Signature Travel Expert Certification Course Module 5: Hotels and Resorts Program Introduction Revised 7/13/2018 Signature s hotels and resorts program provides members with preferred partnerships with some of the world s leading hotels. Our hotel program offers a wide range of competitive and invaluable benefits, rich online content and the best in the industry technology and marketing tools, all designed to help close sales and build client loyalty. Three benefits of using the Hotel and Resort program: Value Beyond Price A great price is always important, but so is having a great experience. That s why Signature s Hotel program includes privileges and extras worth up to $450 per stay all chosen to increase satisfaction. (Based on 2 people staying 2 nights) Compete with Confidence Signature continually improves the hotel program to help you remain as competitive as possible with other well-known brands and program such as Virtuoso, American Express Platinum. The Advantage of Suites Signature s Suite Privileges can help you significantly enhance your clients travel experiences far beyond our core amenities by offering special benefits at 400 participating hotels. This module covers the following: Who are Signature s preferred Hotels and Resorts Locating the Hotels and Resorts Profiles on SigNet Understand the information contained in the Hotels and Resorts Profile Using the search tool to Find the Perfect Hotel Understand Signature hotel Offers and how they are tied to Promotions How to customize and email hotel content to customers How to post and tweet hotel content to social media (Facebook, Twitter) Understanding the Hotel Microsite Hotel Connection, Signature s online hotel booking engine ABC Global and THOR hotel programs
Lesson 1: Review of Hotels and Resorts Program Signature is well known as having one of the best hotel and resort programs in the industry. We have preferred partnerships with over 1000 of the world s best hotels, resorts, lodges and spas in over 450 destinations. Most are 4 and 5 star properties and all offer exclusive amenities and privileges. With top-rated partners such as Peninsula, St Regis, Mandarin Oriental, Belmond, Ritz-Carlton, Leading Hotels, Fairmont, Intercontinental, Raffles, Langham, Melia, Starwood, and many more, the focus is on quality and value. For travel advisors, SigNet makes finding the right hotel, along with all the important details, quick and easy. That includes important GDS codes and booking instructions, as well as other important details. Don t worry; you won t have to learn all 1000+ properties! The purpose of this module is to help you gain a general understanding of the program and its benefits for you and your clients. In the following lessons you ll learn how to search for hotels and resorts, find out what benefits are included, and how to use HotelConnection for bookings. Tip: New To The Industry With all the hotel apps and websites today, you might wonder about the value of our own program. In short, not all rooms are created equal even in the same resort or category. The properties and agreements in the Signature Hotels and Resorts program are carefully chosen. This ensures that your clients get quality accommodations and benefits that may not be included from other sources. Tip: Experienced Advisors Use the Hotel and Resorts program for comparing apples to apples when a client mentions a lower price found elsewhere. Often, benefits, room view, privileges and extras are not included in rates found online. Many online deals can end up costing significantly more once all the extras are added in. Signature Marketing Services offers a collection of infographics for use in your digital marketing efforts. These infographics are perfect to communicate via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Blogs, Email, and any other digital communication you can think of! Located in the Marketing menu is the link to Digital Media Banners. This is where you ll find the list of all available infographics and more specifically the one created exclusively for the Signature Hotels & Resorts Program. To see the Hotel & Resorts graphics, click on the button for Hotels and Resorts. Signature Travel Expert Course Module 5: Hotel & Resorts Program 2
For our special collection of graphics for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, we ve provided you with a sample copy of verbiage to use plus, links for both Facebook and Instagram. Just click the link for the photo you want to share. Lesson 2: Search for Hotels and Resorts Signature s hotel search tool is located under the HOTELS menu on SigNet. It helps advisors search the online database of all 1000+ hotels in the program. Signature Travel Expert Course Module 5: Hotel & Resorts Program 3
Example: Select New York From the CITY dropdown menu The ADVANCED FILTER will be open at the top of the results by default. To close it, simply click HIDE in the upper right area. Next, the results displayed include all hotels in the Hotels and Resorts Program for New York. Each hotel result displayed includes the following information: Field Name Details Hotel Name The name of the hotel (is also a clickable link to the hotel s profile page). Location Price Hotel Affiliation Wholesaler Combinable Specials The exact location of the hotel in the destination. The dollar sign representation of the price point such as $$$=hotel has an average rate over $500 and below $750. Which major hotel chain the hotel is part of. Indicates whether the hotel allows combining Signature Exclusive amenities with wholesaler or tour operator bookings. Current specials as well as news about the hotel. Signature Travel Expert Course Module 5: Hotel & Resorts Program 4
Tip: New to The Industry Be sure to check the Wholesaler Combinable section BEFORE quoting the price or amenities to your clients! In many cases they are not combinable. Tip: Experienced Advisors Use the Advanced Filters to narrow your search results to meet your clients exact preferences. Lesson 3: Hotel Profiles SigNet offers in-depth Profiles for each Hotel. Once you have searched for hotels as detailed above, click on one to display its Profile. There you ll find comprehensive details that are priceless for travel advisors including the following: Field Name Wholesaler Combinable Statement Hotel Address Hotel Description Exclusive Amenities Hotel Amenity Form Hotel Affiliation Check in / Check out Time Commission GDS Rate Codes Details Shown Details regarding the hotels Wholesaler combinable policy. Physical address of hotel. Detailed overview of the hotel. Listing of Signature s exclusive amenities. Link to the online amenity form which is pre-populated with the hotel information as well as your contact information. Hotel affiliation details such as Hyatt, Viceroy, Ritz Carlton, etc. Hotel s specific check in and check out times. What percentage of commission the hotel pays. Details regarding the various GDS rate codes for online bookings. Additional profile details found to the left of the hotel overview include: Field Name Details Shown Payment and Cancellation Policies Complete cancellation policy details. Map/Location Google map location of hotel. Accommodations Complete details regarding types of accommodations offered. Facilities and Guest Services Complete listing of hotel facilities and guest services offered. Dining Details of all dining options available. News, Specials and Packages Updates, special packages or promotions. Signature Travel Expert Course Module 5: Hotel & Resorts Program 5
Reviews Hotel Website Hotel and Contact Information Access to the area where Signature advisors can add hotel reviews for other advisors to view. Link to the hotel consumer website. Email and phone numbers for the primary Signature contact. Tip: New to The Industry Signature provides contact information including the email and phone number for the primary Signature contact at each hotel. Reaching out to them can be a very valuable tool when booking your VIP client s who may require a little extra care. Tip: Experienced Advisors Share your experiences with Signature s Hotels and Resorts by completing a hotel review. You ll be helping your fellow Signature advisors, and making the program better and more personal. Reading existing reviews can help you to help your clients make a decision between multiple hotel properties. Lesson 4: Hotel Amenities Every hotel in the Signature Hotels and Resorts Program offers competitive, value-added benefits worth up to $450 per couple, based on a 2-night stay including such things as: Breakfast for two daily Signature Privilege, such as a $100 Resort Credit (benefit varies by hotel) Late check-out and early check-in when available Upgrades when available Best Available Rates Guaranteed Welcome gifts Each individual hotel profile details the specific benefits offered by that hotel and are easily found within the hotel overview. Signature Travel Expert Course Module 5: Hotel & Resorts Program 6
The Amenity Form, located at the top of the overview page, is pre-populated with your agent information as well as the hotel s information and is submitted directly from SigNet. There is also a feature that allows you to set a reminder date, which triggers the form to be re-sent to the hotel on the date that you specify. Important: The Amenity Form is automatically submitted if you use the Signature booking engine called HotelConnection. This form must be only completed separately if you do NOT use HotelConnection to make your reservation. Look up Hotel Amenity Forms SigNet provides you with the ability to look-up any hotel amenity forms you had previously sent. By accessing the Home/Admin link under the Hotels Menu you will see a box under Communication with Hotels to Look-up Hotel Amenity Forms & Inquires. This tool allows you to resend, forward or cancel an existing hotel amenity form. Suite Privileges Program Signature s Suite Privileges Program offers a higher benefit level for consumers who book a suite or villa with their Signature advisor, at nearly 400 participating preferred hotels and resorts worldwide. Our goals are: provide our advisors with richer benefits to upsell their clients to suites and villas, differentiate Signature in a very competitive market, and deliver more value to our best clients when booking suites or villas. Consumers are also able to see the new Suite Privileges as this information will appear in all the Signature member websites that use the our hotel program content. Signature Travel Expert Course Module 5: Hotel & Resorts Program 7
To view ONLY those hotels offering the Suite Privileges check the box for Suite Privileges in the Advanced Filter box. Once you have made your hotel selection and you are viewing the hotel profile, you will easily see the Signature Exclusive Amenities and directly below that is the Suite Privileges. Click the link to Booking Instructions for complete details for securing these additional amenities. Click More Information to read more about the amenity offered. Signature Travel Expert Course Module 5: Hotel & Resorts Program 8
Lesson 5: Hotel Offers & Promotions In addition to the Signature benefits offered at each hotel property, there are often special promotions available. The Promotions are located on the Overview page of each profile. So, what is the difference between and Offer and a Promotion? Offers In most cases the Offers for Signature Hotels are created for featuring in one of our marketing publications or email campaigns. Similar to the Offers created for Cruise and Land, each is automatically assigned an Offer ID number. These offers typically aren t anything special. They basically wrap up all the important details about the particular hotel including Signature s exclusive promotions, into a neat little package that you can share with your clients via email or on social media. Not all hotels will have offers build. If there IS an Offer, you will see a link right on the profile. Your first step is to use the Search Tool discussed above to locate a specific hotel. Once on the hotel profile there are two places that indicate if an offer is available. 1. Is right on the offer in the row of links directly above the hotel image 2. By clicking the Agent Tools dropdown located at the top of the hotel profile. There you will see a link to Offers. Signature Travel Expert Course Module 5: Hotel & Resorts Program 9
Once Offers is clicked from either location, a complete list of current offers will display, which includes the Offer ID number, name of the offer, number of nights the offer applies and the starting price. Note: Only when offers are available will the link to Offers be visible. If there are no current offers for a particular hotel, the Offers link will not display in the left menu Clicking on the Offer ID number will display the details of the Offer, which also includes links for sharing the Offer with your clients via email or social media. Signature Travel Expert Course Module 5: Hotel & Resorts Program 10
Promotions In addition to the exclusive, value-added amenities offered by the hotels and resorts in the Signature program, we also have time-sensitive Promotions with many of them. Also found on the hotel Profile page, Promotions are highlighted in a Special Promotions box. Each promotion includes the title of the promotion, which links to the complete promotion details. Clicking on the promo title provides booking instructions and other important information regarding the special promotion. Noted in RED is the very important, combinability statement. This indicates whether the special promotion is combinable with Signature exclusive amenities. In many cases they are NOT. So always be sure to check this statement. Lesson 6: Sharing Hotel Content (via Email and Social Media) SigNet makes it easy to share hotel Profiles and Offers with your clients via email or on a larger scale, via Social Media. Once you have located the hotel you will see a link at the top of the page titled Agent Tools. Signature Travel Expert Course Module 5: Hotel & Resorts Program 11
Send Hotel Profile by Email Links to email the offer are under the section: Send Hotel Info to Clients. The first option is a link to Customize, Print and Email Hotel Info. Use this link to send the information for the selected hotel only. You may also choose the next option: Customize, Print and Email Multiple Hotels. Use this option if you want to send more than one hotel profile. You will need to select the desired hotels from the dropdown menu. Sharing Offers on Facebook and Twitter On the hotel profile under Agent Tools you will also see the icons that allow you to share a hotel profile via Facebook and Twitter. Of course, you ll need a Facebook or Twitter account to able to share the profile. Follow these easy steps: SigNet How To 1) Click Promote (for Facebook) or Tweet this (for Twitter). 2) A preview window will appear. 3) Click SUBMIT and copy the URL displayed. 4) Paste the URL into a Facebook or Twitter post. Send Hotel Offers by Email As you learned in the previous lesson, Offers for Signature Hotels are created for featuring in one of our marketing publications or email campaigns. Once you have located the specific hotel, click the Agent Tools dropdown located at the top and then the link to Offers. Signature Travel Expert Course Module 5: Hotel & Resorts Program 12
Clicking on the Offer ID number will display the details of the Offer, which also includes links for sharing the Offer with your clients via email or social media. Then, just follow the same steps as outlined above for emailing or sharing on Social Media. Lesson 7: Hotel and Resort Microsite Located under both the Hotels menu and the Marketing Menu, this industry-leading tool is the digital version of our Hotel & Resort Collection. It enables you to communicate over 20,000 pages of content, images, maps, and valuable information to your clients, via e-mail and your website. Because this microsite is in electronic form, the content will be automatically updated daily as Signature adds/updates hotel-related content on SigNet. The Microsite opens up new opportunities for marketing our 950+ Hotel & Resort partner properties and Signature s valuable consumer privileges, including: The microsite can be e-mailed to your clients and prospects The microsite can be linked to your website The microsite will be linked to all Signature e-marketing campaigns going forward that carry hotelprogram related content The microsite will be linked to all future The Travel Experience e-campaigns Signature Travel Expert Course Module 5: Hotel & Resorts Program 13
Accessing the Hotel Microsite from the Marketing menu provides links to two different views of the content, as well as links to Customize and Email the information to your clients. Hotel Microsite Link Details: Link Agent View Consumer View Customize and Email Details Displays all the information an advisor would need to know such as booking instructions, commission amounts, and other details. Click or copy and paste the URL for this link to see what your client would see! All of the Agent View information above is hidden. The fast easy way to customize and send the link to your clients. When to Share the Hotel Microsite with Clients Hotel Microsites can be introduced to clients at several different stages before they depart. Below is sample verbiage that can be used when emailing the hotel microsite to clients: Dreaming or Planning I know you are planning a trip, so I want to share the link below for our Hotel and Resort Collection website, which offers over 900 hotels and resorts worldwide with valuable privileges for you. I recommend exploring the various hotels in our website, which showcase images and provides you more information about the accommodations, features and services at each participating hotel. This website is just a sample of the hotel experiences that can be tailored to create your ideal vacation. Please let me know what destination you are interested in, and I would be happy to create a customized travel plan for you. Tip: New to The Industry The term Microsite sounds technical and it s not really a term you would use with your clients. Like most industry jargon, we often need to find simple, customer-friendly ways of referring to our own vocabulary. Some call them private websites, or exclusive versions of popular websites. Tip: Experienced Advisors You know all-too well the challenge of losing web-surfing clients to slick websites. While we can t completely prevent it from happening, our Microsites give you a powerful tool that can help. Signature Travel Expert Course Module 5: Hotel & Resorts Program 14
Lesson 8: HotelConnection For the purposes of this course, we will simply provide a basic overview of HotelConnection. Details and how-to guides are available on SigNet. Overview As a travel advisor you know there are many ways to reserve a hotel, including from the hotel s website, by phone, or through a travel agency GDS like Sabre. Signature also has our own optional booking system called HotelConnection. In order for your agency to receive credit for booking a Signature Hotel, you must make the initial booking via HotelConnection or the GDS. This is the only way we can track and credit your agency with the booking. Hotel bookings made by phone or hotel website WILL be paid commission and the clients WILL receive the amenities, BUT we will have no record of the booking and it WILL NOT be credited to your agency. Hotels DO NOT track sales for Signature or our members. This is why we recommend that Signature Hotel bookings be made via HotelConnection or your GDS. Not all agencies are signed up for HotelConnection, and some agency owners may prefer that you book hotels through a GDS as some agencies receive booking credits for GDS-based reservations. It is important to check with your agency owner to determine which method is preferred in your agency. (Native GDS or HotelConnection) If your agency is signed up for HotelConnection, you have access to a fast and easy way to find and reserve the properties in Signature s hotels or resorts program. Any Signature special rates are automatically included in the booking. In addition to making reservations, HotelConnection can help find the right hotel to fit your customer s needs and travel budgets. You can also view accommodations, hotel facilities and services complete with pictures and descriptions. Locating HotelConnection on SigNet 1) Locate the hotel you wish to book using the hotel Search tool described earlier. Signature Travel Expert Course Module 5: Hotel & Resorts Program 15
2) At the top of the Hotel Profile click the link to Book Now to launch the HotelConnection booking tool A benefit of using HotelConnection is that the amenity form is automatically submitted when a hotel booking is made using this great tool! Signature Travel Expert Course Module 5: Hotel & Resorts Program 16
Lesson 9: THOR and ABC Global In addition to our own Hotels and Resorts program, Signature has an agreement with THOR and ABC Global. They are companies that provides discounted and commissionable products and services to the world s leading travel providers, and availability at thousands of hotels worldwide. Both THOR and ABC Global s discounted hotel rates are available in your GDS. ABC rates are loaded as rate code ABC in all four GDS systems, AOM are promotional rates. THOR rates are loaded as rate code THR in all four GDS systems. You ll find a Profile for THOR and/or ABC Global Services by clicking their links under the Hotels menu in Signet. The Profile contains complete information about the program. Signature Travel Expert Course Module 5: Hotel & Resorts Program 17
Summary You should now have an understanding of the following key items: A general idea understanding of the suppliers in our preferred Hotels and Resorts program How to find them in on SigNet, and understand their Profiles Know how to use the Search Tool to Find the Perfect Hotel Understand hotel Offers and Promotions Sharing hotel Offers via email and social media Using the Hotel Microsite When to use Hotel Connection for bookings ABC Global and THOR hotel programs Resources The following links direct you to additional training resources available on SigNet: Hotels & Resorts Program Hotel Program Reference Guides (You must login to SigNet to view this link) Customize and Email the Hotel Microsite Learning Instructions This handout provides a general overview of the key objectives of this module and is designed to support the learning process of participants taking the online course. It is highly recommended that all learners complete the online version of this module as it provides more in-depth details and practical applications related to these topics. All quizzes must be completed online to fulfill certificate requirements. Questions If you have questions, please contact the Signature training team: training@signaturetravelnetwork.com Signature Travel Expert Course Module 5: Hotel & Resorts Program 18