Apex Hotels Web Booking Engine Andrew Jacques, IT Director

Apex Hotels

Year end 08/09 - £2.5m Year end 09/10 - £4m Year end 10/11 - £6.1m

Business Needs Shop window to the world – 102 Countries Improve ease of use – Service Innovation – Online Payments – Tracking – Affiliate Links – Live Chat Reduce costs and Increase Revenue

Working partners Consultation – Scottish Enterprise – Expertise – Experience – Funding impetus Tender process – Four prospective vendors – £30k to £250k

Project Review Implementation – Planning / Lead times – Design Concepts – Initial Prototype / Staging – Testing – Phased Deployment Challenges – Performance of 3 rd Party vendor – Credit card payments – Testing Time Innovations – Service through up selling – Cross selling with limited availability

Reduced Costs Commission fees of £4.50 per transaction negated New booking engine commission no charge Minimal maintenance Overall saving of £100,000 on first 12 months Servebase credit card commissions negotiated to £0.02 per transaction No manual agent input

Make a booking

Advanced Purchase Previously unable to display promotional rates After 12 months of installation – Bookings increased 11% – Pre-paid increased 145% – Revenue inc year on year 26% – Money in the bank

Return on Investment Considerations London Wall Hotel, and increased business in Apex Waterloo Place Hotel TV advertising campaign Changing economy Highlights Increased automation a growth of 27.65% in no. reservations year on year Look to book conversion rates up 23% - new records in Jan average length of stay has grown by 0.59 days to 2.42 days

Future projects Affiliate links Chinese Language – Japan – Russia Mobility – £51k since launch (£31k on ipad) – 1 in 10 visitors approx mobile – unique mobile visitors – QR codes / Mobile advertising CRM / Loyalty – Personalising the experience – Reducing commission fees Online Check-in – Using an app

Chat Andrew Jacques