WCTC Sales & Services Update
WCTC and ARES Team Up to Offer New Service
 The Washington, DC Convention & Tourism Corporation (WCTC) has partnered with Advanced Reservation Systems (ARES) to offer a complimentary new service to assist meeting planners in finding - and tracking - accommodations for their delegates. After the hotel cut-off dates have passed or room blocks are sold out, ARES can create a custom web link and provide a toll-free number so that late registrants can take advantage of the canceled reservations that have been released back into the hotel's general inventory. ARES can also assist these last-minute attendees in finding accommodations in other areas of the city and suburbs if the designated hotels are fully booked. Meeting and event planners who opt to use this free service will receive a comprehensive report of reservation information including room pickup by hotel to assist with tracking and future planning.
The new service has earned rave reviews from planners who have incorporated it into their registration toolkits, such as the American Library Association's Deidre Ross, who used the system for ALA's record-breaking Annual Conference in June 2008. "ARES provided an excellent alternative to our housing company after cutoff. All of the attendees who needed a room got one. We also really liked the excellent reporting they provided and the fact that we got credit for the rooms in our overall pick-up."
The service is available to any housing company or third-party meeting planner, regardless of the group size and the number of properties offered to the attendees. Ask your convention services manager for more information, or contact Dianna Waldroup at (202) 789-7036 or email [email protected] for details.
DC Sales Team Welcomes New Member
The WCTC welcomed a new convention sales manager, Sharmane Fernandez to its team last week. Sharmane handles SMERF (Social, Military, Educational, Religious and Fraternal) meetings and conventions with 500 on peak room nights or fewer, as well as government accounts with 2,500 peak room nights or fewer. She has worked as a group sales manager for hotels including the Hyatt Regency Tampa, Embassy Suites Tampa Convention Center and the Doubletree Tampa Airport Westshore Hotel and won several accolades and certifications. She can be reached at (202) 789-7021 or [email protected].
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