La Quinta to Offer Worktopia Live Meeting Bookings for Groups
200 Properties to Be Offered at LQ.com and Worktopia.com
APRIL 30, 2008. La Quinta Inns and Suites has selected Worktopia, Inc. to power its first online meetings reservation service, giving La Quinta customers real-time access to booking meeting space. The service is a time-saving alternative to calling the hotel or sending in a request for proposal (RFP).
Worktopia has provided La Quinta with an end-to-end solution that meets demand from corporate and leisure groups for checking meeting room availability and booking simple meetings. It includes a booking engine on LQ.com as well as an enterprise-wide meeting room reservation system, complete with hotel front desk meeting room check-in/check-out billing module, and meeting room management capability.
The agreement between La Quinta and Worktopia will also add La Quinta hotel meeting rooms to the Worktopia inventory. Worktopia distributes supplier partner meeting room availability on Worktopia.com as well as through distribution partners Sabre, Travelport, GetThere and TripManager, among others. Whether through LQ.com or Worktopia, meeting planners will be able to search select La Quinta properties with meeting space based on their specific meeting requirements, see live quotes and book meeting space in real time. By delivering instant online access to meeting room availability through multiple channels, La Quinta will have a significant advantage over hotels that still require customers to call or submit RFPs to find out about pricing and availability.
A key factor in the move to online meeting booking for La Quinta is the desire to drive room-nights associated with meetings. "Our customers are seeking fast, convenient ways to research, compare and book their small meetings, and our goal is to offer targeted travel products tailored to meet those needs," said Feliz Jarvis, Executive Vice President Sales, La Quinta. "Teaming up with Worktopia is helping us reach that goal, while transforming our meeting rooms into a product offering that satisfies demand for simple meetings for up to 50 attendees."
The addition of La Quinta hotels to the Worktopia.com website reflects Worktopia's commitment to offering the most complete set of meeting facilities to meeting planners. "Meeting planners need a broad set of options, including top limited-service hotels like La Quinta, for recurring regional corporate meetings and meetings for leisure groups," said John Arenas, chief executive officer of Worktopia. "We expect the partnership to enable deeper corporate customer relationships for La Quinta while adding to Worktopia's growing inventory of hotels offering live meeting booking capability."
The online meeting booking capability will be available at La Quinta's website, www.LQ.com, through Worktopia.com and its distribution partner web sites this summer.
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