Business Travel News October 27, 2008 - (Page 26)

NEWS Hotels Melding Property Systems ual properties better access to guest tral reservation, loyalty and yield history, loyalty program data and management systems, he said. other relevant information. Hilton Hotels Corp. also made Omni also plans to implement the strides in international property Opera property management sysmanagement system integration, tem and will pilot it at a new hotel in said Greg Cross, senior vice presi- Fort Worth, Texas, in January, said dent of revenue management. Ac- Karen O’Neill, Micros vice president quiring the Doubletree and Hamp- of major account hotel sales. ton brands allowed it replace a Starwood Hotels & Resorts, on the patchwork of property management other hand, is taking a flexible apsystems seven years ago with their proach to platform consolidation, common system. said Paul Barron, the company’s vice Merging with Hilton International president of IT solutions. Hotels in has provided a new challenge, Cross North America and parts of Asia and said, a multiyear project that works Latin America are on Galaxy Hotel by country toward a Systems, and those common platform. Europe and the MidAs a results, revenue dle East are on the management has Opera system. been taken off-propStarwood is lookerty, and the compaing for ways to reny has a more immegionalize and cendiate view of its tralize wherever performance. feasible, he said. “We used to wait Starwood CEO until 2 p.m. for a reFrits van Paasschen port to come out to said in a recent infind out how hotels terview with BusiHILTON’S GREG CROSS did yesterday, and ness Travel News Instantaneous information that was a high-level that, like with viewpoint,” Cross Hilton, it would be a said. “Today, that information is in- multiyear project for the company. stantaneous. We don’t need hotels “The opportunity and challenge to submit it. It’s balanced with the for us with projects like that is the finance department automatically time involved, the upfront investand we can drill down on the detail.” ment and the incredible complexity The integration also means that of the system,” van Paasschen said. general managers can immediately “If you think about 280,000 to know who the top 100 customers 300,000 rooms, it’s a major investare at a given property and respond ment for us, but it’s an important accordingly, he said. area for us to work on. Over the Improving guest data also was at course of the next several months, the core of a platform For on-demand Webcasts, we’ll hit milestones restructuring anaround the way of see btnonline.com/Webcasts nounced at Omni Howhere we want to be.” tels this summer. In June, Omni anThe technology suppliers for honounced a brandwide reservation tels also are making platform consystem enhancement by providing solidation easier for smaller hotel a single Micros application to book chains. This month, for example, Miall types of reservations regardless of cros announced it was launching an a booking source. out-of-the-box version of its propThe system allows Omni to merge erty management system, called Opguest preferences and profile infor- eretta, designed for independent homation across all properties into a tels and chains with standard single database, according to the technology needs. company. This will give the individ■ mbaker@btnonline.com ■ Continued from page 3 WASHINGTON WIRE DOT EXPANDS NYC AIR AUCTION PLANS DESPITE OPPOSITION The U.S. Department of Transportation said it would proceed with its plan to auction some slots at the three major New York City-area airports, according to a final rule released this month, despite an Air Transport Association-led lawsuit and a ruling by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, Congress’investigative arm, that DOT does not have the legal authority to auction slots (BTNonline, Oct. 6). Despite the DOT SEC. MARY PETERS mounting opposition, DOT today deAuctions mean lower fares fined final plans to gradually auction “up to 10 percent of the landing and takeoff slots these airlines currently operate free of charge today” at John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark airports. DOT said the rules call for airlines to maintain a 10-year ownership of “the vast majority of slots they currently operate.” The auctions would begin next year and continue through 2014. “Without slot auctions, a small number of airlines will profit while travelers bear the brunt of higher fares, fewer choices and deteriorating service,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said in a statement. ATA, the major domestic airline lobbying organization called the auction ruling “ill-conceived and one that will result in a lengthy and costly legal challenge.” TSA TO SUBJECT CORPORATE JETS TO SECURITY AUDITS The U.S. Transportation Security Administration this month proposed new rules to subject general aviation, including corporate jets, to new security audits, including background checks for pilots, to ensure private planes aren’t used in terrorist attacks. Operators of aircraft weighing more than 12,500 pounds for the first time would be required to ensure passengers aren’t on federal watchlists. “General aviation operators are excellent security partners and this will give them a strong common framework for security that will reduce risk while supporting the open nature of the general aviation industry,” said TSA Administrator Kip Hawley. Ed Bolen, chief executive of the National Business Aviation Association, the trade group for private aviation operators, said his organization is scrutinizing the 260-page proposal, which is open for public comment for 60 days before it is finalized. PASSENGER RIGHTS LEGISLATION STALLS IN CONGRESS Frustrated business travelers’ hopes for a new Passenger Bill of Rights were stranded this month when Congress dropped the provisions from a broader aviation bill that was signed by President George W. Bush. Congress adjourned for the year, and while it is tentatively scheduled to hold a lame-duck session in mid-November, it’s unlikely the passenger rights legislation would be adopted. Among other measures, the legislation would direct pilots to return terminals to allow passengers to deplane when flights cannot take off due to weather or other conditions. Advocates are vowing to resurrect the legislation next year when a new Congress and new president take office. —Patty Donmoyer & Jay Boehmer 26 Monday, October 27, 2008 www.BTNonline.com Business Travel News http://www.btnonline.com/Webcasts http://www.BTNonline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Business Travel News October 27, 2008

Business Travel News- October 27, 2008
Contents
Inside Track
Profiles In Travel Management
BTN Research
Forum
Lodging
Travel Management Tech
Destinations
Washington Wire

Business Travel News October 27, 2008