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3 ways to gain market share from OTAs

The online travel agents are becoming more powerful day-by-day and they are eating others lunch, especially of hoteliers. The more powerful OTA means higher commission for hotels that lead to lower profit for the hotels and this has become the pain points or bottlenecks for the hoteliers. This is the high time for the hotels to take action to gain market share from the OTA’s to retain their profit percentage. In this case hoteliers are left with two choices either to increase their room rate to maintain their profit or to find out other way where they can increase direct booking maintaining a fair balance with OTAs to get maximum outcome from their revenue strategy. Since hotel business is very price sensitive the first option is little difficult to implement in this competitive market – if a hotel increases its room rate then they may not get business at all. Now the hoteliers are left with the second option and they can better think of increasing direct booking coming from their Brand.com.

In last couple of years I’ve been constantly reviewing how the hospitality industry is changing and how hoteliers are looking into more direct business. Here in this article I’d like to suggest three ways in which the hotelier can gain market share from the OTA’s.

User driven design:
Responsive Design: You should have a responsive website which should be used in mobile because now a day’s most of the people only use mobile for doing their hotel booking. 
Content Marketing: The content is powerful. The photo gallery, room details are something what a user look for and content drives new traffic from the search engine. A website with good and organised content always drives more traffic to your website that can convert your potential guest to loyal customers.
Website- Your Best Salesman
Your hotel website is your sales conversion engine. You should design your website in a manner where it will help you to increase your look-to-book ratio. The increase in look-to-book ratio means more sales and your attempt should try to convert each of the visitors as your potential customers. For doing this you need to keep few things in mind: 

    Meta Search Allows for Direct Bookings
    Meta search is considered to be one of the biggest digital marketing trends for hoteliers in current time. It is anticipated to be the fastest growing method of brand awareness and growth, and hotels should be encouraged to utilize these channels, including them as part of their distribution portfolio.
    While OTAs continue to lead the third party sales industry, they have one very big disadvantage for hoteliers – bookings are made exclusively through the merchant site, for which the brand will pay a nominal fee.
    Meta search allows for visitors to book either through OTAs or through the brand website, helping to increase direct sales. Meta search sites such as TripAdvisor have been criticized for favouring OTAs with which they have a partnership, but direct information is available, which is more than can be said for OTAs themselves.
    Turning OTA booking into direct booking
    The hotelier should always try to convert the OTA booking into the direct booking. The first step to this can be to have the guest email address and to add him to your loyal customer’s data base. One of the best ways to attract these guests can be emailing them about the special rates and plans of your hotel.  In addition to this the hotelier can reply to the comments and reviews of guests on different OTA’s. Replying to the reviews help a lot in increasing the loyalty of your brand and converting them from OTA to direct booking.
    As technology advances with enormous pace we’ll see more hoteliers will implement a clear balance of direct and OTA strategy to drive more revenue.
    Posted by Omprakash Singh, Business Analyst, eRevMax
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    Introduction of TrustYou Tile – Manage Guest Reviews from LIVE OS Platform

    As a hotelier, you know that engaging with your guests is crucial for developing loyalty and converting them into your biggest brand ambassadors. We know you want to monitor each and every conversation, and respond to it. That’s why we are pleased to present to you the world’s largest Guest Review Management platform – Trust You in LIVE OS.
    You can now access your guest reviews and ratings directly on your LIVE OS dashboard. From booking your hotel until after the guests check out, TrustYou’s products help hotels leverage guest feedback to impact the entire guest journey.
    It is the undeniable truth that guests are the King in hospitality sector and in this age of digital era they rule the industry. You’d perhaps agree that reputation has a positive correlation with the hotel’s overall Average Daily Rate and revenue – thus we’re happy to bring Trust You in LIVE OS. This will help hotels to access guest reviews and ratings collated by TrustYou, directly on the LIVE OS platform for informed decision making and take actions to improve their ratings.
    TrustYou is the world’s largest guest feedback platform that analyzes millions of travel reviews scattered online and transforms them into actionable insights and data visualizations for hotels and travel intermediaries worldwide. You can provide guests with better services and enhanced offerings by monitoring, surveying and acting on these reviews and feedback. TrustYou helps intermediaries to improve travelers’ search-shop-buy experiences by providing structured information like Meta-Reviews.
    You can also turn your opportunity into business by leveraging reputation management tool by TrustYou directly from your LIVE OS dashboard.
    Want to know more how it can help your hotels to improve guest satisfaction quotient? Contact us today!

    Posted by Omprakash Singh, Business Analyst, eRevMax

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    An actionable guide to boost sales with your hotel mobile app – Free Ebook

    Let’s focus on hotel mobile apps today. With mobile applications gaining limelight, many hotels joined the scramble to develop there own branded apps. However, as our friend Lukáš Kakalejčík, Marketing Specialist at RoomAssistant says, “Having a hotel mobile application is simply not enough. Without understanding its potential, it will be just another tool in your toolkit that would harldy be used for its purpose.”

    Don’t let your hotel be the one that sticks with some new piece of technology because it is trendy. Before implementation, learn how it can be beneficial to you and what it can bring to your door. The latest new eBook titled Your hotel in one App: An actionable guide to boost your sales and service with hotel mobile application, gives hoteliers advice on how to get the most from a mobile app in a step by step process.

    This eBook is divided into 4 parts. Get started and learn how to –

    • Prepare and configure your mobile application.
    • Influence your guests to use your mobile application.
    • Use the application for marketing, sales and customer service.
    • Serve your guests in real time.

    Meant for hotels that are in consideration stage or in early development of a hotel mobile app, this ebook will come in handy with some quick tips. As Lukáš quips, “hoteliers are curious about new technology, however, many of them cannot determine if it will be a valuable part of their communication strategy. As mobile apps are not that common yet, they cannot ask their friends from another hotel what it takes and how it works for them. With this eBook, I try to give a particular mindset to hoteliers, so they feel more confident when thinking about mobile applications.”

    If you think about having hotel mobile application and are not sure how to use its full potential, download this free eBook and be the mobile app rockstar!



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    Are you making the most of the Opportunities available?

    Opportunities are meant to be taken!

    eRevMax’s partner Booking.com brings to you the Opportunity Centre – a platform that helps hotels spot ways to get more bookings, boost profits and perfect guest’s experience.



    With the Opportunity Centre, hotels can –

     – Analyse hotel profile on Booking.com, including content, pricing & availability

     – View a list of opportunities and their potential benefits to the hotel

     – Benefit from these opportunities with just a couple of clicks

    The Opportunity Centre platform is –

     > Smart: a one-stop shop of opportunities & suggestions to boost your business

     > Relevant: personalised, data-supported tips tailored to your property profile

     > Easy to use: opportunities you can put into practice quickly

    Log in today to discover a world of opportunities!

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    Top Online Travel Trends to Watch in United Kingdom this year

    United Kingdom is the eighth popular country in the word in terms of international tourism destinations. The country has attracted 34.4 million travelers in 2015, a 5.6 percent growth compared to the last year.

    eRevMax, the leading hotel technology provider, has released an infographic showcasing online travel trends in the United Kingdom. The infographic has projected a positive outlook for UK hoteliers, who can expect to see a lot of bookings coming their way not only from international travelers but from Britons too, as a good 64% of them will take at least one domestic holiday.

    Hotels using eRevMax solutions generated an average of GBP 199 per booking with average length of stay being 1.4 across properties. As per eRevMax production statistics, just like rest of Europe, Booking.com has a clear dominance over online hotel bookings followed by Laterooms, Expedia, Agoda and hotelbeds.

    UK Online Travel Trends 2016

    Source: eRevMax


    Further, this infographic focuses on traveler buying behavior to give hoteliers a deeper insight. It is interesting to note that travellers visit around 17 OTAs during their travel planning phase and over 59% travelers are influenced by online reviews, especially for hotel bookings. Over 65% travellers use metasearch to compare prices thereby making it vital for hotels to manage online reviews effectively and engage actively with metasearch channels.

    See full story on eRevMax website here.

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    Quick guide to avoid receiving negative reviews from your guests

    77% of travellers usually or always read reviews before booking a hotel. 80% of travellers read 6-12 reviews before booking the hotel. Those are significant numbers presented by TripAdvisor’sresearch. If you think it over, you will come to one conclusion. As you probably have a lot of competitors, each mistake can cause the loss of potential business. Why? Because your guests care about their experience, not your business. Thus at this moment, negative reviews are your worst enemy.

    I think that the well-known rule saying that 9 positive reviews and 1 negative sell more than 10 positive ones doesn’t apply in hospitality anymore. Instead, the single negative review can cause you trouble that will degrade your position not only in booking engines but in mind of your potential guests, too.
    Note: Just to remind you, when you receive a negative review on Booking, you need at least 3 positive ones to restore your previous rating. Take 2, 3, 10 negative ones and multiply them by 3. As I said, trouble.
    These days, booking engines requests guest to rate the hotel they visited 2 or so days after they check out. Wait a second. Isn’t it little too late? In Hospitality 2.0, guests should be able to affect their stay while they are still accommodated. The feedback should come in real-time. This way, each guest can contribute to quality of her stay. Small problems (missing toilet paper, noisy room, etc.) should be easily taken care of instead of seeing their “passionate” description on review sites later on. Will it affect your rating? It certainly will. 
    You will not make it without first class customer service
    Before we start, you should keep one thing in mind. You will not be able to please your guests unless you are ready to commit in high level customer service. What am I talking about? Certainly not about amenities you have at your disposal. There are other factors that matter more: willingness, decency, joy, helpfulness and humility. If you can swallow your pride and provide your guests with these, they will enjoy the “soul“ of the hotel instead of equipment only. You cannot be perfect anytime, no one is. However, your attitude to solve the problem in case it arise will definitely make a difference.
    Give a chance to complain during the stay

    The difference between positive and negative review is not just in a way of handling a complaint. Even more crucial is if you have an opportunity to handle it or not. Many times the guest faces some minor problem in the room (Wi-Fi or TV doesn’t work), she doesn’t want to call the front desk and permanently forget about it when they are around (I think this is the case of more people than solely mine). You might think everything is okay, however, once this guest is back at home, she turns on Booking, TripAdvisor and all other possible media and doesn’t hesitate to write about it. W-R-O-N-G! When something like this happens, you failed in the lesson “Know your guests 101“.
    What you should do is to make it easy for your guests to complain during their stay in the way you can identify them. If you know who the guest is, you can get in touch and solve the problem immediately. In other words, you can turn unsatisfied guest to satisfied one until she leaves. The way you will do it (discount, extra free service, apology) is a matter of your policy, and only sky is the limit here. But medium that will allow the guests to let you know is what matters here.
    There are several options to find out that there is a problem:
    1. Complaint box

    Quite old school thing that can work especially well for people who are not that engaged in the technology. Let them share their feelings about your hotel via piece of paper and pencil. Don’t forget to include the space for the room number and also ask for it with call to action on the feedback form.
    2. Complaint kiosk

    You might saw a huge machine with the keyboard asking yourself “What does this thing do?”. In many cases it can be used to gather information about the hotel and the area, as long as it can allow guests to post some comment in. Put this machine to the frequently visited place in your hotel so it will not be overlooked (front desk, restaurant). It will increase your chances to collect some thoughts and suggestions. However, the price of these machines might not be favorable.
    3. Mobile application

    Many hotel mobile applications provide the guest with the feedback feature. Moreover, adding maintenance as your live chat option might be a vital step, too. It ensures guest can ask for help anytime something is going wrong. As guests can let you know immediately by picking up their smartphone or tablet, you can solve the problem quickly. As you usually exactly know who complained, you are able to provide nice gesture to say you are sorry. If the price is a matter for you, there are several providers on the market that can make it affordable for you.
    Remember that your goal is to listen to your guests, react to their complaints and once they want to tell the world, they will praise you instead of plastering you all over the Internet. 
    How would you ensure your guests leave satisfied? Share you thoughts and experience in comments below.
    This is a guest post by Lukáš Kakalejčík, Marketing Specialist at RoomAssistant and PhD. candidate at Technical university of Košice, Faculty of Economics. He focuses on digital marketing, analysis and business development.

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    Top Three Travel Trends in Mexico

    The 41st edition of Tianguis Turistico was held towards the end of April at Expo Guadalajara, the largest exhibition centre in Mexico. The event was an important platform for hoteliers and the travel industry to come together. Thousands of exhibitors and visitors from across the globe gathered under one roof for promoting their brand and network with peers.

    Like previous years, I was at the event and got a chance to interact with the revenue management & travel technology professionals.


    Julian Lindt (extreme right) at a partner stand

    Here are some of the key trends that were discussed during the show.

    Surge in Luxury Inbound Tourism

    Mexico is one of the finest luxury travel destinations and ranks among the top five favorite places for luxury tourism. Various exotic destinations, warm weather and a wide range of holiday activities attract a significant number of travellers to Mexico. Accordingto a Euromonitor International report in 2014, the country saw a double-digit growth in inbound travel which is much higher than overall Latin American and global growth rates. In the same year, Mexico welcomed around 19.3 million international tourists and the most surprising part is business travel amounted 9.9% of all travel expenditure and is expected to grow by another 6.5% in 2016. The tourism industry contributes 8.4% to Mexico’s GDP and as the economy of the country is growing strong compared to other developing countries travel expenditure is also growing rapidly.
    Strong growth of online intermediaries

    In 2015, Mexico hadaround 65.1 million internet users and by the end of this year the figure is projected to grow to 70.7 million users. An eMarketer report suggests that the country holds number 2 position when it comes to smartphone audience size – 47.4% of all mobile phone users in Mexico have smartphones. Due to high internet penetration and increase use of smartphones, online travel has grown rapidly. At the same time, online travel agents have also gained popularity among Mexican travellers who are adapting quickly to the global trends of using the internet and mobile devices to plan and pay for business or leisure trips. As the technology has been constantly evolving, online intermediaries are also looking for new ways to offer new products and services in order to attract more consumers.


    Rise of alternate lodging options

    Driven by the increase in use of internet and smartphone users, peer-to-peer alternative accommodation options are growing fast in Mexico. Travellers have been exploring new online platforms like Airbnb. In Mexico City alone, Airbnb has 2773 listings – two-thirds of which are comprised of homes and apartments. Hotels have already started feeling the effect of Airbnb’s approach to room rentals and its continued growth has forced hotels to reduce room rates.

    The advancement in technology has changed the online travel scenario in Mexico – the way travellers research and select their preferred accommodations. As modern travellers are more price sensitive and are looking for alternate methods of experiential stays, hoteliers need to have a well-defined value proposition coupled with strong online presence. Not only should they participate in global OTAs, hotels should tap the potential of regional channels as well as meta search engines to drive direct bookings while at the same time have a strong marketing strategy to offer their guests with personalised experience.

    Julian Lindt is the Latin America Sales Director at eRevMax. He can be reached at julianl@erevmax.com.


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    The Changing Dynamics of Serviced Apartment Segment in Asia Pacific

    First things first! Let’s have a quick look at some statistics from the 5th Global Serviced Apartment Industry Report 2015 – 2016 which shows 14% growth in serviced apartment supply chain globally, exponential corporate, relocation and online demand and increasing investor interest in the sector.
    ·         748,437 serviced apartments worldwide operating in 9,875 locations
    ·         Inventory up 14% year-on-year and 80.1% since 2008
    ·         Apartment usage for assignment/project work growing in 72.73% of companies
    ·         Distribution widening – 75% of operators now receive bookings from OTAs
     
    Asia Pacific contributes to these global figures in its own way. With strong economic growth in China, India and South-east Asia, improved infrastructure, high use of smartphones and increasing internet penetration, business and leisure travel has seen a huge growth. As business opportunities have increased rapidly in last couple of years, demand for serviced apartments have also doubled. One may ask why? While hotels provide comfortable rooms and good service, the benefits of serviced apartments include the comfort of more space, privacy, option to cook, flexibility, cost of stay as well as the overall environment which is more like a ‘home away from home’.
    Outlook for 2016
     
    The business travel market in Asia is growing at a fast pace. According to Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), Asia Pacific gets the largest share of the business travel spend followed by North America and Western Europe. This business travel boom, combined with Asia being a hub of skilled human resource and rapid economic growth is driving demand for serviced apartments across the region. With over 20% on-site assignments now lasting less than 12 months, serviced apartments have emerged as the preferred model due to value and flexibility. Global economic recession notwithstanding, demand for serviced apartments in South East Asia grew by over 25% over the past decade. Global players have taken note of that, and today Oakwood, BridgeSteet and Ascott are growing at the fastest pace in this region.
    With economic slowdown in South Asia, the austerity measures will be advantageous for the sector as middle management business professionals, the primary target market, make arrangements for shorter assignments.
    A changing landscape
     
    A demographic change is happening across South East Asia – silently, but rapidly. The rising quality of living and increase in volume of foreign talent and tourists has created demand for quality serviced residences. Expats are coming back to their own countries and relocating from within Asia-Pacific. In China, for example, there is a strong demand for serviced apartments amongst the double income families with higher spending power.
    With channels like Airbnb and HomeAway catering to demand specifically for serviced apartments, it shows the potential this segment holds. Various operators including BridgeStreet Global Hospitality Group are tapping Airbnb to widen their distribution network. Further, Ascott will have 2,000 units under its new Tujia Somerset brand of serviced residences in China by the end of this year. Tujia.com is China’s largest online apartment sharing platform equivalent to Airbnb and Tujia Somerset is a jointventure between Ascott and Tujia.
    Industry experts believe that the serviced apartment industry in Asia is all set to grow in the coming months as the region continues to drive global growth with increased overseas assignments and projects.
    Surge of tech-savvy travellers
     
     
    Over half of the 3.4 billion internet users worldwide are from Asia-Pacific. This is due to the widespread adoption of smartphones in the region. An eMarketerreport shows that in 2015, total smartphone users in APAC was over 1 billion and by the end of 2019 it is expected to be nearly 1.5 billion or 51.5% of total mobile phone users. These new age travellers prefer to choose cost effective accommodation when they are travelling for business or study purposes and many of them prefer serviced apartments for long stays.
    Shift from Offline to Online Bookings
     
    Due to the positive economic growth and business prospects, countries like China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam and Thailand have become transit hubs leading to a surge in demand for serviced apartments. Research studies show that almost 80% of corporate bookings are made online and around 27% of these bookings are made directly on the brand.com through the in-built booking option.
    Interestingly, a TIN report on Global Serviced Apartment shows that 68% of serviced apartment operators are not represented on online platforms and most of these are unaware of internet booking engine. With more focus on this segment, it is important for serviced apartment providers to be visible on online channels and provide direct booking options for improved business and revenues.

     

    This sector is already witnessing growth and expansion and attracting more operators, thereby increasing competition. Existing providers need to adapt to customer requirements and cater to market needs to stay ahead in the game. They need to install correct technology solutions in order to expand their visibility and market share.
    Ram Mohan Dubey is the Regional Sales Manager for APAC at eRevMax. Please contact us at marketing@erevmax.com for any enquiries.
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    Rio 2016: DOs and DON’Ts list for Brazil Hoteliers – Part II

    In Rio 2016: DOs and DON’Ts list for Brazil Hoteliers – Part I; I identified what hotelier should do during the largest sports event in the world. Here I present to you the second part of this series – read on!

    Don’t 1# Don’t be too greedy
    It is important for the visitors not to feel “ripped off’ as the peak period customers understand prices better and there instils a sense of loyalty. Even dynamic pricing can be transparent if the multiple factors behind the rate are clearly communicated. The key is to have a clear rate strategy in place based on demand as well as product to avoid extreme peaks and valleys. Past experience suggests that the peak in demand is usually for a short duration. Therefore it is essential to cover the shoulder nights along with the capability to drive higher rates during peak nights for RevPAR optimization.

    Brazil is the most popular travel destination in Latin America, and also by far the most expensive. Amidst all these uncertainties, hotels need to have the optimal business mix of comfortably positioned locked base and inventory allocation to be able to adjust to market dynamics at the eleventh hour. Getting the right price and remaining competitive will sail you through this challenge.
    Don’t 2# Don’t underestimate ‘social power’
    With a highly active internet population, Brazil is region’s most social media-savvy country, with 92% of internet users connected to social media. Brazilians spend an average of 3.8 hours on social media every day, an hour more than Americans. The country has over 70 million Facebook users, the third biggest user base, and the second biggest user base for Twitter and the largest market outside the USA for YouTube.

    For the hotel industry, ignoring social media is suicidal. According to a study by Brazilian media consultant eCRM123, 94% of the country’s social network users favoured the idea of receiving customer assistance through social media sites, and 77% of them have positive attitude towards shopping and buying via a social networking storefront. With search engines like Google favouring social sites, having an engaging social media presence only increases the hotel’s chance for higher page rankings in search results.
    Use social media page to create brand awareness. Interact with potential and existing guests, and improve customer engagement. Used effectively, social media can be a great tool to develop brand ambassadors amongst customers.
    Don’t 3# Don’t ignore ‘online reputation’
    With 350 million unique monthly visitors and over 200 million reviews and opinions, TripAdvisor has become the world’s largest travel website. According to a TrustYou heat mapping study on TripAdvisor, given equal prices travellers are 3.9 times more likely to choose a hotel with a higher review score. Hotels that have a higher guest score typically will have better placement on the travel sites. A better placement on the travel site means more bookings.  More bookings mean a higher room rate, and eventually higher revenue for the hotel. 
    However since guests share feedback on various review and travel sites – all of this valuable information lay scattered and unstructured. It is here that online reputation management tools play a big role in consolidating the guest reviews and provide them to hotels in structured reports. Guest review analysis works hand in hand with rate, occupancy, RevPAR and channel performance to provide hotels with the overall picture. This becomes very useful for the marketing team to identify the potential bright spots for promotional activities.

    Mega events like the Summer Olympics or World Cup are opportunities for a country to enhance their image for long term gain. The goodwill can only be earned by excellent hospitality, friendly behaviour and safety. For the hotels, the biggest blunder could be to get too greedy and try to earn ‘quick bucks’ at the expense of long-term customer value and loyalty. Do not abandon the guests, contracts and operators who have supported you during difficult times – you will again need them for long-term success. And more importantly, don’t compromise your tomorrow for a quick return today. Building the ‘Brand Brazil’ will help you with better standing for the years to come.

    Image: CC

     Alex Moura is the Regional Sales Director Latin America and Portugal at eRevMax. He can be reached at alexm@erevmax.com
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    Rio 2016: DOs and DON’Ts list for Brazil Hoteliers – Part I

    In exactly 50 days from now, the Olympic Games will begin at the summer playground of Rio de Janeiro. However, unlike the soccer world cup two years ago, the mood seems to be far from upbeat. With the country in political turmoil, economy into severe recession along with global public health emergency due to Zika virus, the time does not look right for Brazil to host the Olympics party.

    However, amidst the dark shadow casting over the country, there is something positive for the hospitality industry. The weakened currency has made travelling to Brazil a bargain for international visitors. According to data released by the Ministry of Tourism, spending by international visitors grew by 11.47 % in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the same period last year. Weakened Real has also forced Brazilians to focus more on domestic travel, boosting the country’s hospitality sector.
    2016 organizers are expecting expect half a million visitors for the 2016 Olympic Games, which take place from August 5-21. The recent measure by the government to allow visa free entry for tourist from Australia, Canada, USA and Japan between June to September will also help the hoteliers to balance the shoulder periods before and after the games. 
    Brazilian Hotel Association reports that occupancy level at five star hotels during the games in almost 98%. This is 200% increase from 2014, however, hotel rates, which saw 5 fold jump during the soccer world cup seems to have increased by 122%. However, it’s also a matter of simple economics of supply and demand: more fans attended the World Cup, and more hotel rooms are available now. The past two decades of economic boom, along with two mega sporting events, namely FIFA World Cup 2014 and Summer Olympics 2016 has resulted in a substantial investment in the lodging industry with more than 15,000 rooms being added to the inventories.
    With hotel industry is moving towards dynamic pricing as hoteliers can now access online rate performance and see how they can change their prices more frequently to increase revenue, all thanks to the competitive benchmarking tools available in the marketplace, the question that requires more discussion though is how should a hotel respond to unusual events in town?
    The dynamics of hotel pricing has always been a classic case of cat & mouse game – where the hoteliers have to balance the see-saw every minute on several factors. How do you balance the see-saw of high season vs. low season, an exorbitant rate vs. customer loyalty, price optimization vs. revenue optimization, inventories vs. competitive pricing?  Hotel pricing has always been a never ending roulette for an hotelier.
    Experience from past events suggest there needs to be more strategy behind these rates to better align them with customer expectations as this will help build better relationships with potential customers. A classic case study how prices can fall dramatically after a major sports event is South Africa, which hosted the last FIFA World Cup in 2010. The country saw its average room rate tumble by 17%, with host cities Cape Town down by 20% and Johannesburg by 13% according to Hotel Price Index by Hotels.com. Even in the case of Brazil, while the Cup generated lot of attention, the tourist inflow remained flat.
    Unlike Barcelona  or Salt Lake City, where the legacy effect of a mega event like Olympics have been positive, lack of competitive pricing or infrastructure has not helped Brazil tourism sector to perform up to the expectation. Will the devaluation of currency and improved infrastructure would finally change the scenario? Only time will tell, but here are a few Dos and Dont’s for the Brazilian hotel industry.
    DO 1# Use rate date to optimize your pricing strategy:
    Brazil Hotel industry has been struggling in recent years with occupancy falling to 56.7% in 2015 according to STR. Hotels in Rio experienced a 26.7% drop in RevPAR in 2015. Making it more challenging is Airbnb, an official partner of the Olympics, which saw a sudden surge of listings in Rio. With 86% Brazilians intent to travel domestic, recession has helped Airbnb to grow manifold. The home-sharing company has over 25000 listings in Rio alone, making it Airbnb’s largest market after Paris, New York and London.

    With the online travel industry still growing at over 13%, hotel industry needs to compete and grow their market by reaching out to the online buyers. Historical and current rate data will play a crucial role to identify the most profitable channels and customize strategies according to market dynamics.
    By all means, utilize the high demand to raise profitability, but give attention to the shoulder seasons either side of this mega event as they are expected to be leaner periods than in normal times. Analyze current occupancy, bookings and revenue against data to make the rate level decisions to secure additional reservations. Use Rate Shopping reports to see rates, room categories, and restrictions that provide the details.  Review price analytics to develop a strategy for a lean season and identify the correct channels to promote that plan.
    DO 2# Create a balanced distribution mix with regional and global sales channels:
    With business travel down due to economic turmoil, leisure travel is going to be the saviour for the hotel industry. About 6.3 million foreigners visited Brazil in 2015, more than half of them from South America, with Argentina alone accounting for one third of all visitors.
    With 3 out of 3 online bookings being made in OTA, it’s important for hotels to revisit their distribution mix. While wooing the international traveller is perfectly alright, don’t ignore the all-powerful domestic travellers. It’s vital to add a balanced mix of global and regional channels in your distribution portfolio. Adapt a more flexible sales strategy. Each customer is different, and cannot be handled with a uniform approach. That does not mean throwing strategies & positioning out of the window, but customize them according to market dynamics. Plan for each target segment. Hotels who have applied a more dynamic and flexible approach are the ones that are the most successful.
    DO 3# Power your hotel systems with right technology:
    Hoteliers in Brazil need to understand the need for multiple technologies to handle third party sales due to the limitations available in existing systems. By utilizing technologies for rate calculations, rate shopping, updating rates and inventory, they can react to market dynamics in real-time. Channel managers are required to efficiently and accurately manage the OTAs. This will allow the revenue management team to focus more on strategy.
    DO 4# Integrate mobile channel in your marketing strategy:
    Brazil leads the mobile revolution in South America, both by its sheer size and penetration. With bookings from mobile accounting from 23% of total online bookings, this is one channel which no hotels can afford to ignore anymore. OTA with their superior technology prowess is quite ahead, but hotels now need to develop a mobile strategy for promotions and outreach.

    Evaluate carefully and create a customized campaign for mobile users. Remember, most global OTAs have a mobile application or mobile optimized website. Not having a mobile presence would mean losing traffic to your brand.com site, thereby losing the chance to get more direct bookings at better margins.

    Stay tuned for part two of this series which will be posted in next week.
    Image Credit: CC

     Alex Moura is the Regional Sales Director Latin America and Portugal at eRevMax. He can be reached at alexm@erevmax.com