Category: Industry News

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Travel Technology and Business Travel Show, Earls Court – London




We attended the annual Travel Technology and Business Travel Show last week to meet customers, potential new clients and find out how our business partners are coping with 2009. The event hosted at Earls Court in London brings together the UK corporate travel companies to discuss technology and trends in business travel.

We were hoping to see a few PMS systems, but not this year. The whole Travel Technology Show was smaller than previous years with only a few booking systems and data management companies. On the second day the number of attendees seemed very low. Many of the businesses exhibiting at the fair admitted it had been much quieter than 2008.

During the Business Travel Show, the current economic conditions were mentioned a number of times by various people and very few were optimistic about the upcoming year. We also noticed an increase in the number of apartment companies who were exhibiting, but many do not sell through on-line bookings yet and therefore do not understand the opportunities of online channel management technologies.

Only very few hotels were exhibiting although we did have the chance to have lengthy conversations with the groups that were present. It is pre-dominantly a show for Travel Management companies and considering, the shows are run together, there were very few Online Travel Agencies. We spoke to HRS, Hotel.info and Hotelshop UK Ltd. all of whom said they liked the show, but it certainly did not seem busy to us. Furthermore, unfortunately, none of the seminars were relevant to us deciding to look at the credit crunch and social media tools to increase online visibility.

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Fitur (Feria Internacional de Turismo) Madrid 28-31 January 2009-02-09

Fitur 2009 had a unique focus on technology and sustainability, which proved positive for us as hotels looked for new markets, new channels and new technology to increase room sales. Hoteliers expressed interest in contracting with more extranets to increase Online Distribution activities and looking at what their competitors are doing across the internet. Many clients are looking for integration to distribute their rates and availability from their CRS to other IDSs

Technology and Sustainability: New technological tools and sustainability was the basis of this 29th edition of Fitur. It was the 1st edition of the conference SMXTravel @ FITUR 2009, showing “all the secrets of the internet” in tourism marketing. It also highlights this year’s edition of Fiturtech 09 that includes, among others, Web 3.0, a 2.0 development environment that integrates a social network with the internal and external customer. Fitur had addressed the demand of the sector regarding online business, and this was extremely positive for RateTiger as we commit to more effectiveness in presentations held with hotels interested in our products.

There is a vast opportunity in the market for Hoteliers to boost incremental revenues. Following in the footsteps of the Low Cost Carriers – hotel companies are adding ancillary products and services to add up to 20% to their bottom line.

However, according to the director of International Tourism Fair in Madrid (FITUR), Ana Larrañaga, there was a 10% fall in visitors on 2008. 
The snowbound weekend had made it difficult for this event to reach or surpass last year’s 250,000 visitors. 


Exhibitors were also at a low – there were 13% less hoteliers and a 9% drop in the number of companies for 2009. Despite the criticism directed at Fitur by some hoteliers on the price per square meter and the challenging organizational structures, the general feeling is that the event was “very positive” and “satisfaction from those who attended it.”

Hoteliers had agreed that “in a difficult economic climate, we can not deny that many companies have been affected by the slowdown and this has had its impact on Fitur”. Despite the situation, they said nothing is more important “when business is especially difficult when we are urged to generate at a meeting point like Fitur where professionals network and it’s valuable generation of new alliances, creativity and ways of doing business to reveal how to boost profits using ancillary strategies”

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RateTiger Nominated for the Retail Business Show Awards 2009

RateTiger has been nominated and short listed in The Retail Business Show Awards 2009 for its leading channel management product.

The Retail Business Show Awards, to be held Wednesday 29 January 2009 at The Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair, London, comprises 15 categories, including Hospitality Solution. RateTiger has been identified and selected as one of three companies that have understood the hospitality market and made a significant difference to it’s customers in 2008.

RTAllocator – a tool that helps hoteliers to manage their rates and inventory across multiple online distribution channels – was submitted after a successful installation at award-winning Hotel53 in York. Hotel53 experienced a revenue increase of 10% and occupancy levels rose by 15% in the first few months of use.

RateTiger has been expanding rapidly internationally, as it becomes a leader in channel management applications. Earlier this year the company received certification from Expedia for its room rate and inventory distribution technologies for the hospitality industry. RateTiger is also backed by ISO-27001:2005 certification that implements security controls customised to the needs of individual businesses to protect information assets and give confidence to hoteliers using RateTiger products.

Front of House Manager Sarah Culshaw had been logging online each day to update all websites manually making it a time-consuming activity taking over eight hours each week. Since the installation of RateTiger products Sarah saved 75% of her time managing the different sales channels.

About the product Culshaw said: ““Because all our rates can now be updated almost instantly, it not only frees up a lot more of my time, but it means we can react more quickly to the market. We have four different room types, and thanks to RTAllocator Lite, I can now make 16 daily rate updates very quickly and very accurately. Even though RTAllocator Lite is easy to use, even for a virtual novice, it is reassuring to know that there is round-the-clock help so that any difficulties can be resolved straight away.”

The final judging panel consists of Miya Knights – Editor of Retail Technology Magazine, Jon Davison, Managing Vice President, Gartner Industry Advisory Services, Retail, Paul Rodgers, Chairman, Vendorcom, James Roper, CEO, IMRG and Richard Cobbold, CEO, The Screen

“This is a great achievement for the RateTiger team and truly shows the value of our channel management technologies,” said Sascha Hausmann, COO. “The return for Hotel53 represents the benefits hoteliers across the industry can reap from using intelligent shopping and allocation products for rooms and rates across third party distribution channels. We have been making extraordinary developments in 2008 and this is the icing on the cake as we end a successful year.”

Judges will focus on entries that either exhibit a measurable business benefit and bottom line contribution or show genuine innovation and development, complete with evidence to demonstrate the underlying core value of bringing tangible benefits to the end user.

To view the shortlisted companies in each of the 15 award categories visit: http://www.trbsawards.co.uk/content/shortlisted-companies