During AAHOACON in April, we announced that Folio was selected as the official technology partner of the AAHOA Marketplace. Since then, we’ve spent months working side by side with AAHOA and Avendra building a new purchasing experience around the needs of AAHOA members, from how they find savings to how they buy for their hotels.

Today, I’m proud to share that the New AAHOA Marketplace, powered by Folio and Avendra has officially launched. And the best part is - it’s completely free for AAHOA members!

One piece of the puzzle I’m particularly excited about is the ability for AAHOA members to get started fast. Internally, we like to call it “speedy store setup” and the implications for owner operators are huge.

Anyone in the hospitality industry knows that getting up and running with a new procurement or billing system is quite the headache. I’ve talked to countless hotel owners who have avoided any upgrades (even if they know they’re important for the business) because the change management feels so daunting. Often these systems, Folio’s enterprise product included, are built to handle the complexity of massive hotel operations. But for operators managing one or a few properties, the onboarding lift can be overkill - and the feature set? Just too much for what they need.

Now, any AAHOA member can create an account on Folio (no onboarding call required) and automatically see a store pre-configured with Avendra-negotiated deals and standard spend categories (helpful with benchmarking!). It takes just a few minutes to get going. That means on day one you can place an order on Folio, knowing that you’re taking advantage of all the benefits AAHOA has to offer.

Want a walk through of Folio or to learn some best practices? Folio and the Avendra team are still available to help AAHOA members get up and running.

For our enterprise partners, with more complex use cases, we'll continue our white glove implementation service. If you manage a portfolio, reach out and we’ll walk you through Folio's scaled approach.

If you’re an AAHOA member, head to aahoamarketplace.com, enter your work email, and see how Folio and the New AAHOA Marketplace can make your life easier and your guest experience better. 

Let’s do this!