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IHG to Provide Automated Group Reservations Capabilities for Meeting Planners |
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Crowne Plaza - 'The Place to Meet' is the first hotel brand to adopt Passkey brand-wide |
IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) [Lon: IHG, NYSE: IHG], the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms, today announced that meeting planners booking group events at IHG hotels will be able to do so with greater ease and efficiency through a web-based group reservation solution provided by technology company Passkey. During 2008, IHG will implement the capability in over 250 hotels across the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts and Crowne Plaza brands in the U.S. and Canada, as well as in some select Holiday Inn hotels.
InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn properties will offer meeting planners full integration to all Passkey tools including a customized event-specific hotel reservation website. On the site, meeting planners will be able to upload rooming lists, automatically link reservation information to IHG hotels, track hotel block pick-up and reservation status through real-time reports and updates that review every facet of the process. At the same time, event attendees will be able to make and manage their hotel reservations online.
'Utilizing Passkey across our InterContinental and Crowne Plaza brands in the U.S. and Canada will provide meeting planners with consistent and reliable group booking capabilities and help ensure their event attendees enjoy the experience," said Del Ross, vice president, distribution marketing, the Americas, IHG. 'Gaining brand loyalty with meeting planners is critical, as meetings and events represent a large part of our business.'
With this solution, IHG expects to further streamline the group reservation process, increase meeting planner loyalty and drive incremental revenue from its group reservations.
"As 'The Place to Meet,' Crowne Plaza strives to be the first choice for meeting planners," said Kevin Kowalski, senior vice president, worldwide brand management for Crowne Plaza. "The Passkey technology will allow all of our hotels in the U.S. and Canada to offer a solution that makes event planning and management even easier for meeting planners."
About IHG
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG) of the United Kingdom [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms. IHG owns, manages, leases or franchises, through various subsidiaries, over 3,800 hotels and more than 563,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world. IHG owns a portfolio of well recognized and respected hotel brands including InterContinental(R) Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza(R) Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn(R) Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express(R), Staybridge Suites(R), Candlewood Suites(R) and Hotel Indigo(R), and also manages the world's largest hotel loyalty program, Priority Club(R) Rewards with over 33 million members worldwide.
The company pioneered the travel industry's first collaborative response to environmental issues as founder of the International Hotels and Environment Initiative (IHEI). The IHEI formed the foundations of the Tourism Partnership launched by the International Business Leaders Forum in 2004, of which IHG is still a member today. The environment and local communities remain at the heart of IHG's global corporate responsibility focus.
IHG offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at www.ihg.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards program at www.priorityclub.com.
About Passkey
Passkey (www.passkey.com) is the worldwide leader and recognized industry standard in online group reservations. The Boston-based technology company offers event planners and providers a powerful web-based solution for managing group hotel reservations. The heart of the Passkey system is an innovative online booking engine that lets group attendees make their hotel reservations online in the contracted group block, while allowing event planners and hotels to access real-time reports and event information. Offered as an onDemand solution, Passkey delivers benchmark speed, security and scalability.
The Passkey-enabled global network consists of over 85% of major U.S. Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVBs), as well as thousands of hotels, trade associations, meeting planners and meeting management companies. Passkey investors include Lazard Technology Partners and DRV Investments, LLC.
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Passkey, the Internet-based booking engine and event management solution, is the meetings and convention industry?s standard for group reservations management and distribution. |
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