A number of hotel chains have joined the Hotel Booking Agents Association (HBAA) International Charter to garner UK business, it was announced at meetings industry tradeshow IMEX, Frankfurt.
Starwood Hotels, Corinthia, Moevenpick, Kempinski, Hampshire Hospitality, Grand Hotels and Maritim have joined the list of global chains to sign up.
The HBAA International Charter aims to drive awareness amongst overseas hotels and venues of how to deal with UK agencies and benefit from the association’s buying power, which exceeds £2.3bn per annum.
“We are delighted with the response from overseas properties looking to become signatories to the International Charter,” says International Projects Chair of the HBAA, Steve Ockerby. “With a searchable database about to be made available to HBAA agents it is an exciting time for both agents and venues to be part of this initiative.”
The hotel chains will benefit from the associations framework for best practice under which agents and venues should conduct their business. The Charter covers key elements involved in securing international meetings and events, from enquiry response times and commission levels to payment terms.
“With a number of large event hotels in key European destinations such as Budapest, Lisbon and Prague, partnering with HBAA in this initiative enables us to raise our profile in the UK, which is a key market,” says Senior Vice President of Sales of Corinthia Hotels, James Farrow.
While Regional Director of Sales UK, Hampshire Hotels, Céline Mills, says: “With 90 hotels in The Netherlands, Belgium and Western Germany, Hampshire Hotels is excited to make use of the international network of HBAA Charter.”
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