New Referral Relationship Increases Opportunities for Utell Member Hotels Globally to
Reach Agents Booking More than 20 Million Room Nights Annually
SCOTTSDALE, DALLAS and LONDON (March 8, 2011) – Pegasus Solutions has again expanded its hotel marketing capabilities through a referral relationship with Travelport. As a result, Pegasus representation services customers globally, including Utell Hotels & Resorts and Utell Connect members, will gain access to Travelport Featured Property, Galileo Headlines™ and Worldspan Accents™.
Advertising with Travelport offers Utell members increased exposure to agents worldwide booking more than 20 million room nights annually through Travelport’s global distribution systems – Galileo and Worldspan. Strategic use of GDS advertising allows hotels to generate incremental revenue and increase market share by raising brand and promotion awareness at the point of travel agent purchase.
“Pegasus and Utell are renowned worldwide for our unrivaled distribution and connectivity to the GDS, which serve to make hotels visible to the global booking audience,” said Ric Leutwyler, chief operating officer of Pegasus Solutions and president of Utell Hotels & Resorts. “Expanding opportunities for visibility through the GDS, as we are doing with Travelport, allows the hotels we work with to leverage every available opportunity for exposure with the crucial agent booking audience. This relationship will help our hotels win their fair share of the 20 million annual room nights being booked through Travelport.”
Hotels distributed through Travelport connect to agencies worldwide that deliver bookings 16 to 18 percent higher than those delivered on supplier.com sites. Additionally, bookings have higher yield reservations with longer stays that nearly double the transaction value of a comparable online leisure transaction.
“The proportion of the global hotel market booked through the GDS is growing. In addition, the GDS channel generates much higher average room rates than other distribution channels for hotels,” added Niklas Andreen, Group VP for Global Hospitality and Partner Marketing for Travelport. “This agreement is an important step in Travelport’s focused campaign and ongoing investment in becoming the GDS leader for servicing hotel’s sales. Utell members that can strategically market themselves to our extensive travel agency users will gain an advantage in generating valuable high yield revenue. We are delighted, and look forward to working closely with Pegasus in 2011.”
