InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has partnered with Passkey to enable meeting planners to book group events with greater ease and efficiency through a web-based group reservation solution. During 2008, IHG will implement the capability in over 250 hotels across the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts and Crowne Plaza brands in the U.S. and Canada, as well as in some select Holiday Inn hotels.

InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn properties will offer meeting planners full integration to all Passkey tools including a customized event-specific hotel reservation website. On the site, meeting planners will be able to upload rooming lists, automatically link reservation information to IHG hotels, track hotel block pick-up and reservation status through real-time reports and updates that review every facet of the process. At the same time, event attendees will be able to make and manage their hotel reservations online.

“Utilizing Passkey across our InterContinental and Crowne Plaza brands in the U.S. and Canada will provide meeting planners with consistent and reliable group booking capabilities and help ensure their event attendees enjoy the experience,” said Del Ross, vice president, distribution marketing, the Americas, IHG. “Gaining brand loyalty with meeting planners is critical, as meetings and events represent a large part of our business.”

With this solution, IHG expects to further streamline the group reservation process, increase meeting planner loyalty and drive incremental revenue from its group reservations.

“As ‘The Place to Meet,’ Crowne Plaza strives to be the first choice for meeting planners,” said Kevin Kowalski, senior vice president, worldwide brand management for Crowne Plaza. “The Passkey technology will allow all of our hotels in the U.S. and Canada to offer a solution that makes event planning and management even easier for meeting planners.”
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