Apartments Industry Report 2011- 12, produced by The Apartment Service (TAS), finds that 28 per cent of operators worldwide and 40 per cent in Europe quote product inconsistencies as one of the problems they face.
“The interesting part is when you
get one company acting as both agent and operator,” says TAS managing director Charles McCrow. “Some agent/operators like ourselves, SACO, Bridgestreet and Oakwood manage regular clients’ accommodation needs, whether it is property from ‘own stock’ or via third party providers – the main advantage being that the client company gets one bill and consistent service levels, as well as one point of contact for all issues. And some, like TAS and
Go Native, will go out and source new accommodation options from the residential pool and package up the services like cleaning, laundry, utilities and media, as well as council tax, to produce one inclusive price for the accommodation unit. Neither pure agents nor operators do this because they do not have furnishing, laundry and logistics capabilities for maintenance or cleaning services to deliver it.” SACO operates owned apartments across 31 UK locations and as an agent, draws its worldwide inventory from other apartment operators. “From the customer’s perspective, this means we offer a single point of booking contact for their apartment
requirements, regardless of location,” says SACO sales director Jo Redman. “We work hard to ensure a minimum standard of service across our entire network by sharing best practice with our agency partners and making regular visits to their apartments where possible.” The agent/operator divide used to be emphasised by the bodies that represented them. The Association of Serviced Apartment Providers (ASAP) traditionally had provider members, and the Hotel Booking Agents Association (HBAA) looked after agents.
ASAP OPENS UP Some years down the line, ASAP – now independent – is on a roll and a sign of its serious intent is the appointment of former consultant to the association, Joyce Cawthorpe, as full-time manager. “ASAP has opened membership to agents and we are very happy to have them join”, says Cawthorpe. “We invited some to our annual conference but our primary audience remains operators at the moment. My objective is to deliver best value to