For over ten years, OTA (online travel agency) giants such as Expedia, Priceline and Booking.com have been attacked by hotel franchise chains for being too expensive. A report filed today by hotelauthority.com asks if it is possible the OTAs have been framed. The report suggests that franchise chains such as Wyndham, Choice, Accor and IHG have used OTA costs to divert attention from franchise fees.
Magnuson Hotels announced today its 250th Wyndham franchise conversion, the Magnuson Grand Hotel Maingate West at Orlando FL. Formerly the Ramada Maingate, the 444-room hotel has upgraded its brand presence to increase exposure via Magnuson Hotels' growing consumer awareness and global portfolio of nearly 2,000 hotels.
Situated in the center of beautiful Zephyrhills, Florida, the award-winning Magnuson Hotel Zephyrhills was one of the first hotels in the Magnuson Hotels brand. In fact, they just celebrated their six-year anniversary with Magnuson Hotels on August 1st. Before their switch to the Magnuson brand, the hotel had been running under the Best Western flag for thirty years.
Located in the heart of Yuba City, California, the Bonanza Inn Magnuson Grand Hotel has been part of the Magnuson family for almost five years. Back in August of 2009, Anthony Propps, the owner of the 121-room Bonanza Inn, decided it was time to leave Best Western and take back control of his hotel by switching to the Magnuson Brand.
LOS ANGELES, Jul. 29, 2014 – Orbitz for Business, the corporate travel brand of Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW), today announced from the Global Business Travel Association's annual conference that usage of its mobile solution by corporate travelers has increased nearly 60 percent in the last 12 months.
Every year, more than 1.2 million people are killed on roads around the world, according to the World Health Organization. Yet more than half (57 percent) of respondents in a recent International SOS poll said their organization does not have a road safety policy.
BCD M&I (www.bcdmi.com) today announced the acquisition of Universal Meeting Management, Inc. (UMM), a leading corporate meeting and event management company with expertise in servicing the health care provider (HCP) sector and a growing customer base in the High Tech market. The move enhances the southeastern presence for BCD M&I and increases its service offerings to include proprietary technologies geared toward the HCP sector and a talented staff of meeting professionals with years of experience.
EmpireCLS Worldwide Chauffeured Services (EmpireCLS) has partnered with ECPAT-USA as the first global ground transportation company to join the Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct (the Code), an industry-driven initiative to provide awareness, tools and support to its partners to prevent the sexual exploitation of children.
People looking to book groups, meetings and events at hotels will find new ways to make decision- making and booking easier than ever at Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants starting today. A new suite of technology solutions and experiential delights aimed at taking some of the guess work out of finding the right environment and allowing customers to book any time of day or night – even on short notice – is the latest from the boutique innovator long known for its guest-centric philosophies that make travel, groups, meetings and events easier. With a new one-stop-shop online booking tool and a proprietary sales app, Kimpton is further defining its commitment to create truly unique and customized events for its guests. The new, user-friendly tools make the groups and meetings experience more seamless for guests from start to finish and allow them to enjoy a more visual experience in selecting a location. Offering on-demand booking meets the increasing desire for guests to be able to quickly book a meeting space, day or night.
Is your corporate travel management program feeling tired and inflexible? If so, it might be time to kick it into high gear and take your business travel to the next level. Using benchmarking data from over 22,000 corporate programs, Orbitz for Business has developed a comprehensive fiscal fitness test to help companies learn about their travel spend level and identify areas where savings can be achieved. Travel program metrics such as online adoption rate, policy compliance, hotel optimization and program utilization are analyzed and combined to produce a custom "Fitness to Travel" report.
Orbitz for Business, the corporate travel brand of Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: OWW), today announced from the Global Business Travel Association's annual conference that it is expanding its consumerized online booking functionality to support travelers in over 100 countries, covering more than 18 languages and 35 currencies. The expanded offering will also include the Orbitz for Business mobile solution, the first in the industry that enabled full 'look-to-book' functionality across all major travel products while applying customized corporate policies.
Introducing Pow Wow Marketplace Pow Wow Marketplace is where corporate meeting planners find reliable local ground transportation providers for meetings and events. It's a procurement tool with 2-3 qualified and pre-certified ground providers in each of the top US meetings markets that have excellent meeting and event experience.
BCD Travel today announced it has completed a massive migration of every client from multiple legacy tools to a new proprietary business intelligence platform, DecisionSource®. Developed with the needs of travel, procurement and security teams in mind, the DecisionSource rollout represents a significant and ongoing multimillion dollar investment.
BCD Travel today announced a multi-year agreement with San Francisco-based GetGoing to power the travel management company's proprietary hotel booking platform. RoomSource® aims to enable both agents and travelers to shop for and book hotels and rates that are within and outside global distribution systems.
"It's All About Business Travel" at the BT Advantage/BT Hotel Collection booth – where independent hotels can discover how to accelerate sales and traveler managers can find ideal hotels.
International SOS, the world's leading medical and security services company, will have experts on hand for presentations and one-on-one interviews July 27 to 30 at the GBTA Convention 2014 in Los Angeles. Presentation topics for discussion will center on how organizations can keep travelers and expatriates safe against global threats, evacuation planning and prevention, and effectively manage open booking and technology.
iJET International, Inc., a leading operational risk management solutions provider, and TripLingo, a provider of language and translation tools, today announced that they will unveil new "Duty of Care" (DoC) advancements to its smartphone app, Worldcue® TRAVELER at the 2014 Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) Convention, July 28-30th at the LA Convention Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
JULY 27, 2014 – TREVOSE, PA – With the summer season in full swing, many people are taking advantage of time off from work and school to travel abroad. To help make sure their trips stay on track, International SOS has compiled advice that every outbound traveler should know.
Magnuson Hotels, the world's largest independent hotel group, announced today the complete rebranding of the Magnuson Hotel and Suites Alamogordo. Formerly the Best Western Desert Aire in Alamogordo, New Mexico, the hotel will upgrade its local, regional, and national market to attract travelers via an affiliation with Magnuson Hotels' global portfolio of nearly 2,000 hotels.
Today Busy Rooms and Apstar Tours, Ghana, announced a partnership that provides 100 hotels across Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Guinea access to more international customers. The deal was discussed and agreed during this year's WTM Africa in Cape Town, South Africa. By using Busy Rooms sophisticated central reservation system Apstar Tours hotels will benefit from connections to a wide range of global distribution partners. With the partnership, the company has furthermore access to revenue, contracting and marketing services, allowing for quicker selling of product to a larger audience.