Setting the Standard for Hotel Mobile Apps, LodgeNet Launches App to Connect Hotels with Travelers

SIOUX FALLS, S.D., Feb. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- LodgeNet Interactive Corporation (NASDAQ: LNET), the leading provider of interactive media and connectivity services to hospitality and healthcare businesses and the consumers they serve, has launched the hotel industry's first mobile application that brings together guest entertainment, hotel services, and local area guide information, and puts it into the palm of travelers' hands. For hoteliers it provides an innovative new channel to quickly, easily, and cost-effectively reach and communicate with guests through their mobile devices.

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With smartphone penetration reaching 75% among travelers(1) and tablet usage skyrocketing, the patent-pending LodgeNet Mobile App presents the hotel industry with an opportunity to connect with more guests and travelers as their intentions and needs continue to evolve.

"The LodgeNet Mobile App is unique and has broad appeal to travelers. For the first time, guests can now control their in-room TV using their iPhone®, iPad® or Android™. The app is available in over 500,000 rooms, spanning multiple hotel brands in all 50 states and Canada," says Derek S. White, President of Interactive & Media Networks for LodgeNet. "This in turn, grants hoteliers unprecedented access to over 200 million traveling consumers and the opportunity to provide guest communications that can be customized according to a hotel's unique attributes and with services and information that impact their bottom line." 

By engaging travelers through devices they already have a relationship with – their smartphones and tablets – hotels will gain valuable insights into key drivers of their guests' travel experience that is specific to that hotel property. Hotels are able to use that information to tailor offerings to maximize their revenue potential and customer retention.

Fully Customizable Platform Tailors the Mobile App for the Hotel

Most travel apps only encompass a small part of the travel experience like planning and booking trips, whereas LodgeNet's Mobile App focuses on the complete trip experience to extend traveler reach, adoption, and most importantly, engagement – before and after check-in and anywhere on the property.

"We developed the LodgeNet Mobile App with three major areas in mind: In-Room, In-Hotel, and In-Area services. Our primary focus is on the in-room entertainment section. But by pairing this functionality with hotel and local information, we've armed hoteliers with a powerful tool that can complement an existing mobile program or be implemented as a stand-alone mobile platform," says Todd Kelly, Vice President of Mobile for LodgeNet.

LodgeNet is now offering hoteliers the ability to brand and customize this app, centering on the "My Hotel" section of the application. A suite of services is now available, allowing hotel partners to "speak in their own voice" by selecting among the following sample features/functionality:

Branding and Promotion: "My Hotel" section of the app can be fully modified with brand logos and property-specific images and promotional copy.

mCompendium: A real-time hotel and area overview can be produced and maintained digitally; eventually replacing the costly and unwieldy in-room compendium.

Folio Review and Mobile Check-Out: A simple and automated feature providing guests the ability to check-out remotely through the property management system.

In-Room Dining: From breakfast cards to full room service menu options, research has shown that guests prefer to use interactive systems to place orders(2).

Hotels manage the updating and publishing simply and easily using the LodgeNet PowerPortal™, a cloud-based content management tool.  Furthermore, for hotels using LodgeNet's new Envision™ interactive television system, this provides for full 4-screen control, publishing to both the iTV system and the mobile devices all at the same time.  A dedicated staff is in place to work with hotels on development and maintenance. This combined with sophisticated management and reporting tools will enable the hotels to continually improve and customize the guest offerings and communiques.

"Our Mobile App has the power to connect the traveler with the hotel brand by establishing more touch points, and supporting more promotions and payment options. At the same time, we are creating new revenue and loyalty opportunities for hotels," said White.

To download the free LodgeNet Mobile App, go to the Apple® App Store or the Android™ Market.

For more information about the LodgeNet Mobile Platform and Application, please contact Ann Parker, Director of Corporate Communications at LodgeNet Interactive at (605) 988-1000, or for Trade Press inquiries, Vanessa Horwell, Media Relations Liaison at (305) 749-5342 x 232 or [email protected].

(1) Source: November 2011 research by PhoCusWright Inc.

(2) Source: Cornell University Study

About LodgeNet

LodgeNet Interactive Corporation is the leading provider of interactive media and connectivity services to hospitality and healthcare businesses and the consumers they serve. Recently named by Advertising Age as one of the Leading 100 US Media Companies, LodgeNet Interactive serves approximately 1.7 million hotel rooms worldwide in addition to healthcare facilities throughout the United States. The Company's services include: Interactive Television, Broadband, Mobile and Advertising Media Solutions along with nationwide technical and professional support services. LodgeNet Interactive Corporation owns and operates businesses under the industry leading brands: LodgeNet, The Hotel Networks and LodgeNet Healthcare. LodgeNet Interactive is listed on NASDAQ and trades under the symbol LNET. For more information, please visit www.lodgenet.com . 

LodgeNet and the LodgeNet logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of LodgeNet Interactive Corporation. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.  

SOURCE LodgeNet Interactive Corporation