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How to Boost Hotel’s Repeat Business – 6 Steps to Follow

This blog elucidates the 6 hacks that can help hotel owners to build and cement a strong guest-host relationship. Read on to find out more!

Hotel businesses can be intriguing and filled with challenges – whether in good or bad times. When there is low occupancy, you need to pamper your guests well, so that they come back again and you can get more customers. When your hotel is filled choc-a-block, you need to ensure that the requirements and requests of each guest is taken care of. Here are 6 steps to help you boost the repeat business of your hotel.

Offer airport pick-up at night to -female guests

If you have female guests coming to your hotel for the first time, you can make the journey safer for them by offering airport pick-up at night. This can be especially useful if they are not familiar with the city, and are coming in for the first time. Direct airport to hotel transfer during the night can be very useful for them.

Focus on add-ons

Additional services and extras can make a big difference. You can focus on their needs for relaxation, such as a selection of coffee and tea and various other refreshments, and also famous books and magazines. Keep devices like powerful dryers, curlers and hair straighteners, and other useful items such as nail polish remover, nail polish, makeup, exercise / meditation mat and more.

Offer luxurious items

Try to offer items of luxury that can make your guests feel as if they are given a royalty or celeb treatment. The luxurious stuffs can include duvets, sheets, bedding, night table, full-length mirror etc. along with aromatic towels, bathrobes, branded toileteries and more. These things can serve to heighten your guest experience without you spending a lot of money.

Pay attention to details

Train your staffs to take care of even the smallest details, such as dietary preferences – and having gluten-free and vegan options, knowing about food allergies of guests and more. All these can make your guests feel more relaxed.

Have a manned 24/7 front desk

Implement various security measures, including having a manned 24-hour front desk – so that guests can always connect to someone for anything they might need during their stay.

Have Women-only floors

This can make female travelers rest easy, and ensure repeat business from female customers for your hotel.

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Top tech trends for driving your hotel revenue

With the constant evolution of technology and new trends coming and going, its important for hotels to keep a track of what is happening around them. Knowing the impact of new technology and how it can affect revenue is key to running any business successfully today. The same applies to the travel and hospitality sector which is one of the most dynamic industries today. Given the huge dependence on guest behavior, hoteliers need to know how to influence key decision makers and be visible at every key touch point. Here are some upcoming trends that we feel will have an impact on the industry and hoteliers should take notice and prepare well in advance.

  • Data explosion with 5G Network

The new 5G, with its superfast download speed and other benefits, is sure to have a massive impact on the expectations and behavior of mobile phone users. One can readily access virtual reality and videos and the 5G network is likely to bring a huge change in how guests research and book travel and hotel.  Users will have the opportunity to visualize themselves in their preferred room instead of only seeing the photos.

‘Mobile-first strategy’ will likely rule the trend. Google, being the early adopter like it is, may reward hotels that pro-actively focus on their mobile strategy and penalize the ones that are not at all mobile friendly. Thus, hotels need to make sure their brand website is mobile friendly and has a good page load speed. It’s important to develop mobile focused marketing strategy to capture this segment of guests that like to book things on mobile.

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  • Virtual and Augmented Reality

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) will get a big boost with 5G network. However, AR proves to be more realistic than VR to hoteliers. Why? Real environment is replaced by a virtual one by VR. To visualize this, one needs wearable technology. On the contrary, AR introduces digital components into real environment that one can easily access with smartphones.

Some hotels have already started using this technology like AR-enabled maps and brochures. It is a great opportunity for hotel industry to enhance in-stay and pre-stay experience of their guests.

  • Dominance of Videos

Conveying information through videos is more effective than words because people today prefer watching than reading, especially in mobile phones. Do you know that YouTube is the second largest search engine globally? Facebook too generates huge traffic from its videos every day. With the emergence of 5G, videos will achieve greater importance.

To future-proof business, hoteliers have to invest in entertaining, informational and relevant video advertising. According to Google, videos are likely to capture 80% of online media in the coming years.

With so many innovative technologies coming up in the market, hotels have to optimize these opportunities to reap the maximum benefit for their business.

 

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Luxury UK hotel trusts RateTiger Shopper for pricing decisions

The Greenbank Hotel has been leveraging eRevMax’s price intelligence tool – RateTiger Shopper to monitor competitor rates across multiple sales channels and take informed pricing decisions to stay ahead in the market.

The Greenbank Hotel is a luxury 4-star property in Cornwall with an interesting history. Having started out as a sailor’s pub back in 1640, the property today boasts of a unique location, characterful heritage, contemporary styling and outstanding levels of service, which keep guests coming back, year after year.

The hotel has been using RateTiger Shopper over the past few years to monitor trends in room rates over selected time periods and for up to 24 months in the future. The intelligent room rate data allows the hotel to access past and current pricing data for accurate forecasting.

“We have been using RateTiger Shopper for rate benchmarking. We save a lot of time as we can take our pricing decisions by just reviewing the pricing reports we get from the tool. We can easily shop multiple parameters, review the market data, know our price position, identify rate movements and monitor our competitors – all through a few reports and alerts. It is a simple and effective tool which makes our work very easy. I can recommend RateTiger Shopper for any hotel that is looking for real-time price intelligence as it saves lots of time,” said Oceane Mechain, Revenue Manager, The Greenbank Hotel.

RateTiger Shopper is a comprehensive yet easy to use hotel rate intelligence solution. It enables hotels to check room rates are accurate across all channels while analyzing room rates of your competitive set and rate positioning across multiple hotel websites, third party sales channels and online travel agents (OTA).

eRevMax is known for its innovative products and stable solutions with 99% uptime. The company is ISO and PCI certified and GDPR compliant. eRevMax offers excellent connectivity with around over 400 online channels and technology partners and provides 24×7 customer support.

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RateTiger joins the Spanish Association of Hotel Directors – AEDH

RateTiger, the connectivity division part of the leading hotel technology group eRevMax, provider of online connectivity tools for hotels, has joined the Spanish Association of Hotel Directors (AEDH). As a member of the association, the company will participate in the events organized by the AEDH with the aim of educating hoteliers about trends and technological innovations in the hotel sector. The company will also present its innovative solutions at the AEDH stand 10B08 at FITUR in Madrid from 23 to 27 January 2019.

Recognizing RateTiger for its technological skills, the AEDH has endorsed the efficiency of its tools, thus making RateTiger its preferred partner for the management of online channels in hotels. AEDH hotel members can take advantage of RateTiger special offer at FITUR to reduce their cost of acquiring guests online, saving time and increasing their revenue.

RateTiger is one of the most efficient online distribution and hotel management platform, currently used by more than 9000 hotels around the world. RateTiger offers XML connections with more than 450 leading OTAs and partners worldwide and regionally, achieving optimal connectivity.

“It is an honor to join forces with a company like RateTiger with such prestige in hospitality. Our goal is to be able to generate a positive impact on the hotel members of our association by providing them with state-of-the-art technology that complements their growth strategy and RateTiger is the perfect match. We strongly recommend our members to contact RateTiger to benefit from our exclusive offer for members of the AEDH,” said Manuel Vegas, President, AEDH.

“We believe that the AEDH has been doing a great job and we hope to contribute our bit to the success of the organization as a whole. The hospitality discussion and knowledge exchange sessions organized by the AEDH are very effective in helping hoteliers to better understand how to use technological innovation to maximize the revenue of their properties and improve customer service. We hope to have the opportunity to meet in person each of the members of the association,” said Samantha González, Director of Sales – Spain, eRevMax – RateTiger.

Meet Team eRevMax at FITUR in Madrid at Stand 10B08, Hall 10 from 23- 27 January 2019. Book an appointment today – https://bit.ly/2F6knJ0

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Are you using Metasearch Channels for your hotel distribution yet?

Metasearch sites help travelers compare hotel rates from various online travel agencies and other booking sites in one place. Metasearch, as a sales channel, is growing in the travel ecosystem. Travelers today want technology that offers information at the click of a button. Metasearch offers just that, by aggregating rates and availability across multiple OTAs and brand websites onto one screen, thus making comparison easy and decision making simpler.

Today, it is important for hotels to be visible on metasearch sites to increase direct bookings and visibility, thereby generating more revenue. You might be thinking – why do I need to add one more channel to my distribution mix? Here’s why –

Metasearch allows for more direct bookings

While OTAs continue to lead the third party sales booking, 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.

Metasearch sites allow visitors to book either through OTAs or through the brand website, helping to increase direct sales for hotels if they are listed on the metasearch. Metasearch sites such as TripAdvisor have been criticized for favoring OTAs with which they have a partnership, but direct hotel booking information is available, which is more than can be said for OTAs themselves.

Traditional search is a dying breed

Metasearch might still be kept in the back burner when compared to traditional searching, but reports show that search statistics on these sites are up by 13 percent in recent years and are continuing to grow. In this age of technology, traditional search is a dying breed, as more and more internet users opt to take advantage of the features of metasearch sites, that traditional search simply cannot offer.

In utilizing metasearch channels, hotels can remain modern and relevant, and can widen and diversify their audience.

Rate comparison can work in favor of hotels

The core concept of metasearch channels is that they offer multiple hotel comparison – a feature that OTAs typically do not offer.

Believe it or not, comparison isn’t solely based upon price. For example, it has been found that an estimated 71 percent of users look at basic information, while 67 percent of users compare photographs. Comparison may seem daunting, but it’s actually a good chance to show off.

Upgrading to two-way connectivity can help you improve your channel content, by making it quicker and easier to update multiple channels with up-to-date information regarding the establishment.

With meta search considered to be one of the biggest marketing techniques of the year, there has never been a better time to add these channels to your distribution portfolio. Make sure you choose to work with connectivity advisors that provide relevant channels to get it right the first time.

In essence, metasearch channels save time and money for guests in their travel booking journey, while offering a robust distribution platform for hotels to improve visibility and direct booking revenue.

Connect to metasearch channels like Google, TripAdvisor, Trivago, HotelsCombined, Skyscanner & Escapio. Update them directly from your RateTiger channel manager to improve your direct hotel revenue! Book a demo today – https://bit.ly/2HiEzJp

 

 

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How Social Media Can Increase Hotel’s Direct Bookings

It is difficult to project the ROI from social media, but one can’t deny the fact because of social media presence, hotels are increasingly focusing more on guest engagement which drives better service eventually leading to loyalty.

According to experts, 45 percent of travelers encounter hotel social media during the beginning of their booking journey, 45 percent encounter it during the middle and 11 percent at the end.

Recent projections have valued the *B2C e–Commerce business to over 3.2 Trillion dollars by 2020!

So with all that money flowing through the internet it’s no surprise hotel marketing teams should look to a cast a wider net via social media channels to pull in higher direct booking. But how much business for hotels can and is being generated directly through social media outlets today? And more importantly how can you effectively tap into social media in order to increase your direct bookings?

 

Amount Of Business Social Media Generates

Estimates show the *number of worldwide users on social networks by 2018 to be a whooping 2.5 Billion which is nearly 90% of all people online. According to a study made last year by the social times 28% of time spent online is spent on social media. And *nearly half of all online shoppers rely on social media when making a purchase online!

In hospitality alone there are over 148.3 million bookings made on the internet each year. The amount of business on the internet which is generated via social media is so overwhelming hotels have no choice but to focus on these channels. And the hotels who turn a blind eye to social media as a real avenue of generating direct business will be severely impacted and lose countless bookings to other properties who do cultivate their social networking channels.

First And Foremost, Know Your Market

74% of online adults use social networking sites. It is important to remember who the current adult population is today. As scary as it may sound, it is Millennials who make up the largest consumer market. And according to Eventbrite research, Millennials spend $1.3 Trillion in annual consumer spending in the US alone! And 78% of Millennials would rather spend money on an experience over buying something desirable! So to pull in more direct business it’s a matter of marketing your hotels experience. And there is simply no better place online to market the experience you offer at your hotel than on social media! But it’s not enough to know who your market is (millennials) and where they are (online, on social media). You need to know HOW TO REACH & ENGAGE  THEM!  A staggering *1 in 5 Millennials access the internet exclusively through their mobile devices. And the majority of their time on mobile is spent on social media!

So the stats would seem to point toward channeling your digital content to a mobile friendly environment. Unfortunately the below infographic from Hotel News Now gives great insight into how even Millennial hotel employees see a great need for improving mobile and tech use as a hotel.

Knowing the largest consumer markets technology trends and how their mobile and online use directly ties into their social media should encourage hotels to make the appropriate adjustments to reach potential clients more effectively.

You Must Give To Get

And no I am not just talking about content. According to recent online studies even the *accounts with the largest amount of followers are unable to reach their target markets and make conversions unless they pay for visibility. Today’s online traffic is so heavy that in order to really target potential customers you must pay for targeting campaigns. Spending more money on ads is the necessary evil to succeed via social media & digital marketing. And without doing so your chances of converting traffic into actual business is as likely as shooting an apple off a person’s head while blindfolded and being spun around. The outcome is obviously lethal and with regards to your business it could be the same. So at the end of the day when using social media as a channel to increase direct bookings, you really must give to get.

Investing those extra dollars to your marketing budgets is the only way to see any real results. And considering social network ad spending  is expected to hit over $15 billion in 2018, you can be sure if you don’t spend, your competitor will and they will reap the rewards instead of you.

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Channel management is fundamental to hoteliers

Hoteliers, now more than ever, need to concentrate on revenue and distribution management. The industry not only faces corporate budget tightening, but flight costs have increased and the decreasing value of world currencies plus job uncertainty has affected holidaymakers’ spending budgets.

Many travellers continued to book their travel using web booking engines. The success of Online Travel Agents (OTA) and the expansion of the online/offline press referring people to internet led technologies have enticed consumers to the cyber travel market.

Hence, it is the priority of any hotelier during this time to ensure yields and occupancy remain high, making the most of the sales channels available to maximise revenue over the coming years. With reports that RevPAR is dropping, hotels need to think intelligently and maximise on the tools they have to ensure business remains strong.

Today consumers are influencing room rates more than anytime in history. The internet – with multiple price comparison websites and booking channels – provides a choice. The more savvy consumers get, the more likely rates will continue to fall. However if hoteliers take control of their presence and rates online, revenue managers can make more accurate forecasts to identify occupancy and rate levels to ensure sales are on target.

The challenge for many hoteliers in managing these channels is to ensure accurate rates and inventory allocation to optimise each channel to increase sales and maximise revenue. There is no point selling across the internet for the sake of being online; it must be approached intelligently to avoid the mismanagement of rates. To make the most of the internet and online distribution channels revenue managers should look at technology to save time and make money.

By utilising tools to manage the distribution of rates online, revenue managers can ensure rates are accurate across all third-party websites, allocate rooms to the channels providing either a greater return or greatest number of bookings, and forecast future rates and occupancy levels. Technology has been developed to ensure time spent managing online rates is reduced to improve productivity and reduce human error. Channel management products can give you a snapshot of all online sales activity in a single screen; you can benchmark competitor rates, manage rates and rooms on third-party websites then make all the relevant changes you need to increase yields.

At this time hoteliers need to turn to technology to help them through this down-turn to remain competitive. Solutions and systems to support the revenue manager are constantly being developed that will reduce time spent distributing rooms so more time can be allocated to managing the hotel. We are currently looking at a product which is an amalgamation of revenue management solutions (RMS) and internet benchmarking and distribution systems (IDS). Hoteliers should be able to assess market competition, propose rates and allow automatic updates of distribution channels using definable strategies this will truly automate revenue and distribution management.

Without a doubt the travel industry will pick-up much quicker than it has in the past, with the rise of Eastern economies and larger worldwide travel markets, knowledge of price and availability will be fundamental to hoteliers. Further with the internet becoming a leading factor in booking travel, it is essential that it is the key platform to sell rooms. However at the same time, the internet is a world of its own which is broken into its own segments and markets so it is essential hoteliers know who its customers are and how to reach them – being on any third-party website isn’t going to provide the expected return.

As we have seen throughout the media and even in our own industry – belts have tightened and the economy is not as strong as it was – but we know that we have recovered before and should prepare for when it does. In the meantime it is essential to focus on making the most of what you have by optimising sales by using the internet to benchmark and allocate rooms efficiently to achieve greater occupancy and therefore increased yields.

 

 

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Hotel OTTO Berlin recommends RateTiger for channel connectivity

Hotel OTTO, an upscale property in Berlin has recommended RateTiger Channel Manager for stable and seamless connectivity with world’s leading OTAs. The hotel, which has been using eRevMax’s award winning distribution solution, has improved its online exposure resulting in positive revenue and occupancy growth.

Centrally located, Hotel OTTO is a modern property with 46 rooms catering largely to business travellers. Since 2010, the revenue management team has been using RateTiger to update rates and availability across online sales channels. Following the suggestion from RateTiger’s Connectivity Advisor, the hotel added top OTAs from China and South East Asia in their distribution mix. This improved the hotel’s exposure in upcoming markets and brought a positive impact to their online business

“We have been using RateTiger for the last 8 years and are very satisfied with the services that totally match our needs. Thanks to the diversity of their distribution portfolio (OTA, Wholesalers etc), we can connect with bigger number of distribution partners and have experienced a steady growth in our online business.  Amongst all the products I have used in the market so far, RateTiger remains one of the most powerful and efficient,” said Mihai Cucu, Revenue & Operations Manager, Hotel OTTO.

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Abasto Hotel experiences 65% revenue growth with RateTiger Channel Manager

Abasto Hotel Buenos Aires,  a  property in Argentinian capital, has improved its online sales by over 80% leveraging eRevMax‘s gold standard of connectivity with leading OTAs. The Buenos Aires based property has been using RateTiger  Channel Manager  for online distribution and managing rates and inventory across its connected OTAs since 2012.

A family-friendly property with 126 rooms, Abasto Hotel is located in the historical district, just steps from Museo de los Ninos and Abasto Shopping Center and caters to upmarket business and leisure travellers. RateTiger’s seamless connectivity with global and regional OTAs as well as metasearch sites allows Abasto Hotel to be visible in all relevant sales channels for maximum exposure.

“In the past 4-5 years, we have seen our online revenue grow 65% with an 80% increase in OTA sales. We have experienced an overall growth in business and our occupancy have gone up despite the macro-economic factors,” said Silvina Donvito, Revenue Manager at Abasto Hotel Buenos Aires.

“RateTiger is more than just a hotel channel manager. It’s a powerful tool that makes connectivity simple and hassle free. The stable and secure connections help in making immediate rate and inventory updates across all channels while also delivering bookings back into the system. Further, the 24×7 support makes it very convenient as we can go to them whenever with the smallest of query and they are always happy to help,” concluded Silvina.

The Argentinian hotel market is characterized by regional operators that have a strong position. With supply of rooms outpacing demand, online channels have emerged as an important revenue source for hoteliers. Abasto Hotel, with 15 OTAs in its distribution mix, has been able to improve its occupancy to 85%, about 20 points more than the industry average in Buenos Aires. This has resulted in an increase in RevPAR and profitability, with the help of RateTiger Channel Manager.