NEWS SOURCE: Group Travel Planet LLC
PIGEON FORGE, TN /Send2Press Newswire/ — Group Travel Planet, LLC (www.GroupTravelPlanet.com), the company who pioneered online group travel booking, today announced the celebration of its 5-year anniversary and the company’s key accomplishments of providing consumers, tour operators and thousands of group-friendly suppliers one-of-a-kind features that make it simple and convenient to book and manage group travel online.
Launched originally as CoachQuote.com in March 2000 as a B2B focused primarily on providing professional tour operators an easier way to find, research and book their group hotel rooms, charter motor coaches and secure attraction and theatre tickets, the company re-launched in September 2004 as GroupTravelPlanet.com to offer its vast supplier inventory and fully-automated group-booking capabilities to consumer groups.
“We’ve accomplished a lot over the past five years including developing the first fully-automated system that enables group leaders and tour operators to plan, book and manage their entire group reservation online without ever having to talk to one person,” said Scott Harness, president and CEO of Group Travel Planet (GTP). “From the moment they click purchase to the time they take their group trip, everything is fully-automated. No other online group travel provider comes close to providing this level of online service.”
In addition to providing a fully-automated solution for group leaders and tour operators, the company also provides numerous benefits to its thousands of suppliers throughout North America that have become members of its site.
“One of the main reasons I joined GTP was the fact that it’s been so successful at attracting thousands of group-friendly suppliers, including over 10,000 hotels that use our robust Extranet to allocate group inventory and net group rates,” said Scott Pearson, vice president of Internet Distribution & Development at Group Travel Planet.
“The (GTP) system is great,” said Kenny Myers, Director of Revenue Management, CSS Hotels, Memphis, TN. “Not only has it helped attract new groups that we never knew existed, but it’s also like having an additional sales coordinator – one that never forgets to get a signed contract or deposit and always keeps me updated, even when the group needs to add or drop rooms. It puts us in control and we love it!”
As the company celebrates this milestone, online group travel planning appears to be heating up. “We always felt from day one that sometime between the fourth and fifth year, booking group travel online would go mainstream and we feel confident that we’re in position to continue leading the way as new competition enters the space,” adds Harness.
Moving forward, part of the company’s strategy is to continue building a vast network of online distribution partners. According to Scott Pearson, the company has signed several large deals (most of which will be announced at a later date), including SideStep, Revelex, VISIT FLORIDA, Clear Channel Entertainment, David Green Organization, and Versyss, just to name a few.
“Expanding the reach of our technology is an important part of our future,” said Harness. “The first five years have been great and we look forward to continuing to reach new groups and provide them with a faster and easier way to book and manage their group trips online.”
About Group Travel Planet
Group Travel Planet, which operated as CoachQuote.com, LLC from March 2000 to September 2004, is the pioneer and first company to fully-automate group booking online from start to finish. Since its start, over 2,700 professional tour operators and thousands of group leaders (School Groups, Sports Teams, Family Reunions, Church Groups, and more) have used its online group-booking engine. The company also has one of the largest online networks of supplier partners throughout North America.
For more information, visit www.GroupTravelPlanet.com or call (866) MY PLANET.
News issued by: Group Travel Planet, LLC
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Original Story ID: (222) :: 2005-03-0331-001
Original Keywords: Group Travel Planet, LLC, Group Travel, Hotel Discount, Room Rates, Lodging, Reservations, Bus Charter, travel industry news, tennessee newswire, pigeon forge, scott harness, kenny myers, css hotels, coachquote, coachqoute.com, grouptravelplanet Group Travel Planet, LLC
NEWS SOURCE: Group Travel Planet LLC | Published: 2005-03-31 10:46:00
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