Utell Segments, Classifies Hotels

Pegasus Solutions' Utell Hotels & Resorts, which has a portfolio of 3,600 hotels worldwide, is boosting member hotel accessibility through travel management companies and Internet resources via a new segmentation strategy, the Dallas-based company announced this month.

With thousands of hotels ranging in scale from economy to luxury, Utell has gone through a critical segmentation exercise to properly classify its members in global distribution systems, said Peter Fitzgerald, president of Pegasus Representation Services. The systems now can identify all hotels by their proper price level, he said.

"We are known to the travel agencies, and given that we're trying to be on equal footing with the global chains, we had to make it easier," Fitzgerald said. "Given that we have thousands of hotels, customers need to know what they're getting."

Utell also launched a marketing and distribution effort, called Utell Hotels & Resorts Collections and Niche Brands, to better sell hotels services, he said.

So far, Utell has created two collections: properties that manage or have access to golf courses and those with spa facilities. Upcoming collections will include properties geared toward business travel and those with extensive meeting facilities. Utell also plans all-suite and beach property collections. By allowing its properties to opt in to such collections, Utell can better market its properties to travel or meeting buyers looking to accomplish a specific goal, Fitzgerald said.

"We realize we have a very valuable portfolio," he said. "We want to be a lot more accessible and appealing to the agencies and to the corporates that stand behind those TMCs."

Utell will further assist in distribution by creating Web sites for each collection along with printed directories and other marketing strategies, according to the company.

In the first month, 147 hotels agreed to be put in the online directories, and most of the spa properties have agreed to participate, he said. Several hotels, including Rotana Hotels, Warwick Hotels, the Columbus Hotel in Monte Carlo and the Imperial Hotel in Osaka, signed on immediately, according to Pegasus.