Pegasus Interview: Bob Boles Talks to BTN About Hotelbook.com
Laptop Battery Last time I met with John Davis, CEO, Pegasus, he was very excited about the planned launch of Pegasus new consumer website, which would be dedicated to independent hotels.
According to the indictment, Jones would steal various IBM and Penguin computer servers from Verisign's warehouse in Virginia and sell them to Johnson. Johnson would then sell the servers to several individuals, who would sometimes place them for sale on eBay. As a result of this scheme, the indictment alleges that Jones and Johnson caused Verisign to lose more than $120, 000 worth of computer equipment. In the indictment, Jones and Johnson are charged in three counts with causing the interstate transportation of stolen property, namely IBM 330 and 335 servers, in violation of 18 U.S.C.
Thinkpad Just six moths later and Hotelbook.com has officially launched. The new site enables users to easily search for independent hotels with unique personalities in more than 100 destinations. The next few months will determine whether this portal will catch on. I caught up with Bob Boles, Chief Operating Officer, Pegasus Solutions to talk about hotelbook.com.
Computer memory is the quickest, cheapest, and easiest way to improve the performance of your system. Find RAM memory upgrades for desktops, laptops, servers, and printers all backed by a lifetime warranty and guaranteed compatible with your computer. Shipping is an everyday low price of $1.99! Computer Memory Outlet sells memory compatible with all leading computer manufacturers like Dell, Apple, Compaq, HP, Sony, IBM, Lenovo, and many more.”
Microsoft BTN: Who named the site Hotelbook.com?
BB: We had that URL which we had utilised with our Utell by Pegasus product offering. Its a good URL for search engine optimisation.
laptop computers is driving strong sales for notebook computers, according to the latest quarterly sales figures from the research firm IDC, which reported a 37% computer sales for the second quarter, compared with a year earlier. In the U.S., laptop sales grew 17.7%, while sales of desktop computers and servers fell 4%. The New York Times ( 10), CNET ( 10)
Laptop Computers BTN: What has been the response and feedback so far?
BB: Yesterday was the official consumer launch but we launched it to the industry trade last week and we did a soft launch for about 30 days leading up to this.
Welcome to the Stacks and Stacks Laptop Cases area, where you£l find attractive and affordable aluminum laptop cases, neoprene laptop sleeves, travel laptop cases, laptop computer cases, protective laptop cases, and other laptop carrying cases. Whether for business travel, or toting your laptop computer to school or work, we have the perfect laptop case for you! Our laptop cases provide a safe, secure place to house your laptop, and keep you fashionable on the go!
Laptop Computer The response from our hoteliers has been very positive they are very excited about the opportunity of having a portal that really represents them and gives them a much better positioning then they might when all of the brands and chains are part of a distribution channel.
"Computer industry analysts estimate that some 60 percent of all corporate data exists only on desktop and laptop computers, " said Walter Scott, CEO of Acronis. "Incorporating Acronis True Image with New Mexico Software backup server is the ideal solution to capture that corporate data and ensure that it is not lost. While traditional server backups are effective for protecting server data, every company should have a combination of server and workstation backup plans."
Desktop Computer It is a little early at this juncture to get a sense of a consumer response but the early signs are positive and we are going to give it 30 60 days to see how things go.
Notebooks BTN: What are your expectations for the first 6 months?
BB: We are looking at a fairly significant revenue uptake for Pegasus because we are also the travel agency of record through the portal. We are looking at two million dollars of incremental revenue from a Pegasus perspective. The travel agency fee generates at 8 10% of booking value.
Lenovo BTN: Was there a high demand for such a website in the marketplace?
BB: Hotels are continually looking at ways for us to generate more revenue. Because we are in a position to represent more hotels than any other company, globally, we bring scale, and we bring inventory which will ultimately bring more consumers back to our site.
Hard Drive We have 5000 hotels on hotelbook.com which will continue to grow. This is one of the main appeals for consumers - when they select a destination they will find hotels. Many other sites with an independent hotel focus may have only 300 to 400 hotels and there are many locations where they dont have inventory. We think that's the real critical value proposition that we bring that many other companies could not bring.
Travelstar And because we are 5000 hotels, their ability to be much more present at the beginning of the search list is obviously there because it is just the independents.
Gateway Some of the larger portals have some arrangements with some of the chains, which means the independents dont get the position they would like. For example Expedia and Orbitz have a portfolio of hotels which is in the 60, 000 property range so there is a fair degree of difference in terms of how they get positioned on those sites.
Laptop Parts BTN: I understand that participating hotels are current customers of Pegasus. Is this a free additional service for those hotel members?
BB: It is an additional channel and the financial element only comes into play with bookings, so they dont have to pay anything incremental to be on the site. They only pay when they get bookings. Its a commission-based process.
Software BTN: How can other independent hotels join hotelbook.com?
BB: We do not distribute hotels that are not Pegasus customers through some form. If it is an independent hotel that is not related to Pegasus this channel will not be available thats part of value of being part of Pegasus.
Hard Drives BTN: Hoteliers are guaranteed complete control of their rates and inventory. What kind of rates will they offer?
BB: There will be both traditional corporate rates as well as promotional rates available. It is initially a retail oriented site. Over time, we will look to allow hoteliers to utilize this as a distribution channel for their distressed inventory, either through merchant or through some other mechanism but we are very hotelcentric on this.
Electronics BTN: What was the main criteria for the design and navigation of Hotelbook.com?
BB: We worked with couple of firms that are expert in this space to work and we did some research to understand the usability of the site and what consumers are looking for when they are shopping.
Canon The final product is very destination oriented and it was one of the big things that came out a predominant number of consumers like to do destination oriented shopping so it really provides the ability to be able to shop based on where you want to go or what you want to do there
Desktop Pc We look to have navigation very simple in terms of moving between screens and we utilise some of our own products, such as our booking engine, as well.
Desktop Computers The bottom line is that its focused on searchability you can search on 32 different search criteria so you can find the hotel with the right amenities that you are looking for as well as destination orientation.
Think Pad BTN: Are you planning to add multi-lingual facilities? BB: Yes. It is on the horizon but we do not have a definitive schedule that we can share at this point.
Repair It will be oriented towards Western European languages: French, German, Spanish, Italian. We will go from there.
Data Recovery BTN: What are your predictions for the future of the merchant model in the US and Europe and Asia?
BB: The merchant model has changed drastically especially for the large chains who have developed a different approach with the merchants in a hybrid model. Its a high commissioned model because the chains want to have more control over their rates and the ability to do rate guarantees really drove a hybrid model. That will evolve from some of the largest chains in the US to some other regions of the world where the chains have more leverage with which to drive that arrangement. But they still will look to utilise some of these merchants to move distressed inventory so the financial settlement might change but its still a good channel to move some of that distressed inventory,
Cisco Most of the chains continue to talk about the fact that internet bookings are up to 25% of their total bookings, but 70 80% of that is coming through their own websites. They continue to drive clients to their own sites and those dynamics will continue to play on.
Keyboard For the smaller chains and the independents, I believe the merchant model will continue to be an element of their rates strategy and of their distribution. I dont see it going away, but I do believe there are going to be other elements that are going to help these small chains and independents, such as hotelbook, offering another channel with which to move inventory beyond just the largest merchants and that dynamic will change the landscape as well.
Monitor So its evolving in Europe and Asia. I dont think these regions will go through the same evolutionary process as the US they will start from where the US has evolved to and go from there rather than going backwards on arrangements that have been on between the chains and merchants.
Desktop
[ Comment, Edit or Article Submission ]
