Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, The Luxury Collection and Four Points Hotels Launch Separate Web Sites and Add New Travel Agent Section
Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, The Luxury Collection and Four Points Hotels Launch Separate Web Sites and Add New Travel Agent Section
BOSTON, May 13 / On May 14, three brands of the Hotel Group of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. -- Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, The Luxury Collection and Four Points Hotels by Sheraton -- will begin offering separate and distinct web sites in an effort to clearly distinguish the three brands. The three new sites (available at
"Our customers told us that their loyalty to us is by brand, so we listened to them and have made it easier to access the information they need -- on the brand they prefer," said David Van Kalsbeek, Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing for the Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. -- Hotel Group. "We are really excited about the new travel agent section -- the result of extensive research and feedback from travel agents and our own executives who deal directly with the agent community. We feel it represents the perfect example of what agents want to see in a travel site. When we launched the meeting planners section last year, it was very enthusiastically received by meeting professionals, and we are now receiving $1.5 million a week in meeting leads through our web site. We are just as confident about the travel agent section, and feel that it will serve to strengthen our relationship with the agent community and drive more business to our hotels, " Van Kalsbeek added.
The company reached out to its Luxury Collection Customer Advisory Board to find out what agents wanted to see in a web site. This Board, made up of 17 travel agents and brought together under the direction of Doug McKenzie, Vice President, Director of Sales & Marketing for The Luxury Collection, meets semi-annually to give the company valuable feedback and input on programs in the development stage. At the meeting in Madrid last year, Brian Pratt, Director of Interactive Marketing and Customer Information Services, presented to the Board a working plan for the travel agent section, and asked for their comments. Several of these suggestions are incorporated in the new travel agent section, including the ability for guests to give their travel agency credit for their on-line booking by choosing their agency from a comprehensive list of more than 148,000 agencies worldwide that have an IATA, ARC or TIDS number. This suggestion came from Andy Pesky, President, Leisure of McCord Travel Management in New York City, and it was unanimously agreed by the rest of the Advisory Board that this feature would firmly establish Starwood as a leading partner with the travel agent community.
When Pesky learned that his suggestion would be a reality in the relaunched web site, he said, "This strengthens my view that the Luxury Collection Customer Advisory Board is one of the most valued and active agent boards out there -- and in my opinion, one of the finest. In this day and age, all agents have to have a concern for what happens on the web and what the potential of the web is going to be for travel bookings. It was our desire to see that the reservations process for our customers would be linked back to us in this way so that our clients, whether they were sitting on a plane or in their homes, would maintain that connection when they make a booking, thereby solidifying the relationship that we fostered. We are thrilled that Starwood has implemented this. They are the first in the industry to take such a bold move, and will hopefully set the standard across the board."
The new travel agent section will be exclusively available to agents who qualify their entrance with their IATA number. Once inside, agents will be personally welcomed by name and will be invited to navigate a wealth of information, including: "Hot Deals" offering special rates at hotels around the world; the benefits of enrolling their customers in Sheraton Club International, the company's frequent guest program; details of the company's centralized commission program; information on how to make individual and group bookings, with the ability to make on-line reservations using their IATA, ARC or TIDD number and receive the standard commission; information on Vacations by Sheraton complete vacation packages; information on company programs and special rates including Club Level accommodations, the 9 to 5 program, ExpressPass Check-In, Global Preference and SET volume-based corporate rate programs and SureSaver rates, among others.
The travel agent section also includes frequently asked questions, which were chosen based on those received by the company in the form of phone calls, faxes and e-mails from travel agents. And a "Tell Us About You" section will allow agents to give the company information about their preferences and the company's brands, and will represent the first time the company has ever formally surveyed agents. The feedback will allow the company to send special promotions to agents based on their preferences, and will be a source for future enhancements to the web sites.
These new changes represent the fourth generation of the former ITT Sheraton web site. Coming full circle since it was originally relaunched in November 1996, the web site has evolved from a simple on-line listing of hotels in one site to three, comprehensive brand-specific sites that offer one-stop shopping for travelers, meeting planners and travel agents alike. Customers can use each of the sites to: access information, photography and video of all individual hotels worldwide; make reservations on-line, including complete vacation packages with the Vacations by Sheraton offering; join Sheraton Club International (SCI), the frequent guest program for the three brands, look up their recent SCI account activity and receive personalized messages and promotions. Meeting planners can use the three sites' exclusive meeting planner section to find the hotel that best suits their needs, view meeting room layouts, check availability and send an RFP on line. Students and reporters can research the organization by accessing company information, executive biographies and read up on all the latest corporate news. While the three brand sites will maintain separate, with each projecting the distinctive look and feel of their respective brands, customers using one site to search for a hotel in a particular destination will be given information on the other brands' hotels in that same destination as well. And they will be able to easily link to the other Starwood brands, including Westin, from each individual brand site.
"As any effective web site, our site is constantly evolving and improving based on feedback from our guests and customers around the world," said Brian Pratt. "We receive on average 200 e-mails a day via our web site with questions, feedback and comments about the company and our web site. This feedback is invaluable to us in putting together what we feel is the best hotel company web site out there, and will only get better as we continue to learn from our customers."
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., through its Sheraton, Westin and Caesars subsidiaries, is one of the leading hotel and gaming operating companies in the world. Starwood Hotels & Resorts is the largest real estate investment trust in the United States. Shares of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. are paired and trade together with shares of Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Related links:
Luxury Collection
FourPoints