BRITANNIC Travel has become the latest business travel agency to set up a separate hotel reservations management division.
Marketing executive Judith Revill said hotel reservations have previously been managed by the agency’s conference and event management department, but demand is now so big, a separate section needed to be set up. “We have found there has been a lot of demand from many clients who are doing a lot of hotel bookings,” she said.
“The conference and event department used to handle a certain amount, but because the conference and incentive market itself is growing, that department is very busy.”
The new division will be based at Britannic’s head office in Britannic House, New Malden. Initially, a team of four will run the division, but the number of employees are expected to grow within the next few months.
It will be headed up by hotel reservation manager Natalie James who joined Britannic in July to set up the new department. She has four years’ experience in the hotel and conference industry.
The other new recruits are assistant manager Rachel Benyon and reservations agents Caroline Haines and Gemma Bennion.
The department has negotiated special deals with major hotel groups and individual hotels.
All bookings will be made on a new hotel reservation system which Britannic has installed in its New Malden office.
Called VenueBase R, the system has been installed by technology supplier Venues Etc.
The supplier spent five years developing the system which has been designed specifically for the hotel reservation industry. Revill said the system is very efficient and easy to use. It enables Britannic to closely match the requirements of the client to the appropriate hotel, while establishing the most competitive price available.
Client records will be established and updated continually, thus ensuring that personal preferences are always taken into consideration.