HRS has overhauled its booking system to offer customers better prices and room availability on every search.

This news means that HRS now compares the rates and availability offered by hotel partners in its own database with those offered by selected affiliated sales partners, including Expedia Affiliate Network.

HRS also showcased its new branding for the corporate travel sector for the first time at the GBTA Conference. 

With Multisource, customers will receive the best available rates on each booking and have access to an extended portfolio.

Preliminary tests indicate that HRS can improve room availability for customers by ten per cent on average and generate savings of up to eleven per cent.

In addition, customers will benefit from greater added value for the same price on approximately every fifth booking – this may be a better room category or the inclusion of additional benefits.

Customers will continue to experience the same quality and usability, because the comparison will be based solely on results with identical features, and unlike with pure metasearch engines, the customer will not leave the HRS environment at any point.

Customers will also still receive the HRS support and continue to use the familiar booking steps.

“For customers, price remains the most important booking criterion.

“In addition, business travellers, in particular, want to book their hotel rooms quickly and with ease – without time-consuming price comparisons or redirection to unknown providers”, said HRS chief executive, Tobias Ragge.

HRS has, for a long time, enjoyed direct links with the booking systems of major chains. Furthermore, HRS also collaborates with all Global Distribution Systems and numerous global and local distribution partners.

Multisource represents a systematic expansion of the collaboration with selected distribution partners in the interests of the customer.

The service is the first of a series of innovations with which HRS will support corporates and business travellers even better in the coming months.

HRS plans to gradually convert the entire global hotel portfolio to the new booking procedure.

New brand presence

HRS has continually expanded its range of end-to-end solutions along the entire value chain, in every aspect of hotel booking – from purchasing, rate negotiation and booking on all channels, through to the meetings and events sector and continuous analysis and optimisation of the hotel programme.

The brand re-launch, with its new logo, underlines this evolution of HRS’ service offering to corporate customers.

It supports travel managers in their efforts to communicate the holistic benefits of HRS in the managed travel sector.

“HRS has always been a pioneer in the business travel sector.

“We recognised very early on that companies are not just concerned with the number of hotels in the portfolio – they are looking for holistic end-to-end services that offer real added value. Managed travel is a completely different environment to the consumer sector and HRS has offered much more than just a quick way to book an overnight stay for a long time.

“With our new brand presence, we are now looking to make this difference visually clear,” added Ragge.

HRS will be adopting the new logo immediately worldwide to represent the brand in the corporate travel sector.