United Kingdom
United States
Asia Pacific
First real-time conference and event booking website launched
Marston Hotels has launched a real-time conference and event booking website that it claims is the world’s first.
The website – www.marstonvenues.com – allows conference booking agents and consumers to check availability and make a provisional or confirmed online booking within minutes.
The chain of 12 four-star hotels said it received £22,000 worth of bookings in the first day of launch.
The fully automated system was developed and is operated in partnership with Kinetic Solutions, of Cranfield University.
Marston Hotels director John Cotter said: “This is going to revolutionise the way we do business. When you’ve got almost 70 staff amending bookings and availability for 223 meeting rooms throughout the year, it’s almost impossible to keep track of everything.
“Now we have one access point gathering and feeding new requests and information to the whole company.”
Plans are now also in place to launch ‘MeetingShop’, an umbrella portal which will enable customers and agents to do a ‘live’ search for conference facilities nationwide, initially at 500 venues.
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
Walt Leger on New Orleans’ Resilience and Major Events Ahead
Cindy Mackin Shares Estes Park’s Winter Thrills
Mark Jaronski of Explore Georgia on FIFA World Cup 2026
Connecting Small Businesses to Global Tourism Markets: Nate Huff of Tourism Exchange
North Carolina’s Resilience: Wit Tuttell on Recovery and Tourism
Kittipong Prapattong’s Plan for Thailand’s Tourism Growth: Taxes, Visas, and Campaigns
James Jin: Didatravel’s Journey from China to Global Reach and the Impact of AI on Travel
Darien Schaefer on Pensacola’s Evolution: From Small Town to Global Destination
Florida Tourism’s Next Frontier: Dana Young on Expanding Beyond the Classics
Patrick Harrison on Tampa Bay Tourism’s Resilience and Marketing Strategy
Bubba O’Keefe on Clarksdale’s Vibrant Music Scene
Commemorating Elvis and Embracing Tupelo’s Culture with Jennie Bradford Curlee
BA suspending all Heathrow to Abu Dhabi flights
Unexpected wave rocks cruise ship
Report: Cruise guest died after ship lashed in heavy storm
British teen in serious condition after paraglider collision
JetBlue scraps London Gatwick flights