travel, hotel and booking Information

Kimpton encourages staff giving

Hotel Booking Kimpton is encouraging its employees to give generously of their time to raise money and awareness for deserving local and national charities.

Groople, based in Denver, was created by more than 20 experienced leaders from every area of the travel industry with the goal of becoming the place for leisure group travelers to book the best, free deals. Groople serves military groups, family reunions, religious organizations and other leisure customers at www.Groople.com and through its offline agents while helping suppliers by giving consumers access to hotel inventory. Groople's automated group booking system gives travel planners the ability to plan, book and manage all aspects of their group trips online, including travel, hotel bookings and event planning, payment, tracking, registering for events, and more. Special requests and more complex needs such as booking banquet facilities, food and beverage and planning unique group activities are handled by phone with Groople's team of experienced group planners.

Travel Agency Kimpton has released the stellar results of this year's "Kimpton Cares" month, during which approximately 65 percent of hotel and restaurant employees nationwide volunteered their time and expertise to make a positive social and environmental difference on a local level.

'Split Payment' On Holidays Launched For The First time Online Expedia.co.uk today becomes the first online travel agent to allow customers to split the payment on their holiday bookings in a move to give greater flexibility and choice for travellers and enabling people to travel at an affordable price. Customers booking an Expedia flight and hotel or flight, hotel and car package will be given an option to pay a deposit rather than having to find the full cost of the holiday at the time of booking, making it easier and more affordable than ever for people to let themselves go on holiday in 2006.

Cheap Hotel Kimpton also announced the renewal of its partnership with national charity organizations, including Trust for Public Land, Dress for Success and the Red Ribbon AIDS Awareness Campaign, as part of its larger Kimpton Cares program, which runs throughout the year.

Groople (www.groople.com), the leading online group travel booking and planning site, has partnered with Hotel Hotline (www.hotelhotline.com), an online hotel reservation site including the properties HotelHotline.com and HotelsCheap.org. Groople provides Hotel Hotline customers with the ability to search for and book group hotels that are appropriate for their group type. Groople's private label solution offers Hotel Hotline with a customized booking solution that satisfies the needs of their users. "Partnering with Groople gives Hotel Hotline access to dependable group booking technology and professional group travel customer service, " said Mike Stacy, CEO of Groople. "HotelsCheap knows the size and growth of the group market and sees Groople as the best way to tap into that market"

Flight Booking Kimpton employees coordinated and participated in a variety of community service events, including blood drives, working with local meal-delivery services, running etiquette classes for inner-city youth and donating considerable money to the local chapters of Dress for Success, Humane Society and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

While there are some below par travel agents out there, sources such as Tripology are great outlets to go to find reliable specialized travel agents that will match your needs. 10. Travel Agents Can Only Book My Flight and Hotel Travel agents can arrange car service, personalized tours and activities, in addition to all the basic travel services they provide. They are also excellent sources of information concerning good restaurants, good sites to see, and tips on what to pack.

Travel Agent Key highlights from "Kimpton Cares" Month include:

Groople In the News Travelocity Teams with Groople to Offer Group Hotel Bookings New shopping tools added to Travelocity's hotel booking engine let travelers book 5+ rooms in a single reservation SOUTHLAKE, Texas and DENVER (February 1, 2005) Planning this summer's faraway family reunion Or maybe you're a coach needing a bunch of rooms for that upcoming youth tournament If so, you'll want to check out new functionality on Travelocity that makes planning and booking group travel a snap. Today, Travelocity announced an agreement with Groople Inc., a leading provider of online group travel bookings that gives Travelocity customers a specialized groups section with discounted hotel rates, group content and new planning features that are unavailable on other travel sites.

Hotel Chicago -- Sanguine Soiree: New York-based 70 park avenue hotel collected over 25 pints of blood in one day from hotel employees and guests

Online Booking -- Food for Thought: The San Francisco-based Harbor Court hosted a food drive collecting more than 75 lbs. of food over five days

Travel Health Insurance -- Hearts for Kids: Thirty employees from all three Kimpton Seattle properties taught kids of the Ronald McDonald House how to make Valentine's Day Cards, in addition to sponsoring a festive pizza and cookie party

Hotel Reservation -- Cocktails for Canines and Cats: Employees at the Washington, D.C.-based Helix raised more than $1,000 by selling raffle tickets and specialty "Pet Peeve" cocktails at a fund-raising event to benefit the Washington Humane Society. The money collected during that evening alone helped the charity to rescue over 100 animals

London Hotel Booking -- Tree Planting in San Francisco: Employees of San Francisco-based Blue Mermaid Chowder House and Restaurant teamed up with the Friends of the Urban Forest to plant trees in the city. Volunteers planted trees in the Bay View neighborhood and then fed all local community volunteers from the Friends of the Urban Forest.

Discount Travel "Kimpton has a long standing history of community involvement at all levels of the organization. 'Kimpton Cares' evolved out of our philosophy as business leaders we have a responsibility to serve the community," says Niki Leondakis, chief operating officer of Kimpton Hotels. "Ultimately, we believe that as our communities prosper, so do we all," Leondakis added. "Kimpton's strong commitment to social contribution hinges on a culture of employee participation. Many of our employees volunteer their time and energy to a variety of charities and causes including our national partners, Dress for Success and Trust for Public Land."

Orlando Hotel Additionally, employees were encouraged to participate in the Kimpton Cares Heart Contest, to create a heart that answered the question, "If you were a heart, what would you look like?" The response was overwhelming, and more than 20 properties participated and submitted a heart.

Booking Agency On a national level, Kimpton is a strong supporter of charitable programs including:

International Travel Medical -- Trust for Public Land: Through Kimpton's EarthCare program, individual hotels and Kimpton's Home Office commit to reducing their ecological footprint while conducting day-to-day business. Kimpton has strategically aligned itself with organizations that are respected and recognized in environmental circles and share similar goals and objectives such as the Trust for Public Land, the only national nonprofit entity dedicated exclusively to the preservation of land for public use. Kimpton Hotels has an ongoing commitment to the Trust for Public Land to increase awareness and donations.

New York Hotel -- Dress for Success: Kimpton is the exclusive hospitality sponsor of Dress for Success. Dress for Success is a nonprofit organization committed to helping disadvantaged women thrive in the workplace. Dress for Success provides business attire, career development and skills for employment retention. During the months of March and April, Kimpton celebrates Women's History Month with a campaign to raise funds and awareness for Dress for Success. Kimpton also sponsors the organization's annual Success Summit.

Online Travel Booking -- AIDS Awareness: Kimpton supports the Red Ribbon Campaign by assisting HIV service organizations across North America through employee volunteerism, educational campaigns, corporate donations, and fund-raising events. Kimpton also annually hosts fund-raising parties on World AIDS Day (December 1), coast-to-coast, to benefit its affiliated non-profits.

Travel Medical Insurance

[ Comment, Edit or Article Submission ]