Three Cities Group's reaps the benefits

Designed with a fresh innovative appearance following the branding of all hotels and resorts within the Three Cities Group portfolio, the website has a plethora of easy features to assist guests from hotel bookings and event information to securing world-class conference locations and specialising in wedding venues and planning.

While the Exceptional Rewards Programme offers guests a range of benefits, including: discounts on accommodation; lifestyle tips; news and updates, members can also expect to enjoy specials on flights via Mango Airlines and car rental with Avis Rent-A-Car.

Overwhelmed by response

As part of the hospitality groups' vision and drive to be Africa's leading exceptional hospitality brand, Three Cities Group's marketing manager, Kirsty Fonzari, said that they were overwhelmed by both initiatives' response.

She said that the group was thrilled that not only had it increased the strength of the brand being synonymous with guest loyalty, but the Exceptional Rewards Programme has grown by 100% membership compared to the previous groups' guest loyalty programme. The online bookings, via the revamped website, have grown by almost 97% in this year compared to 2012.

"Our purpose is always to create exceptional and memorable hospitality experiences. Through market research, it has become evident that the strength of a brand is synonymous with guest loyalty and it was with this in mind, that our strategy has been to drive brand awareness and retain guest loyalty," said Fonzari.

With the Exceptional Rewards Programme, guests have the option of a Silver, Gold or Black membership card and can collect rewards in the form of "Exceptional Rands", which can be accumulated and stored on their membership cards.

The Silver membership is absolutely free for 12 months and it offers cash back up to the value of 10% of accommodation spend at any Three Cities Group's hotels, resorts and lodges.

A loyalty generation

"Our strategy has been to take the brand aggressively above the line and as a group. We live in a loyalty generation where how we buy and where we buy is dependent on what offers are attached to that brand".

"The launch of the Silver free card has been a phenomenal success. Guests are able to redeem rewards after just their first stay at any Three Cities Group hotel. We have since expanded the offer to our Gold card holders, which has increased the value of accommodation vouchers," said Fonzari.

The recent partnerships with Avis Rent-A-Car and Mango Airlines are just two of many positioned lifestyle partnerships that the group is engaging with in order to continue to increase the benefits for Exceptional Rewards members.

Exceptional Rewards members can now book their accommodation of choice and secure their flights without leaving the Three Cities website.

Enhanced services

In the forefront of investing in optimising and enhancing its service offering to both guests and clients, Three Cities Group teamed up with online booking engine - Fast Booking - to ensure that the guest's booking procedure is a seamless and efficient process. Guests will now be able to log on to the booking portal and extract their itineraries.

Fonzari explained: "The website has a fresh look and feel and is far more dynamic than our earlier website. There is more information with an opportunity for guests to book their accommodation - in less than four minutes - no matter where they are on the website. As a group we went through a detailed analytical process in researching and reviewing the top-10 booking engines around the world.

"Fast Booking fulfilled the need of the group as we were moving into our next phase of marketing the brand above the line. This has increased revenue to our clients and works off a user-friendly platform and multichannel interfaces with the back end supported by state-of-the-art software."

She said that the website was also specifically tailored to be a lot more interactive with Exceptional Rewards members, who are now able to log into a members only platform to review their accrued cash-back rewards.

"By accessing the Three Cities website, guests can view their account details anytime, while members of the Exceptional Rewards Programme will have their own personalised online profile account, allowing them to view special offers; book accommodation and check their 'Exceptional Rand' balance at their convenience," said Fonzari.

She said that the group believed that one of the best features of this programme is that, because it works electronically, guests are able to make use of their "Exceptional Rands" within 24 hours.

For more, go to www.threecities.co.za