At Omni Hotels & Resorts, the small-group booking process has just gotten a little easier. The Dallas-based hotel chain with 50 properties across the U.S. and Canada has expanded its use of the GroupSync Instant Booking tool from platform provider Groups360.
In April 2022, Omni began a trial of the Instant Booking module with the Omni Frisco Hotel in Frisco, Texas, allowing meeting organizers to book both guest-room blocks of up to 25 people and event spaces through the online platform without contacting the hotel directly via an RFP.
This week, the chain announced that all Omni properties are using the GroupSync Instant Booking for guest rooms now, and will be adding meeting space booking capabilities in 2024.
Omni joins Marriott International, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Accor, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Premier Inn, and Choice Hotels International on the GroupSync Marketplace. Some chains only allow instant booking of guest-room blocks; others also allow real-time online booking of meeting space. Through the Marketplace feature, planners can also choose to send an RFP for larger or more complex meetings, but self-booking for small meetings is the innovation expected to save time for both planners and suppliers.
In the nearly two years since IHG began the first GroupSync Instant Booking pilot program at three full-service hotels in February 2021, use of the small-group booking tool has expanded dramatically. Here’s the latest hotel-chain adoption information:
• Omni: All 50 properties offer instant Booking for guest rooms; instant booking for meeting space will launch in 2024.
• Marriott: Over 4,100 properties in the U.S. and Canada offer instant booking for rooms; over 1,000 of those also offer instant booking for meeting space.
• IHG: Instant booking for guest rooms is available in select markets.
• Hilton: All properties offer instant booking for rooms; over 1,000 of those also offer instant booking for meeting space, with 4,000 additional properties expected to launch the meeting-space functionality soon.
• Accor: Planners are expected to be able to use instant booking for both guest rooms and meeting space, but no launch date has been set.
• Premier Inn: Instant booking for meeting space is available in EMEA markets.
• Wyndham: Instant booking for guest rooms only is expected to launch this month at all properties.
• Choice: Choice brands, such as Comfort Inns and Suites and Clarion Inns, are now listed on the GroupSync Marketplace. They expect properties to adopt instant booking for guest rooms in the early part of 2024.
