RezView NG had been hailed as the first major redesign to the CRS in more than 20 years, and had subsequently swept several technology awards from CIO, InformationWeek, and InfoWorld after being implemented with more than 8,000 properties. “We needed a platform that had solid distribution, but at the same time, allowed us to have the broad flexibility to use the technology to help sell our cultural hotels, products and experience we were trying to push,” said Cullen. “RezView NG allowed us to redesign our revenue management strategy, affording us the flexibility to allow each hotel to structure itself in the best way for that destination.” Heritage also chose Pegasus for distribution through Pegasus Connect, allowing all Heritage properties to present rates and availability, and to vividly convey the hotel experience to online travel agencies (OTAs), corporate travel departments and tour operators. Ultimately, Heritage expanded this distribution commitment, switching to full service support to leverage Utell’s global preferred relationships with major travel management companies (TMCs), including American Express, BCD Travel, and Carlson Wagonlit Travel. Where they are now Overall data shows that all Heritage properties have realized a +12.2% growth in reservations and +11.6% increase in revenue since the CRS switch. The three Santa Fe properties, which include the Hotel Chimayo, have seen an astounding +32% growth in reservations with a +14.4% jump in revenue. Additionally, Heritage has seen a +23% year-to-date jump in revenue generated through the GDS, further increasing solid gains realized last year. About Pegasus Solutions Pegasus Solutions is the world’s lead provider of technology and services to hotels and travel distributors, serving nearly 100,000 hotels around the globe, and the majority of the world’s travel agencies. Offering award-winning solutions for booking, distribution, and commission processing services, Pegasus also offers a full array of strategic online marketing solutions and accommodation booking options through its Open Hospitality division. The company also delivers hotel marketing representation services through Utell® Hotels & Resorts, and powers the niche consumer website www.hotelbook.com™, which is dedicated to promoting independent and boutique hotels worldwide. Through its widely followed monthly data report The Pegasus View, Pegasus is also recognized as the only hospitality company to report regularly on both business and leisure bookings, for which it was awarded a Stevie Award in 2011. Pegasus has 22 offices in 12 countries, including regional hubs in Dallas, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, New York, Sao Paulo, Singapore and Scottsdale, Arizona. For more information, please visit www.pegs.com, www.openhospitality.com, or www.utell.com. |
Media Contact: Ariel Herr |