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Lodging Association decides on Travelocity over City Concierge |
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Friday, 09 May 2008 |
Local business makes positive pitch to be Town booking engine, but Association recommends Roaming Gnome
By Lara Kirkner
Mammoth Times Staff Writer
 Jefferson Lanz, owner of City Concierge, a reservation booking engine for Mammoth Lakes, got his chance to present to the Lodging Association last week. MAMMOTH TIMES PHOTO/LARA KIRKNER
Jefferson Lanz, owner of City Concierge, and the local business that did the prodding, was the only local entity to send in a letter of intent to submit a proposal. Lanz made his presentation to the Lodging Association last week.
Lanz hit all the points of what a smaller, localized company could do for companies in town. He had data and testimonials to prove that local distribution delivers more reservations than national, and stated that he had spoken to Simpleview, the platform that runs the site, about integration. According to representatives at Simpleview, Lanz would be able to integrate his system, but according to Tourism and Recreation Director Danna Stroud it could cost up $12,000 more than if the Town were to go with Travelocity, which is already partnered and integrated with the Simpleview site. The extra cost would most likely be taken from the Tourism and Recreation budget, but could be put onto local lodging agencies to pay, according to Stroud.
Alaina Henry, a representative of Travelocity, was also present at last week's meeting so that the Association could ask questions of both companies.
It came down to a matter of which company could expand Mammoth's horizons and attract, not the same Southern California visitor that is already coming to Mammoth, but the new, national and international customers.
With either company's widget on visitmammoth.com the Visitors Bureau would receive a percentage back on all sales made through the widget. With Travelocity, the money that goes back to the Town can be used to purchase an advertisement on Travelocity's site bringing new exposure to Mammoth.
Lanz stated that the percentage he would give back to the Town could be used for advertisements anywhere, including the Travelocity site.
“Basically with Travelocity, they would give the Town a voucher for an ad, and we would be giving them the money to do whatever they want with,” Lanz said.
After more than an hour of questioning from the Association, the group decided “that Travelocity has the horsepower and is the direction lodging would like to take,” according to Stroud.
The Association's recommendation was brought before the Tourism and Recreation Commission on Tuesday, May 6. The Commission voted to approve the use of Travelocity.
“Whatever the outcome, I'm just glad I got to have my day,” Lanz said.
The Tourism and Recreation Department began researching a booking engine several months ago and had planned to just choose Travelocity without opening the field to local business. Lanz asked for the opportunity to present his business at the April Tourism and Recreation Commission meeting.
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