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November 26, 2021

Industry round-up on Hotel Distribution and Technology News – W4, November 2021

Great news folks! Initial demand building up for Business Travel. Business-Related Hotel Bookings Up More Than 4,000% Since September 2021.

With a multitude of events happening in the middle east, travel continues to boom in the region and hotels need to ensure they have the right channels in their distribution mix. RateTiger continues to expand its partner mix and our recent additions include Rehlat and Clock PMS.

Confidence in travel is returning for 2022 despite parts of mainland Europe currently suffering from a Covid winter wave. More than half (57%) of British adults plans an overseas holiday in the next 12 months. Next interesting news on how the US Hotel Recovery Appears Different Than Past Cycles, U.S. hotel occupancy reached 62.9% in October, which is down 8.8% from October 2019.

Expedia recently shared the key takeaways of Q3 traveler behavior in our latest Travel Recovery Trend Report, as well as the top trends for North American (NORAM) and Asia Pacific (APAC) travelers.

And finally a big interview by New Hotelbeds chief focuses on facilitating the travel recovery.

Enjoy the read!

Mobile Check-in Apps for Hotels Top 5 Benefits

Business travel on the road to recovery

According to data analytics firm Adara, hotel bookings in the U.S. for business purposes are skyrocketing among travelers from Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2021/11/22/business-air-travel-on-the-road-to-recovery-new-data-reveals/

RateTiger expands the eRevMax Partner Ecosystem with Rehlat and Clock PMS

With the travel industry moving towards a steady recovery, the initial demand build-up is coming from domestic tourism. Are you connected to the right channels and keeping them automatically updated with rates and availability on a regular basis? Choose from our wide network of partners and expand your hotel’s online visibility. Our featured partners for this week are Rehlat & Clock PMS+ – PMS – connect to them today – https://erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2021/11/ratetiger-expands-the-erevmax-partner-ecosystem-with-rehlat-and-clock-pms/

How the US hotel recovery appears different than past cycles

The recovery of U.S. hotel industry average daily rate is keeping pace with the recovery of demand, which has not been the case after past downturns.

https://www.costar.com/article/920424231/how-the-us-hotel-recovery-appears-different-than-past-cycles

UK: Foreign travel confidence returning for 2022

More than half of British adults plans an overseas holiday in the next 12 months – a 46% rise on this time last year.

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/air/foreign-travel-confidence-returning-for-2022-new-data-reveals

Expedia: Key trends for Latin American travelers in Q3

The eagerness to travel far indicates that the confidence of Latin American travel shoppers climbed with the continued easing of border restrictions.

https://advertising.expedia.com/blog/travel-trends/3-key-trends-latin-america-q3/

Hotelbeds focuses on facilitating the travel recovery

The company wants to be the natural supply partner of choice for emerging disruptive models exploiting technologies like AI.

https://travolution.com/news/in-depth/guest-post/big-interview-new-hotelbeds-chief-focuses-on-facilitating-the-travel-recovery

Reach out to RateTiger for your hotel channel manager, rate shopper, booking engine, website development or revenue management consultancy requirements. We are happy to have a discussion to see how we can help you achieve your property’s occupancy and revenue goals – contact us today

November 19, 2021

RateTiger expands the eRevMax Partner Ecosystem with Rehlat and Clock PMS

With a multitude of events happening in the middle east, travel continues to boom in the region and hotels need to ensure they have the right channels in their distribution mix. Are you optimizing your hotel’s visibility across multiple touch points? Are you making sure guests can find your hotel when they have the booking intent?

Now is the perfect time to look at your tech stack and distribution strategy, and how you can improve it for this year and next. Leverage our connectivity to expand your visibility in key source markets. RateTiger continues to expand its partner mix and our recent additions include Rehlat and Clock PMS that are featured in this post.

If you are looking to connect to any specific tech partner or a channel, do explore the RateTiger Partner List of 450+ distribution and tech providers.

How Much Google Ads Cost for Hotel Owners

Rehlat

One of the leading travel agencies in Middle East, Rehlat is the newest addition to the eRevMax Channel Ecosystem. Offering seamless travel planning and competitive hotel rates, Rehlat enlists more that 1 million hotels and has been trusted by over 500,000 travellers for bookings. It brings a carefully curated list of destinations for travellers to have a “travelastic” time with a localized payment system, offering the best possible vacation. Enlist with this channel if you are looking to expand in the Middle East market.

Clock PMS

Clock Software offers a complete and integrated suite of cloud-based hotel management software, distribution systems and guest engagement apps, with Clock PMS+ at the forefront. Clock PMS+ is an all-round cloud hotel platform focusing on property management, real-time distribution, and 2-way guest engagement. Fully configurable and PCI compliant, Clock PMS+ supports hotels or groups of any size. If you are looking to change your current PMS, get in touch with us today.

Are you looking to manage any new channel from your RateTiger platform? CONTACT US – https://www.erevmax.com/erevmax-contact.html

November 11, 2021

Target the fastest-growing segment of bookers with Mobile Rates on Booking.com

As per Booking.com data, 75% of bookings are made on a mobile device. By activating a mobile rate for your property, you can tap into this valuable and expanding traveller segment.

Mobile Rates can also help hotels to target millennials, who make up over 65% of bookings on mobile channels. Mobile is by far the most important channel for bookings, and it’s also associated with important booking behavior.

Repeat bookings happen more often on the app
First-time bookings happen seven times more often on a mobile browser

The use of mobile in emerging markets has changed how travel is searched and booked and by managing mobile rates, you too can improve reservations coming from mobile bookers.

Did You Know?

80% of travellers use a mobile app when researching a trip*
Mobile rates give partners 28% more bookings from mobile traffic*
2-in-3 mobile bookings are made by millennials or younger customers. Everyone might search from mobile but millennials book.

If you’d like to learn more about Mobile Rates on Booking.com, refer to this detailed article.

You can easily set up and manage Mobile Rate for Booking.com via RateTiger.

Subscribe to RateTiger today and start using this feature. Reach out to us for your connectivity needs to make the most of your online revenue- https://www.erevmax.com/erevmax-contact.html

October 27, 2021

Attract more families to your property by setting up Child Rates Policies on Booking.com

Families are a large and lucrative guest segment in hospitality industry. On average, they stay longer and are more likely to book than other segments, such as solo travellers and couples. As hoteliers, you need to cater to the ever-changing guest expectation to drive demand to your property. According to Booking.com data, families stay an average of 28% longer and book at 27% higher rate than couples and solo travellers. When searching for accommodation on Booking.com, travellers prefer to see room details that specify the number and ages of children that can be accommodated.

You can create and manage Child Rates for your property for Booking.com directly from your RateTiger platform. Setting up child rates lets families see all the important details and prices for a particular room or unit on your property page. You can set the maximum number of children and adults that can stay in each room.

Search data on Booking.com also shows that families are returning to travel faster than other traveller segments

Increase family bookings by up to 15% – Stand out in search results by creating attractive offers aimed directly at this large group. Setting competitive child rates can lead to an increase in family bookings by up to 15% on average.
Flexibility and control over your prices – By creating pricing rules for children based on up to three age ranges, you have complete flexibility to define rates and attract families of all sizes.
Greater transparency for your guests – When you set up child rates, the full price for the entire family is clearly displayed throughout the booking process, making it easier for families to choose an accommodation and preventing any unexpected charges at the time of check-in.

If you do not already have a Child Rates Policy set up for Booking.com, you can easily create one – https://partner.booking.com/en-gb/help/policies-payments/policies/how-set-policies-rooms-rates-and-facilities-children

There are a host of additional solutions through which your property can benefit and attract more bookings. You can get more details from the Booking.com Recovery Toolkit.

Subscribe to RateTiger today and start using this feature. Reach out to us for your connectivity needs to make the most of your online revenue- https://www.erevmax.com/erevmax-contact.html

October 22, 2021

What’s New in Hotel Distribution and Tech Trends? W1, October 2021

In the news round-up today, we see that Expedia is looking at a boom in international leisure travel with US opening borders for vaccinated Brits. Mobile bookings continue to grow – check out some of the key benefits of using mobile apps for your property. Further we have a piece on understand guest booking journey, an upcoming webinar jointly hosted by Simplotel and RateTiger for the US market focusing on Direct Bookings, and Booking.com introducing native ads within its platform.

Enjoy the read!

Expedia on getting back to normal

For Expedia, the expected US opening up to vaccinated Brits in early November will be an important next step towards what Kern confidently predicts will be a boom for international leisure travel.

https://travolution.com/news/in-depth/big-interviews/big-interview-a-more-ambitious-less-complex-expedia-primed-for-boom-times

Mobile Check-in Apps for Hotels: Top 5 Benefits

Smart technology and contactless digital interaction have become the buzzword now. With health and safety becoming a priority for travelers, it has become essential for hotels to put guest safety and experience first for business growth and sustainability.

https://erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2021/09/mobile-check-in-apps-for-hotels-top-5-benefits/

Hotels need to effectively link first-party data across the value stack

Better understanding of how guests search – and ultimately book – their hotel stay, as well as better information on how guests utilize services and the actual amenities offered in the hotel.

https://www.costar.com/article/1820582034

UPCOMING WEBINAR: Accelerate Direct Bookings through Hotel E-commerce for US hotels

The rollout of vaccines, flexible booking policies and reduction in travel restrictions means that hotels are starting to see pent-up demand turn into bookings. With booking numbers steadily picking up across key destinations globally, domestic travel continues to aid travel recovery in USA. Join RateTiger and Simplotel for a webinar to understand how to “Accelerate Direct Bookings through Hotel E-commerce” on 28th October 2021 at 12:00pm ET.

Booking.com introduces ‘native ads’

The winner of that bid gets direct access to the second position in the results first page. The entry will have an ‘Ad’ label, different from the ‘Promoted’ one used when hotels participate in booster programs.

https://www.mirai.com/blog/booking-com-introduces-native-ads/

October 8, 2021October 11, 2021

Industry round-up on Hotel Distribution and Technology News – W1, October 2021

With hotels wanting to attract more direct bookings, a lot of them want to invest in Google Ads. But do you know how much it costs for hotel owners? While Google ads do provide immense opportunities for business owners, especially in the hospitality sector, there’s also a big room to commit mistakes and waste away the ad budget. Get some insights about this in the first article piece below.

A new STR report shows the improved profitability reported by hotel industries in Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Moscow and Paris.

Booking.com posted a recent study on US-based bookers that shows how travellers plan for and experience the first day of a trip. TripAdvisor has revealed an enhancement to its Plus subscription service enabling hotels to offer retail instead of discount rates for the first time.

And finally a piece on keyword research for hotels to drive their SEO strategy. Understanding the competition for a certain keyword will also help you make a decision on whether you have a chance to rank.

Enjoy the read!

How Much Google Ads Cost for Hotel Owners?

Did you know for every $1 a business spends on Google Ads, they get an $8 profit through Google Search and Ads? There’s a reason why so many big brands spend millions on Google paid ad campaigns.

Europe: Improved profitability, but well below pre-pandemic levels

August was the first month of the pandemic-era in which all five of these key European markets posted positive levels of GOPPAR.

https://str.com/press-release/europes-key-hotel-markets-show-improved-profitability-remain-well-below-pre-pandemic

The perfect guest arrival experience

Travel is more than just arriving at a destination. A recent Booking.com study with a selection of US-based bookers discovers how travelers plan for and experience the first day of a trip. The study included domestic and international travellers made up of couples, groups and families with children to learn about how they plan and experience a trip.

https://partner.booking.com/en-gb/click-magazine/perfect-guest-arrival-experience-key-factors-revealed

TripAdvisor on getting Plus right for both travelers and hotels

TripAdvisor Plus subscribers will be offered rewards they can access at check-in, instead of accessing instant savings at the time of booking.

https://travolution.com/news/travel-sectors/intermediaries/tripadvisor-iterates-plus-subscription-model-to-make-it-more-rewarding

Travelboom: Keyword research for hotels

SEO plays more of a role now than ever. It enables you to strengthen your online presence, drive traffic to your website, and enhance your hotel’s bookings. Ranking for the right keywords can greatly impact a hotel’s success, but choosing the right keywords to target can be tricky.

https://www.travelboommarketing.com/blog/proper-keyword-research-important-hotel/

October 5, 2021

How Much Google Ads Cost for Hotel Owners?

Did you know for every $1 a business spends on Google Ads, they get an $8 profit through Google Search and Ads?

There’s a reason why so many big brands spend millions on Google paid ad campaigns. It is one of the simplest ways to reach out to the right target audience and drive sales.

But “simple” doesn’t exactly mean easy. While Google ads do provide immense opportunities for business owners, especially in the hospitality sector, there’s also a big room to commit mistakes and waste away the ad budget.

There are countless stories of hotel owners using Google ads to attract guests and exponentially scale their business.

If you run a hotel, you can follow suit.

But it’s essential to identify the common pitfalls, have a plan for expected challenges, and have basic knowledge of how to run Google Hotel ads campaigns.

How Much Google Ads Cost for Hotel Owners

Google Hotel Ads Budget Management:

One of the biggest challenges people who run Google ads, without the necessary expertise and experience, face is improper ad budget management. This leads to financial leakages, draining the budget off the account with very little ROI.

Google ads budget management is the principal thing, aside from the how-tos, hotel owners should know before they get to the implementation part. Because, one, it defines their ROI. And second, it affects the cost of the ad.

The Cost of Google Hotel Ads:

There’s no defined number as to how much Google Hotel ads cost. That figure is dynamic, based on several factors, like the type of ads you’re running, the localized competition, the keywords you’re targeting, and more.

Google Hotel Ads showroom availability at your hotel, as well as the rates, on Google Search, Maps, and the Assistant. You pay only when someone selects your room rate. Again, this ad spend depends on where the ad has shown up and other factors.

You can also choose other basic types of Google ads: Search Network campaigns, Display Network campaigns and Video campaigns. (These ads are preferred when you want to drive traffic to your website’s landing page rather than have people engage with your brand on Google and book on an aggregator website.) The cost of these ads for hotel owners is dynamic as well, influenced by numerous factors.

So, addressing the main subject: How much does Google Hotel Ads cost? There’s no definite answer. The pricing is based on simple bidding where you set your preferred commission, ROI or bid.

Keeping Google Hotel Ads Cost Low:

Whatever you’re paying per click, it’s essential to keep an eye on that cost and figure out ways to minimize it. There are several steps involved to optimize your Google ad campaigns and ad spending, all the while improving your conversion and ROI.

The first step in Google ads spend management is thoroughly understanding how the pay-per-click model works. Fair knowledge on this will help you learn about the how’s and what’s of bidding.
The next step, and possibly the most important one, is to define your budget. Many hotel owners have ambiguous ad spending patterns. So, even when they aren’t driving the required ROI, they continue spending on the ads, hoping for conversion. Setting your budget allows you to track results, find out CPA over a defined period and take definite measures to make improvements.
In addition to these two broad steps, some of the other things you can do to effectively manage your Google hotel ads spending is connect Google Ads and Google Analytics, choose the right keywords and target locations, create multiple simultaneous campaigns that employ aggressive A/B testing (recommended for advanced users), and intensively monitor the results.

How to Get Started?

Starting with Google Hotel Ads is simple. Create your Google Hotel Center account, manage your room availability and rates, and set up the feed.

Next, connect your Hotel Center account to a Google Ads account. And then from the ads account, add a budget to your campaign and start serving the ads to your target audience.

But going back to what we mentioned earlier, just because it’s “simple” doesn’t mean it’s easy. Despite all the measures in terms of spend management, you may fall short in making a real difference in your budget due to a lack of expertise.

This is why it’s recommended you get help from experts who specialize in Google Hotel Ads; experts who have helped other hotel owners increase booking and achieve higher scalability.

In the end, running Google Hotel Ads can be a whole different experience. It’s easy to make mistakes and end up draining the budget if you don’t have the expertise. So, you have to be careful and educated throughout.

Find the Hotel booking channel manager software.

September 30, 2021October 6, 2021

Latest news for the hospitality industry – W5, September 2021

The prolonged shutdown of borders in South-East Asia could be nearing an end. After 18 months without international travel, the 10 countries of South-East Asia are scrambling to devise safe strategies to welcome vaccinated tourists by year end. Read more in the first news piece below.

A hotel booking engine allows hotels to keep room rates and inventory in sync across all channels including hotel brand website. Understand how to choose the Right Hotel Booking System for your hotel to drive more direct business – read our blog article below.

See how European Travel looks like based on a new study that gauges the sentiment, drivers and behaviors for domestic and intra-European travel in ten high-volume European source markets.

In an effort to bring business travel back and to create a platform for the hospitality industry to meet-up face to face, the revenue forum organizers are hosting an event – Leadership From Chaos – in Stockholm, London and Rimini on 12^th October. It is expected to be an unmissable day of inspirational debate and thought leadership with various industry luminaries having in-depth discussions on the future of travel. Find out more about the event below.

RateTiger partner Booking.com has introduced new promotions for hotels on all demand channels and offer different rate plans and policies to attract varied guest segments. Attracting these bookers can positively impact your revenue. To know more, read on.

Enjoy the read!

South-East Asia races to restart travel

Timing is vital. November to February is South East Asia’s peak season. Enabling tourists to return – even on a partial, heavily restricted basis – could build a recovery platform for 2022.

https://www.asiamediacentre.org.nz/news/south-east-asia-races-to-restart-travel/

3 Essential Tips to Choose the Right Hotel Booking System

As hotels pave their way to recovery, occupancy and profitability remain the priority. However, with guest behaviour and preferences going through a rapid shift, hotels need an efficient sales strategy to optimize revenue. A seamless guest experience begins with a simple & powerful hotel booking engine to drive more direct bookings.

Read this blog and know the important factors while choosing a high-conversion website & booking engine for your hotel- https://lnkd.in/gaqxqgBZ

Europeans remain upbeat about travel

Almost 70% of Europeans surveyed have plans to travel between July 2021 and January 2022, according to the latest research by the European Travel Commission.

https://etc-corporate.org/reports/monitoring-sentiment-for-domestic-and-intra-european-travel-wave-8/

Meet industry stalwarts at Leadership From Chaos – London, Stockholm and Rimini

With the reopening of travel, people are starting to meet face-to-face for business. Join us in Stockholm, London and Rimini for the Annual Hotel Revenue Event – Leadership From Chaos, taking place on Tuesday 12th October. Meet RateTiger Product Head Alin Lazar at the Stockholm event where he will be participating in panel discussions. RateTiger will be present at the London and Rimini events as well. Join us for an unmissable day of debate and thought leadership to discuss the future of travel.

Booking.com – How to attract hotel guests with different rate plans and policies?

The rollout of vaccines and reduction in travel restrictions means that hotels are starting to see pent-up demand turn into bookings. It is important that you boost your property’s visibility on all demand channels and offer different rate plans and policies to attract varied guest segments. Check out this blog to know different promotions you can create through RateTiger – https://lnkd.in/gfasSZsf

September 27, 2021September 27, 2021

Mobile Check-in Apps for Hotels: Top 5 Benefits

Even before the pandemic, self-service technology was preferred by a significant number of travelers due to convenience and safety. According to a study by Software Advice in 2015, 60% of hotel guests mentioned their preference for hotels that offer mobile check-in. Many hotel chains were implementing mobile technology to streamline check-in and check-out process.

The pandemic accelerated the technology adoption process. From QR code enabled digital menu to Contactless Entry – hotels are taking multiple measures to adhere to all health and safety guidelines.

Offering a mobile check-in option to the guests is one step closer (and a big one at that) in delivering a satisfying experience.

Mobile Check-in Apps for Hotels Top 5 Benefits

If you’re still not convinced, here are the top five benefits of mobile check-in apps for hotels:

1. Save guests’ time

Unsurprisingly, people don’t like waiting in line. They don’t want to wait. And with web and mobile check-in at airports, ride-sharing and restaurant table booking through mobile becoming the norm, they expect similar service at hotels. Whilethe traditional check-in process brings human touch,it is more time-consuming, which can be a hasslefor the staff, as well as the guests, during the peak season with a horde of guests waiting at reception to get their rooms’ keys.

The mobile check-in app resolves this easily, making hotel check-in just a matter of seconds. Guests can check in through the app when near the hotel, prompting hotel staff to keep their room ready. They can go straight to the reception, collect the key, and head to their room. No more waiting, no more inconvenience.

2. Makes time for other important tasks

Delivering mobile check-in options to the guests also brings an immediate benefit to the hotelier. It saves their time, which they can use on other things to make the guest stay comfortable. They now don’t have to stay stuck with the waiting guests for hours, struggling to get everything coordinated and streamlined. Instead, they can work on something important that boosts the business’s bottom line.

3. Achieve seamless communication

No more of guests coming up to the reception and repeating “is my room ready”. No more of them calling multiple times to inform about their arrival. A hotel check-in app ensures such communication is seamless and happens with just a few clicks on the phone. This further adds to the convenience and experience of the guests.

4. Higher customer retention

Did you know customer retention is five times cheaper than newer acquisition? As a hotel owner, one of your key priorities is to retain as many guests as possible and ensure they return to the hotel. This is exactly what happens when you provide them with a personalized and satisfying experience on the back of a mobile check-in app, as well as other facilities. With a convenient and pleasant staying experience at the hotel, they are more likely to return.

5. Great online reviews

This is one of the biggest benefits when you realize just how rewarding and impactful positive reviews can be for your hotel business. Again, coming back to their experience, since they enjoyed their stay at the hotel, the guests will leave positive reviews for you. This will subsequently bring you more guests and drive revenue.

Final Words

Technology solutions bring an opportunity for businesses to level up their game, get an edge in the market, and position themselves for exponential growth.

So, if you run a hotel, whether small or big, invest in good mobile check-in software along with other technology solutions like PMS, Channel Manager and Booking Engine. Attract guests, give them a great stay, get good reviews and experience customer loyalty – all with just a few pieces of tech solutions chosen to match your property’s requirements. Optimize your staff productivity as well as overall profits.

September 27, 2021September 27, 2021

How to attract hotel guests with different rate plans and policies?

We are glad to list out the top 3 trends that we have seen in our discussion with various hotels as well as channel partners like Booking.com, Agoda etc.

1. Flexible Booking Policies

With travelers looking to be able to adapt their travel plans depending on circumstances, flexibility in hotel booking policies is crucial.

A great way to stand out to potential guests is by offering flexible cancellation policies. Adding a new, more flexible policy or updating an existing policy to make it more accommodating can help you secure more bookings in times of low demand and high uncertainty.

You can offer flexible rates and policies for Booking.com and other key channels. The Flexible – 1 Day policy is a great way to attract guests to your property. This policy allows guests to cancel for free up to one day before their arrival date. If they cancel within one day of arrival, they’ll be charged the cost of the first night.

By offering guests with flexible booking policies, you can increase the chances of attracting more reservations as well as repeat guests.

2. Long Stay Rates

Reservation trends and data show that travellers are booking longer stays, given the many accrued vacation days. A high proportion of bookings are being made for seven days or more. Hence, it is important for hotels to set-up long-stay rate plans that are specifically designed to attract this customer segment.

OTAs like Booking.com has created the option for you to set weekly and monthly rates to help you take advantage of this significant rebuilding trend and get in front of bookers who are increasingly searching for long-term accommodations. These rate plans help you to be more visible to the increasing number of people who are searching for stays longer than 7 days.

Set-up long-stay rate plans to attract this customer segment for your property today.

3. Mobile Rates

The use of mobile has changed how travel is being searched and booked and by managing mobile rates for your property, you too can improve reservations coming from mobile bookers.

Over half of all bookings on Booking.com are made on mobile devices. 80% of travelers use a mobile app when researching a trip and 50% of accommodation searches and bookings are made on mobile. Mobile rates give hotels 28% more bookings from mobile traffic. Attracting these bookers can positively impact your revenue.

If you do not already have a Mobile Rate set up for Booking.com and other channels, you can easily create one. Activate mobile rates for your hotel to tap into this valuable and expanding traveler segment.

There are a host of additional solutions through which your property can benefit and attract more bookings. We are happy to share Booking.com rebuilding together initiative, where you will find insights and advice on attracting demand. It is packed with research from thousands of travellers, statistics from trusted partners like Google as well as trends from Booking.com search data.

Go ahead and start experimenting with these policies and rate plans to optimize online sales and revenue. Reach out to us for any advice or solutions on distribution connectivity, direct bookings, revenue management or to have a simple chat – https://goo.gl/3gKUJZ

Know more about Hotel booking channel manager software.