Category: Hotel Channel Management

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FITUR 2013


One of the biggest international travel trade fairs, FITUR, took place from January 30 to February 3, 2013 in Madrid. It continues to be a global meeting point for travel professionals and it being the 33rd edition speaks about the popularity of the event.

Team eRevMax was happy to be back at FITUR, as it really is one of the key shows to meet Spanish and international hoteliers. The company’s stand saw RateTiger Spanish clients turning up in droves to speak to the Sales and Account Managers.

“We heard a lot of positive news and some excellent feedback. In addition, we had many new visitors keen to find out about RTSuite 3.0 and how it differentiates in the marketplace; well really quite simply — a) integrated product for both channel management and pricing; b) automated inventory distribution; c) full service account management; d) greater product flexibility,” said Ryan Haynes, VP Marketing.

He further added, “FITUR did have less exhibitors this year and at times there was a lull, there didn’t seem to be much discussion on the state of the Spanish economy, but this is now old news. Instead everyone focused on business. I’d be interested to see what FITUR can do to bring the magic back to the tradeshow.”

Automated distribution and allocation is becoming a hit with hotels – they are open to new product and ideas – hoping to overcome the current crisis. “We witnessed an increase in the enquiries – people were keen to know how it would help them in their distribution. Further I also noticed rising interest among Portuguese hoteliers this year,” says Flavio Bastos Amiel, PR Representative.

Nuria Bermejo, Service Manager thought that there were fewer stands and the attendance was low.  “However I was glad to see that a lot of people came to our stand specifically to see us knowing the range RateTiger offers,” quipped Nuria.

From a sales perspective, Cristina Hernandez, Sales Manager for Spain noticed that the event was lacking in delivering for exhibitors – “The number of exhibitors are reducing year on year, however the good part was that hotels were excited to see our offerings. I was amazed to see that many small independent hotels knew exactly what they wanted and were glad to choose us.”
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Channel Management & OTAs

Are hoteliers keeping pace with the changing online booking space?

With a handful of powerful OTAs dominating the market, hoteliers are identifying ways to sidestep the high-commission they command. OTAs can be useful to engage a new guest, but many hoteliers are now aiming to drive repeat bookings to their own direct booking engines.

Ryan Haynes discusses Channel Management and OTAs on Hotel-Industry.co.uk – http://www.hotel-industry.co.uk/2012/12/erevmax-ratetiger-on-channel-management-and-otas/

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E-marketing & Revenue Management Conference, Prague

The two day E-marketing & Revenue Management Conference held in Prague in October 2012 turned out to be a great platform to promote online distribution channels and instruments of hospitality industry with reference to the latest trends in e-marketing and software for revenue management.

With a participation of over 100 representatives and professionals from all over Europe, the conference witnessed interesting arguments seeking to improve sales processes through e-commerce and to increase the visibility of businesses through the use of social media.

eRevMax was represented by Casey Davy, VP Sales EMEA and Aldona Kaczmarczyk, Sales Manager Eastern Europe. They shared a presentation on ‘The changing world of channel management’ which was taken very well by the attendees.  The audience comprised of Hotel Managers and Revenue Managers from Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Casey and Aldona stressed on the fact that in today’s world of multi-channel marketing and distribution, hotels have various new revenue-building opportunities. But they must ensure that all channels are managed according to a planned strategy. Leveraging correct technology tools for the various aspects of communicating with customers is extremely important to keep rooms full and maximise revenues.

Overall the event concluded on a positive note and there was constructive exchange of ideas and experiences. Congratulations to the organizers for the great show!

Domenico Defina is Sales & Marketing Intern at eRevMax and is based out of London. He can be reached at domenicod@erevmax.com

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WTM 2012 – Hoteliers really ready for maturing channel management technology


While in parts WTM 2012 seemed quieter than in previous years, attendees were much more ready to develop more sophisticated revenue management strategies as their pricing structures and sales environment becomes more complex. Hoteliers are much more aware of channel management and the functionality required to optimise the performance of their sales channels.

As they look further into how to improve their RevPar through direct selling, better commissions and improved visibility they realise the importance of having the right tools to support them. Channel management is an outgoing, but if used right the cost can be covered in a matter of months, while also helping the revenue manager to yield more.

Our partners Xotels, just prior to WTM, explained the key to deciding on the right channel manager for your hotels .

Channel Management: an ongoing challenge for hotels – part 1


During the Travel Technology Presentation, The Three P’s of Hotel Sales, Best Western Belgium explained the benefits of the right data and direct access to various channels for over 55 properties. 


LateRooms explained the challenges faced in the new consumer buying pattern and the points of influence in social media.

While eRevMax identified the opportunities ahead for hotels and how technology must be approached to meet these changing demands.



WTM is an opportunity for hotels to benchmark technology providers and learn about the market, even our own junior team came away inspired and enthused – learning much more about the industry than you can simply by reading articles and making phone calls.


However we have much more education to do, as we launch RTSuite 3 to start optimising and automating channel connectivity solutions for hotels to achieve more bookings at better rates! Check out our new RTSuite 3 in the video below to know more.


Ryan C Haynes is VP – Marketing Communications at eRevMax. He presented ‘The Distribution Challenge’ research findings during ‘The 3 Ps of Hotel Sales’ session. Ryan is based out of London and can be reached at ryanh@erevmax.com


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eRevMax Launches Hotel & Channel Eco-System

eRevMax International, owner of premium hotel channel management application RateTiger, has launched its Hotel & Channel Eco-Systems. The launch will support enhanced and sophisticated connectivity between global OTA’s, Tour Operators and Wholesalers (IDSs) and Hotel Brands’ PMS and CRS.

“We’re forming a stronger bond between demand and supply partners to help them build their business while supporting distribution with scalable connectivity technology.” said Greg Berman, COO, eRevMax International.

The Hotel and Channel Eco-Systems will allow both parties to create more relevant and meaningful business partnerships to enrich the online sales opportunities and streamline reservation management processes. The Eco-System utilizes a powerful XML gateway that enables hotel companies to connect seamlessly with distribution partners and system providers.
For more, please click here
 

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eRevMax Unveils RTSuite 3 for the Best in Channel Management


eRevMax has launched its third full edition of RateTiger Suite with a new user interface and automated inventory distribution controls, at World Travel Market 2012.
Commenting on the launch of the product Vishal Arora, VP Product Management, eRevMax International said, “Our enhanced channel connectivity technology now provides hotels with immediate information on the marketplace; delivering the status of room rates, availability, bookings and any channel related issues. This will make updates faster and resolve issues quicker to prevent the property losing out on bookings and building additional revenue.”

RTSuite 3 has been developed to provide users throughout the hotel property with role responsibility based access, to meet their individual requirements in managing third party channel updates. The third edition also features Allocation Management, an advanced automated pooled inventory distribution system, supported by an intelligent alert mechanism that proactively notifies user of inventory changes. 



For further details, please click here

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Newshound: Trends and Reports – Hotel Online Distribution


eRevMax Restructures Customer Service To Deliver Product Consultancy

eRevMax International has restructured its customer service to deliver 24/7 technical support and full service product consultancy for revenue managers. Customers of the RateTiger Suite portfolio and RTConnect will benefit from immediate attention on all technical issues relating to product performance and channel connectivity with a ‘Follow the Sun’ approach adopted by the hotel technology specialist.
http://www.hospitalityupgrade.com/_news/showNewsDetail-docID-5809.asp

Individuality is key for proper channel mix

An overall strategy for managing a hotel’s distribution channel mix should include individual plans for each of the channels, according to several industry experts on the topic. Experts said that while revenue management and channel management practices have become more technical over the years, neither of them should be considered rocket science.
http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/9081/Individuality-is-key-for-proper-channel-mix

Victory for value: good deals drive bookings for corporate travel

Corporates are getting savvier about the way they choose and procure accommodation, and a key influencer today is value for money. Firms are trying to extract more for their hotel stays by cashing in on value-added incentives.  Recent data released by hotel distribution technology provider Hotelzon has highlighted the growing popularity of five-star hotels with business travelers.
http://www.eyefortravel.com/distribution-strategies/victory-value-good-deals-drive-bookings-corporate-travel

Distribution challenge: how OTAs are making appropriate use of online technology

To ensure the best possible yield for hotel partners, online travel agencies (OTAs) must ensure that they are compatible with most of the key channel management solutions. At the same time they must aim to increase accommodation choices for travellers. The ultimate aim of the OTA is to expand their global coverage to offer a range of properties from ordinary global chains to elite hotel groups and unique, independent hotels around the world.
http://www.eyefortravel.com/mobile-and-technology/distribution-challenge-how-otas-are-making-appropriate-use-online-technology

Infographic:Turning social media reaction into booking action for travel brands

We know the basics – social media allows travel companies to engage with existing and potential customers and can act as an unofficial watchdog of products. But with 61% of travellers apparently referring to some kind of user review and almost a third posting reviews of placed they’ve visited, for example, what can companies do to increase booking conversions as a result of activity on social networks.
http://www.tnooz.com/2012/10/04/news/turning-social-media-reaction-into-booking-action-for-travel-brands-infographic/#FH7CCAC6MYpKpQ7g.99 

Online travelers in Europe visit fewer websites

When it comes to online travel shopping, European consumers are keeping it simple. According to PhoCusWright’s European Consumer Travel Report Third Edition, a Global and European Edition report, online travel shoppers in France, Germany and the U.K. trimmed down the number of websites they visited when shopping for travel in 2012. The percentage of online travel shoppers who used only 1-2 websites to shop for travel products increased within the past year – to 41% in France, 30% in Germany and 37% in the U.K. http://hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/online_travelers_in_europe_visit_fewer_websites

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Selling hotel rooms – An NIHF event

At last week’s Selling Rooms event with the Northern Ireland Hotel Federation, hotels were very interested in learning how they could control their own inventory. Most of the attendees acknowledged that through OTAs they were losing control over pricing and distribution as they fought to manage the cost of selling through third parties.

While many are trying to sell direct, it beggars the question – how much inventory is allocated to the direct channel and how much to third party, when in fact all channels should have access to the same availability. In many cases there can be as much as 24% profit difference selling direct than across OTAs.

Interestingly, hotels struggled to manage their budgets effectively as some of the revenue management or OTA costs derived from the Marketing budget and others from the Reservations. Why should the direct selling channel come from Marketing, while OTAs are paid by Reservations? Marketing will always achieve a higher profit margin and is therefore unrepresentative of the financials of e-sales.
Many consumers have a hard time booking across hotel websites, unfortunately the journey can be clunky without a clear and easy-to-use booking engines. Hotels need to invest in booking engine applications they can easily install in their website that is similar to the OTAs, this will optimize the booking journey for conversions and mobile bookings.

It was also noted the value of Voice bookings, training the reservations, call center and front of house team to offer packages based on internet rates, and upgrade if necessary to avoid losing the booking to a third party website, which will cost them dearly in commission fees.

Northern Ireland has experienced a very strong year, with most guests being domestic tourism. The national tourism office will be launching a new website at the end of the year that will incorporate direct booking initiatives from the main OTA providers, giving hotels in the region an additional option for exposure and visibility.


Ryan C Haynes is VP – Marketing Communications at eRevMax. He was one of the speakers at the event and shared his insights on how hotels can use technology smartly to distribute rooms online and make the most of direct channels as well. Ryan is based out of London and can be reached at ryanh@ratetiger.com
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eRevMax Football Tournament 2012


Honestly speaking I am not a sports addict, so definitely not the best person to be writing this post. Infact I have a love for aesthetics and am better off writing or painting! But for a change I was very glad to be a part of the Football tournament this year. You will ask why? Well there was so much excitement around this event – everyone was so charged up and the canteen buzzed with talks of who is in which team etc and I was missing out on all the action, so I enrolled myself to see what the fuss was all about.

And guess what? It paid. Well fortunately for me, I was part of the team which won the runners-up trophy! And I won an individual medal – my first sports win ever!

The match took place in the nearby HIDCO Ground located just behind our Kolkata office complex. There were five teams who participated – Teams A, B, C, D and E. The tournament started with the league matches and after a series of qualifiers, the top two teams went on for the finals. The ultimate face-off was between Team C efficiently captained by Ranjit Shaw and Team D led by Sumanta Sen. Team C emerged as the Winners and Team D (including me) was announced Runners-up.


Given that I played for hardly 5 -6 minutes (given my disposition with sports!) and was mostly in the outfield I managed to get a birds-eye view of all the incidents on-field. Well this happens only if you are one of the lucky few!

So here I am sharing the most memorable and comic moment of the event – in one of the qualifiers, my friend Sourav Das was so excited that he forgot which side he was playing for! His teammate Gopal Das managed a great shot and might have scored a goal if it were not for Sourav who saved it – forgetting that he was not the defender of the opponent team but the striker for his own team!

Further, this event helped me stumble upon other ‘sports gems’ like me who manage to mesmerize the audience with their stunning performance and skills – my friend Sujay Ghosh (who played for 8 minutes then returned injured – he was seen on the ground face-down, before he returned) and another friend Alok (who played for 3 minutes then returned injured). Of course I was leader of the gang as I ended up being the 12th man (who played for 4 minutes and returned – touched the ball just once 😉

What I want to mention is that the idea of these events are not just playing or showing great football skills, instead we were there to have some fun. I am sure everyone enjoyed themselves thoroughly. So – come one come all – play next year and you might get as lucky as me!

Truly a day with a difference!

For photos of the event, click here

Abhisek Gupta is Executive – Human Resource at eRevMax and is responsible for recruitments and HR operations. Abhisek is based out of Kolkata and can be reached at abhisekg@erevmax.com

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Selling Rooms


Check out where I am speaking as part of the Northern Ireland Hotel Federation on Wednesday 12th September. Very much looking forward to meeting the hotels in and around Belfast and finding out the challenges they face in their local market.

The travel industry is rather small in Northern Ireland, representing just 4.7% of its workforce and contributing to 2.1% of GDP. The region expects to attract between 1.5 -1.6 million visitors in 2013. For the hotel industry there is a great opportunity to stand out, 30% of all internet searches are related to accommodation for Northern Ireland, so there is room for growth and diversity.

Northern Ireland has fared well so far in 2012 with increases in visitors, holiday-makers and tourism revenue – could this be explained as a result of the Staycation in the UK?

I am interested to learn the scenario for hotels this year, according to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) hotel room sales were up 11% in June 2012 compared to June 2011 and occupancy hitting the 78% mark, up from 70%.

It appears from the statistics that 4* – 5* hotels fared well, infact showing some strong occupancy figures. Though potentially the biggest struggle for hotels appears to be ADR, this has fallen by 1.1% in the past year, it seems that occupancy may have to give way to ADR at this point.

The leading OTAs in Northern Ireland:
Ebookers.ie: One of Ireland’s leading online travel providers and offers flights, car hire and over 25,000 hotels worldwide.
 

HotelClub.ie: Offers over 48,000 hotels Worldwide for bookings up to 365 days in advance.

Laterooms.com: Offers over 500,000 hotel deals throughout the UK and Worldwide. EURO prices available.

Lastminute.ie: Offers a vast range of hotels and discount flights. EURO prices available.

Bookit365.com:  Offers you direct access to the Hotels.ie and expedia.com range of hotels.


Ryan C Haynes is VP – Marketing Communications at eRevMax and is responsible for driving all PR and Marketing activities for RateTiger and eRevMax brands globally. Ryan is based out of London and can be reached at ryanh@ratetiger.com