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Better Hotel Marketing Can Win You More Group Business – Part 2

This is a continuation of our 2-part article series on hotel marketing for groups. In this article, we focus on best practices for promoting need dates and incentives for meetings and event booking. For part 1, where we cover creating group-focused content, click here.

Part 2: Promoting Need Dates & Incentives

Attract planners through need dates and incentives

Long gone are the days when hotels would prepare and send an email to a customer with their need dates and incentives. The outreach only worked if you happened to get lucky that it arrived when the customer was actively searching for a hotel over that set of dates.

The lacking element for hoteliers in the approach above…a high quantity of those with booking intent.

Rather than relying on the hope, hoteliers are in continual need of a designated online marketplace that focuses only on group, meeting and event booking. A marketplace where need dates can quickly and easily be promoted to those with high booking intent in your market.

GroupSync can help your hotel capitalize on promotions and monetize low-occupancy periods. These special offers are targeted, as GroupSync displays your available incentives to planners sourcing in your market and with matching event dates.

Best part is, hoteliers that market on GroupSync see more booking activity–

up to 30-40% more.

Best practices: need dates

A need date is a window of up to five days in which your hotel has a down pattern or inventory anomaly. By entering a need date, you simply agree to offer 10% off the GroupSync Market Estimate over the selected date range.

- Identify need dates in both the current and subsequent calendar years. These are often your slow or shoulder seasons, group cancellations or unexpected low demand.
- Optimize the visibility of need dates by extending the Publish dates, as planners are less likely to be sourcing at certain times of the year, such as holidays and late summer.
- Extend, modify or cancel an offer easily and immediately based on your in-house needs.

You may not want to use need dates for weekends, as the entire market may have a decline in occupancy. For slow weekends, create a promotion instead and list available dates in GroupSync. Each hotel can enter up to 20 concurrent need dates.

Best practices: incentives

GroupSync can help you win new business without a significant investment of time. You make updates to your incentives and promotions and monitor your progress in as little as an hour a month.

- Make promotions available across a broad spectrum of your desired booking window, whether that’s in the year, for the year or as far out as you desire, if your hotel has that demand.
- Increase the effectiveness of your promotions by extending the Publish and Event dates.
- Let a planner choose their incentive: “Pick Your Perks” is a great way to add flexibility. Perks may include room rate or A/V discounts, bonus points, free parking, free coffee stations or complimentary room nights.
- Don’t list dates when your hotel will be busy so that your promotion won’t be visible during those periods. Just enter the available dates as separate event dates when you create your promotion.

Each hotel can post up to five concurrent promotions. Understand your hotel’s booking window to be sure to get the most out of your promotions. No other platform makes it as easy and effective to display your incentives and need dates to the right buyers at the right time.

Market to the most relevant groups and programs

GroupSync doesn’t offer paid placements for a reason. While paid placements can position hotels favorably in search results, we believe an unbiased booking platform offers a better experience for all. GroupSync has been designed to pair meeting and event professionals with best-fit hotels that can accommodate their group. The algorithms weed out properties without enough rooms, as well as hotels that don’t have the needed venue square footage. As a hotelier, you receive fewer irrelevant proposal requests which can save you a lot of time.

Additionally, you’re not offering incentives and need dates that might be irrelevant to the planner searching and sourcing in a certain market for certain event dates. You’re receiving leads for dates that you need, and planners have the opportunity to save money. Best part is, hoteliers that market on GroupSync see more booking activity—up to 30-40% more.

Gain an advantage with GroupSync

Just like a gym membership, you get results when you put in the time. Make the most of your GroupSync presence by using all the available features to strengthen your online presence and attract the right group business to your property.

There are more than 200,000 properties in GroupSync Marketplace. Your hotel may be a great match for a group travel organizer or meeting planner, but many other hotels could be too.

Question is, will yours stand out enough to be considered?

This completes our article series. For more info on GroupSync, options to enhance your property’s profile, or to see what your current GroupSync profile looks like, connect with us here.

Click the following to read part 1 of our article series, ‘[Group] Content is King.’

Better Hotel Marketing Can Win You More Group Business – Part 1

Part 1: [Group] Content is King

Let’s say you go to your favorite online store to buy something new. You expect to have several options to choose from and you’re trying to find the best option that fits exactly what you need, at the best price.

Now imagine you’re presented with several product options…some have plenty of details, images and specifications to make an informed purchase decision, while others have limited details that would require you to spend more time researching to verify if it’s what you want.

Since you have several options to choose from, you don’t want to spend a lot of time researching or validating purchase options—which one do you consider?

The same concept applies to your hotel’s online presence for groups. How thorough are your property details compared to other hotels in your market? Are you presenting yourself in the best light for groups and planners to make a well-informed decision, fast?

And, is your hotel showcasing its details in the right places? It’s all about where you can attract group audiences that have a high level of intent, otherwise you could be wasting time, effort and money.

Digital marketing can be a difficult and expensive investment for hoteliers endeavoring to stand out from their comp set. Ideally, you’ll want a way to grab meeting planners’ attention as they’re searching and sourcing hotels for their next program.

Online ads and paid placements in e-RFP systems are often a crapshoot, often resulting in an influx of RFPs for planners whose programs aren’t a good fit for your hotel—wasting your and the planner’s time in the process.

So what does a hotelier do?

In part 1 of this article series, we dive into hotel marketing for those targeting the revenue-generating group and event business. The group travel industry is evolving, and thankfully, so has the way we market to and book groups, meetings and events. Consider these tips and best practices to help shine a brighter spotlight on your hotel for group audiences.

Marketing to groups is evolving, here’s how to stay ahead

A shameless but sincere plug

If you haven’t heard, GroupSync is quickly becoming the leading online hotel marketplace for searching, sourcing and booking hotels for groups. It’s designed to help planners find and book the best fit hotels for their programs, while reducing sourcing complexity for both the planner and hotelier.

To help hoteliers get the most out of GroupSync, there’s unique options that allow hotels to go beyond the basic and customize their GroupSync presence by offering need dates and incentives to planners as they search hotels. Hoteliers can also control their profile page by adding extensive, group-centric property details—such as taxes and fees, buyout opportunities, facility guides, restaurant menus and more.

While we may be biased in how great GroupSync is, the fact remains that it’s a game-changer for the way groups, meetings and events (large and small) are booked. And we’re just as surprised as you to see it take this long to become a reality—a solution to a decades-long industry problem.

The question is, how do hoteliers evolve as well, and what steps can they take to not only make more sales, but do so more efficiently?

High-quality, group-centric content

The adage “content is king” is just as relevant to hotel marketing as it is to other companies’ efforts to promote their products and services. You’re selling yourself in a hotel marketplace chock full of competition.

So how do you stand out? The key to effective online hotel marketing is being where your audience spends their time, while putting your best foot forward with high-quality content that presents your hotel as an ideal option for groups.

Most hotels provide their basic information through Northstar Travel Group or their brand’s property management system. These databases then serve up the content to leisure travel websites and e-RFP distribution systems. The same content is viewed by many different types of buyers, from meeting and event planners to individuals going on vacation. The details being marketed may not resonate with a meeting planner if they’re family leisure-centric and vice versa. Details and relevancy matters—hoteliers will want to present the appropriate content to the appropriate customer, at the ideal time.

If hoteliers have the opportunity to take control and customize their content, they can provide curated details to their intended planner and group audiences. Whether your content is under your direct control or managed through your hotel brand’s property management systems, creating a strong, relevant online presence is key to maximizing your visibility and attractiveness online.

Groups and planners need relevant hotel details

By providing thorough information about your hotel, you’ll not only increase your opportunities to bid on business, but you’ll also provide a better booking experience, for you and your customer.

If your hotel details are informative and readily available to a planner, you save time by reducing the amount of back-and-forth communication. A planner can make an informed decision, and you have more time to attend to the business of the day.

Tell an accurate and better group story

As an example, GroupSync receives its hotel content from Northstar Travel Group. While the information provided is enough to help planners as they source properties, many basic hotel profiles may not contain the deeper, specific details or documentation that helps planners make decisions easily and quickly. While savvy hoteliers see GroupSync marketplace as an opportunity to make a great impression and attract more business.

Here are ways to strengthen your profile with differentiating details that influence the decision-making process.

- Make sure your property information is accurate and up to date, whether directly on GroupSync or through your brand’s property management system. GroupSync is integrated with these systems and updates hotel profiles on the platform daily.
- Create a description of your hotel that’s directed toward planners and groups.
- Upload materials into GroupSync that demonstrate creative ways a planner can host events at your facilities.
- Include sales brochures, facility guides, floor plans, restaurant and banquet menus and other materials that illustrate what makes your property unique.
- Outline your various taxes and fees so a planner has a full picture of possible costs.
- Display a complete list of your meeting spaces along with their square footage.

Use any sort of documentation to spark a planner’s interest in your property as long as it doesn’t include a list of competing hotels, such as a Convention & Visitors Bureau guide. Save promotional or time-sensitive information for your hotel profile’s Offers section in GroupSync.

Add and manage group-centric property images

GroupSync offers the option to add an unlimited number of pictures to enhance your profile, which you can reorder by priority. These options vary according to your hotel brand’s property management system.

Consider what a meeting planner needs and wants. Hint: It’s probably not the same sleeping room shot from 10 angles nor a photo of kids splashing in the hotel pool.

- Upload photos that capture attention and illustrate how your hotel benefits groups, such as an exterior shot, the hotel lobby, a sample sleeping room, indoor and outdoor meeting space, your fitness area, the business services center and a selection of successful group events.
- If possible, arrange images in the order you would want the planner to see your hotel.
- Tag each image according to content—buyers can filter properties based on these identifiers, such as #meetingspace, #outdoorfunction, #recreationarea, #groupactivity, #teambuilding and other group-specific tags.

Highlight your hotel’s upgrades and renovations

If your hotel has been around for a while, planners want to know the last time you refreshed the property. Within GroupSync, you can note recent or upcoming renovations and upgrades.

- List the dates your hotel last renovated sleeping rooms or meeting space.
- Note any planned renovations to entice buyers sourcing for future dates.

Describe upgrades the way you would during a site visit to demonstrate the benefit for a group, such as “You can buy out the newly added bocce court for team building or after-hours events.”

More business for less

Hotels of all sizes are having to do more with less. But smaller hotels are especially burdened by the vast quantity of RFPs for simpler meetings. The more information you make available the less back-and-forth between you and the planner.

You can’t tell a customer often enough how great your hotel is and what you have to offer.

An enhanced GroupSync hotel profile not only provides upfront information for planners searching and sourcing properties but also allows you to include it again in your response to their RFPs.

This completes part 1 of our 2-part article series. For more info on GroupSync, options to enhance your property’s profile, or to see what your current GroupSync profile looks like, connect with us here.

Click the following to read part 2 of our article series, ‘Promoting Need Dates and Incentives’.

More intention, less waste—is it time to rethink event swag?

How many among us hear the word “swag” without thinking of Michael Scott from The Office?

It’s admittedly fun to leave a trade show loaded down with free merchandise. Drawstring bag? Yes, please.

“I keep them in so many random places for when I need to pop into the shop,” said editor and writing coach Elisa Doucette.

But as an element of your marketing efforts, not to mention your budget, just how valuable is it?

The disposability of conference swag—a multi-billion-dollar industry—makes it clear that the research, branding, ordering, delivery, etc. of this event element is a wasted effort. That is, if you’re opting to distribute the wrong sort of swag.

What’s the right kind of swag? We’ll get there. But first, let’s talk about if it’s even worth it.

Does swag make an impact?

On the one hand, yes, in that it increases your brand’s visibility and offers a little dopamine spike (everyone loves a freebie).

But that’s mostly anecdotal. Here’s why:

What is swag’s ROI?

None of the companies we spoke with measured event swag ROI. That can be concerning for ROI-numbers-loving leadership, but these organizations were mostly unphased. The general attitude we encountered is “This is how we’ve always been doing it.”

“We don’t really measure the ROI,” said Kelvin Newman, founder and managing director of Rough Agenda. “It’s mostly a perk of certain event tickets, so effectively they’re paid for rather than a true freebie. It’s less of a reason people buy that ticket type, but it’s a nice perk and is a memorable way for us to get across our brand.”

And while these freebies are designed to attract attention—what’s that logo? what’s the company name say?—“they come with strings attached,” said Christiaan Huynen, CEO and founder at DesignBro.com.

“The goal of the freebies is to get people that use the merch to be living advertisements and unconsciously influence others to be curious about your brand,” Huynen said.

What percentage of an event’s budget is devoted to swag?

For the broad category of “merch,” Newman said, he spends about 5% of an event’s total budget.

Bethan Vincent, founder of Open Velocity and a marketing consultant who focuses on clients in the tech space, said 10-20% of an event’s cost is allocated to promotional items.

“[We] advise clients that quality over quantity goes a long way,” she said.

In full disclosure, Groups360 is on the swag train, too.

“We distribute swag at shows, typically for high-value conversion actions such as attending a demo—so there is an ROI measuring component. And it’s often higher quality, multipurpose, or useable well after the show,” said marketing director Brett Raymond.

When we talk “quality,” we mean items like tumblers or AirTags instead of a cheap plastic keychain or branded hat no one will wear.

What’s the environmental impact of swag?

Most plastic, even that which people attempt to recycle, goes to a landfill. There are more Earth-friendly swag options out there than plastic or one-use items. (We talk about some of the ways to reduce event waste here.)

“A lot of my clients are now questioning the providence and sustainability of the swag they order for events, conferences, and employees,” said Vincent. “I’ve seen a marked shift away from plastic items and a considered move to locally produced, recycled, or recyclable options. I think there’s also a recognition that providing seemingly sustainable options such as branded water bottles are still contributing to the plastic problem. Clients are now really looking at every aspect of sustainability and making purchase decisions accordingly.”

Sustainable merchandise can hang around for longer to work its advertising magic, but Huynen said it’s only a good option if the company can afford it.

So … yes or no to swag?

The bottom line: swag isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. But where you can create a more valuable merchandising experience is by going from:

Cheap → sustainable

Swag for swag’s sake → intentional

Marketing should be intentional and authentic for a lasting effect, not performative or “because we should.” Post-pandemic, the type of promotional product needed to shift. It didn’t make sense to give out reusable travel coffee containers when everyone was drinking coffee from their home office. We started to see more branded face masks and hand sanitizers.

“Tying swag to intention is everything,” said Kate Bradley Chernis, founder and CEO of Lately, an AI social post generator. Trade show attendees should draw meaning from the swag they pick up.

“Hate to break it to you, but I need someone else’s logo on a t-shirt like I need a hole in my head. Don’t forget: merch done well isn’t about you. It’s about me. What will make me lean forward, go woweeeee, snap a picture and share the living buhjeezus out of it? That’s your end game. Back into it.”

Mic drop.

Marriott International launches online Instant Booking for groups and events

The newest announcement and partnership between Marriott International and Groups360 include the launch of Instant Booking for Marriott’s portfolio of hotels across the United States and Canada.

Exciting news for the group travel industry. Today, Marriott becomes the first brand to use GroupSync’s Instant Booking functionality for both room blocks and meeting space at scale, providing planners with a streamlined booking process at the click of a button.

With this launch, GroupSync™—Groups360’s flagship product—can now deliver real-time rates, availability, and online instant booking options for groups. meetings and events at Marriott properties throughout the United States and Canada.

Along with the visibility of real-time pricing and availability, meeting organizers can also book meeting room equipment, audio/visual, and purchase food & beverage for their events within the same booking transaction. With a seamless and personalized experience, GroupSync turns hotel booking for groups into a shopping experience.

GroupSync turns hotel booking for groups into a shopping experience

To make true instant booking happen requires a direct integration of systems—one that provides us with the real-time rate and availability data needed for Instant Booking. The benefits of this integration are felt throughout GroupSync, not only making Instant Booking a reality, but it also makes the integrated RFP process smarter.

It’s a major win for group travel and meeting planners. This direct integration between Marriott systems and GroupSync provides immediate, actionable data during the early stages of the hotel sourcing process without having to submit an RFP.

Having this type of access to rates and availability offers a level of transparency never seen before in the industry. The ability for group organizers and planners to have this data during the sourcing process, without submitting an RFP or contacting a hotel, is revolutionary—and makes GroupSync the quickest and easiest way for group travel planners to book any size group at a Marriott property.

“This offers our group customers what they have told us they are looking for — a much more seamless and efficient booking experience,” said Drew Pinto, Global Officer, Global Sales, Distribution and Revenue Management, Marriott International. “Our industry-leading integration with Groups360 will also allow all Marriott hotels globally to receive and respond to RFPs quickly and efficiently through a two-way response process. This will be a win-win for both planners and hotels.”

“Their involvement is a testament to the commitment to reduce friction in group travel planning and help hoteliers, like Marriott, enhance their customer relationships,” said Kemp Gallineau, CEO, Groups360. “With the addition of Marriott International, we anticipate that over 20,000 leading hotel properties will be equipped to offer online group booking in the months ahead.”

Along with Marriott International, GroupSync’s marketplace includes brands and independent hotels from all around the world. Nearly 200,000 properties can be booked via GroupSync’s Smart RFP, and of those hotels, we’re approaching 20,000 globally that offer Instant Booking options for rooms, meeting space or both.

To kick things off, Marriott is celebrating this launch by giving away 1 million Marriott Bonvoy® points with the Plan to Win Giveaway. To enter, simply book a Marriott property on GroupSync. Use Instant Booking for a chance to win 30,000 points or book via GroupSync’s Smart RFP for a chance to win 20,000 points—choose from any of Marriott’s 30 hotel brands.

For group organizers and planners new to GroupSync, click here to get more details and to get a free GroupSync account.

Existing GroupSync account holders can view the Plan to Win Giveaway details and official rules here.

It’s finally here: Instant booking for groups

As published in BizBash

Discover the industry’s first integrated online booking platform for real-time group hotel rates and availability

Planners have long been frustrated with the absence of transparency in rates and availability when sourcing for their programs. The lack of sufficient data to make informed decisions results in the need to send out dozens of RFPs just to secure initial information from prospective hotels.

In 2020, when Groups360 asked thousands of meeting planners if they could wave a magic wand and conjure anything they wanted from a sourcing platform, these professionals said they wanted access to more information and the autonomy to book on their own.

Technology that facilitates online purchases has been part of our everyday lives for decades. We can now buy everything from clothing to groceries to cars—and even houses—online.

But when event planners start their sourcing process, they find themselves working a process that hasn’t changed in decades.

Leisure travelers don’t have to make phone calls and send emails when planning their vacations. They can book flights, rental cars, and hotel rooms online quickly and easily. So why has it taken so long to be able to book group rooms and space online?

The missing key to unlocking this capability has been systems integration.

Though other meeting and events platforms may claim to offer instant booking for groups, GroupSync is the only truly integrated platform that facilitates group hotel booking at scale, globally.

Here’s why that matters when you’re seeking to book meetings online:

An Outdated Industry Paradigm

Hotels and technology companies have previously attempted to create systems that would facilitate online group bookings. A key flaw in these platforms was the lack of integration into the hotels’ reservations and property management systems.

These online booking platforms instead relied on individuals at participating hotels to upload—and maintain—their rates and room availability. This time-consuming process resulted in either a lack of adoption or inconsistent, often outdated data.

Without inventory, an instant booking system is like a brand-new grocery store with no products on the shelves.

For years, only global distribution systems (GDSs)—such as Amadeus or SABRE—have provided real-time access to hotel rooms. GDS technology gives online travel agencies (OTAs) access to inventory such as flights, hotels, and rental cars. Travelers love OTAs for conveniently showing multiple hotel options and room rates in one place.

The well-known limitation of an OTA, however, is the inability to book more than nine rooms at a time. Not only are planners restricted from securing enough rooms for their groups on an OTA, but they also don’t have access to group room rates.

That’s why room blocks have required RFPs, oftentimes just to get initial information like rates and availability. It’s an old industry paradigm that doesn’t allow planners to buy the way they want to buy.

Planners should have the ability to decide whether they want rooms, space, or both while reducing unnecessary steps such as sending an RFP just to confirm rates and availability.

True Integration for Instant Group Booking

The world’s leading hotel brands—Marriott, Hilton, IHG, and Accor—along with other partners have invested $85 million into Groups360 to date to collaborate on an effective solution to this longstanding problem. The result is GroupSync.

What sets GroupSync apart is its direct integration into hotel reservation systems and property management systems to offer real-time rates and availability for group room blocks and meeting space, as well as ancillary services such as catering and AV.

While other meeting and events companies may tout an ability to book group rooms online, they may simply be pulling disparate bookings from a GDS. The only way to offer true rates and availability, as well as the ability to purchase online in a single transaction, is to book through a fully integrated platform.

A More Efficient Planning Process

As the hospitality industry rebounds from the effects of the pandemic, smaller meetings make up the bulk of in-person meetings and events. Many planners are currently juggling the logistics of multiple smaller meetings that have taken the place of larger gatherings. But searching and sourcing for a simple meeting can take just as much time as a larger event does.

More than ever, meeting planners need an efficient way to organize these small programs—and hotels need a less complicated and time-consuming way to sell their rooms and space.

GroupSync Instant Booking currently connects you to live room inventory at over 7,000 leading hotels—including Hilton and Omni—as well as a growing number of IHG properties. GroupSync is also the booking engine behind Hilton’s meetings and events website.

More and more hotel brands such as Marriott, Accor, and other independent properties are connecting their inventory to GroupSync and publishing their real-time rates and availability. With GroupSync, you will soon have access to several million rooms, as well as meeting space at thousands of properties in the coming months.

GroupSync’s search algorithms produce customized results at a glance that show which of the preselected hotels offer Instant Booking.

For larger events that require customized proposals, GroupSync Instant Booking provides access to real-time group rates and availability so you can know before submitting your RFP whether a hotel can accommodate your room block. Thanks to better, more complete data, you can send an informed RFP to a shortlist of hotels that are a good fit for your program.

Instant online booking is also ideal when you need to see if a hotel has immediate availability for short-term bookings.

Book Your Next Meeting Online

Through GroupSync, hotels benefit from a streamlined sales process, and planners benefit from immediate insights into essential data along with the option to secure rooms and space in a single online transaction.

Buy the way you want to buy through a process as intuitive as shopping at your favorite online retailer. With the time saved, you can focus on creating an ideal experience for your attendees and guests.

Get started with your free GroupSync account.

3 ways GroupSync is better than other group booking systems

From the start of GroupSync, our goal has been to bring simple and transparent solutions to booking group travel. Through our technology, we’re helping our customers save time, build trust, and accelerate revenue.

But, hey, we get it…change is hard.

The presence of technology and stylized new software has us constantly adapting for convenience. It’s formed a habitual, first thought: “Is this worth the time it takes to learn something new?”

With GroupSync, you have a better way to source and book hotels for groups, and an opportunity to experience simplicity in an overcomplicated process.

So, why stay in the lengthy cycle of antiquated methods?

Look at it this way: We aren’t changing your process, we’re improving it.

GroupSync exists to facilitate an easier experience for both group organizers and hoteliers. So, we’re explaining — directly, simply, and transparently — the top 3 ways we are better for your business and different from our competitors.

Book hotels at the best group rates – try GroupSync™ now for free >>

1. No Paid Placements

It’s both lucrative and widely known for advertisers to bid payments on a search engine with their brand predominantly displayed among the results of a keyword search.

Some legacy systems promote a ‘pay-to-play’ system where hoteliers can buy the opportunity to show up high on search results, regardless of how irrelevant they are to a group need or event.

And while this approach may be favored by hoteliers, we’ve always felt that they’re a source of friction in the group booking process and typically end up wasting more of an organizer’s time.

As a result, GroupSync has always been an advocate of no paid placements.

What that means for group organizers and meeting planners:

We position properties that are useful and relevant to your program needs according to your search criteria. With a trusted search, your results fit your search, with zero bias, and no distractions.

We don’t waste your time with irrelevant results. You can choose to filter for specific hotels, but we don’t decide that for you. You are in control of your search journey with access to the most robust data content and information for everyone.

What that means for hoteliers:

Paid placement simply puts you in front of the current customer, not the customer searching for you. Hoteliers are paying a lot of money to show up on an irrelevant search. Those marketing dollars don’t pay to narrow down the relevancy for guests to find you.

Our take: Don’t waste time or marketing dollars on clients that don’t match the accommodations you can provide.

GroupSync employs equal opportunity for both small boutiques and large hotels. All hoteliers have the same access to reach and book relevant group customers, which means all properties on GroupSync are on a level playing field where the best fit and deal win.

2. Instant Booking

We’ve created the first distribution channel to offer real-time group rates and immediate booking availability for both room blocks and meeting space at scale. This key data is imported directly from the hotel into GroupSync. It’s not scraped from other online sources, nor does it come from the Global Distribution Service (GDS) feed for online travel agents—you’re getting the best available group rates and live inventory direct from hotels.

And our lineup of participating hotels is constantly growing — to more than 20k properties in 2023! GroupSync’s Instant Booking is quickly becoming a new norm for group travel.

What that means for group travel organizers and meeting planners:

Immediate booking, real-time rates, and availability. Find properties with Instant Booking options from your search results, “add to cart”, and book your room block. Weeks of work can be done in minutes by skipping the typical RFP process and avoiding the back and forth with hotels.

Group hotel booking in a single online transaction; it’s really that simple.

What that means for hoteliers:

Instant booking and the ability for planners to get real-time rates and availability provide you with a 24/7, 365 online sales engine. Group bookings can be made around the clock, without the spent resources typically used on the RFP process.

You’re also able to offer add-on purchases such as A/V equipment and food & beverage services.

By offering Instant Booking, you’re able to move the smaller group stays and meeting sales online, freeing up resources and time while creating a better customer experience for all.

3. GroupSync is Free!

Yes, really.

Other legacy software will cost you money, while general search engines like Google will cost you valuable time. With GroupSync, you can book properties, via RFP or Instant Booking, at no cost to you.

What it means for group travel organizers and meeting planners:

Free to search over 200,000 properties worldwide. Free to book your group programs. Free to send and receive any number of RFPs. Free to utilize for all your programs.

Find the properties you need, when you need them, all in one place, at no cost to you.

No hidden fees. No fine print.

We promise.

What it means for hoteliers:

Good news, your basic hotel profile is free, making your hotel visible to group travel organizers and planners 24/7, 365.

You’ll even receive RFPs from GroupSync for free.

Not only does GroupSync increase visibility through user discovery, but it also has the potential to increase direct bookings and brand awareness.

If that sounds like free marketing, it’s because it is.

We’re helping groups, planners and hoteliers improve the way they do business—all while building the future of group travel.

Learn more about GroupSync for group travel organizers>
Learn more about GroupSync for hoteliers>

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