Radisson Debuts All-New Web Site: Revolutionizing The Way Hoteliers Price Products And The Way Consumers Buy Them
Radisson Debuts All-New Web Site: Revolutionizing The Way Hoteliers Price Products And The Way Consumers Buy Them
MINNEAPOLIS (July 1, 1996) ---- Radisson Hospitality Worldwide today announced the debut of the first phase in its new and improved World Wide Web site on the Internet (
Today Radisson is revolutionizing the way hoteliers price their products and the way customers will purchase them,- said Maureen O'Hanlon, vice president of marketing for Radisson. -Our guests can see for themselves the best available rates at any given Radisson location,- she added.
Consumers can be assured that the rates they're viewing on the Internet are the same as those available to a travel agent or directly from the company's toll-free number.
A higher-rated room features special services, components and amenities that are not available to a customer seeking a much lower rate. Thus, Radisson displays descriptions with each rate indicating what is included so that the customer can select both the rate and its corresponding services to best fit his or her needs.
We have designed our new web site with a direct interface to our central reservation system and hotel database. This will allow our customers to view real-time room availability and book our best available published rates right on-line. We believe that Radisson will be a leader in rate integrity on the web,- said Rachael Marret, director of interactive marketing for Radisson. -Additionally, we will be providing our customers more information than what is currently viewed by travel agents or our own sales representatives in the form of graphics such as photographs and maps,- she added.
The way to win and keep customers in the Information Age is to provide direct access to all of our data,- said Maureen O'Hanlon, vice president of marketing for Radisson.
Historically the industry has not done a good job of maintaining rate integrity between the various ways a hotel room could be booked,- she added.
Long recognized in the hotel and travel industries for superior technology applications in reservations delivery, Radisson is taking its philosophy of -Marketing With Technology- to the next level.
Booking through the Internet is especially important as Radisson is truly global -- we have hotels in 39 countries and customers from every imaginable location in the world,- said O'Hanlon. -On-line booking is efficient and cost-effective, not to mention easily accessible to anyone with access to the World Wide Web,- she added.
In addition to allowing customers access to information through PIERRE, the booking transaction and confirmation number can be easily completed and delivered on-line. Corporate travelers will also have access to their companies' special negotiated rates if they've -pre-qualified- themselves by including their Worldwide Hospitality Program (WHP) account number in their customer profile.
The new site features complete and current information on more than 320 Radisson hotels located in 39 countries including photo, map and hotel information pulled from the company's PIERRE database housed in Omaha, Neb.
Customers will also be able to modify or change a reservation with point-and-click simplicity while maintaining confidentiality as they can create a personalized ID and password during their original booking session. Transactions at the Radisson site utilize a secure transaction server. The server allows customers to submit a credit card number over the Internet to reserve a room without having to worry about the card number being stolen.
Web technology has now evolved to a point where mainstream consumers can feel comfortable on the Internet working and shopping via credit card,- said Scott Heintzeman, vice president of reservation and information services for Radisson.
It was just 18 months ago that concerns about complexities accessing the Web, fear of credit card theft and the questionable reliability of the connection superseded the Web's potential for shopping,- he added.
The new site was developed by Radisson and Magnet Interactive Communications, its interactive agency of record. -We employed the latest technologies in the Radisson site to make it highly functional and efficient,- said Basel Dalloul, chairman and CEO of Magnet.
Featuring the innovative FRAMES technology, the amount of actual content that the site has to store is kept to a minimum,- he added.
We have created only a handful of screen templates that pull the requested text and graphics from the database right into the Web pages, literally creating the pages as the user requests them,- said Steve Marino, executive vice president of production for Magnet.
The use of FRAMES also keeps the site's design consistent with the -Mondrian-style- grid format that is used in Radisson's new television and print advertising campaign.
A graphic user interface provides easy-to-use formats that make it simple to search for important facts and to book reservations. For example, once a customer chooses a destination, the Radisson site will provide help in selecting the most convenient hotel. From a menu of major locations and attractions, click on the airport to view the local hotels listed in order of proximity.
Radisson has become a known leader in using technology to benefit our guests. This new web site was designed to give our customers an easy, convenient, and economical way to book a Radisson hotel room,- said Marret.
Radisson Hotels Worldwide, based in Minneapolis, operates, manages and franchises deluxe plaza hotels, hotels, all-suite hotels, inns and resorts around the world. In addition to more than 320 hotels in 39 countries, the company also includes Radisson Seven Seas Cruises, featuring the SSC Radisson Diamond, the world's first twin-hull luxury cruise ship featuring design technology of the 21st century; the Song of Flower for traditional luxury cruising; and the ms Hanseatic for adventure luxury cruise travel.
Magnet Interactive Communications is a full service, interactive marketing and on-line communications agency serving clients such as Kellogg Company, Mercedes-Benz, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Dow Jones Inc. A subsidiary of Magnet Interactive Group, Inc., Magnet Interactive Communications is located in Washington, DC. For more information, please explore Magnet's World Wide Web site at