Irish Examiner: Irish Examiner
14 December 2012 - Irish Examiner
Hotel booking specialist Bookassist has won the World’s Leading Booking Technology Provider award at the 2012 World Travel Awards in New Delhi,India.
Dublin-based Bookassist, an online strategy and technology partner for hotels, received this prestigious prize at the 2012 Grand Finale event, which was hosted at The Oberoi, Gurgaon, New Delhi, India. Often referred to as "the Oscars of the travel industry", the awards recognise winners worldwide as setting the benchmark to which all others aspire. It is the third year in a row that Bookassist has been nominated in the category.
Speaking at the ceremony in New Delhi, Bookassist founder and CEO Dr Des O’Mahony, said: "We’re extremely honoured to have won. It was third time lucky for us, especially with such distinguished competition in the category such as industry giants like Sabre/SynXis and Amadeus. It’s a stamp of approval from our own industry for what we do.
"To have our client hotels and industry peers vote us into a world-leading position is testament to the hard work and dedication of the Bookassist staff, in all our offices. The award is recognition of the real difference they have made to our clients’ business."
Bookassist was founded in Dublin in 1999. Entirely self-financed and privately owned, it has a strong emphasis on research and innovation and has grown to over 70 employees. The company has offices in Madrid, Paris, Italy, Rome, Vienna, Prague and Munich in addition to its headquarters in Dublin.
The company develops advanced booking software for hotels to sell directly on their own websites instead of relying solely on online travel agents, who typically charge hotels high commissions. Direct business is a strong growth area for hotels as the industry seeks to improve revenue margins and reduce commission bills.
The company’s booking engine software powers thousands of hotel websites, handling more than €120m in direct hotel booking revenue in 2012 for its clients.
Asked why he thought Bookassist won the award, O’Mahony explained: "The hotel industry voted for Bookassist tonight in considerable numbers, and I believe it’s because we deliver for our hotels. We consistently raise their direct business revenue online. We allow them capture more online business at a far lower cost, and therefore higher margin, than any of our competitors. We do this through expert consultancy and best-of-breed technology — and you need both.
"This award coincides this month with the release of a major upgrade to our hotel website booking software. Even more reason for our hotel clients to be delighted with us," he said.
In March, Bookassist will release version one of its new distribution management platform to intelligently optimise the way hotels do online business.
The company has previously been ranked in the Deloitte Fast 50 companies in Ireland and in Europe, and O’Mahony has won two Irish Internet Association NetVisionary Awards.
Meanwhile, Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort was named ‘World’s Leading Boutique Golf Resort’ at the awards in New Delhi, becoming the first ever Irish property to win a World Travel Award. The Limerick hotel was also recently named Ireland’s Number One Parkland Course by Golf Digest Ireland.
Dublin-based Bookassist, an online strategy and technology partner for hotels, received this prestigious prize at the 2012 Grand Finale event, which was hosted at The Oberoi, Gurgaon, New Delhi, India. Often referred to as "the Oscars of the travel industry", the awards recognise winners worldwide as setting the benchmark to which all others aspire. It is the third year in a row that Bookassist has been nominated in the category.
Speaking at the ceremony in New Delhi, Bookassist founder and CEO Dr Des O’Mahony, said: "We’re extremely honoured to have won. It was third time lucky for us, especially with such distinguished competition in the category such as industry giants like Sabre/SynXis and Amadeus. It’s a stamp of approval from our own industry for what we do.
"To have our client hotels and industry peers vote us into a world-leading position is testament to the hard work and dedication of the Bookassist staff, in all our offices. The award is recognition of the real difference they have made to our clients’ business."
Bookassist was founded in Dublin in 1999. Entirely self-financed and privately owned, it has a strong emphasis on research and innovation and has grown to over 70 employees. The company has offices in Madrid, Paris, Italy, Rome, Vienna, Prague and Munich in addition to its headquarters in Dublin.
The company develops advanced booking software for hotels to sell directly on their own websites instead of relying solely on online travel agents, who typically charge hotels high commissions. Direct business is a strong growth area for hotels as the industry seeks to improve revenue margins and reduce commission bills.
The company’s booking engine software powers thousands of hotel websites, handling more than €120m in direct hotel booking revenue in 2012 for its clients.
Asked why he thought Bookassist won the award, O’Mahony explained: "The hotel industry voted for Bookassist tonight in considerable numbers, and I believe it’s because we deliver for our hotels. We consistently raise their direct business revenue online. We allow them capture more online business at a far lower cost, and therefore higher margin, than any of our competitors. We do this through expert consultancy and best-of-breed technology — and you need both.
"This award coincides this month with the release of a major upgrade to our hotel website booking software. Even more reason for our hotel clients to be delighted with us," he said.
In March, Bookassist will release version one of its new distribution management platform to intelligently optimise the way hotels do online business.
The company has previously been ranked in the Deloitte Fast 50 companies in Ireland and in Europe, and O’Mahony has won two Irish Internet Association NetVisionary Awards.
Meanwhile, Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort was named ‘World’s Leading Boutique Golf Resort’ at the awards in New Delhi, becoming the first ever Irish property to win a World Travel Award. The Limerick hotel was also recently named Ireland’s Number One Parkland Course by Golf Digest Ireland.
Source: Irish Examiner
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