HILTONInternational and Hilton Hotel Corporation will complete the cut over to a new joint reservations system in the spring.
The ú30m project was started last autumn and means that all 400 Hilton hotels worldwide will be on a central system called Hilstar.
The move follows an agreement signed in January 1997 between Ladbroke-owned Hilton International and US-based HHC to join together on sales, marketing, reservations and future hotel development.
The two had previously operated separately in these areas, despite both using the Hilton brand. The reunion led to the creation of a company called Hilton Reservations Worldwide which struck a deal with Anasazi to develop a central reservations system and provide ongoing maintenance.
Funding for the systems has been split equally between the two Hilton groups.
For travel agents, the new system means all bookings will arrive at the hotel in less than 15mins after they have been made in the Hilstar system.
If an agent specifies a certain rate category, they will be able to see those rates first on a Hilstar seamless availability display. Under the old reservations system, only a standard rate was displayed on seamless availability regardless of the rate the agent requested. In addition, suites will be bookable at Hilton International hotels on the computer reservation system for the first time.
Agents will not need any training to use Hilstar and the information will appear in the same format as it did before.
For hotels, rate loading is more automated which will lead to more up to date rate displays. A spokeswoman for Hilton said:”The new CRS will offer an improved level of service to Hilton’s guests, its hotel teams and third-party distribution partners.”