Last year while attending the PhoCusWright Travel Innovation Summit we met and spoke with many travel industry experts , that shared with us their views about the hot topic: Social Media.

It is with a lot of excitement that I announce the launching of a compilation of videos call the Social Media series . You are going to know what industry experts like: Bob Offutt from PhoCusWright  Aaron Nissen from Travel Alberta, Mark Atkins from GOBY, Peter Vicich from Casa Andina Hotels, Susan Black from the Black and Wright Group, Kevin May from Tnooz among others have to say about Social Media.

Every week we will feature a different video, we hope this information helps you understand how social media works and its importance in the travel industry.

The videos will be schedule as follow:

Bob Offutt  -  PhoCusWright (video will be published on Friday February 26, 2010)
Aaron Nissen – Travel Alberta (video will be published on Tuesday March 2, 2010)
Richard Warther – Vnaguard IDS Systems (video will be published on Tuesday March 9, 2010)
Mark Watkins – GOBY (video will be published on Tuesday March 16, 2010)
Susan Black – The Black and Wright Group (video will be published on Tuesday March 23, 2010)
Sascha Hausmann – RateTiger (video will be published on Tuesday May 30, 2010)
Claude Walton – Language Weaver (video will be published on Tuesday April 6, 2010)
James Filsinger – Money Direct (video will be published on Tuesday April 13, 2010)
John Walsh – GOBY (video will be published on Tuesday April 20, 2010)
Norman Rose – PhoCusWright (video will be published on Tuesday April 27, 2010)
Peter Vicich – Casa Andina Hotels (video will be published on Tuesday May 4, 2010)
Alan Neves – Vanguard IDS Systems (video will be published on Tuesday May 11, 2010)
Kevin May – Tnooz (video will be published on Tuesday May 18, 2010)

Stay tuned because you are going to love what they have to say!

The end of our trip to FITUR helped us reinforce that GuestCentric Systems provides the most innovative technology in the market. After speaking with many properties independent or chain hotels, we confirmed  that no other hotel technology provider offers a portable booking engine with a full integration to social media channels like Facebook and Twitter. With GuestCentric social media platform hotel operators can plan, implement, maintain, drive revenue and measure results from their social media channels.
If you are an Independent property or a chain hotel in need for innovative technologies at affordable prices to expand your brand and stimulate loyalty, contact us and try our booking engine for 14 days for free.

Portable booking engine		Social distribution		Followers specials

We want to thank everyone for their availability to meet with us, it was very nice to get to know you. Thank you also for your feedback and interest for our platform we are sure that you will benefit a great deal from it.

We hope to see you at FITUR 2011. For now check out our favorite stands images:

Costa Rica	Chile	Dominican Republic
Guatemala	Turkey	Mexico
Jordan	Mozambique	Switzerland
Mexico	Guatemala	Morocco
Colombia	Ecuador	cool stand with bowling alley
cool stand with bowling alley	Madrid	the King and Queen of Spain at the opening

A team of GuestCentric traveled this week to Madrid to participate in one of the largest event of the travel industry in the world FITUR. With no doubt the hottest topic around was the implementation of new technologies not only in terms of online bookings but also in finding different ways to captivate more customers. During our visit to FITUR we held a couple of meetings with some independent properties that after a demo presentation of the platform provided us very positive feedback. They were very happy to know that the booking engine is not only intuitive from the client prospective (for customers to make a reservation) but is also easy to use and intuitive from a backend user prospective . One thing that definitely caused an impact is the simplicity if the social media management, hotel managers like to know that they can keep track of what is being said about their property without having to spend a lot of time searching in the internet.

FITUR is an event in Madrid, Spain that has been around since 1981, on their first edition it hosted 1,500 exhibitors from 37 countries. This year FITUR showcases 11,000 exhibitors from 170 countries and expects over 250,000 visitors. At FITUR you can find information about: countries, hotels, publications, and governmental organizations among others.

It took us 2 days to see all the stands! Here some pictures.

Colombia stand

Cool stand with a bowling alley!

We will post more about FITUR shortly

Pedro Colaco GuestCentric’s president and CEO talks about GuestCentric Systems

Enjoy!

Earlier this week GuestCentric attended the PhoCusWright Conference and participated at the Travel Innovation Summit. The Travel Innovation Summit is an event that showcases the travel industry’s hottest, most innovative Web and mobile-based solutions.

The first day was full of excitement and preparations, we would like to share the highlight of the day with you:

On November 17, 2009 at 9:01 AM, Pedro Colaco President and CEO of GuestCentric Systems, will showcase GuestCentric’s latest technologies at the Travel innovation Summit @ The PhoCusWright Conference.

For the past year, GuestCentric has been revolutionizing the online presence of innumerous independent hotels allowing them to close the online gap and compete effectively with traditionally stronger hotels. GuestCentric’s innovative e-Commerce optimization features are delivered in an unbeatable Software-as-a-Service model that provides independent hotels access for the first time with easy-to-use high-end technologies at affordable prices.

To register please visit:  http://www.phocuswright.com/the_phocuswright_conference_register

When: November 17, 2009 at 9:51 AM

Where: The Travel Innovation Summit at the PhocusWright Conference in Omni Orlando Resrot at Championsgate – Orlando, FL

GuestCentric will showcase its latest technologies at The Travel Industry Event of the Year

Stamford, CT – GuestCentric, the premier Software-as-a-Service provider for the independent hotel industry, has been selected to demonstrate at The Travel Innovation Summit @ The PhoCusWright Conference on November 17, 2009. This event showcases the best of breed for technology-based applications designed to stimulate better travel planning and purchasing.

For the past year, GuestCentric has been revolutionizing the online presence of innumerous independent hotels allowing them to close the online gap and compete effectively with traditionally stronger hotels. GuestCentric’s innovative e-Commerce optimization features are delivered in an unbeatable Software-as-a-Service model that provides independent hotels access for the first time with easy-to-use high-end technologies at affordable prices. Success has been overwhelming with 100% conversion ratio of free trial customers in 2009.

“We are delighted to be among the few and one of the first five selected to participate in The Travel Innovation Summit” said Filipe Machaz, Vice President of Product Management at GuestCentric. “Being selected for such a prestigious event validates the break-through innovation in the system that we built to revolutionize the way independent hotels look at e-commerce.”

The Travel Innovation Summit is a PhoCusWright event that showcases the travel industry’s hottest, most innovative Web and mobile-based solutions. GuestCentric will be among 30 selected start-up and seasoned companies to demonstrate tools, products and sites that significantly impact how travelers research, plan, purchase, organize and memorialize their trips.

About GuestCentric Systems

Headquartered in Stamford, CT with offices in UK and Portugal, GuestCentric Systems (http://www.guestcentric.com) is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider that revolutionizes the way independent hotel operators compete for customers. GuestCentric’s Hotel e-Commerce Optimization is a one-stop-shop solution that offers simple and cost-effective ways for hoteliers to create a professional web site design, integrate direct online booking and online marketing capabilities to boost revenues, lower expenses and develop long-standing relationships with customers. GuestCentric has a growing customer base in the United States and leading tourism markets like the United Kingdom and Spain.

The Management on Food ServiceTechnology

Hospitality Tech Advisor

July 17, 2008 Volume 24, Issue 9
by Rachelle Claret

Page 8 – Joao Trindade, Director of Marketing, spoke to the press about GuestCentric Systems’s recent study of the hotel market in the US.
The subjects were 300 properties of 80 rooms or less, and big chains, and the aim of the survey was to see how their online presence differed.(see full article)

HITEC 2008

June 17-19, 2008

Austin Convention Center – Austin, Texas

Come visit us at booth #1929 -Link