aothotels.com.au news Issue 3

aothotel s.com.au news

AOTHotels news

February

2014

Welcome to 2014 Happy New Year to our Agency customers. 2014 has well and truly

commenced with a very busy start to the new year as AOTHotels gears

up for the year ahead.

We have some exciting additions and enhancements to the

Accommodation Program well underway to deliver to you, our

customers in 2014, including;

• A major increase in regional remote accommodation

suppliers. We increased regional and remote suppliers by 65%

this year, this increase will provide even more regional and

remote properties for Agencies and allow a greater

percentage of bookings to be made online.

• A new Leisure booking portal for all Government employees

providing special rates for your holidays.

• The VIP and special request feature added to profiles is NOW

LIVE where Agencies have provided details to AOTHotels.

This information is now being automatically sent to hotels.

• Addition of higher room categories for VIP travellers such as

Suites and Junior Suites from our major 5 Star suppliers.

• Online profile management where individual Diners Club

accounts are not used by Agencies.

• Ability to book multiple rooms easily in one booking using

multiple Diners cards – an enhancement I am sure everyone

will be very pleased to see.

On a sad note for us, but very exciting for her, Kylie Rix our amazing

Operations Manager leaves us for 12 months maternity leave. She will

be missed by both you, our customers and the AOTHotels Team. I am

delighted to welcome Kate Thomas to the team, who will replace Kylie

for 12 months. Kate has spent the last 12 years with the AOT Group,

most recently as Operations Manager for our large wholesale division.

Kate brings a wealth of experience to ensure a smooth transition for

Agencies.

Rohan MossRohan MossRohan MossRohan Moss

Rohan Moss

General Manager

Maximise Efficiency We have recently analysed that 18% of all booking calls could have

been instantly confirmed either via the AOTHotels Portal or via your

Online Booking tool. Booking online saves considerable time, on

average nearly 4 minutes per booking quicker than via the phone.

When you multiply this saving per booking across an Agency, there is a

major efficiency saving delivered to the Agency by booking online. In

addition the traveller or booker can see the hotel images, exact

location in relation to the Agency office location they are travelling to

and also TripAdvisor reviews.

With the considerable time saving, delivering greater efficiency for

Agencies, AOTHotels in conjunction with your TMC, would be pleased

to run online training on our Portal and your OBT to help you drive

great efficiencies within your Agency, allowing more time to be

focused on core business activities.

Contact your AOTHotels Relationship Executive today to book training

via relationship@aothotels.com.au

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aothotels.com.au news Issue 3

Now Live VIP & Special Request Profile Information

The AOTHotels profile system has been enhanced to allow for specific

requests for travellers to automatically transmit to properties.

E.g. VIP Passenger – Secretary of Agency A – request high floor away

from elevators & king bed.

Click here to access the form to add information to your travellers’

profiles.

Smartphone and Tablet Site AOTHotels.com.au

As announced in December 2014, the mobile site is now LIVE.

The uptake and feedback from travellers has been excellent. Make sure

your travellers are aware of this new booking option when travelling or

away from their desktop.

Live in MARCH and APRIL Online Profile Management

Currently, AOTHotels profiles are managed by AOT’s eCom team, who

manage new profile creations and amendments to existing profiles, in

addition to agencies with a Diners Club auto feed, for which profiles

update automatically via a nightly feed from Diners.

A comprehensive development is being completed to allow:

• Agency nominated Super Users access to create new profiles

and amend existing profiles; and

• General Users access to amend their own profile.

Once a user has logged into the AOT Portal, a ‘Profile Management’

button will display adjacent to the ‘Retrieve Existing Bookings’ button.

When selected, the user will be taken to the Profile Management page,

where the options displayed will depend on the states of the user

(Super or General). This development is expected to go Live in March.

Leisure Website for Government Travellers

Good news for government employees! In March, AOTHotels will

launch a separate website for government staff to book their leisure

travel. Staff will be able to take advantage of special unique rates that

will be negotiated specifically for government leisure travel, across

Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. Further details on this

exciting development will be released closer to the launch date. This

site will be totally separate to the WoAG Accommodation Program

managed by Dept of Finance.

Multi-Room Bookings with Separate Payments

When booking multiple rooms via the AOT Portal, current limitations

will only allow a single payment method for all rooms.

A comprehensive development is being completed to allow greater

flexibility when booking multiple rooms where travellers are required to

pay for their own room. The development will allow the travel booker

to nominate a different payment method for each room, if required.

This improved flexibility will ensure a smoother reconciliation process

and greater flexibility if the booking is partially cancelled – as payment

for remaining rooms will be unaffected. This development is expected

to go Live in March.

Free Wi-Fi & Wheelchair Access Tiles

In line with recently developed tiles on the AOTHotels Portal displaying

information such as Full Kitchen Facilities or Long Stay Rates, the

Portal will in coming months also display tiles for:

• Properties offering free Wi-Fi for travellers;

• Properties with wheelchair accessible rooms.

These tiles will assist travel bookers in easily identifying properties with

these features, allowing for a faster booking process. This development

is expected to go Live in April.

AOTHotels Enhancements

aothotels.com.au news Issue 3

REBRANDINGS

Choice Hotels Update – please note that the

following Choice Hotels properties have now

departed the chain and are now trading

under the following names:

Quality Inn HW Boutique (Port Macquarie):

now called Best Western Plus HW Boutique.

Quality Hotel Apollo International

(Newcastle): now called Best Western Plus

Apollo International Hotel.

Comfort Inn Sunrise (Devonport): now called

Sunrise Motor Inn.

Quality Hotel Hobart Airport: now called

Travelodge Hobart Airport.

Mercure Sydney International Airport –

A new development is currently underway

adjacent to the property. All services will

continue to operate as normal, noting

change of reception and car park entries. A

temporary gym is now located within the

property (previously an external building).

Hotel Lindrum Melbourne – refurbishment

now complete; includes new soft furnishings,

Samsung LCD televisions and Phillips Dual

Docking Stations.

SPECIAL OFFERS: FREE WI-FI

Many properties are now offering

complimentary Wi-Fi for Government

travellers, valid for stays until 30th

June 2014,

including;

• Hotel Lindrum Melbourne

• Quest Apartment Shepparton

• Radisson Flagstaff Gardens Melbourne

• Quest Bundoora Melbourne

• Four Seasons Hotel Sydney

SPECIAL OFFER: FREE BREAKFAST

Belconnen Premier Inn – valid for stays until

30th

June 2014 in Standard or Queen rooms

SPECIAL OFFER: REDUCED RATE

Medina Serviced Apartments Canberra –

Fantastic Savings in February 2014

Sheraton Melbourne – Opening March 2014

at the Paris end of Collins St, this 174 room 5

star property is now taking reservations.

NEW PROPERTIES ADDED

As per the December newsletter, AOTHotels

has focused on increasing the range of

properties available to book in regional and

remote locations. Recent additions to the

AOTHotels program include properties in:

NSW: Albury; Armidale; Barooga; Bourke;

Brunswick Heads; Canowindra; Casino;

Cobar; Coffs Harbour; Coolah; Cooma;

Coonabarabran; Dubbo; Fern Bay; Greenwell

Point; Kyogle; Louth; Moulamein; Mudgee;

Murwillunbah; Narrabri; Port Macquarie;

Tamworth; Tenterfield; Tocumwal; Wagga

Wagga; Wentworth

NT: Katherine; Mataranka

QLD: Barcaldine; Blackall; Boonah; Bowen;

Bundaberg; Dalby; Emerald; Hervey Bay;

Julia Creek Karumba; Kingaroy; Miles;

Moura; Normanton; Springsure; Warwick;

Windorah

SA: Bordertown; Coober Pedy; Elliston;

Innamincka; Kadina; Kingston; Mount

Gambier; Quorn

TAS: Launceston; Ulverstone

VIC: Ballarat; Beechworth; Camperdown;

Dunolly; Horsham; Port Fairy; Rochester;

Shepparton; Stawell; Swan Hill

WA: Kalgoorlie

FAST FACT : DECEMBER DAYS BOOKED

PRIOR TO CHECK-IN

December saw a reduction of bookings made

7 days or less to 49%. Book early to maximise

savings.

REFURBISHMENTS

NEW PROPERTY: COMING SOON

AOTHotels – Supplier Updates

aothotels.com.au news Issue 3

Emily South – Assistant Operations Manager,

AOTHotels, Melbourne

Emily has worked with the AOT Group for 11 years starting in

Inbound Reservations, working her way up into a Team Leader

role before moving over to help set up the brand new

Government Services Division in her most recent role as

Assistant Operations Manager.

The things I like about my job are… the people, and winning

best dressed at our end of month drink celebrations!

I have loved the challenge of moving from the Inbound area to

help set up the brand new Government Division and am proud

to be part of the management team.

And the frustrations… Parliament sitting… Can they build

more hotels in Canberra please!

If I didn’t work in travel I would be a… Vet, I love animals.

My proudest moment was… buying my first home

I try to relax by… playing a little sing star on the play station.

My neighbours secretly love it I am sure.

The last time I feared for my life… I don’t scare easily.

If I can, I always try to avoid… hook turns in the city.

I really wish I had… a better singing voice.

The best advice I ever received was… what goes around, comes

around.

My greatest weakness is…. .talking too much.

And my greatest strength is… my determination to succeed,

and winning best dressed at fancy dress parties!

If I was Prime Minister I would… challenge Joe Hockey to a

game of squash.

If I won $1 million in the lottery I would… invest it wisely.

If I could be someone else for a day I would be… Jennifer

Hawkins (Miss Universe).

I’ve always wanted to travel to… Hawaii.

My favorite holiday was… America when my fiancée proposed

on the top of Splash Mountain at Disneyland.

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