Breaking news! ND Press implemented brand-wide with Starwood’s The Luxury Collection.

Hi everyone — we have some exciting news for your today!

NewspaperDirect and Starwood’s iconic group of hotels, The Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts, have joined forces to provide the ND Press print on demand newspaper service at The Luxury Collection’s 60+ properties, worldwide.

Originally piloted at eight of the brand’s properties worldwide starting in August 2007, the ND Press service quickly received positive reviews from the properties and their guests alike. From that point, The Luxury Collection quickly agreed that our ND Press product went very much hand-in-hand with their industry-leading guest satisfaction initiatives, and began the process for implementing the print on demand service brand-wide. Today, NewspaperDirect is officially recognized as a partner of The Luxury Collection, and our ND Press service is proactively being offered to their valued guests as soon as they check in.  

By implementing the ND Press service at each of its properties, The Luxury Collection is now able to assure their guests that they will always receive their favorite daily newspapers throughout their stay – and has ultimately raised the benchmark for superior customer service at luxury hotels. We are confident that many other leading hotel groups will quickly follow suit to also set the precedence at their own properties by implementing the ND Press and Hotel PressDisplay services for their guests.  

Providing more than just the local news is quickly becoming a vital part to the guest’s experience. Today with thousands of hotels worldwide already offering our ND Press and Hotel PressDisplay services, guests are now coming to expect their hometown newspapers each time they check-in and stay connected to the daily news around the world. 

The official announcement was made yesterday by Starwood – to view the press release, please click here.

Cheers!
Sandeep

Reaching new heights — attending Schedulers & Dispatchers conference, Jan 29 – Feb 1

Hi all, 

Welcome back and Happy New Year!

As many of you are already aware, we have been working hard to expand our ND Press product into various markets that have a high demand for luxury amenities. In addition to the hospitality industry, we have also dipped out feet into the private aviation sector, and have managed to pull together a strong list of key supporters.

Providing our services to the private aviation sector has been particularly beneficial – using the ND Press service, many of the industry’s leading FBO’s (Fixed Base Operators — the sites at airports that cater to private jets) and in-flight catering companies have been able to print daily newspapers of choice for their most elite travellers. Here are some examples of our customers:

• Jet Aviation
• TAG Aviation
• Assistair 
• Signature Flight Support
• Rudy’s In-Flight Catering

For the first time ever, NewspaperDirect will be exhibiting at the Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference, which is organized each year by the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA). This event is particularly important for us because many of our current and potential customers — including FBO’s and in-flight catering companies – will also be attending the show.

Held at the Savannah International Trade & Convention Center in Georgia from January 29 to February 1, NewspaperDirect will be exhibiting in Booth # 512 at this year’s event.  This show will be a very exciting experience for us because it will allow us to demonstrate some of the key benefits of the ND Press service within the aviation industry – and with our online ND Press registration portal, we will be able to set up free trials and paid subscriptions “on-the-fly” (no pun intended) for our customers so that they can start providing daily prominent newspapers to their valuable travellers.

If you are an FBO or in-flight catering company, or would like more information about how our service can benefit you and your valued clients, please contact NewspaperDirect’s Account Manager for the aviation sector, Michael Dunn, at michaeld@newspaperdirect.com.

Have a great day and we hope to see you in Savannah!

Cheers,
Sandeep

Newspapers for the land Down Under

Sofitel Brisbane

Hi everyone and welcome back.

We are very happy to announce that more that 15 hotels from the South-Pacific have implemented the ND Press service at their respective properties. When we first began approaching some of the 5-star properties in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and French Polynesia, many of them provided us with the same feedback:

“Travel and tourism in this corner of the world is booming, and hoteliers are looking for new, competitive and cost-effective ways to provide their valued guests with the right selection of current-edition newspapers.”

So we did a little bit of research, and sure enough, we found ourselves surrounded by a thriving collection of luxury hotels that were very excited about providing a more comprehensive newspaper solution to their guests.

Here is a list of all of the hotels in the South-Pacific that now offer our service:

Australia
•  Sofitel Gold Coast
•  Sofitel Brisbane
•  Sofitel Melbourne
•  Langham Hotel Melbourne
•  Crown Towers Melbourne
•  Hilton Sydney
•  The Westin Sydney
•  Park Hyatt Sydney
•  Four Seasons Sydney
•  Sheraton on the Park Sydney
•  Sheraton Noosa Resort and Spa

New Zealand
•  Sofitel Queenstown
•  Langham Hotel Auckland
•  InterContinental Wellington

Fiji
•  Sofitel Fiji

French Polynesia
•  Hotel Bora Bora
•  St. Regis Resort Bora Bora

You’ve probably noticed that there are a lot of Sofitel properties on the list above—as always, there’s a great story behind it! A few months ago, we received a phone call from one of the Sofitel properties who was interested in learning more about printing newspapers on-site. They mentioned that a senior member of their chain had seen our newspaper service at a sister property in Singapore, and absolutely loved how it was presented to their guests.

And since one thing always leads to another, we soon began working closely with each of the Sofitel properties to help them successfully implement the ND Press service onsite.

Rest assured, there will be a few more hotels from Down Under still to come on-board.

Cheers!

Q1 sales: 33 new hotels

Hi everyone! 

Well, the results are in – and I am happy to announce that NewspaperDirect has had an exceptional first quarter in ND Press and ND PrintStation sales. During the months of April, May and June, we signed a total of 33 luxury hotels and resorts from around the world.  

And… here comes the best part… since many of these hotels liked the idea of using a web-based service, they opted for ND Press and were very happy to register online via our ND Press Registration Portal.  

So who are our newest ND Press and ND PrintStation subscribers? Here is a list of just a few of them… 

• Kempinski Hotel Zografski Sofia, Bulgaria
• Ramada Plaza Doha, Qatar
•  Crowne Plaza Helsinki, Finland
• Shangri-La Hotel Chunchun, China 
•  The Yellowstone Club, USA
• Turtle Bay Resort, USA 

The first quarter was very important for us because it allowed us to carefully review the functions of the new registration portal – our goal was to make it as easy and effective to use as possible for our subscribers. The feedback we received from some of you has definitely kept our developers busy with their efforts in making the recommended changes to the portal!  

With that said, on behalf of NewspaperDirect and the sales department, I would like to extend a very warm “thank you” to all of our subscribers that had the chance to use the registration portal and provide us with their suggestions. Your ongoing support has allowed us to continue expanding our services throughout the global hospitality industry.  

Of course, we expect that the final results for Q2 will be even better. J  

Happy reading, 

Sandeep

Say Cheese!

Now, how many of you can say that you have an autographed picture of President George Bush?

A few days ago, my colleague Johanie received a package of high-importance from The White House. Grinning from ear-to-ear, she ripped open the bubble wrap and found the picture and a short note thanking her for all of her support during the President’s June visit to Sofia, Bulgaria.

Working with the US Embassy in Bulgaria, NewspaperDirect was able to provide the President and his delegation with daily newspapers from the United States. Johanie’s support made it possible for the Embassy to print titles such as USA Today and The Washington Post, and deliver them every morning in time for breakfast.

In addition to President Bush, NewspaperDirect has also provided its services to dignitaries all around the world including the Prime Minister of Canada and the Queen of England.

Needless to say, we were very quick to celebrate our warm compliments from the White House. Don’t you just love surprises??

Cheers,

Sandeep