Hospitality and Group Travel

Group Hotel Index (GHI)

Group Hotel Directory and Direct Bidding Platform

Group Hotel Index is an enterprise-scale hospitality directory platform developed to connect group travel planners directly with hotels across the United States.

🇺🇸 USAMarket

2 MonthsTimeline

3 DevelopersTeam

Hospitality and Group TravelIndustry

Project Overview

Group Hotel Index is an enterprise-scale hospitality directory platform developed to connect group travel planners directly with hotels across the United States.

Planners can search for hotels by city, ZIP code, or location radius. They can select suitable properties and send their stay dates, room requirements, and event details to those hotels. Hotel teams can then review the request and respond through the platform.

The system also serves as a nationwide hotel directory, giving users access to property details, amenities, images, contact information, and nearby options.

A central content management system helps administrators manage hotel listings, users, images, imports, SEO details, and platform activity. The system is designed to handle large amounts of hotel data while keeping search and navigation fast.

What We Built

We built a complete hotel discovery and group enquiry system for travel planners, hotel teams, and administrators. The project included a public hotel directory, a hotel response portal, and a central management system for handling property data, users, imports, and platform activity. We also developed the frontend, backend, database structure, search setup, background processing, email workflows, security controls, and deployment environment required to run the system efficiently.

Client Background

Luke Thompson works in the hospitality and group travel industry. He wanted to create a platform where travel planners could find hotels across the United States and send their stay requirements directly to selected properties. The system also needed to help hotel teams receive direct enquiries, respond to planners, and improve their online visibility.

Project Scope

The project covered the complete process of turning the client’s requirements into a working platform. This included:

Requirement analysis
Planner, hotel, and administrator workflow planning
Information architecture
UI/UX design
Responsive frontend development
Backend and API development
Database planning and setup
Hotel directory and search development
Group enquiry and hotel response workflows
User authentication and access management
Admin CMS development
Hotel data import and management
Third-party service integration
SEO and analytics setup
Performance and security implementation
Testing and production deployment

Target Audience

Group Hotel Index is mainly built for:

Group travel planners
Corporate travel coordinators
Meeting and event planners
Wedding planners
Sports travel organisers
Tour operators
Travel agents
Hotel sales managers
Hotel groups and independent properties

Objectives

The main objectives were to:

01Create a nationwide platform for finding group-friendly hotels
02Help planners search by city, ZIP code, and location radius
03Allow planners to contact selected hotels directly
04Reduce dependence on booking commissions
05Help hotels receive relevant group enquiries
06Manage large amounts of hotel data efficiently
07Keep search and filtering fast
08Improve hotel visibility in search engines
09Simplify hotel and content management
10Automate data updates and email communication
11Support high traffic and future growth

Business Challenge

At the beginning of the project, we found that finding hotels for group travel was not a simple process.

01Planners needed to find hotels based on destination, stay dates, room count, event type, amenities, and distance. They often had to search across different websites, contact hotels one by one, and repeat the same requirements several times.
02Hotel responses usually came through separate emails or calls, which made comparison and follow-up difficult. Planners also had to depend on third-party booking platforms and commission-based services.
03Managing hotel data was another major challenge. Thousands of property records had to remain accurate, organised, searchable, and easy to update.
04The main challenge was to bring hotel discovery, group enquiries, direct hotel responses, and large-scale data management into one organised system.

Our Solution

We developed one system that made group hotel search easier to manage.

Planners can search by city, ZIP code, dates, room needs, event type, amenities, and distance. They can compare suitable hotels without visiting different websites.
Planners can select several hotels and send the same booking details through one form. Hotels receive the enquiry and reply through the system, making responses easier to compare and manage.
A central admin system helps manage thousands of hotel records. It keeps the information organised, searchable, accurate, and easy to update.
The final platform brings hotel discovery, group enquiries, hotel responses, and large-scale data management in one place.

Key Features

The platform includes the following features:

03Hotel Directory

Hotel Directory

Browse hotels across the United States
View property details, images, amenities, and contact information
Explore hotels by state, city, and destination

Development Process

We first discussed the client’s goals and the main problems the platform needed to solve. We reviewed how planners search for hotels, send group booking details, and compare hotel replies. The requirements for data management, SEO, speed, and future growth were also defined at this stage.

Technical Challenges

Managing large hotel datasets

PostgreSQL relationships, indexing, pagination, and batch processing were used to keep hotel records organised and manageable.

Delivering fast search results

Search fields were indexed, repeated queries were cached in Redis, and unnecessary database requests were reduced.

Processing bulk hotel imports

BullMQ processed large files in smaller batches, while validation and duplicate checks helped maintain data quality.

Keeping hotel information accurate

Data formatting, required-field checks, address matching, and normalisation rules were applied before saving records.

Generating and updating directory pages

SSR, SSG, and ISR were used based on page type, traffic, and how often the content changed.

Managing emails and background jobs

AWS SES and BullMQ handled notifications, scheduled work, retries, job tracking, and failed tasks.

Supporting high traffic

Database indexing, caching, image optimisation, route caching, and server-rendered pages helped reduce system load.

Protecting admin operations

Authentication, role-based permissions, protected APIs, input validation, and activity logs controlled access.

Maintaining SEO across many pages

Dynamic metadata, canonical URLs, structured data, and sitemaps were generated from verified hotel information.

Technology Stack

Frontend

Next.js

Frontend

TypeScript

Rendering

SSR

Rendering

SSG

Rendering

ISR

Backend

NestJS

Database

PostgreSQL

Caching

Redis

Background Jobs

BullMQ

Serverless Processing

AWS Lambda

Email Service

AWS SES

Architecture

Modular Monolithic Architecture

API Communication

REST APIs

Version Control

Git and GitHub

Deployment

AWS-based production environment

Design Decisions

The design focused on helping users find suitable hotels and send enquiries without unnecessary steps. Important decisions included:

Search-first homepage for city and ZIP code searches
Hotel cards showing essential property information
Simple filters for desktop and mobile users
Clear and easy-to-read hotel profile pages
Visible group enquiry and contact actions
Separate workflows for planners and hotel teams
Location-based navigation supported by breadcrumbs
Simple admin tables with search and filter options
Clear loading, empty, success, and error states
Consistent buttons, forms, and page layouts

SEO Work

SEO was important because the platform includes thousands of hotel, city, state, and destination pages. The work included: Private dashboards, user accounts, enquiry records, and admin pages were kept out of search engine results.

SEO-friendly hotel and location URLs
Dynamic page titles and meta descriptions
Hotel, local business, and breadcrumb structured data
Canonical URLs and duplicate-page controls
Dynamic XML sitemaps
Robots.txt configuration
Open Graph metadata
Clear heading structure
Internal links between hotels and location pages
Related and nearby hotel links
Search-friendly hotel descriptions
Image alt text
Pagination and redirect handling
Indexing controls for private pages

Performance Optimization

To keep the platform fast and responsive, we focused on:

Server-rendered search pages
Static and incremental page generation
Redis and route caching
PostgreSQL indexing
Pagination for large hotel lists
Background processing for heavy tasks
Image optimisation and lazy loading
Reduced client-side JavaScript
Faster API responses
Loading states and retry handling
Performance monitoring

Security

The platform manages user accounts, hotel records, enquiries, and private business information. Because of this, security is an important part of the development process. Security measures included:

Secure login with password hashing
Protected sessions, dashboards, and backend routes
Controlled access based on user roles
Input validation and request sanitisation
XSS and CSRF protection
Secure file uploads
API rate limiting
Protected environment variables and database access
Restricted admin actions
Audit logs and safe error handling
Secure AWS and email service access
HTTPS communication
Private-page indexing restrictions

Architecture Diagram

Platform Transformation: Before vs After

01
Planners searched across different hotel websites
Hotels can be explored through one platform
02
The same booking details were shared repeatedly
One enquiry can be sent to selected hotels
03
Hotel replies came through separate channels
Responses can be managed in one place
04
Hotel information was difficult to compare
Property profiles follow a clear format
05
Search options were limited
Users can search by city, ZIP code, radius, and filters
06
Hotels depended heavily on third-party platforms
Direct enquiries connect planners with selected hotels
07
Hotel data required more manual work
Bulk imports and updates simplify data management
08
Duplicate records were difficult to manage
Validation checks help keep hotel data accurate
09
Large updates could slow the system
Background jobs handle heavy tasks separately
10
Administrators used separate records and tools
The CMS keeps hotel data and activity organised

Results

For Travel Planners

01Planners can find suitable hotels, compare property details, and manage group booking options more easily. They do not need to repeat the same search or follow up again and again.

For the Client

01The client received a scalable platform that supports hotel discovery, direct group enquiries, organised data management, and future business growth.

Business Impact

Group Hotel Index made the group hotel booking process easier for both planners and hotel teams. Planners can reach suitable hotels directly, while hotels get more relevant booking enquiries and better chances to convert them into business. The platform also improves hotel visibility through organised directory pages and search-friendly content. For the client, it reduces manual work, improves enquiry management, and creates more opportunities for hotel partnerships and future growth.

Business Impact

50,000+ hotelsTotal Hotel Listings

Business Impact

Around 45,000 usersMonthly Visitors

Business Impact

120,000+ searches per monthHotel Searches

Business Impact

Around 3,500 enquiries per monthGroup Enquiries

Business Impact

Nearly 68%Hotel Response Rate

Business Impact

Around 24%Quote Conversion Rate

Business Impact

Nearly 58% of total trafficOrganic Traffic

Business Impact

Around 1.3 secondsPage-Load Time

Business Impact

Around 99.5%Platform Uptime

Visual Identity

GGroup Hotel Index (GHI)

Poppins

Group Hotel Index (GHI)

Color

0B1F3A
01Dark Navy11 31 58
2563EB
02Royal Blue37 99 235
3B82F6
03Bright Blue59 130 246
EAF2FF
04Light Blue234 242 255
FFFFFF
05White255 255 255
F8FAFC
06Off White248 250 252
1F2937
07Dark Text31 41 55
6B7280
08Secondary Text107 114 128
E5E7EB
09Light Border229 231 235
FBBF24
10Yellow Accent251 191 36

Type

01 · Primary4 weights
Poppins
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789
- Regular
- Medium
- Semibold
- Bold

Client Testimonial

Before Group Hotel Index, managing hotel details and group enquiries took a lot of time. Now everything is available in one place, which has made the process much easier for us. Planners can find hotels and send their requirements quickly, while our team can keep hotel details updated without extra manual work. The TISA team did a great job and built a platform as we wanted.

Luke Thompson

Future Scalability

The platform can support future additions such as:

01
International hotel listings
02
Multi-language support
03
Hotel self-registration and profile verification
04
Real-time availability and direct bookings
05
Online payments
06
Planner and hotel messaging
07
Saved hotels and recommendations
08
Team and hotel group accounts
09
CRM and property management integrations
10
Advanced reporting
11
Premium hotel plans
12
Automated data-quality checks

Lessons Learned

From this project, we learned that:

01
Large hotel directories need a clear data structure
02
Fast search depends on proper database planning
03
Bulk imports need strong validation and duplicate checks
04
Heavy data tasks should run in the background
05
SEO should be planned with the page and database structure
06
Performance testing should use realistic data volumes
07
Public and private pages need separate indexing rules

Conclusion

Group Hotel Index is a hospitality platform created to support group hotel searches and enquiries across the United States. It connects travel planners, hotel teams, and administrators through one organised system. The platform was built to manage a large hotel directory, handle regular data updates, and support different user workflows. Its structure also gives the client a reliable base for adding more hotels, locations, and services in the future.