The AA and eviivo have joined forces to launch the Tourism Open Partnership - a unique, national marketing initiative to drive the profitability of the small, independent accommodation sector in the UK.
By joining the Tourism Open Partnership (TOP), independent hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses and inns will benefit from unrivalled online presence by featuring on popular websites such as the theAA.com, the AA route planner, Expedia, lastminute.com, TripAdvisor, Facebook and toprooms.com. TOP membership also offers world-renowned accreditation with star rating from the AA as well as the award-winning property management system from eviivo that is currently used by over 5,200 accommodation businesses in the UK.
For more more information, please visit www.tourismopenpartnership.com.
Last December, eviivo acquired Hotel Solutions Direct (HSD), a London-based company offering revenue management services to over 250 independent hotels across Europe and the Mediterranean. We're hoping to soon make their services available to our eviivo partners.
eviivo's CEO Michele Fitzpatrick says: "HSD is a well-known and highly respected organisation with an excellent track record in increasing occupancy and yield for small independent hotels, through the sharpest and most professional revenue management service. Like its founder, Ines Djelassi, HSD is an innovative company with boundless energy and we like that at eviivo! So we are absolutely delighted to welcome HSD."
The annual Beautiful South Awards - run by Tourism South East and Services 4 Tourism - are now in their 21st year and recognise businesses and destinations across the tourism industry for their exceptional levels of customer service and dedication to raising standards.
eviivo's Commercial Director Kathryn Glover (on the photo's right hand-side) presented the Gold, Silver and Highly Commended awards for the Bed & Breakfast / Guest Accommodation of the Year category.
As we have increasingly been receiving a lot of requests for help with social media marketing, we are delighted to launch a fantastic new application to enable frontdesk users who have a Facebook page for their accommodation business to automatically link the content of their eviivo online booking pages and offer direct bookings via Facebook.
http://apps.facebook.com/eviivofrontdesk/.
eviivo Limited, the leading online reservation and property management system (PMS) provider for the independent accommodation sector, was recognised for the first time as one of Britain's fastest-growing technology companies, taking 36th place in the Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100.
The annual Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100 league table ranks Britain's one hundred privately-owned technology, media and telecoms (TMT) companies with the fastest-growing sales over the last three years.
Nigel David, eviivo's CEO, said: "We are absolutely thrilled to be rewarded with such a prestigious accolade. Our fantastic growth is simply down to the incredible eviivo team and all our efforts and single-minded focus and belief that we would make this a success, not just for eviivo, but for our amazing customers, over 4,900 small hotels and B&Bs across the UK, who we passionately support and believe in."
toprooms.com is a new exciting eviivo website, exclusive to all our frontdesk partners, promoting the diversity, charm, authenticity and originality of their unique properties.
toprooms.com is the alternative to boring hotel chains and faceless corporations. It's a website that brings together the widest range of independent hotels, B&Bs and self-catering accommodation across the UK.
The VisitEngland Board has decided that VisitEngland will withdraw its financial and operational support for the EnglandNet platform by 30th September 2011.
eviivo owns and operates key components of this platform, in particular the White Label Search and the pricing and availability Polling Engine. These enable online customers to search and book availability across the widest range of tourism providers available.
eviivo intends to continue to support these components beyond 30th September 2011 and will be taking advantage of the open source access to the other key components that will enable us to maintain a service similar to that offered by VisitEngland.
We see the aggregation, distribution and booking of tourism products for national and regional tourism operators as a key service they provide to their customers.
We intend to continue to work with the existing users, partners and suppliers of the platform to ensure minimal disruption to these services. It is also our intention to continue to invest in the platform to ensure all users, including local, regional or national tourism groups, technical partners, content partners, availability and booking partners, hotel groups and online travel agencies and destination management system providers benefit from the shared investments we've all made.
For further information or any queries, please contact louis.warner@eviivo.com
London, April 6 2011 - eviivo Limited, the UK's leading online reservation and property management system (PMS) provider for the independent accommodation sector, announced today that Investcorp Technology Partners (ITP), the technology private equity arm of the international investment group Investcorp, has made a significant investment in eviivo at a valuation of approximately £30 million. As a result of the transaction, Investcorp will partner with eviivo's founders and management to substantially grow the value that eviivo brings to its many customers and partners. Dirk Schmücking and Gilbert Kamieniecky from ITP will join eviivo's board of directors.
With headquarters in London, UK, eviivo connects small and medium-sized accommodation businesses with online distribution channels. Its software, eviivo frontdesk®, handles all offline and online bookings in real time. eviivo has grown at a compounded annual growth rate of over 60% for the last few years and currently partners with over 4,400 independent businesses in the UK.
Ian Griffin, eviivo's Executive Chairman, said: "Since our formation in 2004, eviivo has established itself as market leader for online booking solutions to the UK's independent accommodation sector. Together with Investcorp, we will build on these accomplishments and develop further services to ensure that our accommodation partners continue to enjoy best in class solutions to increase both yield and occupancy in this exciting sector."
Dirk Schmücking, a partner at ITP, said: "We see substantial growth opportunities for eviivo, backing this strong team who offer a unique product in the hotel market. eviivo is in line with the continuing trend towards booking accommodation over the Internet and well positioned to support its customers as they take advantage of business opportunities in the online world."
Investcorp Technology Partners specialises in private equity investments in small and medium-sized technology businesses, focusing on growth buyout, corporate carve-out, take-private and PIPE transactions in North America and Europe. Investcorp Technology Partners is part of Investcorp, a leading provider and manager of alternative investment products. As at December 31, 2010, Investcorp had $12.2 billion in assets under management. Further information is available at www.investcorp.com.
eviivo's latest enhancement to the frontdesk system is now live. frontdesk Web Access enables frontdesk users to securely access their frontdesk diary and some key features from any internet browser, anywhere, anytime. frontdesk Web Access was created following frontdesk user feedback and is a free addition to the installed version.
May 2010 saw the launch of the new Devon Tourism Awards. Devon is one of England's leading tourism destinations, with a diverse and top quality tourism industry that includes many former winners of national awards. The Devon Tourism Awards celebrate the achievements of tourism businesses and individuals that represent the best of the county.
There are 6 Devon Tourism Award categories in 2010, including Bed and Breakfast/Guest Accommodation of the Year. The inaugural ceremony will take place on 30th September at the Thurlestone Hotel in South Devon.
More good news! BookDirectRooms.com has been shortlisted in the 'Best Hotel Booking Company' category at the British Travel Awards 2010. This is the largest awards programme in the UK created to reward the best companies in travel. Recognised by consumers and travel professionals throughout the UK, The British Travel Awards are widely referred to as the Oscars of the travel industry and are easily the most recognisable of all travel industry accolades.
To find out more about the awards and to cast your vote for BookDirectRooms.com please click HERE.
The AA B&B Awards annually recognise and reward establishments and individuals that demonstrate all-round excellence, unfailing standards and provide an outstanding service for their guests. We are therefore extremely pleased to further our association with the AA by sponsoring for the second year running the AA Friendliest Landlady of the Year Award. Congratulations to all the winners and finalists!
eviivo proudly presents the latest addition to its rich portfolio: The eviivo guest review programme! Guests who have booked online and stayed with a frontdesk user are invited by email to provide unbiased, independent and fair feedback on their stay. These reviews arrive and are managed in the frontdesk user's inbox. Guest reviews are displayed on frontdesk users' booking pages and across the various distribution websites which are linked to frontdesk. 88% of guest reviews have an overall review score of 4 or 5 out of 5.
