"Rapid changes in booking behaviour in the Meetings and Groups segment in the last year" led HRS to invest in MICE procurement solution meetago.
HRS has an eye on the enormous potential savings for customers as well as the potential of increased standardisation of MICE and business travel processes. MICE procurement customers will have access to all of the services along the value chain as a result of this partnership.
"To date, only two per cent of the huge MICE market has been professionally developed, even though it generates a turnover of €70 billion per year," Tobias Ragge, CEO of HRS, indicated.
"Thanks to the new partnership with meetago, all processes have been amalgamated and now connect smoothly on the HRS portal - from strategic procurement to the transaction process and payment and accounting solutions."
With a combined booking volume totalling $240 million in 2015, the two companies are aiming high in the year to come. "HRS's extensive portfolio and global reach means we can guarantee a consistent standard of offers and RFP monitoring at a local market level. In addition to the savings gained by the simplification of the process, meeting organisers will benefit from transparent reporting across all booking activities in real time," Udo Lülsdorf, founder and CEO of meetago, commented on the partnership.
"The process will be completely seamless with customers having access to all of this via the same portal they use for making hotel bookings, meaning they will not have to switch providers or systems."
At present, all of HRS' content can be booked via meetago, including 75,000 conference hotels worldwide. Meetago is already in use by many large European corporates, and will soon expand its platform to APAC.
HRS, a global hotel solutions provider, serves over 40,000 corporate customers worldwide. It offers its tools and services free of charge, covering every aspect of the value chain throughout the hotel booking process for procurement officers and offering access to more than 300,000 hotels in 190 countries.