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HICKORY Releases Findings of Expanded Consortia Rate Audit in Q3 Study

Delray Beach, FL – July 22, 2013: HICKORY GLOBAL PARTNERS (“HICKORY”; www.HickoryTravel.com), has completed the second Consortia Rate Audit of the Hickory 2013 Global Hotel Program in Q3. Like the initial groundbreaking Q1 report, this study benchmarked consortia rates and supplier compliance across multiple consortia and TMC rate codes including Hickory Global Partners (HFH), CCRA, ABC Corporate Services, and BCD Travel. However, this latest study also included rates from THOR.

HICKORY’s expanded study included 628 hotels in 368 cities. The hotels studied represented 50 global hotelier brands. Rates were audited via the Sabre GDS and included the following consortia and TMC rate access codes: Hickory Global Partners (HFH), CCRA, ABC Corporate Services, BCD Travel and THOR. Availability searches for two-night stays were performed using the following dates: 8/20/13, 9/11/13 and 9/23/13.

Hickory’s 2013 products for the 628 properties studied continued to outperform the competitive set. HFH rate code displayed rates at parity or better 97.93% of the time, an increase of 3% from the initial study.

“Our results continue to call into question the common agency practice of shopping multiple rate codes when the rates returned are the same each time,” said Chris Dane, HICKORY’s President.

Additionally, HICKORY announced the launch of a first-of-its kind compensation program for member agents. Members can instantly alert Hickory’s hotel team if an HFH property is listed in a GDS at a higher rate than in other consortia programs through a simple notification function on Hickory’s extranet, PartnerHQ.

Caitlin Gomez, HICKORY’s Senior Director, Agency Partner Program added, “Continually auditing our rate program allows our agency partners to maintain that using HFH rates gets travelers the best rate available. The new HICKORY agent incentive program rewards our greatest assets, our frontline agents. Because they book HFH rates every day, agents are the first to know when a rate is not at parity or not found. Rewarding our agents is our way of acknowledging them for helping us be our best.”

If a hotel is found to have rates lower through another consortia rate code, the agent receives a $15 Amazon.com gift card. Agents can also be compensated by requesting that non-participating hotels list their property in the Hickory program. Further terms and conditions for both programs can be found at: http://www.hickorytravel.com/agency/agent_incentives

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About HICKORY Hickory Global Partners, An INTRAVEL Company

Positioning itself as a strategic business alliance rather than a consortium, HICKORY’s unique approach focuses on return on investment for agency and supplier partners alike. HICKORY even guarantees its agency partners a positive ROI. With a suite of services including a visionary hotel incentive program, robust and one-of-a kind air program, car rental program and 24/7 support products, HICKORY is an important strategic partner to travel agencies. Proprietary, innovative tools designed to share data with agency partners allow agencies to make better, faster decisions, thus driving more revenue. These tools also enable HICKORY to aggregate bookings from agency partners. Hotelier partners gain access to a reporting platform that illustrates daily, weekly and monthly booking trends across the HICKORY network. Supplier partners also benefit from measurable results and extensive distribution and marketing opportunities across the HICKORY global network. For more information about Hickory Global Partners, visit www.HickoryTravel.com.