RateTiger recently attended the Pricing and Distribution Day part of the German HSMA, 4th May 2009. As the name suggests, the event focused on the various strategies related to hotel pricing and distribution in today’s scenario.
Though positioned as a B2B event, it turned out to be more of a knowledge-sharing session. Hoteliers unaware of technological advancements got to know about techniques and tools of managing rates and distribution online.
The mainstay of the day was the continuing crisis and hoteliers’ were keen to find out how to keep their room rates from falling further. In the midst of a fully-fledged price–war, it has become important to keep prices above a minimum level in order to survive.
Revenue Managers from hotels across Germany attended as keynote speakers in different workshops. Around 180 hotels were represented in the gathering, which made it a good forum for hotel technology providers to interact with the specific German hotel market.
We spoke to Ulf Guldi, RateTiger Sales Manager for Germany, on his experience of the event. He says, “It’s good to be there to meet concerned hoteliers and discuss distribution strategies and tools. These focused platforms provide the opportunity to have a direct discussion with the decision maker and show them relevant products. It is a good way of responding to direct concerns and presenting hoteliers with the USP and benefits of your products by matching it to their needs.”