Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is the latest hotel chain to activate the GroupSync instant-booking tool from Groups360. The sourcing technology allows planners or travel managers to browse real-time rates and availability in the GroupSync hotel marketplace and then directly book small room blocks without contacting the hotel or sending a traditional RFP.
In Wyndham’s case, group bookings can be as large as 50 rooms. For other hotel chains, including Marriott and Omni, guest-room blocks of only 25 rooms can be booked through the system.
While GroupSync can also enable real-time online booking of meeting space for small groups, Wyndham is not using that capability. However, traditional meeting RFPs can be sent through the marketplace.
Wyndham says the majority of its 5,600 hotels in the U.S. should be available for instant booking on GroupSync by February 16, with the remaining hotels expected to go live before the end of month.
Wyndham joins Marriott International, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Accor, Omni Hotels & Resorts, Premier Inn, and Choice Hotels International in offering the small-group booking tool.
The chains that allow instant booking of both guest-room blocks and meeting space include Marriott and Hilton. Both companies have about 4,000 properties set up for instant room-block bookings, with about a quarter of those hotels also allowing instant meeting-space booking. Omni has announced that meeting-space booking would roll out in 2024.
