ST. PAUL, MN— Some 450 attendees at the annual AmericInn International LLC conference held here last month in the RiverCentre learned technology is the new touchstone for the steadily growing upscale, limited-service chain. At the conference themed “Sharing the Magic of AmericInn,” Chairman/CEO Luke Fowler told HOTEL BUSINESS®: “The two key messages are: embracing technology and the change to a central reservations system” in 2003. And newly signed CRS provider InnLink is the linchpin expected to help bring it all together. The provider will transform voice, Internet reservations booking and global distribution systems onto a single manageable platform for AmericInn, which in June begins transferring its reservations operations to InnLink’s facility in Hendersonville, TN. InnLink President Michael Young said during the conference trade show, owners and managers came to his booth with questions on many different levels. “Their concerns are no different than what they’ve experienced with their current vendor, whether it be customer-service issues or those types of things. Generally, that’s where their concerns are,” he said. The collection of data from the properties was underway, and expected to cut over on voice the first week of June, electronic the following week, Young said. Current 800-number wrangler McLeod USA and GDS program provider Lexington Services will be phased out as the transfer proceeds. “It’s really a fairly quick transition,” Young said, adding InnLink would conduct training with the properties. He scheduled an immediate post-convention workshop for those who wanted to get a jump on the process, and explained how to deal with rates and availability on the company’s Internet CRM side. The effort is a private-label solution and all inquiries are answered by brand-dedicated operators. “AmericInn is embarking on a major, major change in modus operandi by going with a central reservations system because we’ve grown to the point where we can do that,” said Jon Kennedy, senior vp/marketing and franchise development. The new-construction brand has grown approximately 20% annually, with 184 properties representing 10,000 rooms in 22 states, and 25 hotels under development at presstime. The Chanhassen, MN-based chain is anticipating its milestone 200th property this year, and hopes to see its 300th within five years via new growth in the West and Southwest, and additional growth on the East Coast and in the Southeast. Fundamentals showed improvement for the brand year-over-year 2002 to 2001. ADR was up from $67.52 to $68.40 and RevPAR ticked up slightly from $37.81 to $38.03. Occupancy was stable at 56%. Fowler said the switch to the CRS would prove a more effective way to sell reservations. “The calls won’t go directly to the front desk anymore. They’ll go to a professional reservations service. It will mean we’ll get consistency in response to customer calls,” he said. Yield management opportunities also would be more effective, “plus our exposure to new revenue sources, booking sources is quadrupling…We’re going to be able to maximize the return with reservations activity, whether it’s voice, GDS or Internet access,” according to Kennedy. Fowler reminded attendees that he previously predicted combined GDS and Internet activity would double in 2002. “It almost did, but not quite. It went from $2.5 million to $4.5 million, which is a pretty significant jump. We think with this new system it will probably do the same kind of thing over the next year.” AmericInn searched for a CRS solution for three years. However, it has been a topic at conventions and meetings for longer. “Historically, in the past five years it’s been a hot subject at each one of our franchise advisory council meetings,” said Kennedy, “and there’s been a lot of input from our franchisees over time.” “It’s got to be done,” said owner Stanley Anderson, who is building his first AmericInn, a 78-room property in Wisconsin Dells, WI
