Wyndham Hotel Group has announced several new initiatives designed to drive more direct business to hotels: WynReview and MyRequest, new online management tools, as well as new mobile websites for its hotel brands.
The WynReview resource will be provided free to franchisees and will help them manage consumer reviews not only on TripAdvisor but across major Online Travel Agency (OTA) sites. WynReview will help property owners and managers better understand and measure the social feedback that exists about their properties and enable them to benchmark their hotels against their competitors.
Wyndham Hotel Group also announced the launch of mobile sites that will help to capture more same-day bookings while providing easy-to-use mobile interfaces to consumers. Each mobile site is built specifically for smartphone devices and designed to complement the unique look and feel of each brand while requiring less clicks. The sites will feature TripAdvisor ratings and an express book feature to be launched in May.
In the next few months, Wyndham Hotel Group will introduce free mobile apps for its Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Days Inn and Super 8 brands that will be available on both Android and Apple operating systems. Mobile apps for the remaining brands in Wyndham Hotel Group’s portfolio as well as tablet apps will be released throughout the year.
“It’s important that our brands have the bandwidth to reach customers where they are as they travel and make last-minute decisions about where to book,” said Danziger. “Consumers booked close to $3 billion in travel from their mobile devices last year. That’s why we developed mobile solutions that complement the brand experience, engage our consumers and drive direct bookings.”
In addition, the company is one of the six founders of Room Key www.roomkey.com, a hotel search engine launched in January. Room Key was developed to provide the simplicity, transparency and breath of choice consumers have come to expect from a search engine, while delivering the flexibility, accuracy and assurance consumers have long enjoyed from hoteliers.