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David Kloeppel, executive chairman, and Kemp Gallineau, CEO, Groups360.
When Groups360, the leading online marketplace for meetings, was founded in 2014 by David Kloeppel and Kemp Gallineau, former senior executives from Gaylord Entertainment Company, the hospitality industry was in a very different place.
While the pandemic has stymied many companies the world over, Groups360 is poised to capitalize on a unique opportunity and provide solutions for hotels seeking to do more with less.
“Before the pandemic, industry colleagues were asking themselves, ‘How can we control costs?’” explains Gallineau, CEO of Groups360. “Our technology development has been predicated on supplying hotels with better technology at a lower cost that can pass efficiency and higher value on to their planner customers.”
That is ultimately why Groups360 launched GroupSync, its proprietary online marketplace whose goal is to simplify and transform the ways meetings are booked.
Groups360 has become a leader in the online marketplace space, having booked hundreds of millions in revenue for hotels. Now, they are introducing the first distribution channel to offer real-time group availability and direct booking for both hotel rooms and meeting space.
“We have always held the perspective of bringing planners and suppliers together in a way that they can more effectively transact business,” Gallineau continued. “Just as consumers buy on Amazon and book direct for leisure travel, we also have to think about how our customers want to consume room nights and space for meetings and events. That’s the difference in our approach, which has made us successful in creating technology that helps both sides of the marketplace.”
GroupSync has reduced the time it takes to book meeting space to an average of 19 days (compared to the industry average of 77 days), which gives Groups360 plenty of runway for growth.
Added Gallineau: “As we come out of this pandemic, we’re here to help hoteliers be highly efficient, drive revenue, and create a great environment to sell the true value of what their hotel provides.”