SITEMINDER NEWS

With many hotels achieving close to 40 per cent of bookings on the net, online accommodation distributor SiteMinder, has launched a new version of its direct booking engine product, ‘TheBookingButton’.

SiteMinder’s new-look Booking Button, which accommodation providers can use on their own website as a direct, commission-free booking engine, aims to significantly increase booking conversion percentages. The new, fully customisable Booking Button allows hotels to package rooms to include extras such as breakfast, late checkout and tours. The latest version also offers increased security, allows hoteliers to track return on investment on pay-per-click campaigns and also improves analysis of their online business.

SiteMinder debuted its Booking Button product in mid 2008 to help hotel customers capitalise on their fastest growing source of business – the internet.

SiteMinder Managing Director Mike Ford said the latest version of TheBookingButton underlined SiteMinder’s ability to deliver cost effective, high quality products.

“More than a quarter of all accommodation bookings are now made online in many regions and that is set to grow strongly to 40 per cent over the next few years,” said SiteMinder Managing Director Mike Ford.

“Every hotel needs its own fast, easy-to-use booking engine that can convert website traffic into confirmed bookings and that’s what our Booking Button delivers. With new features and enhanced functionality, our properties have already seen a substantial increase in room night sales.”

“The internet is the accommodation industry’s fastest growing source of business, so we’ve invested a lot of time, money and energy into making our Booking Button a market-leading, must-have booking tool that hoteliers can use to lift bottom line profits. We’re certain our enhanced Booking Button will help many properties capitalise on the growing trend towards booking online.”

TheBookingButton allows properties to:

* Produce and manage special campaigns using corporate and promotional codes
* Facilitate more than 80 currencies, allowing guests to convert the booking total into their local currency
* Display multiple property listings, a key feature for property groups
* Analyse and measure direct online business through enhanced reporting functionality
* Track key statistical data through Google Analytics
* Monitor and track the success of Adword campaigns
* Customise and colour match to retain the look and feel of your own website and branding

TheBookingButton integrates seamlessly into hotels’ own websites and into SiteMinder’s channel management technology which enables hoteliers to list their rooms on dozens of booking sites around the world.

Five top Australian resorts acquired last year by international hospitality group, Delaware North, have joined online distributor, SiteMinder, to boost their exposure to dozens of accommodation booking engines in Australia and overseas.

The five resorts - El Questro Wilderness Park and Homestead in Western Australia, Kings Canyon Resort in the Northern Territory and three Queensland properties, Lizard Island Resort, Heron Island Resort and Wilson Island Resort – were formerly owned by the GPT-owned Voyages Hotels and Resorts.

The move by Delaware North’s new Australian Parks and Resorts division to use SiteMinder’s online distribution technology to reach dozens of major booking websites around the world is part of Delaware North’s expansion plans in Australia, according to the company’s Australian Director of Sales and Marketing, Michelle Kenna.

“These five resorts are world-class tourist drawcards and to maximise their exposure on leading accommodation booking sites around the world, we have tasked SiteMinder to manage our room availability and pricing on the growing number of websites they connect with all around the world, “ Mrs Kenna said. “We’re very keen to grow the inbound market and with online bookings rapidly growing in popularity, we believe SiteMinder will put our five resorts in front of more global e-consumers than any other channel manager.”

SiteMinder Marketing Director Gary Fog said: “We are delighted these five prestigious resorts have chosen to come onboard with us so we can link them quickly and easily to the major players in the online reservations market. We are confident we can deliver to each resort more bookings with less effort and cost.”

Through SiteMinder, the five resorts will have their availability and pricing distributed automatically to dozens of online accommodation booking sites such as Expedia, Wotif, Booking.com and Agoda.

Online hotel distributor, SiteMinder, has launched a global, two-way integration between the major Callista property management system (PMS) and room booking websites around the world.

The connection means hotels using Callista’s PMS can now have their room availability and pricing distributed automatically to dozens of online accommodation booking sites such as Expedia, Wotif, Booking.com and Agoda, using SiteMinder’s online technology. And in return, reservations from booking sites are automatically captured by SiteMinder and dropped directly into hotels’ Callista PMS, eliminating the need to manually re-key booking site reservation emails and faxes.

SiteMinder Managing Director Mike Ford said this seamless interaction between Callista and third party booking sites would boost revenue and cut costs, red tape and man hours for SiteMinder’s hotel customers using Callista.

“Our partnership with Callista will greatly benefit hoteliers keen to reach more markets faster and more efficiently,” Mr Ford said. “Hotels using a Callista PMS can now use SiteMinder’s link technology to ensure their inventory and pricing is posted to more online channels more frequently, which of course means higher booking revenue and fewer manual errors by staff. In addition, the need for staff to capture booking site reservation information into the property management system is eliminated, resulting in a highly streamlined business process, bringing online booking activity into the mainstream reservation process while reducing cost and effort.”

The Callista Group’s NZ-based Chairman, Roger Ansin, said: “We have been privileged to work with SiteMinder on this interface which will provide a huge mutual benefit to our customers.  SiteMinder connects to a wide range of websites and interfacing Callista Hospitality to this fully automated process means our customers can take reservations 24/7 with complete integration to their desktop software while simultaneously enabling them access to an enormous base of web sites.  The benefits of this are also reduced staff overheads because the system automatically takes care of all availability on-line and with instant confirmation to guests. We’re also very happy to give SiteMinder access to our very wide customer base globally as part of our partnership with them.”

Online hotel distributor, SiteMinder, has announced its first connection with a ‘bricks and mortar’ travel agency, House of Travel – New Zealand’s largest travel retailer - in a move aimed at boosting New Zealand business for SiteMinder’s accommodation clients.

Phase one of the new link means the House of Travel’s consultants in New Zealand can now book hotels in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the UK that use SiteMinder’s online technology to link them with markets and distribution channels around the world.

SiteMinder’s founder and Managing Director, Mike Ford, said phase two of the House of Travel partnership, expected by late 2010, would see SiteMinder’s hotel customers listed on the House of Travel’s newly rebranded consumer website, www.mixandmatch.co.nz – the number one travel website in New Zealand, drawing more than 100,000 unique visitors a week.

“While SiteMinder is expanding quickly as an online distribution system around the world, this new partnership with the House of Travel is particularly exciting as it’s our first link with a multi channel travel retailer rather than just an online agency,” Mr Ford said. “When you think of travel in New Zealand, you don’t get bigger than the House of Travel and its rebranded mixandmatch consumer website. This new tie-in means we will be able to put our hotel customers’ rooms in front of hundreds of House of Travel consultants and hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders who use the popular mixandmatch website.

“This represents a significant new development for SiteMinder and will help our hotel customers attract a lot more New Zealanders through their doors.”

House of Travel’s Product Director, Dave Fordyce, said: “As New Zealand’s leading travel agency, we pride ourselves on consistently giving our customers the best products and service at the best price.  It’s for this reason that we are delighted to be working with SiteMinder, which will ensure we have access to the most competitive rates in the market across thousands of properties. And by reducing the clutter created by multiple websites, we are enhancing the client’s experience in both House of Travel outlets and on mixandmatch.co.nz. All this will deliver more choice at the best possible rate for our customers.”

Mr Ford said SiteMinder’s leading technology enables any hotel anywhere to be listed on dozens of international booking sites like House of Travel’s mixandmatch.co.nz as well as Expedia, Wotif, Booking.com, Agoda and many others.

Top-end hotels that use SiteMinder technology to link them to online booking sites around the world now have a new avenue to spruik their plush rooms, with the exclusive Splendia online booking service now connecting to SiteMinder.

An international booking site that specialises in original and luxury accommodation and only lists properties ranked highly by its users, Splendia will offer SiteMinder’s hotel customers in Australasia and the UK exposure to a lucrative new distribution channel focused on the inbound market.

SiteMinder’s Australia-based founder and managing director, Mike Ford, said the addition of Splendia to its expanding list of major international booking sites would generate more high-yield bookings for SiteMinder’s customers.

“Our aim in this challenging economic market is clear - more big dollar bookings for our hotel customers – and the way to achieve that is to put their rooms in front of more high-spending consumers globally, which is what this new connection with the top-shelf Splendia website will do,” said Mr Ford.

“Through SiteMinder, hotels everywhere can now expose their wares to dozens of international booking sites like Splendia as well as Expedia, Wotif, Booking.com and Agoda and many others. What we do is help accommodation providers manage their availability and pricing across a multitude of online booking sites from a single, easy-to-use web page. SiteMinder also automatically captures bookings and drops them back directly into hotels’ reservation systems. This seamless, two-way integration slashes man hours and red tape and eliminates the need to manually re-key booking site reservation emails and faxes so it’s a great cost and time saver. And we don’t charge commission or lock clients into contracts which are other cost savers for hotels.”

Splendia’s global hotel business director, Kevin Mauffrey, said: “Our new partnership with SiteMinder will help deluxe and character-filled hotels reach our discerning customers seeking special, quality accommodation around the world. The new connection will also add many more properties to the 5000 our customers can already choose from. It’s a win-win for all parties.”

SiteMinder, an Australian headquartered distribution channel management service that links hotels to online booking sites around the world, will open its first overseas office in London this month as part of major expansion plans that will see the distribution manager expand into the Asian Market as well.

SiteMinder management team member, Tobias Janiesch, moved recently from the company’s Sydney headquarters to the UK to head up the new London office – SiteMinder’s first overseas base since it began operations in Australia in 2006.

SiteMinder is already very active in the UK, with a number of hotels and guest houses who use the channel manager’s one-stop-shop technology to distribute their room inventory to the world’s major online booking sites. SiteMinder will soon hire staff in London to beef up its push into the UK and European markets, with aims to become a significant player in that market.

SiteMinder Managing Director Mike Ford said the new London office would form phase one of a major campaign to expand its business in Europe and Asia.

“The internet is the fastest growing source of bookings for accommodation providers today,” Mr Ford said. “We believe SiteMinder is the fastest, easiest and most affordable way for hotels to expose themselves to dozens of popular booking sites around the world which is why we will now pitch our one-stop-shop distribution services to properties in the UK and Europe, with plans to open offices in Asia soon as well.

“SiteMinder has grown rapidly since launching in Australia in 2006, connecting thousands of accommodation clients with dozens of leading online booking sites like Expedia, Wotif, Booking.com and Agoda that fill their beds.

“Instead of hotel staff needing to update their inventory on all these different booking sites, SiteMinder does it all for them and reservations from booking sites are automatically captured by SiteMinder and dropped directly back into hotels’ booking systems. This seamless, two-way integration slashes man hours and red tape and eliminates the need to manually re-key booking site reservation emails and faxes so it’s a great cost and time saver. And we don’t charge commission or lock clients into contracts which is another cost saver for hotels.”

Australian apartment hotel group, Punthill, has joined online room distributor, SiteMinder, to boost website bookings.

The move will allow Punthill’s 14 properties in Victoria and NSW to increase their exposure across dozens of online distribution channels around Australia and overseas without having to manage room inventory on individual booking sites.

Punthill Apartment Hotels has also decided to install SiteMinder’s commission-free Booking Button onto its own website to better manage its direct online reservations.

Punthill Apartment Hotel Revenue Manager Madhavi Nagarajan said rapid growth in web bookings prompted the group to sign with SiteMinder to bolster its online reach across Australia and overseas.

“SiteMinder provides us with an effective and efficient means of updating availability and rates across all the major local and international third party websites as well as our own for all of the 14 properties within the Punthill group,” Ms Nagarajan said. “The SiteMinder team also provides friendly and prompt assistance and support. The technological and human support that SiteMinder provides to us makes our life much easier and boosts our business prospects considerably.

“The debut of SiteMinder’s Booking Button on our own website has also proved a great success. We believe The Booking Button will make conversions from website visits to bookings much quicker and easier.”

The new SiteMinder connection means Punthill’s 13 Melbourne and one Sydney apartment hotels can now have their room availability and pricing distributed automatically to dozens of online accommodation booking sites such as Expedia, Wotif, Booking.com and Agoda. SiteMinder will also automatically adjust all Punthill’s online inventory every time a reservation is made on the various booking sites.

SiteMinder Senior Business Development Manager, Lisa Horne, said: “We are very happy SiteMinder can help Punthill build its online business. Via our single interface, we can now connect Punthill’s properties to a multitude of top-performing booking sites around the world.”

One of Australia’s leading managers of travel services for the government and MICE sectors, The Lido Group, has joined forces with channel manager, SiteMinder, to expand the number of hotels its public servant and events customers can book online.

The new connection means properties which use SiteMinder now have direct and instant access to the thousands of government, events and corporate customers who use The Lido Group’s own online booking system for accommodation and travel bookings.

SiteMinder Managing Director Mike Ford said the new partnership delivered to its customers access to another major booking site and a new market, with The Lido Group offering the lucrative government, conference and corporate market its own electronic self-booking tool tailored to these sectors.

“This new connection with The Lido Group puts our customers’ rooms directly in front of thousands of government agencies and employees as well as conference and corporate staff who use Lido’s services to book accommodation,” Mr Ford said.

The Director of Supply, eCommerce and Events at The Lido Group, Benjamin Weinmann, said he expected the integration with SiteMinder to deliver a much-needed expansion in product required to support the strong demand for accommodation in the government, consortia and events accommodation market managed by Lido.

“The future for the travel industry hinges on online bookings and for us, SiteMinder delivers to our customers a wider choice of accommodation product and moves us closer to our future goal of seamless integration from the booker to the supplier in a controlled environment,” Mr Weinmann said.

Major online accommodation hub, Global BedBank, has joined channel manager, SiteMinder, to provide more centralised distribution for 600 hotels in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.

Operators of AustraliaBedBank, PacificBedBank and NZBedBank, Global BedBank is an online platform representing more than 600 accommodation providers that enables travel wholesalers and inbound tour operators to instantly access hotel, resort and cruise availability and to book rooms, suites and cabins in real time.

Global BedBank General Manager, Elizabeth Powell, said; “As the operator of AustraliaBedBank, PacificBedBank and NZBedBank, we are delighted that our Oceania members now have the ability to more efficiently manage all of their wholesaler allotment and free-sell inventory on BedBank through a connection with SiteMinder. Our subsidiaries have welcomed the opportunity to yield their room inventory more effectively and quickly through SiteMinder, and to work with SiteMinder’s teams.”

SiteMinder Sales and Marketing General Manager Gary Fog said: “We’re delighted our new streamlined technology is able to assist Global BedBank and its subsidiaries to increase productivity and broaden its market reach. Channel managers like SiteMinder are now a crucial link in distributing hotel inventory on the web.”

One of the largest suppliers of budget accommodation in Australia, Base Backpacker Hostels, has also become a product distributor after partnering with channel management company, SiteMinder.

The Base Tourism Group, which represents 17 hostels in Australia and New Zealand, has used SiteMinder’s channel management technology to become a distributor of backpacker rooms.

“The Base connection underlines the many ways SiteMinder can help travel businesses more efficiently manage and sell their product and expand their market reach in what is an increasingly competitive marketplace,” said SiteMinder Sales and Marketing General Manager Gary Fog.

The Base Tourism Group operates 13 high-quality Base Backpacker Hostels in Australia and New Zealand and also represents four affiliated ‘Base Mates’ hostels, with more independent backpacker operators signing up to its network soon.

Base Tourism Group Marketing Director, Tom Clark, said he was excited the group had become the first supplier business model to become an online product distributor through SiteMinder.

“We wanted our affiliated hostels to have the ability to dynamically manage rates and availability on our website in real time so rather than build our own inventory management system, we have created our own web service and integrated this directly to the well established SiteMinder channel management system,” Mr Clark said. “This has allowed our affiliates to manage inventory on our booking engine dynamically.

“The new integration with SiteMinder also means that the affiliate hostels joining the network will generate a significantly greater level of brand awareness by leveraging the Base Backpacker web platform. Our website provides our affiliate properties with access to literally hundreds of thousands of monthly website visitors, where previously they were restricted to just their own website for eyeballs. This project significantly adds to the strength of their business models via increased levels of revenue and brand strength.

“In terms of customer benefits, this integration has allowed the Base brand to drive forward a much stronger online proposition for consumers and agents to package up itineraries using our hostels, particularly in Australia, as we now have a more consistent presence up the east coast and through to Darwin due to the ever expanding affiliate network.”

About Base Tourism Group: The Base Tourism Group is owned by several high profile investors of which the largest institutional shareholderis Ironbridge Capital. The group operates the leading budget accommodation network in Australia and New Zealand - Base Backpackers - as well as the largest backpacker retail chain in Australia and New Zealand - Backpackers World Travel. The Base brand is a globally recognised brand providing backpackers with the highest quality accommodation at budget prices.

Hamilton Island is the latest major tourism player to join expanding channel manager, SiteMinder, with all five properties on the island signing up with SiteMinder to manage reservations from dozens of accommodation booking sites in Australia and around the world.

The new connection means Hamilton Island will have availability and pricing for its 380 rooms distributed automatically to dozens of online accommodation booking sites such as Expedia, Wotif, Booking.com and Agoda.

“We chose SiteMinder because we’ll be able to manage our rates and room availability for all our properties on the one easy-to-use system,” said Hamilton Island Revenue Manager Emma Perham, commenting on the selection of SiteMinder for the resort’s room management and distribution system. “This will be a massive time saver for us.”

“We’ll be able to expand our distribution because of SiteMinder’s many connections with third party booking sites around the world,” Ms Perham said.

“We’re also joining forces with SiteMinder because of their reputation across the industry for their excellent customer support."

SiteMinder Sales and Marketing General Manager Gary Fog said “We are delighted such a leading and prestigious tourism player such as Hamilton Island has chosen to come onboard with us to simplify, centralise and improve their inventory management and distribution. We look forward to helping Hamilton Island reach more customers with less effort.”

Leading channel manager, SiteMinder, has launched a global, two-way integration between the major roomMaster 2000 property management system and third party booking sites around the world.

The connection means hotels using the roomMaster PMS can now have their room availability and pricing distributed automatically to dozens of online accommodation booking sites such as Expedia, Wotif, Booking.com and Agoda. And in return, reservations from booking sites are automatically captured by SiteMinder and dropped directly into hotels’ roomMaster PMSs, eliminating the need to manually re-key booking site reservation emails and faxes.

SiteMinder Managing Director Mike Ford said this seamless interaction between roomMaster and third party booking sites would boost revenue and cut costs, red tape and man hours for hotels using roomMaster.

"We are very pleased to be working with a high-calibre product like roomMaster and to be given the opportunity to deliver the power of our PMS Link solution to roomMaster customers globally," Mr Ford said. "The benefits to the hotelier are significant. More reliable inventory and pricing is posted to more online channels more frequently, which of course means higher booking revenue and fewer manual errors by staff in updating sites with incorrect availability and rates. In addition, the need for staff to capture booking site reservation information into the property management system is eliminated, resulting in a highly streamlined business process, bringing online booking activity into the mainstream reservation process while reducing cost and effort."

Lew Tankard, the Managing Director of Innquest Australia, which developed and distributes the roomMaster system, said early indications of the new two-way connection with SiteMinder suggested the link was already cutting costs for hotels by at least $400 a week. "Many of our clients in Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific and Asia are reporting substantial cost savings of around $400 per week by having SiteMinder load third party site bookings directly into their roomMaster2000 software." Mr Tankard said. "More importantly, our customers have already reported increased occupancy and revenue because their business is now able to gain more exposure to alternate booking engines including global agents. An added benefit is that staff do not require training on a new and complex distribution software product because everything is driven from their own PMS."

SiteMinder today announced new international distribution opportunities for its accommodation operators.

SiteMinder was recently certified by leading European websites Hotel.de and HRS.com (Hotel Reservation Service) as an integration partner. The new connections allow SiteMinder customers to access bookings in new markets through two of Europe's largest online booking sites.

The connection to Hotel.de also facilitates distribution to Amadeus, the leading GDS in Europe, giving SiteMinder channel management customers even greater exposure on a global scale to other booking sources such as travel agents.

HRS operates a global electronic hotel reservation system for business and private travelers based on a database of more than 250,000 hotels in Germany, Europe and the rest of the world.

"With the expansion of the Global internet economy, hotels who only use booking sites that serve consumers in their home markets are severely limiting their revenue from online sources. Online booking sites are one of the most cost effective ways to access a global audience and SiteMinder is an industry leader in providing fast, reliable and cost effective channel management technology to easily manage your inventory across these sites. With a monthly investment that is less than the cost of an average room night, any property serious about distribution and participating in the explosion of bookings through online sources should be investigating SiteMinder as a channel management tool." - Mike Ford, Managing Director, SiteMinder

SiteMinder has aggressively expanded the list of connected channels over the 2009 year. For a list of some of SiteMinder's major participating channels see www.siteminder.com.au/siteminder/channelmanager.html

SiteMinder was founded in 2006 and now provides channel management services to nearly 3000 accommodation providers across the world.

For more information on Hotel.de, see:
www.hotel.de

For more information on HRS, see:
www.hrs.com

Leading international Channel Management company, SiteMinder, announced that it has completed a seamless 2-way connection to the Micros-Fidelio Opera Property Management System. The SiteMinder integration to Opera means that availability and pricing is distributed automatically to the major third party booking sites each time it changes in the Opera PMS. When bookings occur on any booking site, SiteMinder instantaneously and automatically captures the reservations directly into the Property Management System so that there is no need to re-key booking site reservation emails and faxes. The result is a seamless interaction between the property management system and the booking sites.

Mike Ford, Managing Director of SiteMinder says:"The benefits of our solution to the hotelier are significant. Firstly, more reliable inventory and pricing is posted to more online channels more frequently, which of course means higher booking revenue and fewer manual errors by staff in updating sites with incorrect availability and rates. Secondly, the need for staff to capture booking site reservation information into the property management system is eliminated, resulting in a highly streamlined business process, bringing online booking activity into the mainstream reservation process while reducing cost and effort. An added benefit is that Staff do not require training on a different product because everything is driven from the PMS that they are used to working with."

Christopher Lynch, Revenue and Distribution Manager for the Urban Hotel Group that are using the interface, had the following to say: "The team at SiteMinder have delivered a highly functional, reliable, and stable interface for the Urban Hotel Group which means we can use the Micros-Fidelio Opera PMS as our single pricing and inventory distribution tool. Rate changes and available room inventory upload seamlessly and reservations are delivered linked to the correct profile and rate information which gives us real time pickup and saves in labour previously required to enter these bookings."

SiteMinder has offered seamless Property Management System connectivity to leading booking sites for 2 years now, and has integrated several property management systems in that time, including Opera, Opera ORS, CMS Guest Centrix, RMS, Roonsoft, EzyRez, MotelMate with roomMaster and Softbrands Epitome currently in progress and due to be launched over the coming months.

For more information on The Urban Hotel Group, see:
www.hotelurban.com.au

For more information on SiteMinder's Partners, see:
www.siteminder.com.au/siteminder/partners.html

SiteMinder today announced the completion of direct connectivity to the Hotelbeds system, offering its customers the option of another major international online booking channel. The connection means that SiteMinder customers can now manage room availability and pricing on the Hotelbeds system directly from the single SiteMinder web interface, or directly from their property management system if the system is integrated with SiteMinder.

"Being connected to SiteMinder has made it possible for Hotelbeds to have access to much more product in Oceania to offer to our worldwide audience. Not only does it bring more accommodation properties, but also more room types, and best available rates on free-sell basis to offer to our global customers. For Hotelbeds' accommodation suppliers that means more exposure in the global markets through our extensive sales platform and channels of distribution.

Hotelbeds is a leading receptive and B2B provider of incoming travel services to over 1,200 travel organisers across more than 80 countries; hotel and accommodation suppliers working with Site Minder will benefit from the added value that Site Minder can bring by connecting with Hotelbeds." - Ann-Marie Kerry, Senior Contract Manager - Hotelbeds Accommodation & Destination Services

"For SiteMinder, the partnership with Hotelbeds is strategically important in that it further increases the strong lead in distribution options that SiteMinder offers over its local competitors. The Hotelbeds connection puts our customers rooms not only on booking site channels, but also directly in front of thousands of travel organisers and agencies. SiteMinder continues to seek out the optimum distribution choices for our customers, and this embodies connectivity to a combination of the direct online booking channel, 3rd party online booking sites as well as traditional travel agencies and wholesalers. SiteMinder is currently working very closely with global wholesalers to allow dynamic room availability management to these channels through its centralised platform, so watch this space." - Mike Ford, Managing Director, SiteMinder

For further information on SiteMinder products please contact:
Lisa Horne
Tel: 1300 736198
Email: lisa@siteminder.com.au

For further information on Hotelbeds please contact:
Anne-Marie Kerry
Tel: (+61) 07 3806 8881
Email: a.kerry@hotelbeds.com

Leading Channel Management technology provider SiteMinder has integrated to the TravelClick booking engine and GDS software platform, iHotelier. Accommodation providers are now able to update the iStay website booking engine through the SiteMinder Channel Management product just like any other connected booking channel. Through its open platform, SiteMinder strives to give Accommodation Providers choice of distribution from one easy to use web interface, including the ability to distribute rooms to online booking sites, wholesalers and the property's own website for direct bookings.

"While we have our own very successful booking engine for a property to use on their own website, we recognise that Accommodation Providers might choose various website booking engines for a host of reasons, and its vitally important for us to cater for this need in the market. Direct online bookings should be at the heart of every accommodation provider's online booking strategy, and is ignored to the detriment of many operators' bottom line. We bring that back into focus for our customers, pushing up to date availability and best available rates to their own websites as well as 3rd party booking sites, with tremendous results. Some operators are reporting that direct online bookings through their own websites are generating in the region of 30-40% of total booking revenue and we see that in our statistics" - Tobias Janiesch, Product Manager, SiteMinder

SiteMinder's range of connected online booking sites and other direct website booking engines can be viewed at our Partners page or for more information on upcoming integrations please contact us here.

SiteMinder today announced connectivity of its channel management platform to Rakuten, Japan's leading online booking site.

"We have just gone live with this connection, and already we have had very positive feedback from our customers regarding bookings coming through this channel. With the Rakuten partnership, SiteMinder continues to deliver on our commitment to our customers to put their rooms in front of consumers in every part of the world. The key benefit in listing with SiteMinder is not only the variety of sites and breadth of distribution we offer, but more importantly the relevance of the channels we offer in driving bookings." - Mike Ford, Managing Director, SiteMinder

"Now that our system is fully compatible with SiteMinder, hotels will be able to change the rates and availability more conveniently than ever before. We are hoping this will streamline the workflow for all those properties wanting to distribute their room availability and pricing on Rakuten." - Sayaka Iijima, Producer, Rakuten International Sales Dept.

Accommodation providers are now able to use SiteMinder's single web page interface to instantaneously update booking sites based all over the world including Australia, New Zealand, The United States, Europe, South East Asia and Japan.

SiteMinder, a leading provider of online distribution technology to the Australian and New Zealand accommodation markets, today announced the connection of a host of new distribution channels for its properties. The new online booking channels will allow SiteMinder's customers to enjoy exposure to a much wider range of local and international consumers.

The new connected sites include Orbitz, CentralR, LateRooms, Venere, Discover Australia, Discover West, GoGoGo, Jasons.

SiteMinder has established a development department solely dedicated to the connection of new online booking channels, giving SiteMinder the capability to continue the rapid roll out of many additional channel options for its customers over the coming months.

"We are entering an exciting phase for the company now as we rapidly roll out new online booking channels over our solid distribution architecture that has done such a good job for our customers over the last few years. Our customers can now avail themselves of the top performing sites locally and internationally, putting their property in front of millions of consumers globally, which is essential for gaining bookings and maintaining occupancy levels in this economic environment." - Mike Ford, Managing Director, SiteMinder

SiteMinder is proud to announce several new features recently released for TheBookingButton, SiteMinder's market leading commission free online booking facility for direct website bookings.

This release adds room level photograph control as well as Google Map features to enrich the booking experience, converting more website visits into actual bookings.

"Marketing your property online is crucial if you wish to remain competitive. You can no longer rely on enquiry forms and phone numbers. Today's consumer wants to book online and they want instant confirmation. Half the battle is getting the consumer to your website, the other half is getting the visitor to make a booking."

"Our latest offering ensures that the visitor to your property's website is engaged through rich information and graphics, as well as an easy booking experience that will boost your direct bookings." - Lisa Horne, Sales and Marketing Manager, SiteMinder

SiteMinder announced today that it has added Agoda.com to its rapidly expanding list of major international booking sites. SiteMinder aims to drive more and more bookings for its customers from the international inbound market, and the addition of leading high quality booking sites like Agoda.com, serve to further this goal.

"In these challenging times, accommodation operators need to take their online strategy extremely seriously. SiteMinder offers a fantastic platform for operators of all sizes and online ability, to access the major local and international online booking sites from 1 single web page. We are excited about the connection and rollout of Agoda.com, and the bookings we anticipate it will drive to our customers, particularly from the South East Asian region. The current economic climate makes access to more quality distribution sites like Agoda.com particularly relevant for our customers." - Mike Ford, Managing Director, SiteMinder

Wilfred Fan, Agoda.com's VP of Business Development says, "The partnership with SiteMinder is certainly beneficial for all parties involved. It adds value to the existing hotel using SiteMinder to generate bookings from Asian countries that is not easily accessible without the local service and marketing reach that Agoda is known for. It also provides Agoda a significant avenue to create partnerships with new hotels. We're expecting great returns from this collaboration"

SiteMinder is pleased to announce new distribution opportunities for our customers.

SiteMinder was recently certified by Booking.com as a connection partner, allowing SiteMinders customers to be exposed to overseas markets through one of Europe's largest online booking sites.

Local player Ubid4Rooms was also added as an opportunity for SiteMinder clients to be part of this unique bidding style booking site.

Our New Zealand customers will be pleased to know that there inventory can also be distributed to the New Zealand Tourism Online (NZTO) website through our new connection to Bookit. SiteMinder is more committed than ever to expanding our network rapidly and we expect to announce a new raft of sites shortly.

Rydges has adopted SiteMinder's market leading online distribution technology across all properties in the group. The move allows Rydges to increase their exposure to online distribution channels without having to manage the room inventory on the individual booking sites and dramatically reduces any chances of overbooking.

Unlike many of SiteMinder's competitors, SiteMinder has the ability to automatically reduce inventory across all booking sites as soon as a booking occurs on any online channel. This means that instead of having to manually split and manage inventory across sites, SiteMinder users can give a bulk allotment to all booking sites, maximising exposure, and be safe in the knowledge that SiteMinder will automatically manage inventory reduction across all sites.

SiteMinder today announced that it has added My Bookings™ by Entertainment™ to its growing list of distribution channels. My Bookings™ by Entertainment™ is the online accommodation service for hotels featured in the popular Entertainment™ Book (www.entertainmentbook.com.au). Entertainment™ Members receive exclusive rates when booking accommodation through the mybookings.com.au website.

SiteMinder today announced its new connection to Hotelclubs Flexnet. This connection, along with the existing Expedia and Travelocity connections, brings more global exposure into the SiteMinder fold and adds further opportunity for those SiteMinder customers that want to reach consumers across the world. HotelClub is another move by SiteMinder to provide a truly global distribution option for its customers. SiteMinder is committed to further enhancing its international online distribution options in the near future

In another industry first, SiteMinder has been fully integrated with the market leading RMS property management software, allowing RMS users to have their inventory AUTOMATICALLY distributed to a host of local and international online accommodation websites. SiteMinder's business is to provide properties with maximum online distribution with the minimum of effort, generating the maximum yield from online sources which is where the future of booking lies. RMS customers have their inventory automatically sent to all online websites whenever it is changed in the property management system, and whenever a booking is made on any third party site, that reservation is immediately dropped into the RMS property management system so it doesn't have to be recaptured by the property.

"SiteMinder and RMS have truly streamlined the distribution process demonstrating that 2 market leaders working together can provide the optimum technology solution." - Mike Ford, Managing Director SiteMinder

"We are delighted to be associated with SiteMinder in making this unique opportunity available to all accommodation providers. The feedback we are already receiving indicates that the simplicity and reliability of the integration between the two systems is revolutionising the day to day office practises of our joint customers." - Peter Buttigieg, Managing Director RMS

SiteMinder announced today that it has further strengthened its ties with Expedia, the major international online accommodation site. SiteMinder has successfully integrated to Expedias Quick Connect (EQC) system allowing dual way integration and real time distribution of SiteMinder allotments to Expedia. This move allows SiteMinder supplier properties to enjoy 10% commissions for 28 day bookings made locally on Expedia's website. The connection to Expedia is an important milestone in SiteMinder's strategy to increase local and international business for our properties from online sources.

Big4 Holiday parks recently announced the selection of SiteMinder as the Channel Manager of choice for the Big4 Holiday Park Group. After extensive analysis of competing products, Big4 concluded that SiteMinder best suited the needs of their properties and the group as a whole.

"This is very exciting for us, particularly given that Big4 undertook a rigorous evaluation of all available Channel Management products in the market. We are chuffed to have come out on top" - Mike Ford, Managing Director

SiteMinder is proud to announce selection by the HMAA as a preferred partner, and is the only Channel Manager in Australia to achieve this. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial association with the HMAA and their members.

SiteMinder has recently been named as a Best Western preferred supplier for online distribution channel management services and will be included in the next edition of the Best Western Best Buyers guide. We are very pleased with our association with the Best Western group and their endorsement of the SiteMinder product is further acknowledgement by the industry of the reputation for service and reliability that SiteMinder has earned itself in the marketplace over the last 18 months.

Not 1 Night (www.not1night.com.au) specialises in providing discount rates for the medium to long term stay and as such offers a unique distribution option for SiteMinder members. The addition of Not1Night further enhances SiteMinders distribution network and highlights SiteMinder's ongoing commitment to provide an increasing range of online inventory channels for its user base.

Mitchell Corp has selected SiteMinder to provide online distribution services to their large portfolio of New Zealand and Australian properties. SiteMinder will distribute real time allocation and pricing information directly from the Mitchell Corp central reservation system to the wide range of local and international online distribution channels that are available through the SiteMinder distribution system.

"Mitchell Corp is looking forward to a very successful partnership with SiteMinder. Both parties have no doubt this agreement will be hugely beneficial for increasing online sales and opening up new areas of distribution" says the IT Team at Mitchell Corp.

"The advantages of having one portal to update over a dozen top-ranking distribution channels are phenomenal, properties will now spend less time updating websites and have more time to focus on the traditional aspects of hotel operations."

Mitchell Corp is a network of over 200 properties across New Zealand and Australia, encompassing well known brands such as Golden Chain , Mainstay New Zealand Hotels and Oceana Apartments as well as Mainstay Hotels Australia. Based in Christchurch, New Zealand, with offices in Auckland, Melbourne, Chicago and London, Mitchell Corp has been operating in the tourism industry for 22 years and has very strong ties to the wholesale accommodation sector.

CEO Matt Standing had this to say - "With the current trends in global tourism it is highly important that we keep abreast with technological advancement and are constantly evolving by adding new channels of distribution to our network".

The deal is significant for SiteMinder which has recently entered the New Zealand market and is already providing real time distribution to hundreds of accommodation providers across Australia.

SiteMinder has launched its market leading online channel management technology in New Zealand. The SiteMinder offering in New Zealand is unparalleled, with live inventory being distributed to Travelbug, AA, Holiday Guide and Ezibed in addition to the wide array of International and Australian distribution channels already offered by SiteMinder.

"We believe that the SiteMinder offering in New Zealand meets a long awaited need for property operators giving them instant real time inventory distribution to high yielding local and international distribution channels. SiteMinder has the right technology set and distribution relationships to truly deliver bottom line benefit to property operators at extremely affordable prices." - Mike Ford, Managing Director.

Gold Coast based software company EzyRez, developer of the popular EzyRez property management system, has selected SiteMinder technology as the platform for their EzyChannel channel management offering. EzyRez's decision to select SiteMinder is testament to SiteMinder's solid technology & business reputation and positions EzyRez well to provide for its property customers as momentum picks up in the shift to a multitude of available online distribution channels.

"At EzyRez, we're committed to ensuring that our customers have access to the latest technology, without compromising on ease of use or customer service. EzyChannel powered by SiteMinder ticks all the boxes and is a valued addition to our suite of products" - says EzyRez managing director Justin Owen.

This latest move cements SiteMinder's position as a leader in its field and highlights its capability to provide plugin channel management services to a variety of systems. SiteMinder already provides channel management services to a host accommodation of system vendors, and continues to expand its base of connected systems.

SiteMinder is pleased to announce the addition of the Leisure Inns Group to its rapidly growing property portfolio. Leisure Inns is the latest in a series of property groups to adopt SiteMinder for seamless management of room inventory across online distribution channels. SiteMinder's superior technology, unmatched distribution options and aggressive pricing have seen it emerge as a leading manager of online room distribution in the Australian market and the selection of SiteMinder by expanding property groups like leisure Inns is testament to this.

SiteMinder is pleased to announce the addition of a new connection to Standby Rates and OKJack. The connection further expands SiteMinders broad range of distribution options and meets the needs of a large number of our clients who were already listed on Standby Rates.

SiteMinder has added the Globeres web reservation system to the list of booking sites to which it integrates. This will allow Globeres customers to use SiteMinder to maintain pricing and availability not only for third party booking sites, but also for their own websites

"We are excited about this development, as it enables SiteMinder to bring even more value to the property owner by further centralising their inventory and pricing management. We will continue to seek such relationships whereby SiteMinder can be added as a complimentary product to existing web booking system offerings. Integrating to systems like Globeres brings us closer to achieving our goal of bringing affordable technology and distribution options to smaller and independent accommodation providers" - Mike Ford, Managing Director