Newmarket International Inc., a group sales, catering, and events software provider, and Software Management Inc., a Pittsburgh-based software provider for destination marketing organizations, have entered into a strategic partnership to enable CVBs to better participate in time-sensitive online booking. The new system, which integrates Newmarket's MeetingBroker web-based lead management solution with SMI's Destination 3000 (D3000) sales and customer relationship management tools, helps CVBs and member hotels respond more quickly to meeting planners who use online RFPs."Meeting planners have a strong desire to source and book online," said Marty Denning, Newmarket's business development director. "We have created a central RFP system to improve response time. Planners can expect to receive responses within hours, not days."The new platform channel connects CVBs using D3000 with suppliers using MeetingBroker by automating the distribution of all group leads from the CVB directly to the hotels. MeetingBroker is already used in some 3,000 hotels in the United States. CVBs can also see which hotels have viewed RFPs, and tight controls require hotels to report whether they are accepting or rejecting proposals, decreasing turnaround times for planners.In February, the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau became the first CVB to go live with the system, connecting with MeetingBroker-enabled members."All bureaus struggle with response time from hotels, and this helps with that," said Mark Tunney, managing director of sales for the Chicago CTB. "It benefits our members and helps us with follow-up."According to Denning, 75 CVBs will be enabled by the end of 2008.Originally published March 24, 2008