Get
Connected
2 May 2024
HotelREZ was founded 20 years ago. We started out initially as a technology company, helping member hotels get connectivity to over 750,000 agencies (like American Express, CWT etc.) via the GDS. Some of our member hotels have actually been with us since the very beginning of our journey.
Throughout the years, our role has slowly changed to help clients with more than just technology. We now help more with representation/demand generation whilst offering a lot of solutions for e-commerce and social media - to drive more consumer, and corporate business to properties. In December 2023, we also launched the Elegant Hotel Collection, which is our luxury 5 star brand for the higher-end properties.
Today, we have over 2,500 member hotels across 100 countries.
So things have changed quite a lot for us over the years. We used to have many static rates out there for corporate partners and some select tour operators, but we have now managed to transition the majority of these to dynamic. At HotelREZ, our main bookers are from the B2B and B2C markets normally associated with business and leisure travel respectively. We do not have much presence with tour operators (i.e. with DMCs), hence why we decided to sign up to iOL X, and grow this market.
We have a fantastic relationship with Sabre and have been working with them for over 10 years as a global partner. All of our properties are on the SynXis CRS. We were speaking to the Sabre team about our desire to grow into more diversified segments and they mentioned that they have collaborated with iOL on their Tour Manager product line. We were quickly introduced to the iOL Team and when we understood the value proposition, we signed up right away!
For us, iOL X represented a whole new world. It was really exciting. Everything we had traditionally worked with Sabre on was mainly for the corporate market. In our strategic discussions, we had ticked off the business travel side of things and we were looking at how to open up to the leisure/tour operator segment – who we weren’t really working with. We found your solution as the perfect partner here and have really benefited from it. I can also see from the business that is coming in, a lot of our key resort properties are getting a nice volume from iOL X – which is fantastic!
Having instant connectivity to so many different partners across the world and opening up that exposure for our member properties. When we heard that the interface was already in place with SynXis, it was just a no-brainer. The connection is a perfectly secure, 2-way interface, and just does what is says. It was just so easy to get connected and if we didn’t partner with you, this wouldn’t have even been a sector we would have actively pursued.
We already had fantastic exposure for our properties with TMCs, consortia, and global agencies focusing on corporate travel but little presence with the global tour operators. Your solution allows our members to push dynamic rates to a market they are not really used to working with. The iOL team has been great in educating us on key differences in this segment and the best ways to get set up on iOL X for optimal traction. It is a win-win on so many different levels.
Before partnering with you our clients would cherry-pick a few tour operators to be connected to but that was it. We see iOL X as a scalable way for our hotels, especially leisure hotels, to penetrate new markets and demographics with ease.
Oh your team is brilliant! Implementation was so smooth, seamless is the word! The speed to market was great too. I think it was about 2 weeks and we were live. Normally it can take 6-8 weeks, so congratulations for that!
In terms of set-up, we have tried to make everything as simple as possible whilst building in some flexibility. We have set up 4 specific rate plans for our members, 2 different discounts and 2 different meal plans. Our plan was to introduce this to our member hotels as an opt-in, and get as many properties online as possible. It has worked very well so far and we are still working through the rest of the properties with our global account managers.
Having intelligence on what demand partner is making each booking is really important. Our properties get monthly reports and iOL X breaks down all of that leisure distribution for them – which is great data to have. They see iOL X as the main channel for this segment.
There is also a lot of flexibility through the connectivity. Properties can distribute to all demand partners to begin with and, if any partners are large enough, they can connect directly. I think it’s great. We see you as a strategic partner who can help our mutual clients get as much business as possible. We have really high-end properties in major cities, and with iOL X, we are able to fill these rooms. More leisure sales is what we want to achieve and we can see that happening very clearly.
We love that iOL X sends hotels a uniquely generated virtual credit card for each booking. Our members prefer this over pay-on-arrival or departure. It means no operational work is required with paying out commissions or similar, which is great for Finance.
In addition to this, HotelREZ properties are live on iOL Escapes, which gives us access to a curated set of travellers (through Mastercard’s Rewards program) who are looking for more luxury experiences along with value-adds and inclusions. We have added some F&B discounts and complimentary upgrade options and are seeing a lot of traction in our city center properties. For us to tap into such a program is brilliant. We only started 6 months ago and already have 400+ properties live on iOL Escapes.
I highly recommend it. Depending on the size of the property or chain, they can be limited in their reach and exposure through just their own marketing and sales teams. By partnering with you it opens up their doors to numerous difference agencies all over the world that can immediately drive volumes to their properties.
Hotels should view iOL X as an extension of their own Sales & Marketing teams – due to the fantastic global reach in the B2B segment. We are also very comfortable with iOL X’s stance on maintaining rate parity. There is a zero-tolerance policy with fines imposed for violators, which ensures our pricing is respected.
