Wyndham Hotel Group, at its second global conference in LasVegas, announced several new initiatives designed to drive more direct business to hotels: WynReview and MyRequest, new online management tools, as well as new mobile websites for its hotel brands.

The WynReview resource will be provided free to franchisees and will help them manage consumer reviews not only on TripAdvisor® but across major Online Travel Agency (OTA) sites. WynReview will help property owners and managers better understand and measure the social feedback that exists about their properties and enable them to benchmark their hotels against their competitors.

MyRequest is a new self-serve tool that allows properties to more effectively manage rates, inventory and content, allowing hotels to take advantage of more opportunities and ensuring rates, inventory and content flow through to the right distribution channels.

“Our responsibility to owners is to help them sell their hotel rooms at the right time and to the right customer,” said Eric Danziger, Wyndham Hotel Group president and chief executive officer. “By providing tools such as WynReview and MyRequest, we are helping them to position their hotels so that consumers want to stay with them.”

Wyndham Hotel Group also announced the launch of mobile sites that will help to capture more same-day bookings while providing easy-to-use mobile interfaces to consumers. Each mobile site is built specifically for smartphone devices and designed to complement the unique look and feel of each brand while requiring less clicks. The sites will feature TripAdvisor ratings and an express book feature to be launched in May.

In the next few months, Wyndham Hotel Group will introduce free mobile apps for its Wyndham Hotels and Resorts®, Days Inn® and Super 8® brands that will be available on both Android and Apple operating systems. Mobile apps for the remaining brands in Wyndham Hotel Group’s portfolio as well as tablet apps will be released throughout the year.

“It’s important that our brands have the bandwidth to reach customers where they are as they travel and make last-minute decisions about where to book,” said Danziger. “Consumers booked close to $3 billion in travel from their mobile devices last year. That’s why we developed mobile solutions that complement the brand experience, engage our consumers and drive direct bookings.” 

Earlier this year, the company launched WyndhamHotelGroup.com, a new website designed to engage consumers with the company’s family of brands while helping to drive incremental bookings for hotel owners. The Hotel Group also introduced TripAdvisor reviews on its guest loyalty program site, WyndhamRewards.com, and on its hotel brand websites. The reviews help potential guests make more informed decisions based on fellow travelers’ feedback, providing them with a one-stop shop.

In addition, the company is one of the six founders of Room Key, a hotel search engine launched in January. Room Key was developed to provide the simplicity, transparency and breath of choice consumers have come to expect from a search engine, while delivering the flexibility, accuracy and assurance consumers have long enjoyed from hoteliers. Consumers shopping on Roomkey.com book directly with the chosen hotel brand.