Fairmont Reinvents the Meeting Experience
Technology is no longer just about automating a process, simplifying a task or managing an inventory block. Recently, several innovative technologies have emerged in the group space that impact the core competencies and critical metrics of a hotel, from its occupancy and ADR to its service levels to meeting planners and guests.
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has alway
s stayed at the forefront of these technologies, an effort driven by a keen understanding of the technology's impact on key performance metrics. Applying this rigor to group housing, Fairmont has leveraged technology to not only streamline its group operations, but to boost revenues and enhance service levels.
s stayed at the forefront of these technologies, an effort driven by a keen understanding of the technology's impact on key performance metrics. Applying this rigor to group housing, Fairmont has leveraged technology to not only streamline its group operations, but to boost revenues and enhance service levels.Gone are the days when event guests called the hotel with a group code or when the planner manually compiled a room list. Moreover, planners repeatedly calling the hotel to check on block pick-up or to request a delegate list in a grueling bid to dodge attrition fees are also things of the past. And, gone are the days of when the group rate determined the revenue generated from a group.
With the deployment of PassKey's GroupMAX in 2008, Fairmont has taken a leap forward in elevating service to guests and planners while boosting group revenues and performance. Here are a few examples of how Fairmont has reinvented the meeting experience:
- Guest online bookings: By using GroupMAX's unique custom booking websites for each event, Fairmont has been able to automate more than 48% of its group reservations. In addition to significantly reducing call center costs, this has allowed the luxury hotel brand to establish a direct relationship with group guests, which it uses to share special offers as well as to educate guests on the hotel's offerings prior to arrival.
- Adding unforeseen revenues: By employing GroupMAX's suite of up-selling tools, Fairmont is able to promote highly targeted room upgrades, extended stays and amenity offers to guests throughout the booking process, creating a new avenue for generating incremental revenue from all group guests. Campaigns can be created utilizing the brand's unified theme or can be completely unique to each group.
- Self-managed meeting planners: Meeting planners have come to expect the convenience of real-time event information. With GroupMAX's live dashboards and reporting tools, planners can track events 24 hours a day, maximizing pick-up and minimizing attrition exposure. GroupMAX also provides meeting planners a PCI-compliant online location to submit and manage lists, eliminating the risks and errors associated with re-keying room lists.
- A synchronized data system: GroupMAX connects directly to Fairmont's CRS system, enabling the synchronization of data between the two systems. This process is managed by one central team, significantly improving productivity. The automation of the reservations process has helped establish flawless service levels, attributable to its consistency across the brand worldwide.
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has fully transformed the meeting experience with the adoption of Passkey's GroupMAX as its group solution, enabling its hotels to achieve measurable performance improvements and to deliver an enhanced meeting experience to its group guests and meeting planners brand-wide.
RELATED ARTICLE
Business vs. Leisure Travelers: What Makes them Book?
Business vs. Leisure Travelers: What Makes them Book?