HMC e-Commerce Sites Break New Grounds for Hotels

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 4, 2005--With the launch of their next-generation e-commerce platform, Hospitality Marketing Concepts (HMC), the ...

Private label membership programs operated by HMC will have their own customized site to communicate with members, post special offers, expand membership sales channels and drive revenue during need periods. This is an industry first and, as expected, hotel clients are pleased with HMC's continual investment in technology.

InterContinental Hotels Group in Asia Pacific is one of the first to embrace its new e-commerce site for Priority Privilege: www.priorityprivilege.com. "We are very impressed that HMC continues to invest in their e-commerce systems to the benefit of our hotels," said Karin Nielsen, regional director of sales & marketing, Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific for InterContinental Hotels Group. "Our hotels now have a common platform to speak to our entire Asia Pacific membership effectively and efficiently. We can react quickly and drive revenue where and when we need it, and hotels can offer member-only rates in a private and secure environment. Since we have a substantial membership base, we will also be utilizing the site to extend member specials to encourage patronage to new properties or destinations within our group."

Members are also able to access and book their special member-only room rates, check on special promotions offered by other affiliate hotels, and even renew their membership online.

"More and more, business travelers and professionals are relying on the Internet for quick access to information and to make purchases and decisions online," said Mokhtar Ramadan, CEO of Hospitality Marketing Concepts. "At HMC, we want to make sure our partner hotels are given the technology to remain leaders in their marketplace. These e-commerce sites are in perfect partnership with ClubCentral(C), HMC's proprietary CRM application, to maximize revenue and profit. This is our commitment."

Complementing HMC's local marketing strategy, program Web sites also feature multi-lingual capabilities. The Swissotel Life and Style Osaka Web site, www.lifeandstyleosaka.com, is available in English and Japanese; the soon-to-be-released IHG Latin American Executive Pass Web site, www.executive-pass.com, will be available in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

HMC has launched e-commerce sites for over 100 hotel clients to date, and will have the remaining club programs' Web sites online by Fall 2005. E-commerce sites for other chain-wide club programs such as Feed at Raffles (www.feedatraffles.com) and Pestana Unlimited (www.pestanaunlimited.com) are slated to be released in May.

ABOUT HMC

With headquarters in Newport Beach, Southern California, HMC is the leading provider of travel industry paid consumer membership and database management programs. HMC provides services to more than 1,000 full-service hotels worldwide. A selection of clients includes InterContinental Hotels Group, Le Meridien, Starwood, Shangri-La Hotels, Ritz Hotels, Mandarin Oriental, Husa, Orbis, Raffles and Swissotel. HMC is a global company with offices in more than 70 countries including Italy, France, U.K., Germany, Spain, Poland, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, UAE, Egypt, Venezuela, Brazil, Canada and the United States. More information about HMC may be found on the company's Web site, http://hmc.clubhotel.com, or by contacting Peter Gorla, director of marketing at 949-833-8000, Ext. 218 or via e-mail at gorlap@clubhotel.com.

Contacts

Hospitality Marketing Concepts (HMC), Newport Beach Peter Gorla, 949-833-8000, Ext. 218 E-mail: gorlap@clubhotel.com

Source: Business Wire (press release) - San Francisco,CA,USA