PARIS | Concorde Hotels & Resorts has launched its first online business portal for groups offering a variety of innovative tools designed to optimize a meeting planner’s online experience. The new website, www.concorde-hotels.com/meetings, which has been created as part of the Group’s Meet In Style initiative, features creative functions such as customized floor plans and downloadable presentation tools. This 14-month project results from a large consultancy the Group organised in 2007 with a number of its clients, in order to determine their specific needs and deliver a web portal that would meet their expectations.

This one-of-a-kind portal, in addition to the Group’s dedicated team of 40 Meet In Style experts, will serve as a one-stop shop for the 33 upscale hotels in the Concorde portfolio, offering event organizers personalized service and a comprehensive range of seminar and convention solutions.

Planners are guided through four simple steps online:

• 1) Select destination – The new “Meeting & Event Media Center” provides access to a database of downloadable presentation tools and files for each hotel in the destination of their choice.
• 2) Design reception space – Planners can browse through a variety of floor plans and download images and configurations of each facility from the new website’s extensive photo library.
• 3) Customize floor plan – Upon selection of the meeting room space, event organizers can now customize the room configuration by using Active Matrix™ software, which allows them to download that particular design to their computer and print a copy before the meeting.
• 4) Schedule event – Planners can submit up to three Request for Proposals (RFP’s) for the selected space.

Upon completion of these five steps, the Pick Up and Rooming List Manager applications will simplify the managing of the event with a new search engine that gives planners real-time feeds via the website. In addition, a guest list management tool will allow the planner to easily and quickly visualize all guest room bookings.

Please visit www.concorde-hotels.com/meetings to experience this new online event-planning tool.