PHOENIX— Best Western International recently inked a number of new technology initiatives, including a web portal and e-procurement system, a new CRM (customer relationship management) program, and two deals with high-tech service providers, WorldRes.com and 2Roam. All of the technologies will be implemented within the next few months. Best Western has begun expanding its current e-procurement system, which is a proprietary site powered by PurchasePro, into a new member portal that will be launched in April. BestWesternSupply.com, which was developed in October 2000, will be consolidated into this portal, which will also include company service information, e-mail and customer statements. Members will also be able to communicate quickly and more efficiently with the corporate office through the portal. Best Western is also adding a new CRM, mail-handling system within the next 30 days, as of presstime, that will allow the brand to better deal with customers’ comments. One of the company’s first electronic initiatives of 2001 was to forge an agreement with WorldRes.com, an Internet hotel distribution network that would allow Best Western to provide available room-nights on the more than 1,000 global reservation websites offered through the WorldRes.com network. All of Best Western’s 4,100 hotels have agreed to partner with WorldRes.com and offer up-to-the-minute rates and inventory through a seamless link between the WorldRes.com platform and Best Western’s central reservation system. “The agreement will build on our electronic distribution strategy and create a new automated, seamless, booking system,” said Mary Beth Knight, vp/e-commerce and intermediary marketing at Best Western. Best Western also formed an agreement with 2Roam, a global wireless software and service provider, to bring the brand’s website content and functionality to its wireless users. “2Roam will take BestWestern.com to a wireless application,” said Knight. Both the PDA and mobile phone platforms will provide information about a guest’s loyalty points balance, facts on all the brand’s hotels, a searchable database of hotels via city or zip code, a list of availability and a “click to dial” reservation method. Mike Kistner, Best Western’s chief information officer, noted the brand avoids adding new technologies just because they’re “new and sexy,” and instead focuses on “trying to solve business problems” with the technology. He added the brand has not implemented high-speed Internet access because usage rates in the industry are “too low.”
