HMC Expands Global Hotel Membership Network
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA – April 13, 2010 – HMC (Hospitality Marketing Concepts), the leading solution provider of travel industry membership and database management programs, is launching the CLUBHOTEL® network in Vietnam.
CLUBHOTEL, the company’s proprietary network and brand-neutral platform of four and five-star hotels around the world, has reached a global milestone of 700 properties in its portfolio. An idea originally conceived by HMC’s hotel clients to facilitate cross-promotion and create synergy across brands, CLUBHOTEL has a consumer membership of over 700,000 and generated over 350,000 roomnights for its participating hotels in 2009 This is in addition to the hundreds of thousands of roomnights that members book directly with the properties.
There is no cost for hotels to join the CLUBHOTEL network. Participating hotels also have access to state-of-the-art CRM technology and marketing access to the network’s global database at no charge.
“CLUBHOTEL was conceived by hoteliers, for hoteliers,” said Mokhtar Ramadan, CEO of Hospitality Marketing Concepts. “What HMC has done over the years, is to ensure this product stays current with the hoteliers’ needs. The landscape of the hotel industry has undergone dramatic changes over the past 20 years, especially in the technology arena – yet most hoteliers will tell you their marketing budget has barely changed, let alone keep up with the ever growing distribution costs. The CLUBHOTEL network and the accompanying CRM technology help hoteliers reduce their reliance on third-party reservation channels. The result is obvious – lower distribution costs, higher ADR and occupancy, increased profit.”
CLUBHOTEL Vietnam, like the rest of the global network, will attract qualified individuals with high disposable income, business executives and professionals who enjoy travel and the luxury lifestyle. Member hotels will receive direct Rooms and F&B spending by these local members and at the same time benefit from Rooms bookings by CLUBHOTEL members from around the world. More importantly, participating hotels can also proactively direct-market to any segment of the membership and leverage the CLUBHOTEL CRM technology to communicate with members at will without cost or the complications of maintaining a database.
At its debut earlier this month, the CLUBHOTEL network in Vietnam consisted of 11 hotels, including iconic and prominent properties such as Hotel Majestic and Rex Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, the Maison d’Hanoi and Daewoo Hotel in Hanoi, and CenDeluxue Hotel in Tuy Hao. Additional hotels are expected to join the network in the coming months.
CLUBHOTEL will also debut in other parts of Asia later in 2010.
HMC has a long operating history in Asia. Its first 5 hotel partners in the region – Hilton Beijing, Hilton Shanghai, Edsa Shangri-La Manila, Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza and The Excelsior Hong Kong are still current clients of the company and participants of the CLUBHOTEL network. The Hilton Beijing has been working with HMC since 1993.
About Hospitality Marketing Concepts
Headquartered in Newport Beach, Southern California, HMC is the leading provider of travel industry paid consumer membership and database management programs. HMC provides services to more than 1,000 full-service hotels worldwide. A selection of clients includes InterContinental, Le Meridien, Starwood, Ritz, Shangri-La, Mandarin Oriental, Husa, Orbis, and Swissotel. HMC is a global company with offices in more than 50 countries including Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, UAE, Egypt, Venezuela, Brazil, Canada, United Kingdom and United States. More information about HMC may be found on the company’s website www.hmcloyalty.com or by contacting Peter Gorla, Vice President of Marketing at +1 (949) 260-9538 or via email at gorlap@clubhotel.com.