Fairmont Selects Passkey Group Reservations Solution

• 
  SAVE
• 
  SHARE
• 
  TEXT SIZE
• 
  PRINT
• 
  COMMENT
• 
  PDF

. October 14, 2008

TORONTO, Canada, June 10, 2008. When Fairmont Hotels & Resorts was looking to improve the way it handles group reservations online, the company needed a robust solution that would exceed the complex needs of meeting planners. That's why they turned to Passkey's online group reservation solution as brand standard across more than 50 Fairmont hotels worldwide. It's a move that gives the venerable hotel company a brand standard solution while also making it easier for customers to do business with the Fairmont.

Now, meeting planners and their attendees can utilize mouse-click simplicity to book rooms across the globe from The Fairmont San Francisco to The Fairmont Dubai.

"Our partnership fits with our whole Fairmont strategy which is 'make it easy to do business with Fairmont,'" said Doug Carr, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts' Director Global Support Services. "We knew that Passkey holds a dominant place in the marketplace, and is known by planners that need a housing tool."

Carr also said that Passkey was way ahead in developing the proper interfaces for Fairmont's CRS and with the planners' registration systems, through RegLink. "We have been talking for a long time and this was a natural progression of the relationship. It's a win-win for everyone," Carr added.

The Passkey-enabled global network already consists of over 85 percent of major U.S. Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVBs), as well as thousands of hotels, trade associations, meeting planners and meeting management companies.

"Fairmont is creating a brand standard so all meeting planners that work with the company can move across its brand portfolio with an online tool to capture history. And from a meeting planner's perspective it greatly enhances the attendee experience in terms of bookings," said Greg Pesik, CEO of Passkey.

That's because meeting planners will have a customized website for each one of their events. Planners can control the information their attendees will see while giving them 24-hour capability to book, modify and cancel reservations. It completely eliminates the need for an attendee to call a meeting planner or the hotel where they are staying. And since the system is tied directly into Fairmont's CRS - in this case MICROS Fidelio - attendees gets room confirmation directly from the hotel.

In turn, meeting planners are provided with ongoing updates such as their room block has reached 80 percent full or is sold out. Or the planner can tell the system to cut off accepting reservations 30 days out, for example. It's up to them because the Passkey solution is all about customization.

Groups are already responding to Fairmont's new technology. "Fairmont is to be applauded for its decision to deploy Passkey as a brand standard. As a meeting planner, knowing that Passkey is available across the portfolio just makes Fairmont that much better as a partner. Passkey provides tools needed to execute successful events at any destination," said Jim Schultze, Director of Events at Financial and Insurance Conference Planners (FICP). "With Passkey, FICP is now able to integrate hotel reservations at any Fairmont property with our registration software, and report on who has signed up for the meeting but has not yet made hotel reservations. Passkey will also enable my attendees to make their own changes online, yet another bonus benefit that simplifies the entire process. This system has cut rooming issues by over 60% compared to last year".

Meanwhile, Fairmont's Carr is bullish on how Passkey will help them deliver exceptional service to their customers while also seeing their own set of benefits. He said the Passkey solution is helping is slashing time required to manage and enter room lists, while the revenue management processes flow in a timelier manner. That helps Fairmont revenue managers react accordingly in pricing rooms for the transient market. It also improves Fairmont's productivity of property-based reservation offices. Those offices no longer have to manage any event set-up or the manual processes associated with room lists since the Passkey processes are all handled centrally for the brand.

"We knew that Passkey holds a dominant place in the marketplace, and is known by planners that need a housing tool. The other reason is that Passkey was the furthest along with interfaces; not only to our CRS but also with the planners' registration systems, through RegLink. We have been talking for a long time and this was a natural progression of the relationship, and it's a win-win for everyone."