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In 2009, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is scheduled to open what has been called Lancaster Duo. The Lancaster Duo is a $170 million hotel & convention complex that features the Lancaster County Convention Center and Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square, and will enhance the meetings appeal of this destination, which is the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country. In anticipation of demand for lodging sure to accompany the meetings, conventions and trade show, the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention & Visitors Bureau has assumed operations of the Lancaster County Reservation Center and selected the Passkey booking system to handle its online group and meeting housing requests.

The Pennsylvania Dutch country is a part of Pennsylvania rich in history (including the nation’s oldest Amish community) and culture. Lancaster also has a thriving arts and dining scene and attracts an estimated 8 million visitors each year, a number sure to increase by April 2009, when the Duo opens, adding 300 hotel rooms and 220,000 total square feet of  convention, meeting and event space. 

“With the Reservation Center coming in-house in January and our new integrated Convention Center – Marriott facility opening this spring, we wanted to ensure we were offering the latest housing reservation technology to meeting and convention planners,” said Chris Barrett, President & CEO of the PA Dutch CVB. “Passkey fits the bill perfectly and sends the message that we’re serious about competing and growing in the meeting and convention market.”   

The Passkey system provides valuable benefits to all involved in the group housing process. Planners holding their events in Lancaster County will be able to: Offer attendees the convenience of booking their hotel rooms online in the contracted block; Monitor and track pick-up with instant inventory alerts; Connect event registration directly to hotel reservations; Communicate with event attendees via pre-arrival emails; Access real-time reports 24/7; and Evaluate the success of their event using an easy-to-read Planner Dashboard.

Host hotels in the Lancaster will receive from Passkey: Automated room lists; Significant incremental revenue boosts by offering extended stays, room upgrades, and hotel amenities to group guests; and Advanced reporting, which saves time spent fielding planner requests. The Boston-based Passkey, a worldwide leader in online group reservations, offers meeting & event planners and venues web-based solutions for managing group hotel reservations.  

"We see a trend of planners moving away from traditional group cities as host locations for their events,” said  Greg Pesik, President & CEO of Passkey.  “Bureaus in secondary-size markets like Lancaster County recognize the value Passkey provides in seizing these opportunities and offering an affordable yet attractive group experience.  Our proven user-friendly technology will allow the PA Dutch CVB to deliver a convenient and consistent booking experience, which in turn will drive even more new group business to Lancaster.”