|
Innvest Looking Like a Lodging-Industry "HIT" By Bill Gillette |
|
NEW YORK - Innvest has been taking a lot of hits lately -
and Deirdre Murphy couldn't be happier about it.
Murphy, a partner is the New York-based Wilder Group hotel-brokerage firm, is president and co-founder of Innvest, an interactive Web site thats subtitled "Americas Hotel Online Superstore." For those whose knowledge of cyber-jargon isnt quite state-of-the-art, "hits" refer to the number of times Internet users click on the page when theyre seeking information. Murphy said that the number of hits has doubled every month since Innvest went online six months ago. "In May, we had 1,400 hits," she said. "In August, it was up to 62,700.
Online Yellow Pages
"Listings start at about $250 a year," she said, adding that thats less than
the real Yellow Pages charges for a years worth of being listed.
In addition to being a listing vehicle for hotel real-estate transactions, Innvest
offers information on other areas of the industry, including franchising,
products, services, lenders, educational resources and industry
associations. Users can even click on the sites "News" icon and get
up-to-the-minute industry news from the editors of HOTEL & MOTEL
MANAGEMENT. Also available on the Innvest site are a calendar of industry
events and an amoritization calculator. Murphy said the next service in
line to go online will be listings of employment opportunities.
"Were working on that right now," she said. "There will be a section where
someone seeking employment can list a resume for employers to browse, and a
section where employers can list job openings."
Murphy said the Innvest site will soon include a "Steals and Deals" section.
There, hoteliers will be able to find discounted items, for instance, at a
bargain-basement price. She said the listing fee - $100 for three months - is a
bargain in itself.
At press time, Murphy said these two additional services were being readied so
they can be demonstrated at the upcoming International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant
Show in New York.
Innvest Origins "As people whove been resources in the industry, it occurred to us that about
80 percent of a salespersons time is spent answering questions," Murphy said.
"If I can send you to a place that can almost instantaneously answer your
questions or satisfy your needs, a lot of time can be saved.
"And thats time saved not only for the salesperson, who can devote more time
to selling," she added, "but for the consumer as well."
Murphy said she has evidence that Innvest is providing the kind of service she
and Wilder first envisioned little more than a year ago.
"Im getting e-mail messages from all over the world," she said. "Theyre
unsolicited testimonials from people saying theyre getting solid leads."
For the present, at least, Innvest seems to have this particular corner of the
cyberspace market all to itself.
"Theres nothing online thats this comprehensive or transaction-oriented," she
said. "And itll only get bigger as people get more used to the Internet."
Readers already used to the Internet can contribute yet another Innvest hit by
booting up their computers and clicking on http://www.innvest.com |
