Radisson Hotel Group and hivr.ai complete industry’s first successful direct connection for meetings and group sales’ instant RFP management
8 December 2023
Radisson Hotel Group is the first international hotel group to fully implement hivr.ai’s ground-breaking technology. This joint venture has taken the Group’s meetings and group sales performance to new heights. From late 2022 to September 2023, Radisson Hotel Group increased its lead to quote conversion by a whopping 80%, doubled its customer response rate with a 125% increase, and reduced the time needed to send proposals by 59%.
In 2022, Radisson Hotel Group, EY, and hivr.ai embarked on an ambitious journey to transform the customer journey for meetings and group sales as part of the Group’s robust digital investment strategy. Radisson Hotel Group identified the power of connectivity to revolutionize its meetings and groups sales performance, and together started building the integration between three different platforms.
This trail-blazing technology for meetings and group sales allows Radisson Hotel Group to manage the request for proposal process in a more automated manner. It enables hotels to improve response rates, saves key time on manually processing requests, and allows a full demand capturing from different channels. Customers benefit from faster response times, instant responses on availability, and immediate rates for requests for all different sizes and configurations of hotel rooms, meeting spaces, food and beverage options, and A/V equipment on platforms that are compatible. Radisson Hotel Group’s own Brand Web booking engine, which launched in 2022, has already seen significant success in customers’ response to both instant RFP and booking options.
“We are proud to be the first international hotel group to implement 2-way connectivity for both Groups plus Meeting and Event Sales, with which we will allow for the company to re-shape and expand its distribution strategy in these segments. The technology and partnership with hivr.ai are an essential cornerstone in supporting Radisson Hotel Group’s overall ambition to “become the easiest to do business with” by leveraging technology to support the customer journey”, says Angela Graun, VP, Sales Operations & Global Meeting & Events at Radisson Hotel Group.
“We are thrilled that Radisson Hotel Group is the first global hotel group to fully implement a two-way integration with hivr.ai. Going forward, Radisson Hotel Group and hivr.ai will continue to integrate further RFP sources, including market players Cvent, hubli, MeetingSelect, VenueDirectory, Aloom, and others. With hivr.ai as its central channel manager and automation software, Radisson Hotel Group will eliminate manual data entry and significantly reduce response times needed for its meeting planners. We're excited to have embarked on this transformative journey that will redefine how the meetings and groups business is sourced in the future”, adds Felix Undeutsch, Co-Founder & Business Development hivr.ai.
Radisson Hotel Group continues to be a leading pioneer in digital innovation. The Group’s website offers the largest number of languages in use and personalized content to more than 60 markets. Personalized content has resulted in an impressive double-digit conversion increase and threefold increase in “click through rate” as compared to generic content. In 2022, the Group introduced another industry-first with the launch of its immersive experiences which are now available in 123+ hotels. Guests can enter hotels, meeting spaces, and hotel rooms virtually from their laptops, mobile devices, or VR headsets. The Group’s app continues to be a best-in-class industry sales leader in direct bookings share among other hotel companies.
Immersive content has also become a strong conversion booster for the Group’s meetings and events business. In 2022, the Group launched its first meetings and events booking engine, the Book It Easy tool, integrating immersive experiences. This interactive tool targets small and medium meetings and events so meeting planners can easily search for their perfect event venue, explore the various meeting rooms and different set-ups, book directly, or send a request for proposal for that specific space. Event organizers at the hotels can show the possible set-ups and room configuration for each meeting and event space using VR goggles or their smartphones. Immersive experiences have generated more qualified meeting and event inquiries (+35%) and more booking conversions (+12%). Radisson Hotel Group is steadily rolling-out this technology across its hotels worldwide. In 2024, the Group aims to accelerate this roll-out and incorporate new enhancements, including new booking management tools, rooming list options, advance payments, as well as group booking opportunities.
