TheBuzz
TheBuzz
Software boosts
business on North ShorePacRim Marketing Group Inc. saw an opportunity for Hawaii's hospitality industry to double its business in a segment of the Japanese market.
It grew from a stark fact about Japanese use of the Internet.
"When they come to a Web site, let's say it's got Japanese information about the hotel. They click on a button to make a reservation now and when they do, they jump to an English-language reservation page," said David Keuning, senior consultant at PacRim.
The company's research shows that half of the Web site visitors go away because it's too intimidating. So PacRim created JpRES (pronounced J-P-res).
The software functions as a "secure booking engine attached to a company's Web site, uses Japanese prompts for the consumer in Japan, but delivers reservation information directly to the property in English," according to a statement.
Japanese Web surfers can check availability and make inquiries and reservations online, Keuning said.
Turtle Bay Resort recently became JpRES' first hotel to launch the feature.
"Within a week of implementing JpRES we booked $6,000 worth of revenue," said Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Turtle Bay's marketing director.
The hotel also uses the JpRES Concierge Service which involves hands-on support from PacRim's bilingual travel industry-savvy employees. A Japanese customer's inquiry to the hotel will be processed by PacRim and answered within 36 hours.
"Turtle Bay Resort, unlike a Hilton or a Hyatt, doesn't have a national reservations center," Fitzgerald said. "For us, that's the biggest positive."
Turtle Bay is owned by Oaktree Capital Management LLC and managed by Benchmark Hospitality Inc.
The resort has seen an increase in repeat eastbound visitors to Hawaii, Fitzgerald said. "They're more adventuresome and willing to rent a car to come out here."
Mandara Spa at Hilton Hawaiian Village has been using the software for about a year and has also seen increased revenue. Bookings fluctuate between $5,000 and $9,000 a month, according to Judy Hollister, regional director of sales and marketing.
"It's been phenomenal," she said. "It's gotten to the point where I have to have help with the Web site."
The software plugs into a hotel's Internet infrastructure.
"We want to mimic the look and feel of the client's Web site so you don't have a feeling of, 'I'm someplace different and this is some sort of separate entity,'" said PacRim's Keuning. The software is customizable without having to go back to the drawing board, he said.
The cost for JpRES is based on a percentage of the reservations' booking fees. The concierge service is offered for a monthly fee.
Competition for JpRES comes primarily from the mindset of the properties that continue to use "Japanese capable" staff to answer inquiries.
"It's probably better to automate that and let the English-speaking staff answer inquiries through JpRES," he said.
PacRim Marketing Group Inc.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com