USA Triathlon has announced a new partnership with HotelPlanner, a leading online provider of group hotel bookings and individual hotel stays worldwide, as the organization’s Official Booking Partner through 2022.
“Travel is at the heart of the multisport lifestyle, and being able to easily reserve a comfortable, affordable and conveniently-located hotel is key to that experience,” said Chuck Menke, USA Triathlon Chief Marketing Officer. “HotelPlanner offers a best-in-class selection and customer service. We are proud to extend this platform through hotels.usatriathlon.org to our members, race directors and coaches as they plan travel for events throughout the year.”
Today, HotelPlanner provides its group travel technology expertise to more than 4,200,000 group event planners globally, while servicing US$7 billion in group hotel booking requests in 2017 and an estimated US$10 billion in 2018. In addition to USA Triathlon, HotelPlanner partners with renowned sports teams and leagues including the National Football League’s Washington Redskins.
“As a customer-focused organization, we look forward to enhancing the travel experience for more than 400,000 passionate multisport athletes in the United States,” said Tim Hentschel, Co-Founder and CEO of HotelPlanner. “Through our services, athletes can reduce the stress of planning their travel for race weekend and can rely on ideal accommodations once they arrive.”
HotelPlanner’s services will be available for USA Triathlon’s four owned National Championships – Age Group (sprint and Olympic-distance), Collegiate Club & High School, Duathlon, and Youth & Junior – as well as the new 2019 Legacy Triathlon. In addition, HotelPlanner will offer customized solutions for USA Triathlon certified race directors and coaches.
USA Triathlon’s partnership with HotelPlanner will also encompass organizational travel, including for USA Triathlon National Team athletes and high performance staff, USA Triathlon national office staff, and industry events such as the USA Triathlon Race Director Summit and the Art & Science of Triathlon International Coaching Symposium.
“It was a natural fit to bring together two top-performing organizations that exemplify not only impeccable service, but also performance at the highest level,” said Jeff Marks, CEO at Innovative Partnerships Group (IPG360). “Hotelplanner has a proven business model with state-of-the-art analytics to allow a National Governing Body of Olympic sport like USA Triathlon to deliver hotel reservations to its employees, partners and members with the best choices and best rates.
“I see many more national governing bodies watching this partnership closely and wanting to replicate this exciting business partnership that goes beyond your traditional sponsorship model.”
