BECAUSE THE REQUIREMENTS of serviced apartment bookers are so disparate, there has never been a dedicated booking and estate management tool for the industry. However, City Quarters built bespoke technology and then set up Res:harmonics to develop and market it to the industry. “We built it from the perspective of running a serviced apartment company, taking account of the entire operational process, the finance side and business information reporting,” says City Quarters’ managing director Giles Horwitch-Smith. Other providers have also created programmes. Citybase Connect is an application programming interface (API) that gives travel management companies (TMCs), hotel booking agencies and corporate travel departments real-time availability and instant booking of serviced apartments through their existing systems, ensuring capture of all management information. “We
are in advanced discussions with a global TMC to go live in October,” says director of business partnerships Richard Lovelock. “That integration means travel buyers do not have to book outside their programme – it will provide the same process and data management as booking a hotel.” Skyline Worldwide’s recently
launched Skylinc allows users to log in and book an apartment anywhere in the world from their desktop, with guaranteed 24-hour response that includes price, availability and the option to ‘pay now’. Travel managers can use the tool to generate a variety of reports. And this autumn, TAS is introducing a two-way online enquiry management system. “The new feature allows users to key in what they are looking for and see live availability and updates on best available rate changes, right up to the time of booking,” says TAS’s Charles McCrow. Also developing online services is Go Native, which plans to move
more expect
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from offline to online booking in Q4 of this year. “The first phase will allow automated booking of our own serviced apartments and in 2013, we will deliver an end-to- end online booking process that includes accommodation beyond our portfolio.” says sales and marketing director Ben Harper. “Key to our proposition is the scale and reach of the network we offer – the value we will give corporates is the best stock at the best rates and in one portal.” He adds: “Our established TMC partners are interested in these developments, but the challenge is their ability and appetite to deliver this outside the GDS.” ■