GuestCentric Introduces Mobile Commerce for Small Hotels

FAIRFIELD, N.J., June 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- (http://www.myprgenie.com/) -- GuestCentric Systems, the all-in-one cloud provider of commerce solutions for the independent hotel industry, announced today the launch of leading-edge mobile features that advance small independent hotels' web presence way beyond those of many larger competing properties. Mobile traffic has been growing explosively, with Google claiming that 19% of all hotel queries come from mobile devices.

Mobile in one tap

For the first time, properties with less than 120 rooms can enter the World of mobile with no extra effort. The new mobile commerce feature is included for all GuestCentric customers, and enabling it is just one click.

"I got an email from GuestCentric saying that a new mobile commerce feature was available," said Kristi Steiert at the Pony Express Motel in Jackson Hole, WY. "It took me literally one minute to get the upgrade request in, and once I republished my website I got my first mobile reservation the very next day!"

GuestCentric's mobile commerce puts independent hotels' websites in the pockets of always-on warriors, allowing them mobile-optimized access to content wherever they are. With a simple multi-touch interface, hotel guests can be serviced on the road, whether trying to book, or getting information en-route to the hotel. Hotel address and phone numbers are prominently displayed on the hotels' mobile websites. Two of the most used features are tap to call and directions at fingertip leveraging the power of Google Maps in Android and iPhones.

Even though they are on the road, mobile users can still experience the properties' look and feel as GuestCentric's mobile sites display high-quality pictures optimized for mobile devices.

"The GuestCentric mobile site and booking engine have an application quality to them that I had never seen before," said Heleen Uitenbroek at Chiado 16, a small luxury guesthouse that recently won a Hermes and an IMA award. "I was actively looking at a mobile strategy for my property. Now that I have a wonderful mobile site from GuestCentric it does not make sense to build a mobile application for iPhone or Android any longer."

Across GuestCentric's user base, mobile devices like smartphones and iPads represent already 3% to 8% of visitors, and traffic is growing exponentially every month.

"We have seen tremendous growth of mobile usage across hundreds of our customers' sites since November 2010. Once we spotted this trend we set out to build the best possible mobile experience that a hotel can provide to its users," said Pedro Colaco, President and CEO of GuestCentric. "Reception by our boutique and economy customers has been overwhelming. Over 20% of GuestCentric's users enabled the new feature on their websites just in the first three days of the feature being available."

Additional pricing information and details on signing up for a 14 day free trial, available at: www.guestcentric.com/pricing

Contact: Joao Trindade, [email protected], 203 517-0715

SOURCE GuestCentric Systems