When booking a hotel room, most people check out the lodging's website for photos of rooms, the spa, the restaurant, then leave the site to Google things to see and do in the area.
Destination Intelligence, which provides international, web-based marketing support for the travel and hospitality industry, has developed software which allows travelers to plan activities for their itinerary on the hotel's website and from a downloadable phone app.
"We transform the hotel's website into a destination center where there is a wealth of location-based information along with an itinerary builder tool. You don't leave the website because everything you need is right there. When you check into a hotel you download the app for free and it becomes your best friend during your stay," said Koray Sanli, Destination Intelligence's president and CEO.
The software is customized for each hotel, and interfaces seamlessly with the existing website. On the website for San Francisco's Stanford Court hotel for example, guests click on the "plan your trip" tab, then explore local events and the local area with a menu of places to visit — spas, night clubs, museums, modes of transportation, travel tips, local news, and much more. Users add activities to their itinerary by dragging and dropping it into the desired date and time.
"We give them a wealth of location based content from restaurants, to events, hospitals, golf courses, wineries, you name it," Sanli said. "The sky is the limit."
Originally from Turkey, Sanli moved from Sausalito to Napa two years ago. He bought the Old Faithful Geyser in Calistoga and now runs his company from there, as well as operating the re-vamped tourist attraction.
For the last 15 years, Destination Intelligence has partnered with Bay Area chambers of commerce, and more than 240 chambers in Europe, powering the entertainment, travel and tourism sections of their websites. The company has also interfaced with websites for more than 15 businesses around the Bay Area including Silverado Resort & Spa, The Wine Train, Dry Creek Inn, and Sonoma Valley Inn. The company has a big presence in San Francisco and is expanding with the itinerary builder to southern California, Chicago, New York and London.
The advantage of the tool for the hotel is that guests frequent the website more often, thus raising its SEO, or visibility ranking.
"People are curious about the interactive component, and Destination Intelligence does a good job of keeping the content current. It's a very useful tool, something that is definitely used by leisure travelers," said T. Frank Manchen, director of sales and marketing at the San Francisco Hilton and Parc 55 San Francisco.
The tool will also calculate the activity's distance from the hotel and the cost, and if users are day-tripping, the app will pick up their current location and provide activities in that area as well.
There are three components to the software including a Destination Intelligence kiosk that works in the hotel lobby, an in-room version, and an iPhone app is now being released.
In the guestrooms, users with a laptop enter a password and the hotel's landing page opens as a default. There, guests will find hotel information like room service menus and TV channel guide that previously was found in a book or on a placard.
Source: Calistoga's Destination Intelligence makes software for tourists to create itinerary online
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