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Hungary Hotel Association General Assembly


Earlier in November, I was in Budapest to attend the General Assembly of the Hungary Hotel Association. It turned out to be a great event with many hotels attending. The Association President election was also held on this occasion.

Sascha Hausmann, CEO, eRevMax International was present at the event and was invited to do a presentation on the ‘Evolution of Online Channel Management’. The session was very well received and there was a lot of interest among hoteliers to understand new technology trends in online distribution.


Other topics of discussion revolved around issues related to tourism in Hungary, need for better industry statistics and election of the new president. The event provided a good networking opportunity and the Gala Dinner was great.

Overall it was a nice platform to meet up industry partners and hoteliers in a professional setting. I look forward to the next edition.

Lilian Stjepanovic is Sales Manager – Eastern Europe at eRevMax and is responsible for sales of RateTiger products in the region. She can be reached at lilians@ratetiger.com
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ERevMax International Appoints VP-Human Resources to Drive Corporate Development and Indian Expansion

eRevMax International, a global software and services company, has appointed Ms. Anupama Dasgupta as Vice President-HR, to spearhead its Indian and international expansion plan.

As the Head of Human Resources in India, Anupama will be responsible to further develop the recruitment, HR and training strategy to continue eRevMax’s strong commitment towards nurturing future leaders within the industry sector. In a career spanning 14 years, she has been associated with firms across a range of industries leading HR programmes that contribute to organizational change to meet expansion and growth targets.

Announcing the appointment, Mr. Udai Solanki, Managing Director – India, eRevMax International said, “With increasing demand for our products, services and expertise, it is essential we continue to further invest in our internal processes to help execute our growth plans over the next few years. As we proceed to scale up our Indian and global operations, we are pleased to have Anupama in our leadership to oversee this endeavor. Her vast people management experience will contribute to our overall recruitment strategy and develop the training tools, initiatives and internal employee support networks to grow our people in-line with the growth of the business.”


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Newshound: Trends and Reports – Hotel Online Distribution


RateTiger launches Apple Mac version

RateTiger announced the launch of its RTSuite for Macintosh OS X. RTSuite, RateTiger’s premium rate shopping and channel management product has now been developed for Mac users. It will give hoteliers greater flexibility with rates and availability which they can now update via their MacBook.
http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/46716-RateTiger-launches-Apple-Mac-version

Booked.net Integrates with RateTiger for Improved Update Functionality

Hoteliers’ can now update Booked.net through RateTiger’s XML interface transferring data in real-time. This development will enhance the performance of communication between the two systems and provides hotels with the ability to update Booked.net instantaneously with the correct rates and availability.
http://hotelmule.com/showthread.php?5946-Booked.net-Integrates-with-RateTiger-for-Improved-Update-Functionality

How well do you (and your team) know your competition?

Maximising your knowledge of your competitors’ product is a vital tool in any hotel’s sales and marketing efforts and investment decision making. However recent experience suggests that some of the basics are being forgotten. Today individual hotels, as well as large hotel companies, have access to more information than ever about their competitive performance and customer views.
http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4054053.html

Mystery travel: A new distribution channel

Several companies are cashing in on the mystery-travel trend, and hoteliers around the globe are utilizing the trips as a new opaque distribution channel.  According to EuroMonitor International’s Global Trends Report, mystery trips are quickly gaining popularity with consumers in North America.
http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/7106/Mystery-travel-A-new-distribution-channel

Last-minute hotel reservations on the rise

Smartphones are empowering a segment of hotel customers often overlooked by the industry: last-minute buyers who aren’t traveling. Hoping to draw impulsive buyers addicted to daily coupon alerts, hotels and online travel agencies are introducing a flurry of new specials and features targeting those who book a room locally on the day of the stay.
http://www.hospitalitynet.org/external/4054078.html

Hotel demand up in key central African cities

Hotel demand grew strongly across the three main economic centres in Western and Eastern Africa for year-to-date October 2011, compared to the previous year, according to data from STR Global, the leading provider of market information to the global hotel industry. Demand grew 27.9 percent in Lagos, Nigeria, 19.4 percent in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and 10.7 percent in Nairobi, Kenya.
http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/7083/Hotel-demand-up-in-key-central-African-cities

UK hotel prices explode for New Year’s

For the New Year’s Eve weekend report, cities across Europe such as Prague (268 percent increase), Edinburgh (196 percent increase), Venice (130 percent increase) and Amsterdam (119 percent increase) have significantly increased hotel prices compared to their average price for December. The UK has likewise experienced a jump in prices.
http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/46734-UK-hotel-prices-explode-for-New-Year%E2%80%99s

Extended-stay 2012 RevPAR to outpace industry

Extended-stay hotels and the overall hotel industry follow very similar cycles. Consequently, if STR’s forecast of significantly lower revenue-per-available-room growth in the hotel industry during 2012 compared to 2011 is realized, extended-stay hotels likely are to follow a similar trend.
http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/7046/Extended-stay-2012-RevPAR-to-outpace-industry

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WTM 2011: RateTiger Updates

The recently concluded World Travel Market in ExCel London was a well organized show and one of the best in recent times. It provided good opportunities to visitors and exhibitors to do business as well as reach out to new contacts.

RateTiger was present in full force and most of our Sales Managers from across the globe descended upon London to witness this grand show. Below are excerpts from some of their feedback on the event –

Pilar Sanchez Aita, Sales Manager – Spain & Portugal says, “This year’s edition was excellent; it helped me further strengthen customer relations and gain new prospects. The main topics of my discussions revolved around new revenue trends such Flash sales (Groupon), Social Media booking engine, online distribution, the affect of the recession on Southern European markets for domestic travel, etc. RateTiger’s stand location was fantastic, which helped generate a lot of traffic.”

Ryan Haynes, VP – Global Marketing says, “This had to be the best show RateTiger has done in the 5 years of exhibiting at WTM. It was certainly the year for Technology and a year for Channel Management solutions with all global enterprises present and visible at the show. We had a busy four days and a very successful presentation on the second day delivered by Keith Povah.”

“As for the core discussions – Channel management, for the first time, was a key topic of conversation, while social media tried to reign supreme. Again the recent news and discussion surrounding TripAdvisor was not sitting well with hoteliers. Hotels are looking for tangible results from marketing and sales strategies and distribution was answering most of their questions. Many exhibitors were talking about RateTiger – some nice free marketing.”

Lilian Stjepanovic, Sales Manager – Eastern Europe quipped in, “The show was fantastic as I got to meet a lot of hoteliers from my region. Having the same stand location helps in the sense that most people know where to find us. Overall, a great show which makes a lot of business sense.”

Keith Watson, Division President – RTCorp concluded, “This year’s show was very successful. My team took the opportunity to setup many meetings with prospects we have been cultivating over the last 12 months. These went very well. We also met with some new potential customers, who liked what they saw in RTCorp. Our discussions focused around filtering shopped rates as well as better understanding price comparison websites.”

All in all, a grand show, very well organized and an event that will see RateTiger come back every year.

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eRevMax Anniversary Celebration – 10 years of innovation

The official corporate eRevMax 10th Anniversary celebration took place at the Nutfield Priory Hotels & Spa in Redhill Surrey. The evening event with VIP guests, business associates and partners was abuzz with discussion and interaction.

An exclusive meal followed a champagne reception in an elegant reception suite at the hotel accompanied by a string quartet of classical music. The founding presidents, Reuel Ghosh and Andrew Morsi, with the CEO, Sascha Hausmann delivered a speech reminiscing on a decade of eRevMax and RateTiger, recounting some of the more hilarious business encounters and silly mistakes all small businesses experience as they grow.

Following the dinner and it being Guy Fawkes Night in the UK it was the perfect opportunity to bring out the fireworks. We were entertained by a 15-minute firework display brightening the dark and dry cool night sky. After, we finished the evening in the bar to a soundtrack of light jazz music by band – Delta Detour.


To round the evening, our guests stayed the Nutfield Priory Hotel & Spa, enjoying everything the exquisite hotel has to offer. We’re now looking forward to celebrating many more successful decades in business.

Ryan Haynes is VP – Global Marketing at eRevMax and is responsible for driving all PR and Marketing activities of eRevMax and its various product brands globally. Ryan is based out of London and can be reached at ryanh@ratetiger.com
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Tigers in London for game planning

Tigers from across the world congregated in London, UK for the annual strategy convention. RateTiger representatives from Asia, Europe, South America and USA came to Reigate in Surrey to discuss plans for world domination.

In total there were about 30 of us looking at the new trends in channel management, the challenges hoteliers are facing and the effects that the economic situation could have on hotels. The International Sales Meeting gives us the opportunity to share best practices, identify similarities in market behaviours and plan product development to meet the new demands that hoteliers are facing with pricing, distribution and bookings.

This event is always an eye-opener as we discover there are similarities between Asia and USA while many European countries behave differently to each other. The past year has also seen emerging markets becoming more relevant for our technologies; through a series of regional sales presentations we learned which market wants what product immediately showing the differences in approach by revenue managers.


The three-day conference gave us all the opportunity to meet in person away from our emails and Skype in favour for more real discussion, debate and laughter. Now RateTiger has completed a very successful 10 years in the business, the team are pent up to drive forward for the next decade.

We’re ready for 2012.

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

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ITB Asia 2011

The fourth edition of ITB Asia gave a record performance and attracted 7511 trade visitors representing 91 countries. Exhibitors from over 70 countries were represented from as far as Botswana, Finland, Croatia and Iraq as well as partner country Japan who reported an increase in business activity at ITB Asia 2011, reiterating the strength of the regional travel industry despite economic uncertainties.

RateTiger was among the exhibiting team and had a great show. I was there as part of the Asian sales team and was very glad to meet old and new clients as most people attending the show are now aware of our presence in this event. We received rave reviews about our product as well as visibility in the region.

Our discussions with hoteliers and travel fraternity revolved around the benefits of integrating with RateTiger as well as the necessity of Channel Management software in today’s time. Keith Povah, Division President – RTSuite gave a presentation on “The evolving world of hotel online distribution” which was very well received by attendees.

We had a pretty successful show and managed to create various new contacts. I look forward to ITB Asia 2012 which is expected to be bigger and better. 

Kenneth Yeo is Sales Manager – APAC at eRevMax and is responsible for sales of RateTiger products in the region. He is based out of Singapore and can be reached at kennethy@ratetiger.com
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The Park Hotels Installs RateTiger To Gain Competitive Price Intelligence

The Indian hotel chain with nine luxury properties in major Indian cities has implemented RTSuite Shopper, RateTiger’s online real-time rate shopping tool in five of its leading properties. The tool helps them analyze their market position by comparing competitor rate information across various OTAs as well as the GDSs. These rate reports help the hotel make informed decisions and react to market conditions in a timely and effective manner.

Rohit Arora, Corporate Director Sales & Marketing, The Park Hotels commented, “We have been using RTSuite Shopper for around two months and are very satisfied with it. RateTiger’s pricing reports are always accurate and up-to-date to the minute. We have so much confidence in the reports that we don’t want to look back. Earlier we gathered pricing data manually which took us around two – three hours for each hotel. With the implementation of RTSuite Shopper, we have saved a lot of time spending just ten minutes to monitor data for each hotel. This, in itself, speaks a lot about the tool’s efficiency and importance.”

Mr. Arora further states, “RateTiger’s easy-to-use functionalities make it a product of choice for us, while the different formats in which we can export reports further make it valuable. And the Rate Alert feature is simply amazing. You do not have to keep checking, whenever any competitor’s price goes beyond a defined threshold, the tool gives you an Alert and you can act instantly. RateTiger truly makes technology work for you.”

 
 
 
 
 
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eRevMax Annual Day Celebration 2011

“Lights, Camera, Action!” Our 10th year Anniversary celebration was nothing short of a glitz and glam affair and the evening was one to remember. eRevMax recently completed its 10th year in the industry and celebrations were truly spectacular. Thanks to the mesmerizing and enchanting music by maestro Tanmoy Bose and the crowd pulling songs by popular singer Rupankar, it became a grand show.

The evening was made even more special with the felicitation of our CTO & MD Udai Singh Solanki for completing 10 years with eRevMax. The emotion in his eyes and the tenderness in his voice said it all. Founder President Reuel Ghosh paid him a befitting tribute for his dedication and vision in helping mold the company to where it stands today.

When CEO Sascha Hausmann popped open the bottle of champagne to raise a toast for Udai, we got to witness a comical fun moment – our COO Michael McCartan showed his dexterous skills by catching hold of the flying cork with immense ease.

This was followed by a surprise. The senior team comprising of Founder Presidents Reuel Ghosh and Andrew Morsi, CEO Sascha Hausmann, COO Michael McCartan, CTO Udai Singh Solanki and CFO Lars Hahn (who unfortunately could not attend) were presented with their caricatures which were hilarious as well as personal. We eRevMaxians truly appreciate their commendable work and responsible leadership which drives the company to new heights.

Another important section of the evening – the Annual Awards ceremony, is always a special moment when the efforts of eRevMaxians are recognized. Whether it is for New Cubs, Employee of the Year, Innovations for future products or for Best Managers, each one was given due recognition for all the sweat and hard work. 


The evening wore on with good food and free flowing spirit while many of us had a gala time on the dance floor. All in all, it was a Night to Remember and we look forward to many more such celebrations, success and prosperity in time to come.

Krystan Mark De’Cunha is Senior Executive, Escalation Support at eRevMax and provides support to RTConnect clients globally. He is based out of Kolkata, India and can be reached at krystanm@erevmax.com