For Immediate Release
New site to expand the company’s
advanced online group-booking technology to target the $15 billion SMERF
market
Pigeon Forge, TN –
September 15, 2004 – Group Travel Planet,
which has been doing business as
CoachQuote.com®
in a business to business model for over four years, announced
today the launch of
GroupTravelPlanet.com,
the travel industry’s first fully-automated group travel website focused
primarily on the small leisure group market with its own negotiated
group hotel inventory from over 9,200 hotels throughout North America.
The new site enables the company to build upon its current membership of
close to 40,000 professional tour operators, travel agents and group
leaders by better positioning its group-booking technology for the SMERF
market.
“This is an exciting
moment for our company and the thousands of suppliers that we represent,
and for the entire travel industry in general,” said Scott Harness,
president and CEO, Group Travel Planet, LLC, which has been doing
business as CoachQuote.com® since March 2000. “Our dream was to build a
powerful online group-booking engine that would serve the needs of all
types of group travel planners, while providing suppliers (hotels,
attractions, bus operators and more) with a new way to increase their
group business. The creation of CoachQuote.com® was the first step,
which helped to firmly establish our technology and business model and
now along with GroupTravelPlanet.com, the two sites can better focus
separately on both the managed and unmanaged group segments.”
“Hoteliers love our
new business model and direction we’re taking the company,” said Angela
Brady, director of corporate relations, Group Travel Planet. “Almost
every hotel brand is represented in our portfolio of 9,200-plus hotels,
giving the group travel planners unsurpassed choice and convenience.
The hotels tell us it is the most hotel-friendly model in the industry,
allowing them to set their own prices and room allocation, at all times,
depending on their unique market needs using our robust extranet
system.” In addition to its already impressive database of hotels, the
company also plans to announce new partnerships with three major hotel
brands shortly and looks forward to working closely with others to
continue adding to its online hotel inventory.
Industry executives
estimate that the small unmanaged leisure group market represents in
excess of $15 billion annually in the U.S., a market that is basically
handled off-line today in an inefficient call center, fax, mail and
telephone environment.
“Our fully-automated
system not only makes it easier for group travel planners to plan, book
and manage all aspects of their group trips online, but it also
eliminates much of the backend costs for all of our supplier members
including hotels by providing payment tools, tools for adding and
dropping rooms, entering and managing rooming lists, and standardized
cut-off dates with fully-automated system reminders, which takes a huge
burden and risk away from the hotels,” added Harness. “No other online
system even comes close. I guarantee it.”
In addition to
providing powerful online tools for managing group bookings, the company
also hosts a rapidly growing call center, which handles inbound calls,
monitors all online inquiry and booking activity through its advanced
back office system, and facilitates special requests such as helping
secure function space at hotels, finding step-on guides for bus trips
and finding unique things to do at the group’s final destination.
“Bigger isn’t always better, though, when it comes to a group call
center,” said Harness. “Better technology is better – better for the
consumer, better for the suppliers and, most definitely, better for
bottom-line profits for everyone concerned.”
Industry executives
have also recognized the leadership standing of Group Travel Planet, its
unique market position and upside potential, which has led to seasoned
industry executives joining the organization. David Sullivan, former
CEO of ResortQuest International and COO of Promus Hotels, recently
became chairman of the company’s advisory board and Scott Pearson,
former SVP of Groople.com - who has held VP positions at Choice Hotels
International, Trip.com, and Hertz - is the company’s Vice President of
Internet Distribution.
With the release of
GroupTravelPlanet.com, the company plans announcements shortly of
several strategic partnerships with various niche web sites and software
providers to add to its impressive list of current partners including
Clear Channel International, VERSYSS, American Bus Association, USDM,
North American Journeys, Destinations2Discover.com, Tours.com, and
numerous DMO’s throughout the U.S, just to name a few.
In addition to
marketing its services through numerous channels and mediums, the
company has also developed the latest Web Services technology affording
it to easily co-brand or private label partner sites. “We’re very proud
of our technology and the web services we’ve developed for our
partners,” said Rick Sharp, the company’s CTO. “We have several new
organizations that we are currently working with on integration and we
look forward to their deployment and announcements in the very near
future.”
About Group Travel
Planet and CoachQuote.com®
Operating as
CoachQuote.com® since March 2000, the company was the first to pioneer
online group travel booking and with the recent launch of its 2nd
generation web technology, the company continues to break new barriers
by being the first to fully-automate the entire group-booking process
from start to finish. The company, under the new parent name Group
Travel Planet, currently has 2,700-plus professional tour operator and
over 30,000 group leader members. In addition, the company boasts over
11,000 supplier members, with 9,200 being hotels throughout North
America that provide group inventory and net group rates through its
robust extranet. Last year, the company recorded online gross bookings
of $38 million.
CONTACT:
Patricia Childers
Group Travel Planet
PO Box 1201
Pigeon Forge, TN
37868
Phone: (865) 428-8878
http://www.CoachQuote.com
patricia@coachquote.com
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