PARSIPPANY, NJ—With a focus on finding impactful ways to drive more corporate business for its hotels, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is expanding the Wyndham Direct booking, billing and business solution. The service, formerly unique to its La Quinta by Wyndham brand, is now immediately available at Super 8 by Wyndham and Days Inn by Wyndham hotels in the U.S., with plans to expand further across Wyndham’s portfolio of brands later this year.
According to the company, Wyndham Direct is designed to help drive corporate bookings to hotels and simplify travel management for companies and their travelers. Using integrated virtual credit card technology from Corporate Spending Innovations (CSI), Wyndham Direct offers easier booking, faster billing and smarter business, supporting hotels as they work to attract small and medium-sized corporate business, grow market share and drive lower-cost reservations. By expanding across Wyndham’s three largest brands, the program now offers clients access to nearly 3,900 hotels across the economy through upper-midscale segments.
“Wyndham is leaving no stone unturned when it comes to helping our hotels drive more direct bookings, save time and get paid faster,” said Carol Lynch, SVP of global sales for Wyndham. “Wyndham Direct is a comprehensive solution for our hotels that not only eases the strain on hotel teams, but also makes the client’s experience easier and helps translate into revenues for our franchisees.”
Client Convenience and Simplicity
Wyndham Direct offers small and mid-sized companies a streamlined travel program alternative. It allows company travelers to make reservations directly through central channels using virtual credit card technology charged at checkout—just like a traditional credit card—with no credit card authorization needed. Companies receive a single monthly bill and have the ability to manage travel spend within the Wyndham Direct customer portal, complete with flexible custom reporting features.
Helping Hoteliers
Hotel owners also benefit from the virtually risk-free program from Wyndham by getting paid simply and quickly. Guest folio data is automatically sent to clients, saving time and manpower by eliminating the need to print and send invoices, or spend time on collections. Additionally, Wyndham Direct offers robust reporting and data collection to streamline reconciliation processes; simplify and accelerate the payment process for hotel bookings; and help minimize disruptions during the check-in process, according to the company.
Positively Impacting Business
Wyndham Direct elevates and differentiates Wyndham’s value proposition for corporate travel accounts by offering a simple, client-centric solution allowing corporate travelers to book, pay and track their travel, according to the company. It was designed to help increase market share and drive additional business from weekday road warriors across diverse industry segments such as oil and gas, construction, merchandising, transportation and more. Wyndham’s sales team works one-on-one to attract relevant business, including relief and recovery business, targeting those likely to drive room nights to upper-midscale, midscale and economy hotels.
Expansion to New Brands
The Wyndham Direct program made its debut at La Quinta by Wyndham hotels across the U.S. in March, and Wyndham continues to expand the program to new brands, increasing its accessibility and footprint to economy hotels. By leveraging its scale and expansive U.S. presence in drive-to markets, Wyndham is proactively solving for customer’s needs across multiple industries and services. The company plans to roll out Wyndham Direct to all of its brands and hotels in the U.S. on the SynXisV3 PMS throughout 2020, with plans to further expand internationally in the future.