BUSINESS PRESS. Recapturing reservation revenue Local software firm helps hotels save on fees Page 6 LAS VEGAS INSIDE

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1 LAS VEGAS BUSINESS PRESS November 24-30, 2014 Volume 31, Issue 47 $1.00 Recpturing reservtion revenue Locl softwre firm helps hotels sve on fees Pge 6 INSIDE INTEL Henderson Economic Development nd Smll Business Awrds held PAGE 3 THE LIST Ntionl lw firms, bnking lw ttorneys PAGE 16

2 P6 BUSINESS PRESS November 24, 2014 COVER STORY BOOK EM, DUETTO SAMANTHA CLEMENS-KERBS/LAS VEGAS BUSINESS PRESS Mrco Benvenuti, co-founder of Duetto, works with Andree Brescn t the softwre development compny s Tivoli Villge office on Nov. 17. The hotel rooms re sme, but the revenue is higher under locl compny s system BY ROBERT HORNE SPECIAL TO THE LAS VEGAS BUSINESS PRESS

3 COVER STORY Mrco Benvenuti nd Ptrick Bosworth, co-founders of Ls Vegs-bsed Duetto, re using the compny s innovtive softwre to chnge the wy hotels nd resorts book rooms. Both men hve experience working for mjor Strip properties, nd they sw how those properties were losing money s guests used online trvel gencies such s Expedi nd Hotels.com to mke reservtions. So, they developed softwre tht helps hotels nd resorts trck their guests trvel nd spending hbits, then offer dels to encourge booking through the hotel. Bosworth sid those online trvel gencies typiclly get 15 percent to 40 percent of the sle. As verifiction tht Duetto s progrm works, one of the compny s first customers in Ls Vegs, El Cortez on Freemont Street, hs seen 40 percent increse in revenue since going live with the softwre, Bosworth sid. The results hve been very good, remrkble from finncil stndpoint, sid Joe Woody, chief finncil officer nd secretry/ tresurer of El Cortez. The ese of use nd thoroughness of the product (re) very good. It works flwlessly with our (hotel mngement) softwre, nd we cn rpidly monitor rtes nd mke chnges s necessry. Expedi is very good product, s (re) ll the online trvel providers. While Expedis of the world exist nd lot of customers use it, it is esier to go directly to our website, nd we re strting to see trend towrd tht. Benvenuti nd Bosworth sid they re witing to mke n nnouncement on the ddition of big-box csinos to their customer bse. Duetto lso works with csinos on the Atlntic City bordwlk nd one in Bossier City, L. Duetto s success hs resulted in the growth of jobs in Southern Nevd. Since its founding in 2012, Duetto hs dded offices in Ls Vegs, Sn Frncisco, New York City, Chicgo nd Austin, Texs, nd interntionlly in London nd Singpore. Bosworth sid Duetto rised $33.2 million recently becuse investors believe in the product nd its bility to meet the needs of the integrted csino mrket, nd they re redy to drmticlly scle up sles nd mrketing. Mny of those sles nd mrketing jobs will be in Ls Vegs. Duetto doubled its locl opertions by opening n office in Tivoli Villge for its 57 employees, nd Bosworth expects the number of locl employees to double gin in the next six months. Duetto lso recently hired two senior executives from Cesrs Entertinment Corp. A BOOST FOR UNLV BASKETBALL Mrco Benvenuti, co-founder of Duetto, hs pssion for the UNLV bsketbll tem. Benvenuti, who moved to Ls Vegs from Itly in 1999, grduted from the university s Hrrh College of Hotel Administrtion. As wy for Benvenuti to give bck to his lm mter nd the bsketbll tem, Duetto is using its resources t no cost to the university to help UNLV sell tickets nd keep more of the proceeds insted of going to online brokers such s Stub Hub. After the bsketbll seson ended lst spring, we sked, re we doing the best we cn t selling those tickets nd ctully getting opportunities when people re willing to py money for the tickets insted of leving it in the hnds of Stub Hub? We did quick study nd found tht UNLV is leving lot of money on the tble due to tht, he sid. The consumer doesn t end up pying more money by buying through UNLV s ticket office, but proceeds from ticket sles goes directly to UNLV, not the online broker, which llows UNLV to improve its bsketbll progrm, Duetto co-founder Ptrick Bosworth sid. Right now we re lser focused on hotels, Benvenuti sid. We re treting this s n experiment s every business should do. If this works out, yes tht could be our next product line to venture into sports rens. In the end, optimiztion nd the mth re not tht different. You re still deling with perishble inventory where you hve set, insted hotel room, tht is expiring every night like hotel room does. By ROBERT HORNE/SPECIAL TO THE LAS VEGAS BUSINESS PRESS Mrco Benvenuti Co-founder of Duetto Clerly for every business tht wnts to be in technology, you need to hve big presence in Silicon Vlley to ttrct top tech tlent, Benvenuti sid. But unlike other compnies, we re very focused on the hotel nd csino industry. Becuse we need to hire top hotel tlent, Vegs is the perfect plce for recruiting people. The cost of living is not s high s in Sn Frncisco, nd if you ctully nlyze the profile of people we re hiring in Vegs, there re lot of highcliber folks who come from the csinos on the Strip who decided to join us. Bosworth, who hs mster s of business dministrtion from Hrvrd Business School, is Duetto s CEO. He hs worked for more thn decde in the hospitlity industry. Benvenuti is Duetto s chief nlytics nd product officer. He ws formerly the executive director t Wynn Ls Vegs nd Encore. He hs mster s in mngement hospitlity from Cornell University nd bchelor s in hotel dministrtion from UNLV. Both understnd tht guests, especilly first-time customers, hve been trined to use online trvel gencies becuse those compnies offer better user experience. Benvenuti sid the hotel s business is to serve guests once they re on site. The crdinl sin you cn mke here is if you cquire customer from Expedi, let s sy, which you py the commission, then hve the sme customer come bck into either the sme mrket or the sme hotel, nd Ptrick Bossworth Co-founder of Duetto they keep booking through Expedi, Benvenuti sid. You re pying for the customer positioning every time insted of just pying it the first time. Most hotels fll into tht trp becuse they don t hve processes, procedures nd systems tht llow them to mke sure the customer, when they hve to come bck, books through the hotel. One wy hotels cn ensure customers strt to use their website is by offering system where the hotel cn personlize rtes nd experiences for returning customers, Benvenuti sid. Bosworth dded tht hotels re missing bout 95 percent of trvelers who re not interested in gming or business trvel. Duetto s softwre will keep trck of those customers nd offer incentives, whether it is $5 discount, erly check-in, free Internet or nother offer to book rooms through the hotel. Duetto s system is similr to rewrds progrms tht re populr with mny csinos nd other rewrds progrms tht offer incentives to business trvelers. Duetto prtners with Ls Vegs-bsed Konmi Gming, which helps csinos trck guest s spending throughout the entire resort. This is going to be very importnt tool for the hotel industry nd the csino gming resort industry, Bosworth sid. Typiclly, we wnt to be ble to stel bck some mrket shre, nd the only wy to do tht is to crete vlue for consumers. If consumers re not seeing the vlue, then they hve no incentive to chnge their behvior. November 24, 2014 BUSINESS PRESS P7 Ltest trend in Ls Vegs is boutique hotels Customized service mjor plus for trvelers By ANN FRIEDMAN LAS VEGAS BUSINESS PRESS Boutique hotels hve been sprouting up cross the Ls Vegs Vlley nd there could be more soon. Chris Komnowski, vice president of commercil rel estte brokerge CBRE, sid the rise in boutique hotels could mrk new trend. Our mrket is underserved nd people see n opportunity, Komnowski sid. In the lst 10 to 15 yers, the boutique spce relly becme vible segment tht lot of the Mrriotts nd Hiltons relized they wnt to be in tht growth ren s well. Krie Hll, vice president nd generl mnger of The Cromwell, boutique hotel tht opened on the corner of the Strip nd Est Flmingo Rod in April, sid she s not surprised tht boutique hotels mde their wy to the vlley. Boutique nd lifestyle hotels hve hd strong footprint in New York, London, Sn Frncisco, Los Angeles nd mny other mjor cities for yers; it ws inevitble tht Ls Vegs cught on to this, she sid. Boutique hotel environments cter to this need nd understnd tht new genertion of guests do not necessrily wnt the megresort environment tht Ls Vegs hs been so fmous for in the pst. The difference between boutique hotels nd trditionl hotel, Hll sid, is in the detils. The scle of our property llows us to deliver very personlized experiences, she sid. Our ssocites know you, remember your nme nd preferences, nd we build on tht. For exmple, Hll sid The

4 P8 BUSINESS PRESS November 24, 2014 COVER STORY CHASE STEVENS/LAS VEGAS BUSINESS PRESS The pool re t the Osis t Gold Spike, 44-room boutique hotel operted by the Downtown Project, offers views of downtown Ls Vegs, which is undergoing revitliztion t the hnds of Zppos CEO Tony Hsieh. Cromwell offers customized coffee choices in the lobby, welcome menities nd turndown surprises tht chnge sesonlly. We consistently her from our hotel nd csino guests tht the service is relly the differentitor, Hll sid. They love how pssionte nd committed our tem is to the service experience. The Cromwell hs 188 rooms, including 19 suites, the Gid Resturnt Ls Vegs, owned by Chef Gid de Lurentiis, nd Dri s Bech Club, Nightclub nd After Hours. Since its debut, the hotel hs bosted 90 percent occupncy rte. Gid is phenomenl setting for brekfst, lunch nd dinner; it s Itlin cuisine with Cliforni twist nd it is truly destintion dining experience. And then there is Dri s; whether it s the Dri s Bech Club, Dri s After Hours, there is lwys prty hppening, Hll sid. We hve very diverse mix of guests who ll come to The Cromwell for those exclusive experiences. Komnowski sid customers will py more for the right experience t boutique hotels. Mny will offer complementry wine hour, they re petnd eco-friendly, focused on recycling nd issues tht mtter to lot of millennils, he sid. Downtown, Gold Spike unveiled Osis, 44-room boutique hotel with six suites on its Ls Vegs Boulevrd North lot in September. Osis is owned by Downtown Project, Zppos CEO Tony Hsieh s $350 million inititive to redevelop downtown Ls Vegs. It is nonsmoking nd nongming hotel, Downtown Project spokeswomn Kim Schefer sid. It s n urbn osis in n energetic prt of Ls Vegs, Schefer sid. We offer bike rentls, librry, office spce " ) " " ' " " ) " " % " % " ' % "" ) " & (" & % " " " ' " " " #! " # # #! $ % *$ # #

5 COVER STORY nd in-room nd poolside dining. Downtown Project Opertions Mnger Michel Stoll sid lthough most hotels only hve one or two schemes throughout the rooms, Osis hs individul schemes in ech room. Every room hs different furniture nd rtwork, nd offers different experience, he sid. It s gret for people who re looking for one-of--kind experience tht is off the beten pth. Stoll sid the Osis occupncy rte ws reltively low when the hotel opened Sept. 15, however, it s incresed pproximtely 50 percent since the grnd opening Oct. 29. Schefer sid she s experienced n increse in bookings for December nd into the New Yer. She dded tht trvelers re looking for unique nd uthentic experiences. They wnt to see wht it s like to live where they ve trveled to nd tht s one of the exciting things bout the loction of Osis is tht it s downtown, which is undergoing resurgence nd is ttrctive to trvelers looking for boutique experience, she sid. Wht I hope most is tht people will come to downtown Ls Vegs nd relly experience different side of our city tht will not only grow their interest but grow interest for the folks who live here s well. Komnowski sid Ls Vegs my see more boutique hotels soon. A lot of hotels hve been buying boutique hotels in mjor mrkets so I think tht will continue s long s there s strong mrket, he sid. I think these ssets will continue to be developed in mny mrkets nd I don t see ny stopping this. November 24, 2014 BUSINESS PRESS P9 CHASE STEVENS/LAS VEGAS BUSINESS PRESS A suite t the Osis t Gold Spike, 44-room boutique hotel operted by the Downtown Project, fetures individulized decor. The hotel lso hs six suites.