Boston, MA (PRWEB) June 20, 2014
Groupize Solutions has partnered with Highgate Hotels to release the new Groupize Group Booking Engine (GBE) for independent hotels to two of their prominent hotels, The Park Central and The Row. The Groupize GBE is a revolutionary online solution to help solve the inefficiencies of the current group processes and make sales managers more efficient. Currently in use by over 7,000 hotels, the solution was previously available only to large hotel chains and has now been adapted to the unique needs of independent hotels and small chains.
Groupize GBE allows hotels to replace the RFP forms on their website with a state-of-the-art micro-site that is tailored for groups, weddings, meetings, and more. GBE is particularly innovative because it quotes Dynamic Group Rates in real time to group planners. Additionally, hotels can display and control amenities, images, and group content, and GBE captures all the planner’s relevant information including sleeping rooms, meeting space, and F&B needs.
Highgate Hotels’ Vice President of Sales & Marketing Mike Lorenz said, “Ninety percent of the groups that come to our hotel websites only want rates. Integrating Groupize GBE allows us to streamline our process: group planners can pre-qualify themselves with rates and our sales teams are freed up to spend more time on groups that will turn into real, hopefully repeat, business for our hotels.”
Recent Groupize Solutions research shows that 70% of group demand goes directly to the property and that sales managers spend 5-7 hours each day responding to unqualified emails. “Sales managers are in desperate need of tools that really work to manage and keep track of the group demand,” said Groupize Solutions President and CEO Charles de Gaspe Beaubien.
Among the ways the Groupize GBE makes the group process more efficient for hotel sales teams is integration with the cloud-based Groupize PRM (Pipeline Response Manager). The PRM allows hotel sales managers to efficiently manage and track group demand in an easy-to-use dashboard from new groups to definite groups without re-keying anything. With Groupize PRM, sales managers can communicate directly with group planners, including sending proposals and contracts in seconds, and they are able to handle reports, triggered emails, escalations, notes, and more with much greater efficiency.
“Our partnership with Highgate Hotels to roll out the Groupize GBE for independent hotels puts us one step closer to our ultimate goal of eliminating RFPs for small groups in the hotel industry. In addition to helping sales manager be as efficient as possible, GBE also keeps planners on hotel websites rather than forcing them onto third-party sites where more real-time information might be available, and this lowers distribution costs,” said de Gaspe Beaubien.
About Groupize Solutions:
Winner of the 2013 PhoCusWright Award for most Innovative Travel Technology Company (Emerging Category), Groupize Solutions is the only group hotel booking platform offering real-time rates and the ability to manage the complete group travel planning experience online. Groupize Solutions simplifies the entire process for occasional and professional planners and empowers hotels and affiliate partners to win more group business. The technology is currently powering group bookings and meetings for one of the world's largest hotel chains and is emerging as a platform of choice for major hotel chains and travel websites.
