Radisson Hotel Group has launched its new multibrand and mobile-first global website, RadissonHotels.com, which also serves as the platform for Radisson Rewards members. Complementing the revamped site is the Radisson Hotels app, which will be available by the end of this month.
The enhanced RadissonHotels.com allows guests and loyalty members to explore the group’s portfolio of more than 1,100 hotels. For both new and existing Radisson Rewards members, RadissonHotels.com and the Radisson Hotels app will deliver a personalized digital experience, the company reports. With its intuitive user interface, the website and the app will be the main hubs for earning, viewing and redeeming points.
“The launch of RadissonHotels.com is a key milestone on our journey toward the top. Having one single touchpoint for all our brands will strongly enhance the user experience and drive [search engine optimization] value,” Eric De Neef, EVP/global chief commercial officer, Radisson Hotel Group, said in a statement. “RadissonHotels.com is a core commercial initiative of our five-year operating plan, which is transforming our business and aiming to make Radisson Hotel Group the company of choice for guests, owners and talent.”
The enhanced site integrates the previous single-brand websites, allowing for one comprehensive and user-friendly platform. It showcases every property from across Radisson Hotel Group’s seven brands—Radisson Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson Red, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson and Country Inn & Suites by Radisson—as well as the art’otel brand managed by the company’s strategic partner PPHE Hotel Group.
The full website initially will be available in English, Arabic, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish and Swedish. Additional language support will be brought online progressively, allowing as many guests and members as possible to access RadissonHotels.com in their native language.
The RadissonHotels.com website is the focal point of the group’s new multibrand approach to hospitality, arriving under the name of Radisson Hotels. The new booking platform encourages visitors to easily join the Radisson Rewards loyalty program and benefit from members-only rates, giving them the opportunity to save up to 10 percent on upcoming stays. By booking with a special rate, members are guaranteed to get the best online rate.
The group also is launching its new Radisson Hotels app. The app makes it simple for mobile users to search, choose and book their hotel in just a few taps. In case of questions, the click-to-call functionality allows users to easily get in touch with the central reservation teams. The app also features a credit card scanner, providing the most convenient and secure way to complete a booking.
The native Radisson Hotels app has been developed for Android and iOS devices, and will be available globally on Google Play and the App Store.
The launch of RadissonHotels.com and the app serves as a milestone in a new digital era for Radisson Hotel Group, according to the company, and a key element of its global five-year operating plan, which is in year two. The group updated its plan at its Radisson Hotel Group Americas Business Conference in April in Miami. Hotels have recently made the direct bookings push with much success, according to a Kalibri Labs report released earlier this year. The Kalibri Labs’ report, updated from 2017 and titled “Book Direct Campaigns 2.0: The Costs and Benefits of Loyalty in 2018,” found hotel companies’ initial campaigns to attract loyalty members and drive direct bookings over a period from January 2016 through August 2018 have either stabilized or strengthened the growth rate of bookings via proprietary hotel company websites—the so-called Brand.com sites—primarily by growing loyalty programs.
Meanwhile, bookings growth for online travel agencies during this period either held steady or decelerated, signaling a shift for the hotel industry.
In addition to the new technology, Radisson is focusing on collaboration to spur online bookings. Since Jin Jiang International acquired a majority stake in Radisson Hotel Group last year, Radisson Rewards has been working with the former’s booking platform WeHotel and loyalty program WeHotel Prime.
Fifty-three Radisson Hotel Group properties became bookable on WeHotel June 30, with more than 1,100 hotels to follow by year's end. Additionally, Radisson Rewards and WeHotel Prime are working together to offer localized in-hotel benefits to members of both programs.
Radisson Rewards members can receive localized WeHotel Prime benefits when staying at Radisson properties in China. This is on top of the Radisson Rewards points and qualifying nights they earn for staying at a Radisson hotel.
Late last year, a consortium led by Shanghai's Jin Jiang and private equity fund Sino-Cee Fund entered into an agreement with Radisson Hospitality and HNA Sweden Hospitality Management AB—an indirectly wholly owned subsidiary of HNA Tourism Group—to acquire 50.21 percent of Radisson's shares. The acquisition was facilitated through Aplite Holdings AB, with 87,552,187 shares trading to the consortium for 35 Swedish Crowns per share, or US$3.86.