HotelClub relaunch sets sights on growth
Australia’s original online hotel-booking company, HotelClub has announced a major brand re launch to transform the company into the most rewarding online hotel-booking community, with double-digit growth expected within the next year.
A new leadership team has been brought on board, to go head to head with key travel sites. Moving away from the more conventional travel focus of range, reviews and discounts, the new team and multi-million dollar marketing spend will focus on giving members more; going above and beyond what competitors offer.
Nicolas Chu, HotelClub president, said, “With more and more travel bookings being done online, consumers have had to compromise personal service and extra inclusions for convenience and deals. HotelClub wants to change this.
“What this means is that our hotels won’t just be great value but will include extras such as free breakfast, free upgrades and free accommodation for children.
“We’ve seen a gap in the market to offer true personal service from booking right through to the holiday and believe that Australian travellers are ready to get more from their holiday.”
In support of their new brand positioning, HotelClub has seen an overwhelming increase in the number of Australian travellers who are looking for added extras when booking a hotel – bookings which feature inclusions (such as free breakfast or upgrades) have increased over 3 fold since January this year. More Australians are also making bookings while on the go – with HotelClub seeing year-on-year growth of over 350% in people making reservations on a mobile device since early 2012.
The membership Club Benefits, which include both extra inclusions and features designed to enhance convenience, will now be the cornerstone of the brand. Members will be given the benefits of an exclusive club, with extra service and added extras alongside competitive deals. HotelClub Members will now receive:
• Member Exclusives: Exclusive deals and pre-sale alerts reserved just for members
• Member Extras: Deals with free inclusions that suit members lifestyles such as free breakfasts, free upgrades, Wi-Fi, parking and accommodation for children
• Member Rewards: 7% back on hotel bookings that can be spent at any time of year, anywhere in the world
• Happiness Guarantee: If members don’t love their experience, all they need to do is let HotelClub know and HotelClub will do its best to resolve any issues
• Priority Club Service: A dedicated 24/7-call centre to answer any questions members have, at a time that suits them
A new logo and website has also been created as part of the re launch. Giving consumers a simple user experience, the new fresh look and feel takes cues from Instagram and applies filters in the photography.
The new management team includes the aforementioned, Nicolas Chu as the HotelClub President. Nicolas has a long experience in online businesses, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies in Europe, the US and APAC and was most recently Expedia’s Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand. At HotelClub, he is responsible for the strategy, development and operations of the company globally.
Joining Nicolas from Expedia are Roman Kesseli as Senior Director, Hotel Services Asia and Joana Barros as Director, Regional Brand and Consumer Marketing.
Other new additions to the management team include James Mooring from OO.com.au as Senior Director, Online Marketing and CRM, Kirsten Mort from WeAreDigital and Wotif as Head of SEO, Nic Bryant from ebookers in Europe as Senior Director, Hotel Services Pacific, Jackie Birch from Bravura Solutions as HR Director and Graham Mason from RP Data as Senior Finance Director.
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