Wyndham International, Inc., who leads the hotel industry in technology innovation, has been named a recipient of the 2002 CIO-100 Award. This prestigious honor is a result of Wyndham`s ongoing commitment to demonstrating positive business performance through integrated technologies and processes.
Wyndham has long pursued an information architecture that fosters improved guest services. Most recently, Wyndham announced a revolutionary offer to members of its guest recognition program, Wyndham ByRequest(R), who now receive free local and long distance phone calls(1) and free high-speed Internet access.
 
“In 2000, we embarked on an aggressive initiative to bring together key business systems to allow guests easier access to our services, enable the delivery of a more personalized guest experience for our more frequent customers, and to create an integrated framework to support a more complete profile of our customer,” said Mark Hedley, senior vice president and chief technology officer, Wyndham International. “This is our second consecutive year to receive the CIO-100 award, which is one of the most coveted awards for customer relationship management systems, innovation and value chain excellence. This honor reaffirms our commitment to technology innovation and Wyndham`s position as a pioneer in the hotel industry.”
 
This year, CIO magazine identified companies who exemplify the integrated enterprise, which is defined by having the capability to move and use data from any point within the value chain at any time; demonstrates an enterprise-wide level of technological and procedural integration; an infrastructure consisting of groups of applications that work together and are able to freely share information; and front-end, customer-facing applications that seamlessly deliver and use data from back-end systems.
 
Wyndham has been honored with several prestigious business and technology awards. Most recently, Wyndham was named as one of Fortune`s 2002 “Most Admired” companies in America. Wyndham also was awarded the 2001 Hospitality Technology Lodging Award for IT Operator of the Year, the celebrated InformationWeek 500, and Lodging Hospitality`s first annual Chain Leadership Awards for technology and e-business. The honors were a result of Wyndham`s ongoing commitment to several IT initiatives, including wireless reservations, curbside wireless check-in and the Wyndham ByRequest program.
 
Additionally, Wyndham has received two awards for its innovative guest recognition program, Wyndham ByRequest, which serves as the core of the company`s brand philosophy of personalized service. Smart Money magazine recognized Wyndham for the program`s customer-centric approach with the 2001 Customer Service Award, and the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) awarded Wyndham the 2001 Best of Show award for the success of its integrated marketing and advertising campaign showcasing Wyndham ByRequest.
 
Related stories on ITN:

(13/08/2002) Wyndham Implements Online Customer Satisfaction Technology
(12/11/2002) Wyndham International Collects Two Awards for Its Innovative Use of Information Technology
(30/03/2002) Curbside Check-In at Wyndham Hotels
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