23rd December 2008
APPOINTMENT OF PAUL DERMODY OBE AS CHAIRMAN
Conferma is pleased to announce the appointment of Paul Dermody OBE, as non-executive Chairman with immediate effect. Commenting, Simon Barker CEO, said "We are delighted to welcome Paul as Chairman of our Board, his extensive knowledge and experience of the hotel industry will be invaluable in steering our business forward. The company is already driving positive change in the industry and I am looking forward to working closely with Paul to build on our success and deliver future growth".
Paul, formerly Chief Executive of De Vere Group Plc is a fellow of The British Association of Hotel Accountants, an Associate of The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and a Companion of The Chartered Management Institute. Paul is a past Chairman of the British Hospitality Association and also currently serves on the Board of Directors of a number of companies.
Paul was awarded the O.B.E. in 2003 New Years Honours.
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15th August 2008
HILLGATE TRAVEL LEADS THE WAY IN IMPLEMENTING CONFERMA'S API INTO FREEWAY BOOKING TOOL
Conferma today announced that Hillgate Travel, one of the UK’s largest independent TMC’s, has integrated the Conferma Web service API (application programming interface) into their proprietary self booking tool "FreeWay".
The Conferma web service aggregates content from multiple sources including GDS, direct connect and the largest wholesalers to provide a single view of rates and content for over 110,000 properties worldwide. Users can take advantage of sophisticated searching, booking and settlement technology which seamlessly integrates into the agency booking tool and back office. The deployment of the Conferma technology further enhances the already impressive "FreeWay" booking functionality while seamlessly linking into the Hillgate world renowned customer service ethos.
Mark Bull, Hillgate Travel’s IT Director comments "This solution meets our requirement to offer our clients access to the widest possible sources for hotel content. We plan to further develop our hotel offering and having such a sophisticated tool integrate so quickly with our own booking platform has given us the inventory we need with minimum development overhead, whilst allowing our staff to concentrate on providing the level of customer service Hillgate clients have come to expect."
About Conferma
Established in 2004 Conferma provides cutting-edge solutions to the inherent problems of the hotel-booking industry. Conferma’s forward-thinking systems consolidates all available hotel rates, making bookings simpler and more cost-effective. Hotel Tracker – developed by Conferma and provided in conjunction with Barclaycard ensures bill-back is streamlined and manageable.
www.conferma.com
About Hillgate
Established in 1983, Hillgate Travel is the UK’s largest independent travel management company, catering to the quality demands of the City market. Its client portfolio includes investment banks and financial services organisations. The company’s 200 staff are based in High Wycombe, Newport and its London headquarters. In addition to travel management, Hillgate Travel operates, Hillgate Solutions, a wholly owned specialist event management company, passport and visa and airport meet and greet services.
www.hillgatetravel.com
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4th August 2008
CONFERMA WINS MAJOR CONTRACT WITH UK’S LARGEST HOTEL BOOKING COMPANY
Conferma Ltd (Manchester, UK) today announced a long term partnership contract to
supply the ‘Conferma technology platform’ to Expotel Ltd. Expotel Ltd is the UK’s
leading hotel booking agency, booking more than one million hotel room nights per
year for customers in both corporate and public sector markets.
Conferma will provide proprietary accommodation booking and direct connect technologies
to further enhance Expotel’s in house systems. Conferma has a proven track record
of increasing productivity for agencies while integrating the widest possible range
of corporate booking channels.
This is another major client win for Conferma coming quickly after the successful
deployment within Portman travel. This win cements their place as the preferred
Hotel booking tool within the corporate accommodation management industry.
Paul Raymond, Director of Strategic Relationships comments, "We are delighted to
have Expotel as a long term partner for Conferma. This clearly demonstrates that
the Conferma not only meets customer’s objectives, but is able to solve key issues
that corporations and agencies face in the current challenging business environment."
About Conferma
Established in 2004 Conferma provides cutting-edge solutions to the inherent problems
of the hotel-booking industry. Conferma’s forward-thinking systems consolidates
all available hotel rates, making bookings simpler and more cost-effective. Hotel
Tracker – developed by Conferma and provided in conjunction with Barclaycard ensures
bill-back is streamlined and manageable.
www.conferma.com
About Expotel
Established over 30 years ago, Expotel is the UK’s leading hotel booking agency,
booking more than one million hotel room nights per year for a wide variety of customers
in both corporate and public sector markets. The business also delivers conference
and event management and travel booking services with over 400 employees operating
from offices in Stanmore, Stockport, Leeds and Glasgow. In 2007, the business booked
accommodation and travel transactions worth £218 million and recently expanded its
business through the acquisition of NIS Europe Limited based in Manchester.
www.expotel.com
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23rd April 2008
CONFERMA TO BRIDGE THE FINAL GAP WITH E-INVOICING
Having already developed the worlds first automated bill-back solution for the Corporate
Hotel settlement process, Conferma is now working with a number of major hotel chains
and the HMC&E to establish an e-invoicing standard for the delivery of level two
hotel folio information.
In 2007, Conferma in conjunction with Barclaycard Business launched it’s latest
product "Hotel Tracker" which replaced the traditional Corporate Hotel bill-back
process with an automated settlement and charge matching system. Hotel Tracker has
been rapidly adopted throughout the agency community. The Product compliments the
way both the Corporate and Hotel processes have traditionally operated whilst bringing
cash-flow, data enrichment and security benefits. The agencies benefit from an automated
settlement and charge matching process, improved cash-flow and fully integrated
world class PCI-DSS security features.
When the Hotel is booked, Hotel Tracker automatically issues the payment details
for the Hotel to charge on client departure. At the same time the Hotel charges
the Tracker account it also automatically submits an e-invoice containing detailed
spend information. The agency then has the original booking data, the actual billed
data that is automatically matched and an e-invoice that is VAT compliant for audit
purposes.
Simon Barker, chief executive of Conferma, commented, "this is the next generation
in driving cost reduction, automation, security and CSR enhancements through what
is traditionally a labour intensive and fragmented process. The fully automated
paperless generation for Corporate Hotel bookings is here."
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12th March 2008
WORLD'S LARGEST HOTEL GROUP ENDORSES CONFERMA'S HOTEL TRACKER
Conferma, a leading supplier of on-line booking and settlement technology to the
corporate hotels' sector, has been praised for its revolutionary new 'Hotel Tracker'
solution. The new service automates hotel bill back reconciliation and settlement
processes whilst integrating the highest security standards.
The thumbs-up comes from IHG in the UK who own the Holiday inn, Crowne Plaza and
other high profile hotel brands.
The Group's Director of Meetings for EMEA, Denise Macdonald, said Hotel Tracker
encompasses everything required to smooth the settlement process between hotels,
corporations and booking agents.
She described the system as user friendly and said it would improve efficiency within
the hotels, booking agencies and corporations back office systems.
"Hotel chains have been waiting a long time for a system like this. It's easy
to use and resolves many issues including the endless, frustrating paper trail."
Hotel Tracker is designed to remove time-consuming manual processes, revolutionising
the long established and inefficient hotel bill back process.
The software is a world first in the way it reconciles booking and billing information.
Hotels get paid quickly and corporates and agencies get a seamless view of booked
and billed information.
Conferma's chief executive Simon Barker said "We are delighted that such a
prestigious hotel Group has recognised the benefits of the Hotel Tracker tool. It
has always been our aim to benefit everybody in the hotel booking process and IHG's
endorsement further underlines our commitment to the entire industry."
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12th March 2008
MANAGEMENT TEAM POISED FOR GROWTH
Conferma to build on growth in the past year through creation of strategic management
roles
Corporate hotel technology specialist, Conferma, has restructured its senior management
team in preparation for further growth in the coming year.
Simon Barker takes up the role as chief executive with the specific brief of developing
the strategic direction of the company including expansion into new countries and
products.
Paul Raymond, formerly managing director, becomes director of strategic relations.
In this new role Paul with be responsible for strengthening and developing existing
contracts and relationships as well as creating new business opportunities. Part
of the role will also be to ensure Conferma customers are realising the maximum
benefits of the technology and identifying areas where they could get more from
the system.
The new structure will put Conferma in a better position to move quickly in line
with customer requirements as well as continue to build on its solid base of delivering
world-class products and services to all business partners.
Paul Raymond said: "By changing our roles and extending our responsibilities we
will put the company in a stronger position to grow going forward. The restructure
will put us in the best possible shape from which to springboard to international
expansion as well as further product development."
"The changes will also allow us to react quickly to the market and therefore respond
to the needs of customers, both existing and potential, even more effectively."
29th February 2008
CONFERMA LAUNCHES API 2.0
Conferma has now announced the availability of its newly developed API 2.0 Booking
Engine. The Conferma Booking API provides a set of services that allow users to
search for hotel rates and make, amend or cancel bookings through multiple systems
and channels. The API’s innovation allows developers to integrate many additional
services into existing systems quickly and easily, without needing to connect to
multiple providers individually.
As well as solving integration issues, the service provides access to the Conferma
Hotel Tracker payment system - a secure, auditable, and easy to reconcile method
of guaranteeing and settling all bookings.
Now, under their own brand look and feel, Business travel agencies can now offer
their customers access to a range of hotel rates and services that do not reside
in any individual or GDS system.
Rather than supersede the popular Conferma online booking tool, API 2.0 is first
and foremost a tool for fulfilling the demands of integration. "It appeals to larger
agencies interested in integrating the Conferma content and Hotel Tracker settlement
functionality into their own agent and client facing systems," says Simon Barker,
Chief Executive of Conferma.
Currently, the Conferma API 2.0 includes the following services:-
Sabre
Galileo
GTA (Gullivers Travel Associates)
Travelodge
Premier Inn
Barclaycard Business Hotel Tracker
The next release will have further hotel direct content, together with the additional
services of rail and car hire. All services are backed with the functionality to
settle and reconcile travel payment with the highest possible levels of security.
"We are always listening to our clients and supplier partners to prioritise new
services," says Simon Barker, "The ultimate goal is to dramatically reduce
the time and cost of integrating multi-system booking functionality, whilst managing
payments and maintaining the highest level of service and flexibility".
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18th January 2008
PORTMAN TRAVEL GOES LIVE WITH HOTEL TRACKER
Barclaycard Business announced today that its Hotel Tracker, a cutting edge hotel
billing system, went live on 8th October with Portman, the UK’s leading independent
travel management company. Developed and implemented in partnership with Conferma
Ltd, a specialist provider of corporate hotel booking tools, Hotel Tracker will
streamline hotel payments for corporates, booking agencies and hotels alike.
Portman is the first major travel management company to adopt the technology and
will offer the Hotel Tracker solution to its corporate clients. Interest from other
travel management companies in this innovative technology has also been strong and
Barclaycard Business expects a high demand for it over the coming months.
Hotel Tracker gives each hotel booking a unique reference that is matched against
the payment. Barclaycard Business takes responsibility for hotel payments which
are charged to the Barclaycard Business Hotel Tracker account upon departure. Hotel
Tracker uses Conferma’s Hotel Tracker booking platform to track all payments, provide
data consolidation and issue prompt and accurate monthly transaction reports. For
travel management companies, Hotel Tracker means refused and delayed payments will
be a thing of the past. For corporations it removes the frustration and confusion
of the hotel bill back by providing accurate and timely management information about
hotel spend at a much quicker rate than before, with little change to their current
booking process.
Benefits include:
• Reduces time spent on administration and disputes
• Provides corporations with a simple way to track how much individual employees
spend and whether they adhere to travel policy
• Gives travel management companies the ability to streamline and improve customer
service
• Removes financial exposure for travel management companies and hotel booking agencies
• Offers wide acceptance – any hotel that accepts Visa can participate in the programme
• Reduced financial exposure for hotels
Denise Leleux, Director of Commercial Cards at Barclaycard Business, said:
"Hotel bill back has been an unresolved issue in the business travel industry –
and that is why we are delighted to bring Hotel Tracker to our clients. Hotel Tracker
is a simple solution to hotel bill back that benefits all stakeholders. Corporate
clients will receive more transparent and useful information about their hotel spend,
travel management companies and hotel booking agencies will have less financial
exposure and a more streamlined system, and hotels will receive payments quickly.
It is a win-win solution and we look forward to rolling it out across the industry
in the coming months."
Paul Raymond, Managing Director of Conferma, commented:
"We have been overwhelmed with interest in Hotel Tracker and it is easy to see why.
For corporate clients, hotels, travel management companies and hotel booking agencies,
it provides an automated, centralised, commercial card solution to hotel bill back.
This is the first technology of its kind, so we anticipate seeing continued rapid
uptake."
Graham Flack, Managing Director of Portman, said:
"Portman has built its reputation on finding innovative ways to deliver a smart
travel management service to our customers. Hotel Tracker is a great example of
how smart solutions can make a complex issue like hotel bill back simple and beneficial
for our clients. We are delighted to be able to again lead the field in offering
it to Portman customers first."
Barclaycard Business and Conferma Ltd are currently rolling out this technology.
Travel management companies, hotel booking agencies or corporations that are interested
in finding out more about Hotel Tracker should contact: 0870 366 2657.
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19th December 2007
SABRE TRAVEL NETWORK GIVES AGENTS AN ONLINE HOTEL BOOKING TOOL FOR THEIR CORPORATE
CUSTOMERS
Product extends arsenal of business management and development tools for agents
Sabre Travel Network and Conferma, the corporate hotel booking solutions provider,
have launched Hotels@Desk, an online hotel booking tool exclusively for UK-based
Sabre Connected agents to offer to their corporate customers.
Hotels@Desk gives business travellers full search and booking capabilities with
over 90,000 hotel properties, including budget hotels. A companyís ëpreferred supplierí
hotels are highlighted during the search and booking process, guiding the executive
to book within corporate travel policy. Other features include high quality images,
maps and descriptions of hotel properties.
The product is branded with the participating agentís logo and accessed online from
the business travellerís computer. It can either be built into a corporation's intranet
or accessed through a password-protected website. Bookings are fulfilled by the
agent and integrated in the travellerís Sabre PNR (Passenger name Record).
Hotels@Desk is aimed at corporations who do not already use a full-service online
corporate booking tool covering air, hotel, car and rail, such as GetThere.
While business travellers are happy to book their air travel within corporate travel
policy and through their corporate travel agency, it is estimated by PhocusWright
that currently more than 60 percent of corporate bookings are made directly with
hotels*.
Reet Wiseman, Sabre Travel Networkís vice-president for the UK and Ireland, said:
ìBy offering Hotels@Desk to their corporate customers, agents can increase the number
of corporate hotel bookings they manage and receive additional revenue through transaction
fees and commissions.î
Hotels@Desk will deliver additional cost savings to corporations through increased
traveller compliance with travel policy, and use of corporate or agency negotiated
rates. Corporate travel managers will benefit from improved management information
and data, and will have greater ability to track staff while travelling on business.
Wiseman said Sabre Travel Network was focusing on developing a wide-ranging arsenal
of business management and development tools for travel agents.
"Hotels@Desk is one example of how we are helping our agency customers to identify
and exploit additional revenue streams," she said.
Paul Raymond, Conferma's managing director, said: "This innovative approach
addresses effectively the issue of executives booking hotels outside company policy
and outside the managed travel programme. Hotels@Desk allows Sabre Connected agents
to manage hotel bookings quickly, accurately and cost efficiently for their clients.
We admire Sabreís commitment to adding value to their travel agency customers and
look forward to extending our working relationship with them."
Jon Smiles, Advantage Focus Partnershipís technology manager, said: "We canít
wait to get our hands on this product as it will make a real difference to the service
we offer our corporate clients. One of the major attractions for us is the opportunity
to preference bookings for our own negotiated hotel rates and hotel partners. Congratulations
to Sabre for leading the other GDSs in helping agents secure greater non-air revenue."
Sabre Holdings has the largest hotel inventory and sells more hotel room nights
than any other company in the world through Sabre Travel Network, Travelocity and
lastminute.com. Hotel revenues represent approximately ten percent of total Sabre
Travel Network revenue and the company expects revenue from hotels to become a much
more significant piece of its portfolio going forward.
Hotels@Desk is another example of the end-to-end solutions available from Sabre
Travel Network that both corporate and leisure travel agents can use to help increase
both revenue opportunities and enhance customer service. In addition, it accesses
the largest travel agency base of customers to help hotels sell more services.
Other initiatives recently introduced include Hotel UpSell, a product that enables
hoteliers to automatically offer upgrades when travel agents book hotel rooms in
the Sabre GDS. Travel agents benefit as they are able to offer customers higher-value
products during the hotel booking process, thereby increasing commission payments.
Hoteliers benefit by increased revenue through the sale of additional products and
services.
Last November the company announced the global launch of a Web-based product, Sabre
Worldwide Commission Manager, aimed at helping hotels and travel agencies manage
hotel booking commissions more effectively. As a result hotel operators around the
world will have the ability to track commission payments to travel agencies on a
global scale, while enabling agencies to track, manage and - where necessary - claim
commissions easily and efficiently.
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29th November 2007
BARCLAYCARD BUSINESS AND CONFERMA PARTNER TO OFFER CENTRAL CARD ACCOUNT FOR HOTEL
CHARGES
Barclaycard Business has today announced an agreement with Conferma Ltd, a leading
provider of corporate hotel booking solutions for travel agents and their clients
to provide a new online centralised hotel settlement solution. The solution will
streamline hotel payments for businesses and will resolve hotel bill back issues.
This will in turn benefit buyers, intermediaries and suppliers in the travel industry
cutting down on both administration time and cost.
The deal, which sees the solution available from the beginning of April, will see
Barclaycard Business gaining 12 months exclusive rights as the only card provider
for the centralised payment solution.
By working in conjunction with Travel Management Companies (TMCís) and Hotel Booking
Agencies (HBA's), the tool allows Barclaycard Business to give clients greater transparency
of hotel folio data, including separating out room nights from other spend to provide
a detailed analysis of total spend. This solution functions by combining the TMC/HBAís
booking information with the actual amount charged to the clientís Barclaycard Business
card account and, optionally, adding detailed hotel folio data.
Key features:
- Improves agent productivity
- Seamless end-to-end, procure to pay hotel booking and payment service
- Incorporates bill back, corporate card pay on departure and advance payment
- Provides data clarity by automatically matching booked and billed data
- Service can be integrated into existing systems and procedures
- TMC/HBA financial exposure is removed
- Wide acceptance ñ any hotel that accepts Visa can participate in this programme
Denise Leleux, Director of Commercial Cards at Barclaycard Business, said: "The
increased demand for hotel folio data from our customers has meant that Barclaycard
Business and Conferma Ltd have an exciting proposition to meet customer needs. By
streamlining the hotel bill back process all stakeholders will benefit. Businesses
will be able to centralise their hotel spend and travel management companies and
hotel booking agencies can benefit from a more streamlined process and reduced financial
exposure. And of course hotels will benefit from swifter settlement. It is a win-win
solution."
Paul Raymond, Managing Director of Conferma, commented: "We are delighted to
be working in partnership with Barclaycard Business to implement this system which
provides an automated, centralised, commercial card solution to hotel ëbill back."
In the future this technology could see the hotel settlement solution be extended
in the meeting management space.
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22nd October 2007
INGRIAN ADMINISTERS PAIN-FREE PCI COMPLIANCE FOR HOTEL BOOKINGS ENGINE
Online Hotel Booking Company Invests In Industry Leading Encryption Technology To
Secure Thousands Of Records Per Second
London, UK ' April 24th, 2007 ' Ingrian Networks Inc., the leading provider of data
privacy solutions, today announced that itís advanced appliance-based encryption
capabilities have resulted in Conferma, the online corporate hotel booking tool
for travel agents, achieving PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)
compliance well ahead of the June 30th deadline. The Ingrian appliances are helping
the company to encrypt and secure up to 100,000 data entries per day.
Steve Hoy, IT Manager at Conferma, states, "In order to meet the PCI requirements,
we have to ensure that customer credit card data is encrypted so that if any data
were to be compromised it would be rendered useless to the criminal. This element
of PCI DSS was causing us the biggest headache and Ingrian provided the technology
and advice we needed to make sure we could implement strong data security in minimal
time."
"The Ingrian solution not only allows us to encrypt card data, but other sensitive
data also, such as customer passwords. With dual-key management we can also control
access to stored data based on eligibility and peer authorisation. The ability to
log all access and create an effective audit trail is key to achieving PCI compliance
comfortably, and the Ingrian appliances enable effective logging of who accessed
what and when."
The Ingrian appliances are being used to secure the sensitive customer data collected
through the Conferma Corporate Hotel Booking platform, a recently launched service
that is anticipated to see vastly increased demand from travel agents arranging
important business travel accommodation. Two Ingrian i311 DataSecure Platforms,
each capable of performing up to 35,000 cryptographic operations per second, are
enabling Conferma to successfully meet and exceed strict compliance requirements
that call for merchants to mitigate fraud by encrypting cardholder data and securely
storing and managing cryptographic keys. One i311 DataSecure Platform is encrypting
the data collectedon a daily basis by Conferma while the second appliance provides
redundancy, ensuring that continuous encryption is possible.
"There is a myth surrounding encryption that it is laborious and disruptive
to implement. This deployment dispels that myth and is evidence of the advancements
that have been made in the technology,î said Jon Shaw, EMEA Sales Manager at Ingrian.
ìBy acting fast in achieving PCI compliance, Conferma has not only ensured that
its customers can use its services safely, but are avoiding a frantic push to meet
the June deadline and can direct efforts towards business development instead."
Currently being used on the Conferma Corporate Hotel Booking platform, the Ingrian
devices will soon help to secure credit card and customer data for its CSP (Conferma
Settlement Plan) bill-back system, which will allow travel agents to handle hotel
bills on behalf of their corporate clients using centrally billed card based accounts.
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16th September 2007
ADVANTAGE TRAVEL ANNOUNCES PREFERRED SUPPLIER AGREEMENT WITH CONFERMA
Advantage, the largest consortium of independent travel agents in the UK, is today
pleased to announce Conferma as a preferred supplier to its consortia of over 800
travel agents. Conferma is a market leading hotel booking system which is considered
to be the most innovative and complete solution in the sector.
Advantage has awarded Conferma this recommendation following lengthy discussions
and trials with the Company. The Conferma product will benefit Advantage consortia
by offering the most comprehensive range of rates combining room inventory from
traditional sources such as the GDS with non-traditional rates such as web rates.
The system also collates all information and provides it to the end user on a single
screen.
Jon Smiles, Technology Manager, Advantage, commented: "We have conducted detailed
benchmarking with a number of other Companies in the sector and found Conferma to
be a far superior product. Its solution is fast, accurate and flexible thereby dramatically
reducing the burden of booking and reconciliation for our travel agents"
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19th August 2007
PREMIER TRAVEL INN ENHANCES ITS CUSTOMER BASE THANKS TO CONFERMA
Conferma, a leading corporate hotel booking solution today announces that it has
signed a contract with Premier Travel Inn, part of Whitbread Group Plc, to distribute
its inventory of 31,000 bedrooms to the corporate market via travel management companies
(TMCs).
This is a revolutionary step for Premier Travel Inn - the UK's largest hotel group,
with 475 hotels and over 50% of the UK budget hotel market share - who has historically
sold directly to the consumer.
Conferma's leading corporate hotel booking solution has vastly extended the reach
of the Premier Travel Inn product as its software enables TMCs and corporate clients
to benefit from Premier Travel Innís extensive range of budget accommodation across
the UK, as well as international sites in the future: PTI recently announced plans
to build new hotels in the Gulf Region.
Confermaís technology offers significant benefit to travel management companies
as they profit from a fully automated 24-hour service saving time and money. The
dedicated Conferma support team are available at the end of a phone should any corporate
clients or TMCs have questions relating to the product.
Paul Raymond, Managing Director, Conferma commented: "Premier Travel Innís
commitment to staying ahead of the market is commendable. Our innovative technology
allows Premier Travel Inn to deliver information quickly, accurately and cost efficiently
to their clients. Confermaís ability to book Premier Travel Inn inventory on a real
time basis is a significant enhancement and we very much look forward to working
with them."
Luke Goggin, Head of National Accounts for Premier Travel Inn confirmed:"This
direct link, and our growing partnership with Conferma, is a very significant step
for Premier Travel Inn. By distributing our hotels via Confermaís excellent reservation
system we can deliver even greater savings for our mutual corporate clients. This
enhanced, more efficient booking service will reduce operational costs for PTI,
Conferma and our end users, all of which re-enforces our position as the UKís leading
value hotel supplier"
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2nd August 2007
CONFERMA ACCREDITED
CONFERMA, a leading provider of corporate hotel booking solutions for travel agents
and their clients, announced Friday that it has been awarded the coveted Payment
Card Industry Data Security Standards compliance accreditation.
Created by Visa and MasterCard, 'PCI DSS' is the benchmark security standard to
secure card payments and account data.
Managing Director of Conferma, Paul Raymond, commented, "As a national player
processing transactions well in excess of a million pounds annually for the travel
management community it was important for Conferma to meet the stringent criteria
required for PCI DSS accreditation."
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26th July 2007
HOW CAN WE RAISE OUR VISIBILITY AMONG CORE CORPORATE PLAYERS, ESPECIALLY TO FILL
DISTRESSED INVENTORY?
We are a small hotel chain but we cover many key UK cities. How can we raise our
visibility among core corporate players, especially to fill distressed inventory?
Paul Raymond, Conferma
The general managers of most of your properties will be aware of the large local
corporate customers and have established communication with them.
The second route into the corporate market is via intermediaries. This marketplace
has become increasingly competitive as the major business travel agencies (Amex,
Hogg Robinson, Carlson Wagonlit, etc) have targeted hotels following the reduction
of traditional air commission revenues. While these agencies have recognised the
business opportunity, they've found it difficult to offer the efficient services
provided by the specialist hotel booking agencies (BSI, Expotel, NIS Europe, etc).
It's impossible to ignore the global distribution systems, as these are still the
primary search and booking tool for corporate travel agents. However, the cost of
distribution, and the length of time it takes for information to be added and manipulated,
combined with the expectation of price parity with other distributions channels,
can become onerous to manage.
Moving forward, the key to distribution to the corporate marketplace will undoubtedly
be about the properties and chains delivering consistent data on a realtime, well-managed
basis. The technology for data delivery has reached a stage where a hotel group
which wants to be taken seriously must be looking at outwardfacing, standardised
data delivery, which it can then offer to any distributor.
Conferma's ability to aggregate data from numerous sources, consolidating it into
the corporate travel management processes, enables these organisations to improve
productivity and increase the added value to their customers and suppliers.
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