Get the Best Hotel Channel Manager Tips from RateTiger – Page 33 – Hotel Channel Management

September 16, 2019September 16, 2019

Morocco Enjoys A Positive Year for Travel

Morocco, considered as the gateway to Africa, is a country offering heritage cities, sprawling mountain ranges, golden deserts and warm hospitality. The country has been experiencing a surge in tourism over the last few years and continues to feature in the bucket list of many travelers.

Between 2000 and 2018, Morocco has averaged an annual growth of 6 percent in tourism arrivals, which is two points higher than global tourism growth. In 2018 itself, Morocco received 12.3 million tourists, up 8% from the previous year. Marrakech, the most visited Moroccan city, recorded over 2.4 million tourist arrivals from January to November, in addition to 2.6 million scheduled hotel stays through the end of 2018.

These figures are a testimony to Morocco’s growing prominence as a major tourist destination as well as the contribution of tourism revenue towards the country’s GDP. Research studies show that this growth is partly due to the rise of internet and mobile bookings, allowing people from far off places to be able to research, compare and make flight and hotel bookings online – easily and conveniently.

While the traditional offline booking channels continue to remain strong, the growth of online sales channels and travel intermediaries have been phenomenal over the last few years. So much so that online and offline booking numbers now have very similar levels of value sales. This growth, however, has not been overnight and has various factors that led to this change.

Over time, domestic tourism has received a major boost, especially with the introduction of secure online payments. Further, OTAs and other sales channels have been offering promotions and discounts on online bookings, which is proving to be attractive for travellers. Not only has this impacted domestic tourism – it has led to a rise in international tourists who are now making a beeline for Morocco to experience its rich culture and ornate architecture.

With the Government chipping in to increase tourism by relaxing visa requirements for certain countries, Morocco witnessed an impressive ten-fold increase in Chinese tourist arrivals over the last three years – from 10,000 in 2015 to nearly 180,000 last year.

Further, the rapid development in mobile technology and popularity of social media platforms has literally put travel research and booking into the hands of people. Not only can travelers search and book, travel suppliers too can advertise on these platforms to get in front of potential guests and generate online bookings by providing a defined customer journey through various touchpoints.

With increasing competition and price sensitive guests, hoteliers need to ensure they are visible on multiple OTAs and metasearch channels as well as keep their brand website updated to be able to achieve maximum occupancy and meet revenue targets. Hence, knowing the right channels that bring business to your city is a key and being connected to them is very important for your online sales strategy. To find out how you can improve online revenue, contact us today and speak to our connectivity advisor – https://goo.gl/3gKUJZ

*source- mordorintelligence, moroccoworldnews

September 12, 2019January 28, 2020

The Week, That Was – September 2019 Week 2

In five minutes or less, keep track of the most important news of the week, curated just for you. We present to you hand – picked news on latest industry perspectives and some general updates. Read on!!

EuroParkHotel International’s formula for success with online distribution – RateTiger + BookOnlineNow

Optimizes connectivity and improves online room sales

https://bit.ly/2kxDSS7

Analysis of Google’s Room Booking Module and its impact on direct sales

Google Hotel Ads is the fastest-growing metasearch engine, attracting over 60% of all investment in metasearch. And Google continues to move forward at a giddy pace, surprising us every now and again with new and significant developments.

https://www.mirai.com/blog/analysis-of-googles-room-booking-module-and-its-impact-on-direct-sales/

Why hoteliers are primed to be the ultimate retailer

The days of hotels simply providing rooms and rates are numbered. Armed with guest data, physical space and local perspective, hoteliers are in a prime position to become the ultimate retailer.

https://www.sabrehospitality.com/blog/why-hoteliers-are-primed-to-be-the-ultimate-retailer/

Expedia to use AI to improve online search in Asian languages

Expedia will use Artificial Intelligence to enhance travel search query understanding and improve the accuracy of search query resolution in Asian languages. The group announced it is collaborating with AI Singapore (AISG) under its flagship 100 Experiments (100E) program to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) solution.

https://www.webintravel.com/expedia-to-use-ai-to-improve-online-search-in-asian-languages/

Ctrip changing name to Trip.com Group

Ctrip will become the third major online travel agency to change its name since 2018. The new proposed brand for the Shanghai-based company would be Trip.com Group Ltd. That follows the Priceline Group rebranding to Booking Holdings in 2018, which was followed shortly thereafter by Expedia Inc. becoming Expedia Group.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ctrip-changing-name-trip-com-020042959.html

Reach out to us for your connectivity needs to make the most of your online revenue- https://goo.gl/3gKUJZ

Thanks and have a good day!

September 5, 2019January 28, 2020

The Week, That Was – September 2019 Week 1

Hoteliers take a harder look at how they set room rates

Amateurs cut rates to fill hotel rooms. Pros take more sophisticated approaches, such as coordinating to stimulate demand from the most profitable customers. Revenue managers tend to focus on price-setting. Sales and marketing teams typically look at stimulating demand, such as by running email marketing campaigns or advertising on search engines like Google.

https://skift.com/2019/09/03/mgm-resorts-bet-on-rate-setting-tech-catches-notice-of-rivals/

Metasearch: What hotels get wrong

Metasearch is the industry’s fastest-growing distribution channel, yet many hoteliers still struggle to match the success of OTAs on the platform. So what are hotels doing wrong? In this latest webinar, Dr Jan Sammeck, Director of eCommerce at Deutsche Hospitality, discusses the twelve biggest mistakes hotels are making in their meta strategy.

Listen the recording – http://email.triptease.com/yoLV8mES0O03DJf05D00020

Hotels embrace role as curators of niche products

One of the most interesting opportunities for hospitality brands is to be a new and intimate discovery channel for consumers. This idea is nothing new, of course. Brands have been placing themselves in hotel rooms for ages: Aesop likely owes some of its initial rise to being placed in the rooms at Park Hyatt Tokyo before anyone knew the brand. The taste-making audience who stays there helped with global pollination at an early stage. It was old-school seeding. Right people, right context, new-feeling product. Magic can happen from that.

https://skift.com/2019/09/03/hotels-embrace-role-as-curators-of-niche-products/

Booking.com, Skyscanner, Ctrip and TripAdvisor join travel sustainability pact

Booking.com, Skyscanner, Ctrip, and TripAdvisor, alongside payment giant Visa, have come together to form Travalyst in an effort to “mobilize the travel industry as a catalyst for good, aiming to transform the future of travel for everyone.”

https://www.phocuswire.com/Sustainable-tourism-online-travel-launch-Travalyst

2020 Budget season tips: Mapping your hotel’s digital marketing budget

Should we invest in search marketing, display advertising, and/or metasearch advertising? In truth, there isn’t one standard way to divide your marketing budget up – it really varies from property to property. However, adopting a multi-channel approach is best to expand your reach and target different customers throughout their travel journey.

https://bit.ly/2lzohRY

Reach out to us for your connectivity needs to make the most of your online revenue- https://goo.gl/3gKUJZ

Thanks and have a good day!

September 4, 2019September 5, 2019

Bahrain – Middle East’s new hotspot

For a country of 1.4 million people, Bahrain,the small island nation in the Persian Gulf, receives about 16 million visitors every year. Driven largely by business travel, Bahrain has recently witnessed a surge in leisure travelers which together is expected to place the country’s tourism industry on track to reach its $1 billion 2020 target. The tourism sector is one of the key investment sectors and contributes 6.3% to the country’s GDP, and is set to grow significantly, as the number of visitors and leisure activities increase.

A popular destination for neighbouring countries, Bahrain has aggressively promoting tourism in the Indian luxury segment and has also emerged as a prime wedding destination. the occupancy of Bahrain’s five-star hotels stood at 53 percent during the quarter, compared to 50 percent in 2018. In the first quarter of 2019 the total number of nights by tourists reached 4.1 million nights, an average of 3.3 nights per tourist.

Online travel is growing significantly in the GCC driven by high penetration for smartphones and adoption of e-commerce. Online travel bookings represent approximately 32% of the overall bookings which is projected to reach 40% by 2021. Bahrain, which has almost 100% internet penetration, makes it an attractive option for hotels to sell more on online.

Hotels are increasingly adopting to the technology. According to a recent study by eRevMax, hotels in the region now use at least three travel technology applications. In lieu with the growth in online bookings, Channel Manager or OTA connectivity solution has become a must have to manage online sales channels.

As the online travel market becomes the key component of tourism ecosystem in the GCC, it has open up new digital opportunities for hotels to engage with their consumers and the rapidly growing young segment of the GCC population.

Bahrain is now a perfect hot spot for every nationality Americans, Europeans, and Middle Eastern travelling in the region. As a travel destination, Bahrain is perfect for all; from families with children to even solo women travellers.

Reach out to us for your connectivity needs to make the most of your online revenue- https://goo.gl/3gKUJZ

**Source – *voyagersworld, travelwirenews, arabianbusiness,zawya, economictimes**

September 2, 2019January 28, 2020

A playground where children’s creativity can run wild – Part 2

It’s time to rejoice as the children of Hatgacha Primary School in Kolkata, India now have their own playground. Further to our last update, the playground is ready and helping bring smile to the faces of young kids.

On one side it has helped reduce absenteeism while on the other, it helps children develop learning and creative skills. By playing together, they learn to get along, agree on rules and resolve conflict – all of which are necessary when building social skills.

If you want to encourage the link between playground equipment and child development, you need playgrounds that are designed to be beneficial for children. We are glad to be able to contribute in a very small way, to help some children get benefited from our CSR initiatives.

Here are some joyful glimpses –

August 28, 2019January 28, 2020

The Week, That Was – August 2019 Week 5

Booking.com and Expedia are growing in very different ways

eRevMax partners Expedia Group and Booking Holdings reported total revenues of $11.2 billion and $14.5 billion in 2018, respectively. Moreover, both the company’s revenues have grown at a similar CAGR of 19% since 2016.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/08/26/booking-holdings-and-expedia-are-both-growing-steadily-but-in-very-different-ways/#7515a5d21f04

A blockchain to reconcile hotel commissions

Travelport working with IBM, BCD Travel and three hotel chains—has created a minimum viable product solution that uses blockchain to reconcile the commissions hotels pay travel management companies.

https://www.businesstravelnews.com/Distribution/A-Blockchain-Way-to-Reconcile-Hotel-Commissions

Learning from the past: Cutting rates hurts everyone

An analysis of how quickly hoteliers responded to other hotels dropping rates in their competitive sets during the recession shows no one comes out a winner.

To have a better idea of what a potential downturn could mean for the U.S. hotel industry, it’s worth observing how hoteliers behaved during the last one.

http://hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/297755/Learning-from-the-past-Cutting-rates-hurts-everyone

How Google’s machine learning technology can ace up the travel industry

The technology of machine learning is benefiting almost every industry but the most significant modification can be seen in the travel sector. Interestingly, tech-giant Google is making a major shift into the travel industry while enabling customers to book air tickets, hotels, and packages. It is also aiding customers in accessing stuff which they might have never come across on their own.

https://www.analyticsinsight.net/googles-machine-learning-technology-can-ace-travel-industry/

Reach out to us for your connectivity needs to make the most of your online revenue- https://goo.gl/3gKUJZ

Thanks and have a good day!

August 23, 2019January 28, 2020

The Week, That Was – August 2019 Week 4

eRevMax announces strategic partnership with Indonesian hotel technology provider HUNTECH

Indonesian hotel technology solution provider Huntech has signed a strategic partnership with eRevMax to offer RateTiger as a preferred channel manager to its affiliated properties. The agreement makes Huntech the official provider of RateTiger Suite, the industry’s leading distribution platform with smart channel connectivity, market intelligence and revenue management capabilities.

https://bit.ly/2TXjYgl

Hotel sourcing in 2020: What’s really changing?

Some companies have made headlines recently by declaring traditional sourcing models dead. However, there are still some practices that will remain the same, according to CWT. There are exciting changes coming to the sourcing world in 2020 including new rates worth exploring, tools that will make data collection and analysis easier, and methods that will improve negotiations.

https://news.carlsonwagonlit.com/blog_posts/hotel-sourcing-in-2020-whats-really-changing-85618

18 ways to boost hotel bookings

Net Affinity shares 18 tips together that will help you get more bookings and, in turn, more revenue.

https://blog.netaffinity.com/18-ways-to-boost-hotel-bookings-and-get-more-revenue-2/

Google wants industry-wide standards to balance privacy and ads personalization

Google is seeking to navigate a middle path that balances privacy and user control over data and personalized advertising, which the internet has become increasingly dependent on.

https://marketingland.com/google-wants-new-industrywide-standards-to-balance-privacy-and-ads-personalization-265951

How hoteliers create, monetize the guest experience

The hotel industry is in an era where experience matters most to guests, which is why it’s important for hoteliers to find ways to create great experiences from the travel search phase to hotel arrival while making those efforts profitable.

http://hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/297681/How-hoteliers-create-monetize-the-guest-experience

Social preferences of young business travelers

Hilton Hotels & Resorts released new survey findings uncovering the travel highs and lows for young professionals, ages 23-35, who attend meetings while on the road.

The survey revealed that while young business travelers prefer a buzzing social environment and in-person interactions during regular work hours, they would rather spend their evenings on their own.

https://lodgingmagazine.com/survey-reveals-social-preferences-of-young-business-travelers/

What’s next for Google’s expansion into vacation rentals?

Google is constantly improving its offering, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine that Google could open up the Book on Google addition of Hotel Ads for rentals.

https://www.phocuswire.com/google-vacation-rentals-whats-next

How should my hotel market to “Bleisure” travelers?

Travelers, on average, are adding on 2-3 days of leisure travel on top of a business trip, resulting in more revenue for a hotel and filled inventory on days where occupancy slows down.

https://screenpilot.com/2019/08/bleisure-travel/

Reach out to us for your connectivity needs to make the most of your online revenue- https://goo.gl/3gKUJZ

Thanks and have a good day!

August 16, 2019January 28, 2020

The Week, That Was – August 2019 Week 3

Business Travel in Europe on the rise: Are you ready?

According to American Express Global Business Travel report, the spend on business travel in Europe in 2019 is expected to grow by over 4.3% making it a focus area for hotels. Here are some suggested channels you need to have in your distribution mix for landing more corporate bookings.

Business Travel in Europe on the rise: Are you ready?

Despite Brexit and uncertainty over economy in EU, business travel outlook in Europe remains strong. According to American Express Global Business Travel report, the spend on business travel in Europe in 2019 is expected to grow by over 4.3% making it a focus area for hotels. As with the global trend, business travelers want access to best rates and personalized content in both online and offline channels and along with seamless booking experience.

With smart phone being a necessity for today’s traveler, corporate travel has moved to the online space. More and more business travelers now prefer flexibility to search and book accommodation specific to their personal tastes. Over 60% of business travelers in the UK, France and Germany use a mobile device to shop for or book a flight or accommodation. In this article, we look at channels you need to have in your distribution mix for landing more corporate bookings.

HRS

HRS, Germany’s family run online travel agency focusing primarily on business travel, has been steadily keeping its position as the leading booking portal in the region. HRS Group, which controls Germany’s most popular OTAs – Hotel.de and HRS – the Hotelportal, caters to more than 5 million booking customers – over 70% of which are corporate travelers. HRS’s has exclusive contract with over 350,000 hotels — many of which don’t participate in traditional booking channels — gets negotiated rates and HRS’ exclusive corporate discounted rates give them an edge with business travelers. The company provides services to 400 large corporates and more than 385,000 small and medium enterprises. Hotels registered with HRS or Hotel.de can publish their rates and availability across all group platforms.

RoomIt by CWT

An average of 100,000 hotel rooms are booked on RoomIt each day by business travelers. Originally launched with a focus on small to midsize businesses, Carlson Wagonlit Travel’s hotel distribution division RoomIt now caters to large corporates as well, with nearly 1 million providers, including apartments. The data-driven technology behind RoomIt delivers a one-stop-shop experience with all the rooms, rates, amenities, loyalty bonuses and features necessary to enhance the travel experience. The platform is 100% fenced, and hence corporate clients can access it only through specific login, making it closed for metasearch and public environment.

Egencia

Egencia is the corporate travel solution from the Expedia group. Offering personalized experiences, the channel caters to nearly 2 million business travellers in companies of all sizes. The TMC which initially focused on air travel has been steadily increasing its hotel inventory, which has resulted in a surge in the hotel room-nights booked through the platform. Earlier this year, Egencia rolled out a two-way messaging app through which hotels and travelers can communicate with each other. It is also leveraging Expedia’s relationship with hotels to provide business travelers access to special rates once they’ve booked their flight.

As hoteliers, are you ready to tap into the booming corporate travel market? Are you connected to these channels and keeping them automatically updated with rates and availability on a regular basis?

Reach out to us for your connectivity needs to make the most of your online revenue- https://goo.gl/3gKUJZ

August 13, 2019January 21, 2020

Is your hotel using an efficient room rate comparison tool?

Download our complimentary e-book on how to leverage pricing for profit optimization

Hotel revenue management relies heavily on accurate market intelligence. Being aware of competitor price movements and change in their distribution strategy is important for any hotelier to stay ahead of competition of multiple sales channels.

Given the perishable nature of hotel inventory, it is important to optimize room pricing such that it is in sync with market demand and is attractive enough for potential guests to make a booking. Hotels today offer multiple room rates for different room types – so tracking these different room-rate combinations across your competition manually can be a herculean task and hence arises the need for an efficient and automated rate shopping tool that can fetch you rates in real-time for apple-to-apple comparison.

With the current range of price intelligence solutions available in the market, hoteliers are spoilt for choice. To assist with your decision making easier – we present our complimentary e-book – ‘Shopping Matters – The Power of Real-time Hotel Rate Intelligence’ that will help you to know more about –

Importance of real-time rate intelligence
Understanding the marketplace to fine-tune your rate strategy
Why rate shopping tool is crucial to your profit optimization

Download the ebook today – https://www.erevmax.com/travel-solutions/erevmax-shopper-rateintelligence.html