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Newshound: Trends and Reports – Hotel Online Distribution


How much exactly a hotel should invest in Internet marketing in 2012
Allocating the appropriate amount of your property’s overall marketing budget to online marketing can be more of an art, than science. Here’s why you need a significant investment in online marketing to increase direct bookings and key areas to focus your efforts on to realise the highest digital ROI.                                                                                                
http://www.eyefortravel.com/news/hotels/how-much-exactly-hotel-should-invest-internet-marketing-2012

Google, Facebook and TripAdvisor on what’s next for online travel

 Which emerging trends will fizzle, and which will pop? What is the most significant opportunity (or critical threat) that our industry faces? Which disruptive forces will re-shape the online travel landscape as we know it in the next years?                                                                                                    
http://hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/google_facebook_and_tripadvisor_on_whats_next_for_online_travel 

How OTA hotel reviews drive bookingsMove over, TripAdvisor. There’s a new leader of hotel reviews in town: online travel agencies. According to a PhoCusWright study of 27,000 U.S. hotels comprising 65 major brands, two out of every three online traveler reviews were posted to an OTA. The remaining third, or 34%, were posted to a travel review site like TripAdvisor.                                                                  
http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/6295/How-OTA-hotel-reviews-drive-bookings

Study: Despite Soft Spots, 2011 Global Business Travel Poised To Surpass $1 Trillion Global business travel this year will jump 9.2 percent and surpass $1 trillion, according to a Global Business Travel Association Foundation study. That increase would follow an 8.4 percent bump during 2010, which more than offset a nearly 8 percent decline in 2009.                                                                                                                                                                               
http://www.businesstravelnews.com/Worldwide-Travel/Study–Despite-Soft-Spots,-2011-Global-Business-Travel-Poised-To-Surpass-$1-Trillion/?a=trans 
 

RevPAR Growth Momentum Expected to Yield to New Economic Reality According to PwC US Lodging Industry Forecast
An updated lodging forecast released today by PwC US shows that the lodging recovery is largely intact, yet a resetting of the economic outlook has lowered expectations of revenue per available room (RevPAR) growth for the remainder of the year.                                                                                                                                                                  http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/154000320/4052784.html 
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eRevMax – RateTiger Marks Its 10th Anniversary

eRevMax International, global software and services provider and owner of RateTiger, SimpleDistribution and Lunar Logic Polska, today celebrates its tenth corporate anniversary.  The company has specialized in revenue and distribution solutions for the hospitality industry for a decade, having launched one of the very first electronic, online and hotel website room rate shopping services in early 2002.

The lead product brand, RateTiger, was one of the first to focus on bookings and revenue from the internet. The channel manager launched within a couple of months of incorporation and was built to specifications requested by hoteliers. RateTiger today is setting a standard in the online revenue maximization market with the largest and most diverse distribution network of over 700 connect channels worldwide.

“Over the last ten years, eRevMax has seen significant growth as the company has strictly adhered to the founders belief in innovative and qualitative solutions,” said Sascha Hausmann, CEO, eRevMax International, “I would attribute this success to our focus on deploying only the best high-quality technology and the dedication we’ve had from our employees over the last 10 years, especially from our founding CTO, Udai Singh Solanki. Reaching this milestone in our company’s history is a true testament to everyone who’s been involved, from the technicians to our customers – who have really helped shape the technology that it is today.”

This year also marks the expansion of eRevMax International to new territories in Australia, New Zealand, China and South Africa. Earlier in the year the company acquired Lunar Logic Polska, a Poland-based web and digital development company to spur channel management, rate shopping and strategy technologies into the next generation. 

http://www.etravelblackboard.com/article/122877/erevmax-8211-ratetiger-marks-its-10th-anniversary

http://www.hospitalitybizindia.com/detailNews.aspx?aid=11641&sid=1

http://zeenews.india.com/biz/businesswire/28090news.html 

http://www.technology4hospitality.com/2011/09/erevmax-%E2%80%93-ratetiger-marks-its-10th-anniversary/

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Newshound: Trends and Reports – Hotel Online Distribution


What’s Around the Corner for Hospitality Distribution & RM?

As the hospitality sector continues to morph and be shaped by forces old and new, I caught up with Mark Molinari, Vice President of Revenue Management & Distribution at the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, to find out what key issues lie ahead for the hospitality and gaming industries. 
http://www.eyefortravel.com/news/europe/what%E2%80%99s-around-corner-hospitality-distribution-rm

Paid search producing positive results for hoteliers

Paid search advertising is becoming more commonplace by hotel marketers as a cost-effective, high-yielding e-marketing tool to help drive consumers to their respective website booking engines.
http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/154000392/4052649.html

European hotels on recovery track

The European hotel performance picture is a positive one, according to STR Global’s Konstanze Auernheimer. “Hotel performance is doing really well,” said the director of marketing and analysis at STR Global, a sister company to HotelNewsNow.com.
http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/6255/European-hotels-on-recovery-track

Demand records are made to be broken

Last summer, in July 2010, you probably heard a lot of hype about the U.S. hotel industry selling the most hotel roomnights ever, breaking records and setting milestones. http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Blog.aspx/6258/Demand-records-are-made-to-be-broken

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RateTiger launches hotel price transparency tool


Travel technology company RateTiger has launched a new tool that allows hotels to assess its room prices across the trade and retail. The price shopping service, named RTSnapShot, will alert hotels over price discrepancies online through a one-off report service. It is aimed at helping companies better understand rate performance during a specific location or event.

“We’ve been inundated by requests from corporations and travel management companies to tailor our RTCorp service to allow them to get just a snap shot of the hotel marketplace,” said Keith Watson, Division President – RTCorp at RateTiger. “Whilst many of our customers need to receive regular rate data to monitor prices, some in the corporate space need it only monthly or quarterly dependent on events or budget planning. RTSnapShot gives them only the most relevant pricing data without long-term commitment to an ongoing subscription, making better sense for budgets and rate planning.”


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Newshound: Trends and Reports – Hotel Online Distribution


Revenue Measurement Is Not Revenue Management

In pricing and revenue management, hedging your bets with a tried-and-true process may actually be riskier than taking a chance on something different. It sounds counterintuitive, but the fact is that the conservative route to pricing practices is costing big hospitality firms millions in revenue, risking their future viability.
http://www.hotelexecutive.com/subscribe/2669/

Integrating e-commerce into a hotel’s overall business strategy

Commerce should be a compliment to every part of a hotel’s operations. All staff members need to be briefed on the advantages of taking a collaborative approach to e-commerce.The front desk staff, for example, needs to understand the correlation of stellar customer service on online guest reviews and the ability of a hotel to sell its products online.
http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4052549.html

Online traveler review volume continues to grow

A new report from PhoCusWright reveals that online hotel review volume expanded significantly in 2010, as traveler opinion plays an increasingly powerful role in the online travel search-shop-buy process. PhoCusWright’s Social Media in Travel 2011: Traffic, Activity and Sentiment analyzes nearly 2.9 million online traveler reviews, covering more than 26,000 U.S. properties of 65 top hotel brands.
http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/44789-Online-traveler-review-volume-continues-to-grow

“RM now moving away from overall profitability towards customer centric profitability”

It is critical to understand that the interests of the hotel are the same as protecting your most valuable customers, says Devdutta Banerjee, Regional Director – Revenue Management, India Bangladesh and Nepal, Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
http://www.eyefortravel.com/news/hotels/%E2%80%9Crm-now-moving-away-overall-profitability-towards-customer-centric-profitability%E2%80%9D

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eRevMax Expands its Global Footprint in America, Africa & Asia


eRevMax International, a global software and services house, has announced further expansion of its brands RateTiger and SimpleDistribution. The company has opened sales offices and representations in Australia, South Africa, South America and China.

The new offices will strengthen eRevMax International’s global market leadership in the hospitality and travel industries while enabling the company to enter new markets in Asia Pacific and South America. This will help keeping up with the growing demand of its products as well as its commitment to customers to provide local presence and support.

The two lead product brands, RateTiger and SimpleDistribution, have positioned eRevMax International as a thought leader of online distribution and revenue management. The solutions offer channel management technology and services to enhance hotel’s sales capabilities that have been recognized with the European Seal of e-Excellence for the Marketing of Innovation for the last three years (2009, 2010 & 2011).

http://www.mydigitalfc.com/news/erevmax-buy-two-more-hospitality-tech-firms-738

http://orientalhospitality.com/erevmax-expands-its-global-footprint-in-asia-america-africa

http://www.htrends.com/article57011ERevMax_Expands_Its_Global_Footprint_in_Asia__America___Africa.html



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Newshound: Trends and Reports – Hotel Online Distribution


Defining success in revenue management

The best revenue managers are those who can not only mine the most data but those who can present it in the clearest, simplest way to support agreed-upon organizational goals.
http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/6082/Defining-success-in-revenue-management

Corporate Travel Volume Hints at +15% Growth through August

The corporate hotel market saw global bookings increase +8.8% in June, according to data released today from Pegasus Solutions in The Pegasus View. Reinforcing healthy gains made overall in the first half of the year, the growth in business travel bookings could potentially climb to +15% through August, and possibly higher into the third quarter.
http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2011_3rd/Jul11_PegasusViewJune.html

Google Launches Hotel Search Tool With Room Price Data

Google has launched Hotel Finder, an experimental search tool, which enables users to define key lodging preferences in hopes of finding the perfect hotel for their travel needs.
http://www.hospitalitynet.org/external/4052400.html

Hotels Must Adapt to Shorter Booking Windows

Meeting planners have limited time to get their jobs done. And, if they can’t find outside space quickly enough, they just may hold their meetings at corporate headquarters. Hotels can keep the business if they’re prepared to help meeting planners hit their deadlines, says Mike Mason, ZEO and founder of Winter Garden, Florida-based, technology startup Zentila.
http://lhonline.com/news/hotels_adapt_shorter_booking_windows_0727/

The Price Is Right – Maybe

Pricing is a powerful and proven strategy for improving profitability, yet few organizations know how to do pricing well. “Pricing and Profitability Management: A Practical Guide for Business Leaders,” a new book released today by Deloitte, helps organizations to better understand and implement effective pricing management.
http://4hoteliers.com/4hots_fshw.php?mwi=6210

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Golden Tulip Implements ExtraConnect

Pegasus Solutions® and RateTiger Launch Collaborative Solution with One of World’s Largest Hospitality Groups

Louvre Hotels Group, one of the largest hospitality groups in the world, has implemented ExtraConnect, an integrated central reservation and channel management system from industry leaders Pegasus Solutions and RateTiger by eRevMax International. It is the first central reservation system (CRS) to combine the next generation enterprise delivery of Pegasus’ RezView® NG with the powerful channel management capabilities of RateTiger’s leading Channel Management technology.
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Java SE 7 Event in Kolkata

Live demonstration of Java SE7 from the one of the developers himself?? 
 
Can it get better than this?

We, the eRevMax Java User Group, had the opportunity to learn and discuss the new Java SE7 features and functionality ahead of its global official release on 28th July, 2011. Chuk-Munn Lee, from Oracle Singapore, was the speaker at the pre-launch event organized jointly by Oracle and eRevMax.

Udai Singh Solanki, CTO & MD, eRevMax was instrumental in organizing this event and played the perfect host. Chuk did a great presentation and explained the upcoming features and specifications of Java SE7 and answered our never ending questions with a smile.

Chuk proved to be a great orator and was a pleasure to listen to. He seemed to radiate a very positive energy and his affable manners made him the star of the event. Listening about Java never seemed so interesting earlier!

With all of us participants bombarding him with questions, Chuk almost missed his flight. But not before Udai has presented him a nice ethnic Bengal memorabilia. There was something for us too. We got to take home Java branded T-shirts sent by Oracle especially for the event.

Swarnadeep Mondol is Sr. Software Engineer at eRevMax. He is based out of Kolkata, India and can be reached at swarnadeepm@erevmax.com


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HITEC 2011

This year’s edition of HITEC, the world’s largest hospitality technology exposition and conference, took place in Austin, Texas. We attended the four day event and made the most of it. Having had our stand in one of the main sections helped us meet a lot of people.

HITEC is a combination of hospitality technology education, led by industry peers and experts, and a trade show showcasing the latest hospitality technology products and services.

The event offers us a B2B platform that introduces us to new contacts for our various product lines. This is our chance to present our powerful back-end tools for vendors and large hotel chains, RTCorp and RTConnect, though it amazes me how much of the industry is playing catch-up with new business revenue models through the internet.

Tradeshows like these provide us an opportunity to see how customers and the industry in general perceive RateTiger. We always get to hear good reviews and appreciation, which further encourages us to innovate and develop new features and products to serve the sector better.

Gerard Carrie is VP Sales – Americas at eRevMax. He is based out of Florida, USA and can be reached at gerardc@ratetiger.com