NEW YORK—The more than 60 million visitors who travel annually to New York City are now able to search and book hotel accommodations in the Big Apple via FindHotels.nyc—a full service, one-stop booking site featuring members of the Hotel Association of New York City (HANYC). Launched in partnership with Kognitiv, the new platform provides nearly 300 member hotels with a direct-to-consumer tool where they can advertise up-to-the-minute deals on rooms and other attractions, organized by neighborhood and by experience.
“We are breaking new ground with this initiative and there is a high level of excitement within the industry around its potential,” said Vijay Dandapani, president and CEO of the Hotel Association of New York City. “With FindHotels.nyc, Kognitiv offers New York City hoteliers a turnkey travel program for the Hotel Association that will better connect customers directly with local hotels instead of passing through third-parties who can sometimes be disreputable or advertise deals that aren’t one hundred percent accurate.”
The site’s launch comes at a time when travelers have more options than ever when booking accommodations, including online booking scams and hotel properties advertised as home sharing that are considered illegal operations under New York state law. “The FindHotels.nyc platform is the next frontier of our longstanding commitment that guests have the best possible experience when they visit a hotel in the greatest city in the world,” Dandapani continued.
Ashwin Kamlani, executive vice president of hospitality at Kognitiv, added, “We are excited to be a part of this new initiative that gives New York City hoteliers their own distribution channel that opens a wealth of opportunities to attract travelers by booking through the Hotel Association, assuring them of quality, credibility and integrity with their choice of accommodations.”
Kognitiv’s focus is on connecting hotel asset owners with consumer audiences worldwide. Within the HANYC program, Kognitiv will add power to the association’s digital advertising campaign by ensuring the HANYC logo is positioned on metasearch engines like Tripadvisor, right next to Expedia, Priceline, and others. Kognitiv runs travel programs for major consumer brands, including more than 50 unique destination markets to drive consumers to book on official tourism or hotel association websites.
