Quincy, MA and Las Vegas, NV | The Riviera Hotel and Casino, one of Las Vegas most celebrated group destinations, today announced its decision to deploy Passkey's top-rated online group management technology across its group business. With the deployment of Passkey, Riviera is aiming to elevate its event offering to planners, while streamlining its own group process. Specifically, Riviera will use Passkey to accomplish three primary goals:

  • Reduce its group reservation costs and overhead by driving reservations online and by automating its room list process.
  • Generate incremental group revenues by sending pre-arrival email campaigns to its group attendees that promote room upgrades, extended stays and hotel amenities.
  • Provide its meeting planners added convenience and control with online access to real-time event tracking and management.

To stay true to its commitment of providing the highest quality group offering and service, the Riviera knew it needed to enhance its group technology. "We are reinventing our image to attract new group business," notes Ed Coffey, vice president of convention sales at the Riviera. "We needed an upgrade in our group technology and wanted to offer the best. In light of the economic uncertainty, it is imperative to stay ahead of the game to compete with the big boys. Passkey was the natural choice: It is proven to boost a hotel's group business and is becoming a standard that many planners expect hotels to offer."

With Passkey, Riviera will be able to shift a large portion of its group reservations online, where it can offer guests room upgrades to its newly renovated rooms. Moreover, Riviera will be able to automate its room list process, reducing the costs, risks and hassles associated with the manual processing of room lists.

Importantly, all involved in the housing process will enjoy a better booking experience:

  • The Hotel: In addition to the cost savings, Riviera will be able to advertise and showcase its property pre-arrival, offering deals on room upgrades, extended stays, spa and restaurants. This presents an opportunity to generate significant incremental revenues.
  • The Planners: Planners will enjoy the ability to track and manage their events online via live event dashboards, helping them gain control over their housing and mitigate attrition risk.
  • The Attendees: Group guests will experience a seamless booking process from start to finish. They will enjoy having options to book their hotel online, as well as learn about what Riviera has to offer.

"We are glad that the Riviera Hotel and Casino will be able to use Passkey to maximize the growth and profitability of their group business," said Greg Pesik, president and CEO of Passkey. "Particularly with the major innovations that Passkey has launched over the past year, the Riviera will have a strong opportunity to generate significant incremental revenue, reduce costs and win new group business."

The Riviera Hotel and Casino will be the first hotel on the Las Vegas strip to install the 2-way version of the Passkey/Agilysys LMS interface. Passkey will be available to planners at the Riviera in January 2009.

About the Riviera Hotel and Casino | A casino resort that successfully blends quality, and value, with a focus on customer service. With a recent 20 million dollar renovation, guests will experience a ‘new look' Riviera with remodeled guest rooms, and 100,000 sq. ft. of refurbished casino space.

Across from the Las Vegas Convention Center and steps away from world class shopping and dining, the Riviera is in the midst of it all. The Riviera offers 2,100 newly renovated rooms offering breathtaking views of the glittering Las Vegas Strip and its western scenic panoramas. Rooms are appointed in a contemporary style, with new furniture, sleek lighting fixtures, European-style beds, and amenities that include flat screen televisions, wireless Internet connectivity, iPod/MP3 alarm clock radios, laptop safes, and refrigerators.

With 160,000 sq. ft. of conference space, designed by meeting planners, the Riviera's Convention Center is a self-contained, full-service conference facility. The combination of outstanding conference facilities, five unique dining experiences, 100,000 sq. ft. of casino gaming action and live stage shows every night, The Riviera delivers the quintessential Las Vegas experience. For more information, visit us at .

About Passkey | Passkey (),is the worldwide leader in online group reservations. The Boston-based technology company offers event planners and providers a powerful web-based solution for managing group hotel reservations. The heart of the Passkey system is an innovative online booking engine that lets group attendees make their hotel reservations online in the contracted group block, while allowing event planners and hotels to access real-time reports and event information. Offered as an onDemand solution, Passkey delivers benchmark speed, security and scalability.

The Passkey-enabled global network includes over 85% of major U.S. Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVBs), as well as thousands of hotels, trade associations, meeting planners and meeting management companies.

Lindsay Faria
Sr. Marketing Manager