Meeting management software provider StarCite has decided to stop charging hotels and conference centers the per-room-night fees it had been receiving from them for group bookings generated via StarCite’s supplier database and RFP engine.
"We will be moving away from transaction fees in 2010 in order to eliminate as many barriers as possible to supplier participation," says Kevin Young, senior vice president, worldwide marketing and partner management, at the Philadelphia-based company. StarCite¹s database currently includes some 93,000 meeting venues and other meeting-industry vendors.
“Since 1999 StarCite has invested millions of dollars building a database and supporting technology that provide hotels and other suppliers the ability to receive and respond to corporate group leads,” Young adds. “Suppliers are provided with a free basic listing with relevant meetings specs, free access to an extranet site to manage and reply to RFPs, as well as training and customer service.” StarCite continues to receive revenue from suppliers who choose to upgrade their listings within the database.
StarCite’s wide range of software tools are designed to help companies track and manage meeting spending, mitigate risk, boost compliance with corporate policies, and implement other processes that make up a strategic meetings management program.