Group Travel Planet has connected to Hotel Booking Solution Incorporated’s (HBSI) Demand Partner Network to access real-

Group Travel Planet has connected to Hotel Booking Solution Incorporated’s (HBSI) Demand Partner Network to access real-time group rates and room inventory from Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.

Published: 01 Aug 2006

Group Travel Planet has connected to Hotel Booking Solution Incorporated’s (HBSI) Demand Partner Network to access real-time group rates and room inventory from Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.

The integration of Group Travel Planet’s fully-automated group-booking engine into HBSI means group travel planners can seamlessly search and book available hotel rooms at participating Harrah’s hotels at discounted group rates.

In addition, the connection between Group Travel Planet and HBSI fully incorporates Group Travel Planet’s advanced group management system allowing groups to manage every aspect of their group hotel reservation online, including adding and dropping rooms, making deposits and payments by check or credit card, submitting rooming list, and allowing individual group members to reserve and pay for single rooms from their group’s room block, shared a release.

On being chosen by Harrah’s to build the first-ever fully-automated connection for reserving group hotel rooms, Scott Harness, co-founder and chief executive officer, Group Travel Planet said, “While the
connection is not limited to Harrah’s Las Vegas properties, it has been our number one market booked by our groups and linking our advanced group-booking engine to HBSI provides even more opportunities for our customers to plan, book, and manage their group hotel reservations online.”

This new working relationship with HBSI gives Harrah’s more exposure to small, leisure groups, while providing a more efficient and easier way for groups to book their properties.

By connecting through HBSI to Group Travel Planet, Harrah’s also benefits from being able to reduce much of the costs often associated with booking and coordinating groups through manual processes such as fax and telephone calls, whereby allowing their sales managers and group sales coordinators more time to work with groups that need their assistance.

Harness said the company has taken the level of service one step higher for Harrah’s by connecting to their property management system through HBSI and providing the advanced technology tools to make it a seamless process for both their sales offices and their customers.

Darin McAuliffe, HBSI senior vice president, sales, said, “Since our services connect and benefit both the supply and demand side of the travel industry, bringing aboard a quality name like Group Travel Planet,
especially to connect first to a company like Harrah’s, entices hotels to join our growing Supply Partner Network, which also includes leading groups like IHG, Intrawest, Sandals, and Cendant.”

HBSI’s Demand Partner Network now includes nearly 50 leading distribution channels with a number in negotiations to join. “We anticipate our DPN will include more than 120 channels by the end of the year,” said McAuliffe.

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