In a move designed to transform the future of the meeting and conference industry, Expedia and Best Western Hotels have announced a strategic alliance that will expand collaboration between the two organisations.
The new venture sees the adoption of Expedia’s MeetingMarket software by more than 200 Best Western Hotels across Germany, making Best Western the first global hotel brand to white label the technology.
From early next year, MeetingMarket will start being integrated into Best Western’s homepage, www.bestwestern.de, thereby allowing it to strategically direct its meeting and conference business using Expedia’s technology.
The MeetingMarket software is the first of its kind: not only can customers instantly check availability and pricing information, but they can also independently configure and book meeting rooms, accommodation, food and equipment with just a few clicks. The dynamic platform accelerates and simplifies a process which has been largely manual, inefficient and time-consuming for hotels and event-planners.
Expedia has been trialling MeetingMarket.de in Germany for the past year with more than 300 hotel partners, enabling them to offer guestrooms and meeting space to travel bookers through the site.
Additionally, hotels are provided with the tools to monitor and manage their MICE sales more effectively with detailed performance reports and data on their competitive set.
Carmen Duecker, Deputy CEO Best Western Hotels Central Europe said, “Today’s announcement shows how we can effectively and strategically customize technological innovations for the benefit of our customers and hotels. The way in which we work with Expedia is evolving and we look forward to seeking new ways to build on our relationship.”
Cyril Ranque, President, Lodging Partner Services, the Expedia group, said “Expedia MeetingMarket has been born out of our test and learn culture in which we’re continually seeking out solutions that meet the needs of our partners and consumers. It presents a huge technological leap from the manual, inefficient processes that still exist widely within the hotel meetings industry. We’re hugely excited about this new collaboration with Best Western, which sees us harness our expertise in technology for the benefit of our partners.”
