Passkey says growth is key to its future
The ongoing financial turmoil will make it tough for many companies to grow. But Passkey International Inc., which provides online group reservation systems, recently added the Mohegan Sun hotel and casino to its roster, it's targeting spa and golf resorts as potential clients, and it plans to expand aggressively over the next year - internationally.
The Quincy company's software allows hotels to create custom Web pages for groups, ranging from smaller affairs such as weddings to large trade association meetings.
Guests register directly on a website rather than by phone, by e-mail, or on the hotel's public website. That lets event planners access up-to-the-minute information, such as how many rooms in a block are reserved, and whether those signing up for rooms have also signed up for the event. The system helps to ensure that hotels and outside planners are in sync, said Passkey's chief executive, Greg Pesik. It also protects personal data, since the sites are not in the public domain, he said.
"Travelers demand and want the convenience of being able to manage their bookings," Pesik said.
Passkey also can help a hotel compete for lucrative group booking business, said Christopher Perry, sales and marketing vice president for Mohegan Sun. The Connecticut casino and hotel complex plans to begin using the company's booking system this fall.
"This is a tool that customers are coming to expect. If you're not playing at this level, they have to consider whether they want to do business with you," Perry said.
Hotels, corporations, and convention and visitor bureaus license the software for three to five years. The subscription fee varies, depending on the level of software integration.
Passkey, founded in 1996, began licensing its reservation product to hotels about five years ago. Today, more than 550 hotels, including Foxwoods Resort Casino, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, and the San Francisco Marriott are licensed to use the reservation engine. Corporations such as Harley Davidson Inc. and Mary Kay, along with city convention and visitor bureaus, also use the product.
Last year, Passkey introduced Smart Alerts, a feature that sends information about group reservations directly to a planner's cellphone.
And Passkey is working to integrate software from Resort Suites, a Toronto software company, to allow guests to book such things as golf outings or massages along with hotel reservations.
The company began taking on international clients this year, when it rolled out its system in Fairmont hotels in Singapore and Dubai. It has also signed up conference centers in Belgium, France, and Germany.
In 2009, Passkey plans to focus on increasing the system's international capabilities. That includes managing dual currencies. Passkey already has sites in French and Spanish; German and Italian are on deck.
Vivienne Harwood Mattox, executive director of the Society of Vacuum Coaters, won't plan meetings at venues that don't use Passkey, which she first used about six years ago. The system saved the group a significant amount of money, she said.
Using Passkey, she was able to know instantly who had booked rooms, without having to wait for the data to be transferred from the hotel's system to an Excel file. She was able to track attendees who had not yet booked a room and prod them to do so. Ordinarily, if a group reserves a block of rooms but doesn't fill them all, organizers pay a penalty.
"Everything being electronic and online just makes everything so much better," Harwood Mattox said. "You know exactly what's going on."
Passkey also helps meeting planners ensure that people booking rooms in a group's block actually are attending the event, because users need to register for the event before they can book a room, said Susan Rosenstock, director of meeting and event services for the Travel Industry Association. That helps planners manage food and beverage costs, she said.
"It just takes one more factor out of the equation for me when I have a better feel that these numbers are accurate," Rosenstock said. 