base2stay London Hotel Offers Free Electric Cars To Guests

base2stay hotel in London's Kensington was one of the first to be praised for its green credentials.

And it is now pioneering an electric hire car programme for guests, after Boris Johnson's, the Mayor of 

London's, drive to see the city become ‘the electric capital of Europe'.

Guests will have up to four hours' free hire of an electric Citroen EV'ie throughout the summer. The car, which is supplied by eco-car rental firm Move About, can be re-charged for free at the hotel. It will carry up ot 5 guests and friends at up to 60mph and has a range of 75 miles between charges.

From October 1, the car will be hired out at £4 per hour, £20 for a half-day or £30 a day which is cheaper than bike hire for a family in the capital, says the hotel.

There are no congestion charges for electric cars in London and in many boroughs there is free or highly discounted parking.

http://www.base2stay.com

CDS Groupe - Worldmeetings network

Meetings & Bookings Management Services

CDS Groupe / Worldmeetings offers a wide range of services for the management of corporate meetings booked into hotels and meeting venues, all over the world. Service centres are available in various countries providing personal support to meeting planners nationally, both for their domestic and outgoing bookings.

CDS Groupe offers its clients 3 online booking plateforms of services :

Meetings

Bookings

Event

The future of hotel meeting bookings is online

Online availability, rates and booking capabilities will become standard for small meetings and events at hotels within the next three years, according to a Hotel Booking Agent Association survey.

The survey of 73 member hotel booking agents (HBAs) found a growing appetite for online solutions to better manage booking processes in the transient accommodation sector and, increasingly, in meetings management.

The need for cost savings was the most prevalent driver of the adoption of new technologies, as agencies sought to reduce overheads. Speed of response to ascertain availability and rates was ranked second driven by the desire to offer a quick and responsive customer service.

One of the key uses of online technology was the management of specially negotiated allocations for bedrooms and rates on behalf of a specific corporate client at individual hotels.

The research also found only one organisation attained rates from multiple web sites including third party aggregators. Of the agencies whose core business stream was accommodation, all had live available connectivity either with GDS, Pegasus or Direct Connects with hotel brands directly.

Hotel groups, chain venues and independent properties are already opening their inventories for small meetings and all agencies agreed that online availability, rates and booking capabilities would become standard for small meetings and events within the next three years.

Trevor Elswood, chairman of the HBAA’s Technology, Innovation & Environment (TIE) Committee, said: “Traditionally HBA’s were reliant on dealing directly with properties to negotiate rates and secure inventory. Agencies are now well versed in managing accommodation policies on behalf of their corporates online through the wide range of live availability distribution connections. The corporates’ growing reliance on HBA’s as part of the business outsourcing process means that meetings management policies too are being integrated into online inventories. The survey clearly shows demand from our members who want to capitalise on the IT available, and in turn reduce their own overheads.”