HOLLYWOOD, FL— The 2003 Ramada Conference “Power to Excel” kicked off Oct.16 here with keynote presentations by the brand’s leading executives highlighting the chain’s new TripRewards program and new quality assurance measures. Ramada Franchise Systems Inc. President Paul Hanley got the ball rolling giving the audience of hotel owners a snapshot of where the brand currently fits in the lodging landscape and he shed light on future growth opportunities. Hanley detailed the company’s latest operation initiatives and how they will benefit Ramada hotel owners and operators in 2004 and beyond. Most pressing is the introduction of Cendant’s TripRewards program, which has already recently been rolled out to Wingate, will debut at Howard Johnson hotels in November. The program is ready to be incorporated by Ramada, as well as Villager, Knights Inn and Travelodge chains, come December. TripRewards is a consumer loyalty program tying in airlines and retail companies with hotel stays. It is designed to compete against Holiday Inn’s Priority Club, Best Western’s Gold Crown Club and Choice’s Privileges plan, according to Cendant and Ramada executives at the show. “TripRewards will transfer the Ramada value to travelers,” said Hanley, adding it is being launched with 6,000 initial properties, will be more accessible than the industry’s other loyalty programs and it won’t have blackout periods that hamstring consumer use. “Frequent customers are your most valuable asset,” Hanley said. “TripRewards will cement loyalty. This is not just a program for us, it is a way of life for Ramada.” Added Faith Taylor, senior director of marketing, “Our vision is simple: To make Ramada the No. 1 mid-market hotel brand in North America. TripRewards is a big part of this agenda, she added. In line with this, Ramada has boosted its marketing budget and will spend 50% more in 2004 than it did in 2003 on media delivery messages. The company has also revamped its brand website; created marketramada.com to help hotel owners gain access to promotions, training and information; eliminated the $2.50 charge to hotel owners for guests booking on the Ramada website; and introduced a multicultural program designed to appeal to a wider variety of travelers, Taylor said. Regarding QA changes, Hanley told the group the brand is not looking to simply increase the amount of Ramada hotels for volume sake, but is seeing through Cendant’s Project Restore and working on raising the standards of its current properties. Specifically, in the first quarter of 2004, Ramada will roll out phase one of its new Q&A process which will change the way properties receive penalty points for violations and break out specific areas of ratings instead of grouping them together. “This is the first revision of our quality assurance [program]in 70 years,” Hanley said. Phase two will be implemented in mid 2004, which will focus on a new guest questionnaire with more specific questions to help individual properties understand what they are doing right and where they are falling short, he said. The final phase of the new QA program will come at the end of next year or the beginning of 2005 at which point the old system will be completely phased out, Hanley said. One of the biggest changes to the system will be properties will receive double the violation points for problem areas that were previously cited but never addressed, according to Mark Young, senior vp/Hotel Services. “Our standards will be more specific and our inspection process will change,” he said. The conference is taking place at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa. Coinciding with the Ramada conference, Villager, Travelodge and Knights Inn are also holding their events here.
Paul Hanley