Wednesday, 4 December 2024
Signature Travel launches brand-new hotel booking engine
by Rose White
Signature Travel Network has launched a brand-new hotel booking platform, providing a more seamless experience for travel advisor members of the consortia globally.
Titled ‘Hotel Connection’, the new booking engine is powered by third-party, NaviTrip, and offers new and improved efficiencies and tools for advisors using the 1,300 property strong Signature Hotel Program, which itself continues to grow.
Rolled out in October, a few weeks before the Signature Travel Network Annual Conference in Las Vegas last month, the platform was showcased to delegates, and LATTE, during a series of workshops, offering insight into the advancement of the previous “clunky” version.
“It’s not an overhaul of the old program,” Jannette Losada, Senior Director, Information and Technical Support told travel agency partners in Las Vegas at the recent Signature Travel Network Annual Conference. “This is completely new.”
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The update has dramatically improved the hotel search functionality, increasing the number of properties listed from three to five, while accounting for live inventory and listing those hotel partners that have availability on the selected dates. Sold out or not available properties are listed separately. Stronger visuals using a property comparison function also makes the new platform “visually appealing,” Losada added, enabling more “informed decisions” for clients.
The new NaviTrip-powered technology hasn’t eliminated past functionality, but it has enabled the ability for advisors to customise actions within SigNet – Signature Travel Network’s agency portal that provides advisors with access to exclusive promotional offers which can be shared with clients via one-to-one communications or social networks, preferred supplier information, etc – alongside the Signature Hotel Program.
“Hotel Connection is so much more efficient and easier to use than the previous booking engine,” Kimberley Waters, Vice President, Member Acquisition told LATTE on the sidelines of the Conference.
The switchover to the new technology eliminated the previous necessity for a Signature travel advisor to log out of SigNet and move to another website to create the booking. That is also the case for SIG Cruise Pro, which was adopted earlier this year.
“The great thing is it means SigNet, has become a true one-stop-shop,” she said.
“Hotel Connection is also brilliant for those Leisure advisors that don’t have access to the GDS, because they can book hotels with east on the site.”
When searching for a property on the new Hotel Connection the new technology lists rates available exclusively through Signature Travel Network with a blue badge, highlighting the partner amenities offered (such as room upgrades, late check-in, late check-out, F&B credit, etc), compared to the ad-hoc and promotional rates at the property. Meaning advisors are able to clearly differentiate to their client the Signature value-add when booking through the consortia.
“For agencies and especially corporate advisors that are booking through the GDS because the air, the car, the hotel is all in the same reservation. But for Leisure advisors, a lot of times they don’t have access to the GDS, so this tool makes it easy to book hotels or show the different options to their clients.”
Waters continued: “Showing the amenities is important. This is something that our agencies in Australia and New Zealand have initially started using in the hotel program. Their clients love the amenities. And once they start staying in these properties and start getting the amazing value of breakfast for two daily, and can be a $100 spa credit or a dinner for two on one night, WiFi… all these things add up and make them feel more special and that’s what gives these advisors their competitive advantage.
“Amenities are not something their client can go online and book and get the amenities. They’ll get a non-refundable rate and a room by the elevator and their not getting anything to go with that.”
“When we design tools we really try to create efficiencies for the advisors because they want to sell, they don’t want to have to deal with the minutia. We want to create those efficiences. Not give them more to do,” Waters said.
NaviTrip was handpicked as the new booking engine supplier following a vote from members.
“Our members are the guiding light for Signature. They’re the ones that are making the selection. They chose between two different hotel booking engines after the technology team narrowed down the search and parties had the opportunity to present.”
Waters added the Hotel Connection was also valuable to travel agencies with new-to-industry advisors, eliminating the need for them to learn 20 different cruise booking engines.
“Similarly, with SIG Cruise Pro they learn just one. Having the ease of learning just one system makes it much easier on the agency owner and their training team.”
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