Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport #40

Hotel & Tourism
SMARTreport #40
2018 Autumn Edition 7
Signature Board
of Directors
has direct access to weekly campaigns
that are designed to touch customers
across all stages of the buying cycle, from
time-sensitive best deals and direct mail
automated follow-up, to information-rich
newsletters. Signature’s email marketing
program continues to surpass the industry
average in click-through rates. All digital
media and email marketing tools designed
by Signature integrate seamlessly with
members’ individual online and social
media strategies.
How many hotels, resorts, villas and
spas are in your network, and how do
they qualify to be listed?
As of today, we have over 1,100 partner
hotels, resorts, lodges, destination spas
and unique places to stay worldwide.
Every partner property offers unique
Signature privileges to our clients,
including breakfast for two daily,
complimentary wi-fi, a special Signature
privilege such as a $100 dining or resort
credit, in addition to upgrades, early
check-in and late check-out, subject
to availability, as well as access to best
available rates at time of booking. All
partner hotels are vetted with our Hotel
Committee, which is made up of hotel
experts within our network who provide
us with guidance and counsel. We also
have a Hotel “Mystery Shopper” program,
which enables us to gather intelligence as
to how our guests are being welcomed
and handled on property, based on actual
stays by selected members within our
network who experience the hotels as our
clients would.
OUR GOAL IS TO
BECOME THE MOST
VALUED BUSINESS
PARTNER FOR BOTH
OUR MEMBERS AND
TRAVEL SUPPLIERS
Signature Travel Network launched a
new consumer-facing hotel booking
engine earlier this year. Please tell us a
little about this.
In April we launched this new platform
for our members to showcase more
consumer-facing material. We partnered
with Freedom Travel Technologies to create
and integrate this platform for advisors
to connect with their clients’ needs even
deeper than before. While it is available
for all our advisors to use, it is a feature
that they need to choose to participate in.
For those who opted in to use the booking
engine, it is embedded within their own
sites so consumers are not redirected to
a third-party site. Everything is right at
their clients’ fingertips. The need for this
hotel booking engine derived from the
trend of consumers booking travel online
themselves through third-party affiliates.
With this new tool, consumers have
access to all the information while still
working with the consultants to receive
the additional benefits and be aware of
any restrictions outright.
What is your vision for the future of
the organization?
Our goal is to become the most valued
business partner for both our members
and travel suppliers. We want to
outperform the competition and continue
to be a leader in our field. We do not aspire
to be the biggest travel organization, but
we do want to be the best in class. Our
guiding principle is to serve our members
and advisors by providing industry leading
technology, marketing and training,
which in turn will allow us to give our
supplier partners the customers, matched
to their brand, at a premium ADR, and
likely to repeat time and time again