Roomex – Awards for 2015

We’ve had an incredible run of awards and nominations in the last few months, here’s a summary: Deloitte Technology Fast 50, this is our 4th time receiving a ‘Deloitte’ having previously won the Rising Star Award in 2008. Kuehne & Nagel, Innovative Supplier of the Year Award SFA National Business Awards Finalist, Winner and Announcement with the President of Ireland in March 2016 Irish Exporters Association nomination for High Potential Exporters Award ITM Travel Awards Nomination – Best Travel Technology Provider Team Winners of Technology Hackathon #tHackDublin sponsored by tnooz and Skyscanner Thank you !

Should you negotiate a fixed price with hotels?

Many of our customers travel regularly to the same locations and indeed to the same hotels and therefore will have entrusted Roomex to ensure that they get the best possible rate each time they visit. This raises the question as to whether Roomex should negotiate a fixed rate at a hotel for you? And the answer yes, sometimes. Firstly, a client typically has to have at least 100 room nights per annum at a hotel to get a negotiated rate. By agreeing a fixed price at a hotel you can guarantee that you will have access to that rate all year round and there will be no surprises. Often business rates are negotiated to include breakfast, Wi-Fi and sometimes even dinner. When the hotel is busy then this rate will be a guarantee against rising prices. Whilst every hotel revenue manager amends prices to ensure the highest possible occupancy and rate, there will inevitably be times when the hotel is not busy and prices start falling, sometimes below the negotiated rate. The key here is having the data to measure the strength of your negotiated rates against the fluctuating rates of the hotel. Our live price-checking software within the Roomex for Business platform provides this on an ongoing basis. We are measuring and tracking two things firstly, the actual saving, and secondly, the strength of your negotiated rates, tracked over time. Best practice is therefore to have negotiated rates for those hotels where you will have a significant number of room nights, but we must always measure and track the strength of these over time. A very successful alternative often is to have a fluctuating rate with a fixed discount off the Best Available Rate and even though the rate will vary, the average can be significantly better over time!

Corporate Hotel Bookings in under 1 minute!

Roomex, the leading corporate hotel booking service, today announced a major service upgrade which will lead to vastly improved booking speeds. One minute bookings are now very much the reality says Jack Donaghy, CEO at Roomex. For many months, our corporate clients have been able to save their most frequently visited locations, key hotels, contact information and even company cost codes as part of their booking process. The one element that required repeated inputting was credit card information for payment. Now that this can be saved for regular use the whole booking process can be comfortably achieved in less than 60 seconds he continued. The majority of our clients are on monthly billing, whereby we issue one itemised monthly bill for all hotel spend but some clients prefer to pay by credit card and this closes that loop concluded Donaghy. Product innovation has been key to Roomex becoming the most unique and fastest growing online corporate travel tool in the market. Roomex works with over 300 global companies to better manage their corporate hotel booking process. Clients include, Central Bank of Ireland, Musgrave Group, Dairygold, Sisk Group and Laya Healthcare. Cost savings have averaged 21% in the last 12 months, with total savings in 2014 topping 1.8m.  

Roomex exhibit at Construction Industry Federation Annual Conference

Roomex recently exhibited at The Construction Industry Federation Annual Conference in the Aviva Stadium in October. As exhibitors we networked with key decision makers from all areas of the construction and engineering industries. Throughout the day a genuine feeling that a sustainable and robust recovery of Irish construction activity has begun pervaded the event. The theme for this year’s conference was Achieving Construction 2020’s Vision in line with the recently launched strategy for the sector in Ireland. A top class line-up of speakers presented to almost 300 delegates and the keynote speech was given by An Tanaiste, Joan Burton TD. Coming as it did only weeks before the Budget, this was a particularly timely intervention by Ms Burton as she had the chance to outline the Government’s plans for the sector in the year ahead. She emphasized the importance of Construction to any functioning economy but emphasized that we must not repeat our past overdependence on it, in 2008 construction made up 20% of Irish industrial activity but now has fallen to only 6%, it was widely agreed on the day that a figure somewhere between the two is sustainable.. Recognised by government, the CIF is the national and regional representative body for construction industry employers in Ireland. Several CIF members have engaged the services of Roomex to better manage their corporate hotel reservations including Sisk Group, Kirby Group, Actavo, Mercury and Dornan Engineering. These companies are saving time and money by using the Roomex for Business platform. Kirby Group Financial Accountant Niall McNally believes that using Roomex has brought immediate benefits to the company. Kirby Group began working with Roomex in early 2014 and I have to say that they have improved our hotel booking process by tenfold. Previously, our receptionists would have to search for hotels across Ireland/UK/Europe by themselves, often under time pressure and trying to find a nice, decent priced hotel was a constant challenge for them. Roomex have taken over this pressure and their excellent live reporting facilities as well as the ease with which we can allocate costs to individual projects, has saved us time and money. Their customer service is excellent, and they are always eager to meet whatever demands we may have. All in all, an excellent Irish company. At Sisk Group, their Financial Accountant highlights the efficiencies that Roomex brings to the hotel booking process. Sisk Group has been working Roomex for Business for over a year now and it has completely transformed our hotel booking process. Previously we received 60-70 invoices a month from hotels all over Europe, now we receive just one! Plus the one invoice we do receive includes line by detail of every hotel booking, by guest, already allocated to its appropriate cost centre as Roomex has built this into the booking process. We also have access to live reporting, save considerably on our spend and can ring Roomex if ever we need help looking for hotels. I have no hesitation in recommending Roomex, it not only saves us time and money but it gives us complete visibility and control.

Roomex Sponsors Manufacturing Event

An estimated 400 delegates attended this week’s National Manufacturing & Supply Chain Conference and Exhibition in the Aviva Stadium. The sold-out signs were posted on the event website in the lead-up to the conference and it was standing room only in a packed exhibition suite. The event was ably chaired by Sean Gallagher of Dragon’s Den fame who ensured a fast pace was maintained throughout. A number of fascinating presentations were made by companies such as Bristol-Myers Squib, Pfizer and Eli Lilly. For many the key benefit of the day was the opportunity to network with customers, prospects and even competitors and the 42 exhibitor stands were busy for the duration of the event. The key take-away messages from the conference are that Irish manufacturing is alive and indeed thriving. Irish factories are set for a 15 year output record with a surge in new orders driving manufacturing to its fastest rate of expansion since 1999. Industrial output is up by 32% on an annual basis. Government is planning to create 20,000 manufacturing jobs by 2016. Today, manufacturing in Ireland employs 210,000 people directly and over 400,000 people across all skill levels when indirect employment in taken into consideration. For Roomex the event was a great opportunity to showcase our service to key stakeholders in the Food, Beverage, Pharma, Chemical, Electronics, Medical Devices and Engineering industries. We are fortunate to have clients in all of these categories and there was sufficient interest at the event to indicate that plenty of new companies will soon by using Roomex for Business. The growth in manufacturing output will inevitably lead to increased corporate travel both in Ireland and internationally and our CEO, Jack Donaghy, had the opportunity to address the large attendance to outline exactly how Roomex is already helping many large Irish international companies to save time and money on their work-related hotel spend.

Hotel booking for business travel Why travel is essential to success

Recent rises and falls in business sentiment have been reflected in the amount of business related travel being carried out by company executives. As the recession bit, and costs were cut, approval for business related travel was slashed across all industries but recent reports suggest this reactionary policy was a mistake. The US Travel Association’s 2013 Travel Effect report detailed statistical modelling carried out over 18 years and 14 industries which indicates that for every dollar spent on business travel, US companies have experienced a $9.50 return in terms of revenue. Oxford Economics reports that companies that held firm and continued to travel during the recession are now reaping the rewards as they are better positioned to avail of an uptake in the clients fortunes. All indicators are that business travel is bouncing back after a difficult couple of years. Roomex has just completed its half year review and the numbers are very encouraging, some of the key findings: Corporate hotel bookings through Roomex for Business are up by over 50% over the same period last year International travel has increased by 23% Availability in key locations remains an issue as occupancy rates are often above 90% Business travellers are on the road more often with each of our top corporate clients having booked more room nights this year than in the same period last year. Roomex has successfully managed to control the cost of this increased travel even though room rates have increased throughout Ireland, UK and Europe. Business executives instinctively know the importance of their face-to-face meetings with almost two-thirds stating that increasing business travel expenditure would have a positive impact on company revenue and profitability. They also believe that 40% of existing customers would eventually be lost without in-person meetings. As companies do begin to travel more again it is often under the control of more restrictive travel policies. Roomex for Business is founded on saving time and money for its corporate clients. Critically, we have managed to return an average saving of 24% to our clients in the first half of 2014 and this comes at no cost to the customer. A clear message from our customer base is that they want more control over their travel management programme. Our strong contracting, unique technology and excellent support have all come together to see our customer list expand rapidly. Such is our confidence in our ability to deliver for our customers that we have a no contract policy in place. Our client retention rate of 100% this year underlines our ability to deliver on our promises. No Cost. No Contract. No Catch. If your company is making regular hotel bookings for business related travel why not talk to us about how we can assist you in this process.

Corporate Travel Online Adoption Surges to 98%

Roomex is Ireland’s fastest growing corporate hotel booking agency. Its online Roomex for Business platform now manages hotel bookings for over 100 Irish Businesses and Organisations, including Dairygold, Kepak, Musgrave Group, Sisk Group, Topaz and many more. Jack Donaghy, CEO of Roomex, Our clients are much happier managing their hotel bookings through our online self-booking tool. Not only are they saving on fees and availing of corporate discounts, but they can also easily access all of their own negotiated rates as well as other online rates, all on the one platform. The fact that they have one credit line and their own cost-code integration in the booking process is a massive time-saver. Furthermore, senior management have full control, live visibility and all necessary management information. Our clients are saving significantly on time and money, hence the massive uptake in the last 18 months. Asked about the next step, Donaghy continues This has been an incredible year with literally hundreds of Ireland’s biggest and best companies now booking their hotels for business through our platform. We have 98% online adoption and an incredible support team there to help our clients at all times. Our aim is to continue to deliver the best possible product and service to the Irish market and simultaneously move into other markets.

Roomex sponsors Food & Drink Conference at The Aviva Stadium

Roomex has agreed to sponsor the inaugural Food & Drink Business Conference and Exhibition which takes place in the Aviva Stadium in September. The conference aims to focus the minds of those present as the food and beverage industry in Ireland is entering into a phase of substantial growth and investment. It is vital that any investment undertaken is made on a sustainable basis which addresses the needs of a growing national and international population. The event will bring together key stakeholders responsible for Ireland’s largest manufacturing sector with a turnover of over 25 billion. Exports reached over 10 billion for the first time in 2014. The sector employs over 230,000 on the island of Ireland and the government has committed to increase this number substantially over the next six years as outlined in the Harvest 2020 policy document. Key note speakers have been selected nationally and internationally for their proven track record in creating, building, managing and operating sustainable food and beverage brands. Speakers will also provide delegates with an insight into some of the key issues facing our food industry. Speakers include, Eoin Donnelly of Lily O’Brien’s, Caroline Keeling of Keeling’s, Michael Carey of Bord Bia and Vincent Carton of Manor Farm.

Sisk Seal of Approval

Sisk Group has been working with Roomex for Business for over 2 years now and it has completely transformed our hotel booking process. Previously – we received 60-70 invoices a month from hotels all over Europe; now we receive just one! Plus, the one invoice we do receive includes line by line detail of every hotel booking, by guest, already allocated to its appropriate cost centre as Roomex has built this into the booking process. We also have access to live reporting, save considerably on our spend and can ring Roomex if ever we need help looking for hotels. I have no hesitation in recommending Roomex, it not only saves us time and money but it gives us complete visibility and control.

Irish Business Travel up 29% in 2014

Irish Business travel is increasing rapidly, as illustrated by new figures released today by the Dublin based Corporate Online Hotel Booking Agency, Roomex. Jack Donaghy, CEO of Roomex, says Corporate Travel is up by almost a third and travellers are reaching far beyond the traditional UK and European destinations, with significantly more travel to North and South America, Africa and The Middle East. Having said that the majority of corporate travel remains within Ireland and the UK where some very interesting trends in hotel rates appearing: Dublin City corporate hotel rates up by 26% year on year Dublin Airport corporate rates up by 17% year on year Dublin West corporate rates up by less than 5% and on average 49% lower than Dublin City Outside Dublin Cork, Limerick, Galway, rates up by less than 5% and on average 28% lower than Dublin UK London most popular City outside of Ireland for Irish Corporates, rates up 15%… Avoid staying SUN-WED if you can in London to save on average 33%! Irish Corporates saved on average 23% in 2014 by booking through the Roomex for Business platform. Roomex is an Irish owned corporate hotel booking agency, managing hotel bookings for over 100 Irish Businesses and Organisations, including Dairygold, Kepak, Musgrave Group, Sisk Group, Topaz and many more.

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