Groupize Launches Groups and Meetings at IMEX America
Las Vegas, NV (PRWEB) October 15, 2013 -- Groupize today unveiled their Groups and Meetings Booking Engine at IMEX America. Groupize Live is a streamlined shopping and lead management system designed for hotel chains and independent properties to capture and convert their online groups and meetings requests.
The cloud based solution allows for end to end management of a group from online shopping to initial reservation, as well as communicating with the planner and contracting to check-in, therefore automating all of the tasks involved in planning and booking groups online. Groupize Live enables planners to access discounted group rates and check inventory in real time, therefore delivering highly qualified leads to the properties. Hotels benefit from higher online conversions by being able to respond faster to these qualified leads.
Groupize Live features include an automated quoting engine, a single dashboard for leads and confirmed groups, sales automation for sales and catering requests, customer communications including notes and attachments. All features are designed to eliminate the inefficiency of other RFP systems and make booking group travel more productive and rewarding for planners and hotels.
Small group bookings (typically five to 25 hotel rooms) generate $35 billion in sleeping room revenue for U.S. hotels and haven’t been serviced appropriately until this date. Traditionally, all of this business has been conducted offline — an inefficient, frustrating scenario for group planners and hotels alike. Hotels and Travel websites can't accommodate requests to book groups of hotel rooms in real time. This means small group planners must either a) call or email multiple hotels to check on room availability and rates, or b) fill out and submit RFPs to multiple hotels. Worse yet, planners usually have to wait three to four days for a reply, if they even get one at all (two out of three RFPs aren't answered). As a result, dealing with hotels often leaves planners feeling unwelcomed and exhausted.
Hotels experience frustrations of their own in booking and managing online groups. Due to the eRFP explosion, hotels are handling more and more unqualified leads while seeing conversion rates sink below two percent. Furthermore, responding to eRFPs and small-group information requests shifts precious resources away from the work of converting qualified leads and cultivating business.
“We want to be the leader in Group Travel Technology and provide the solutions to facilitate online transactions for groups and meetings. Our vision is that we will bring major efficiencies to the industry and that more planners and hotels will actually enjoy the process of transacting groups,” Charles de Gaspe Beaubien, Founder and CEO of Groupize.
Groupize technology save hours of time and effort for hotel sales staff while increasing conversions and revenue. Results for Groupize Powered Hotels include improved online conversions, more group bookings, increased average booking value, streamlined operations, reduced support costs, decreased distribution expenses, better shopping and planning experience for planners and improved service levels.
Demo’s will be offered in the Groupize Booth # 3657 IMEX or by contacting hotels(at)groupize(dot)com.
About Groupize:
Groupize is the group hotel booking engine. Our innovative technology solutions automate all of the tasks involved in planning and booking groups online. We simplify the entire process for occasional and professional planners and empower hotels to win more group business. Groupize’s technology is currently being licensed and used by one of the world’s largest hotel chains to power the online groups and meetings section of several of their brands. Groupize is also actively forming relationships with other major hotel chains and travel web sites to utilize their white label groups and meeting software. The company will be competing as an Innovator at the 2013 PhoCusWright Innovation Summit.
Alisa de Gaspe Beaubien, http://www.groupize.com, +1 508-232-7719 215, [email protected]
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