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What are the Best Practices for Creating a Google Hotel Ads Campaign?

Google Hotel Ads has emerged as an important channel for hoteliers to improve online exposure of their properties. In this blog, we list out some of the best practices that are involved with the creation of a Google hotel ads campaign.

What are the Best Practices for Creating a Google Hotel Ads Campaign

About 4.5 billion searches are made on Google every day, making it essential for every business to have presence on the platform. Over the last few years, Google Hotel Ads has emerged as the most popular platform in the metasearch space.  Which for years have been dominated by the OTAs. GHA which aggregates your hotel rates from participating OTAs and brand website and displays your hotel rates and availability on Google, across desktops, tablets, and mobile devices? Find out about some of the best practices for the creation of a Google hotel ads campaign.

Familiarize yourself with the interface

In order to be successful with Google hotel ads, it is essential to be familiar with the interface and know what goes into it. The sign-up process is quite similar to Google PPC campaign. Hotels need to create a Google Hotel Center account to send and manage hotel rates and availability across Google. The interface is user-friendly, effective and efficient. Once you have listed your property, connect your prices and availability to your ads by linking your Hotel Center account to a Google Ads account and start advertising.

Use data to your benefit

Data that is recorded by Google systems lets you pinpoint those things that are/are not working. Reports every week are offered in detail, and how your campaign is proceeding in each device. Make use of opportunity reports every week to detect missed opportunities. Know about the areas that you might have improved on, and prepare better for bid optimization in the following round.

With conversion tracking, you can exactly find out what happens when anyone visits your site. You can get information on cost per acquisition, how long a person stays in the accommodation and whether or not they booked a room. The use of this information and other performance metrics for the adjustment of Google hotel ads booking campaign strategies can help you to derive the best from your experience of Google Hotel Ads.

Group hotels and manage bids better

In case you are operating bids for more than one hotel property, group the properties together. This can let you manage the same in a more efficient way and optimize returns on investment. The principles happen to be the same for each hotel property that is part of the group. When you structure bids, you have to remember that.

Optimize your ads

For optimizing your ad spends, Google recommends hotels to provide entire inventory to Hotel Ads along with room and package Meta data. The details comprise of data about occupancy levels and rooms, and all the updated prices and active bids can ensure accuracy of prices. The ads which notch up the best numbers are generally those that offer the most information. Optimized ad can help hotels to have much better business and increase the bottom line.

Google Hotel Ads campaigns can provide future travelers with the chance to reserve a hotel room at many important hotels all through their research. Wherever a user makes decisions related to travel, hotel ads are surfaced by Google to assist them in the assessment of booking options and pricing available to them.

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The Week, That Was – January 2020 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!!

Is your PMS enough for distribution?

With inter-connectivity being one of the key focus for 2020, hoteliers need to get the distribution basics right. Are you getting real-time reservation updates directly into your hotel system? Do you get a bird’s eye view of your inventory status at all times? Are you struggling with overbookings or manual entry errors? It’s time you connect your PMS to your channel manager for seamless updates.

https://www.erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2019/12/is-your-pms-enough-for-distribution/

Google now includes taxes and fees in hotel searches

Google launched features intended to make finding, comparing, and booking hotels less stressful. Starting this week, guests will be able to browse personalized search results and narrow down properties by neighborhood, and view hotel receipts that reflect the actual amount you can expect to pay for a given stay (including taxes and fees).

https://venturebeat.com/2020/01/08/google-now-includes-taxes-and-fees-in-hotel-searches/

Four key trends the hotel industry can’t ignore during 2020

Now that we’re all back at work, attention is turning to the year ahead. Dori Stein, CEO, Fornova shares his predictions for the main trends that will influence hotel chains’ success in 2020.

https://www.hospitalitynet.org/opinion/4096435.html

Hotel Technology Trends 2020

When adopting hotel technology, the hospitality industry is like an elephant. Interestingly it also favoured elephants in its partners as well. Same as the animal, hotels preferred to spend time with those the same as them.

https://www.hospitalitynet.org/opinion/4096402.html

Could subscription travel be the new way to holiday in 2020?

A new company promises insider knowledge and free hotel stays via its subscription concept.

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/travel/a30440445/subscription-travel-trend/

Is Personalization in Hospitality Dead or Alive?

Personalization of the customer experience – from digital marketing and website experience, revenue management and pricing, CRM and loyalty marketing, and on-property guest experience – has become a buzzword at industry conferences, webinars and in the hospitality media. So… is personalization dead or alive in hotel digital marketing, website experience, revenue management, CRM and on-property guest experience?

https://www.hospitalitynet.org/panel/125000035.html

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

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Is your PMS enough for distribution?

Channel Managers and Hotel Property Management Systems have been around for quite a few years now. Whether you are a real estate agency, a hotel, a B&B manager or the owner of some family properties, there are chances that you are looking for the type of software that can help you out the best. Here are some differences between Channel Management systems and Property Management Systems, which can let you understand such platforms better and take an informed decision.

Is your PMS enough for distribution

Purpose

Property Management Systems are a type of software system that is created to make daily operations management easier for real estate companies, hotels or rental agencies. The aim is to assign, schedule and organize tasks and these are especially helpful for reporting, accounting and staff management. Channel Managers, on the other hand, specialize in distributing short-term rentals to listing websites, whether it comes to wholesalers, GDS, Metasearch, Vacation Rental sites or OTAs.

Capability

PMS systems are created originally in the form of front desk hotel software, and are made to follow trends in the market and can redirect them to vacation rentals or some other expanding sector. With the use of this type of system, you can spend less time in dealing with business and get more time to concentrate on guest experience and guests.

A PMS channel manager can let you deal with time-consuming operations of managing a vacation rental business. A PMS channel manager updates information automatically across every booking channel and can automate payments and online reservations. Dedicated channel managers, however, are online distribution specialists and can frequently offer much more connections across many channels.

Sophistication

When you choose a property management system integrated with a channel manager, it can help you in online property management and can ensure listing distribution for you across many websites. A PMS or company has several advantages. Property management systems offer automated guest communication services, business performance analytics, in-built accounting services and many more.

PMS coming with an in-built channel manager can be very useful for your own business. A dedicated channel manager is useful in all those cases where there is a drop in the functionality of a property management system. There are more sophisticated capabilities of dedicated channel managers, which can let you create a very complex type of pricing model as per your wish. While PMSes and channel managers tend to vary in nature, the former lacks the sophisticated features that are part of dedicated channel managers – such as pushing right property specs and dealing with a complicated pricing model.

Support

A few property management firms have a team comprising of local employees that care for on-site upkeep and maintenance. But you can expect a built-in expert team with dedicated channel managers, which come with the support of a team comprising of expert distribution professionals. The team of experts of the developer company has a direct communication line with booking websites as well as other channels, due to the fact that a high volume of properties is offered by dedicated channel managers to listing websites.

 

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The Week, That Was – December 2019 Week 3

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!!

Is your hotel channel manager doing what you expect of it?

Here are 5 questions that you have to ask about channel management software systems for hotels.

https://www.erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2019/12/5-questions-to-ask-about-channel-management-for-hotels/

Responsible and purposeful travel: the way forward

Technology and consumer preferences are constantly evolving and the threats to the environment and personal data are becoming ever more prevalent, according to Travel Weekly’s Insight Annual Report 2019-20.

https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/consumer-business/articles/travel-weekly-insight-annual-report.html

Five trends shaping the future of customer experience in 2020

As we enter a new decade, customer experience is firmly positioned as a competitive advantage and something most companies are prioritizing. Instead of worrying about new technology, brands need to consider the psychological foundation. Before they even want to use the technology, customers need to feel acknowledged and understood.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2019/12/17/5-predictions-for-customer-experience-in-2020/#1314960e2ec7

Where Airbnb goes, hotels will follow

Luxury hotel brands are stepping into the homeshare arena to compete with Airbnb, and are now making strides in one of Airbnb’s most successful arenas: experiences. When Airbnb launched its Experiences program in 2016, it was a gamble, but one that seems to be paying off as it has resulted in seven times more bookings year-over-year since 2018.

https://www.gartner.com/en/marketing/insights/daily-insights/where-airbnb-goes-hotels-will-follow

Google wants to be your holiday tour guide

Getting dropped into a new city is disorienting, and all the more so when you need to ask for help but don’t know how to pronounce the name of the place you’re trying to get to. Google Maps now has a fix for this.

https://www.blog.google/products/maps/let-google-be-your-holiday-travel-tour-guide/

 How can travel brands remain human in a digital-first world

Travel brands are trying to figure out how to strike the right balance between digital touchpoints and in-person interactions.

https://skift.com/2019/12/16/how-can-travel-brands-remain-human-in-a-digital-first-world/

Is this the future of travel bookings?

With online travel agents, we’ve already seen the way the travel industry has changed. While travel purchases are currently made through online booking agents or directly with the hotels or airlines, it won’t be long before we see new and advanced options come into play.

https://www.iol.co.za/travel/sponsored/is-this-the-future-of-travel-bookings-38980837

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!

 

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The Week, That Was – December 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!!

Upscale hotel in Papua New Guinea selects RateTiger for online connectivity

Crown Hotel Port Moresby, an upscale property in Papua New Guinea has selected RateTiger, powered by LiveOS, for increasing their online revenue through optimal distribution. The hotel is using RateTiger’s Channel Manager to manage their rate and room inventory across online sales channels and GDS.

https://bit.ly/35ihcY5

Maldives Travel Trends

Regarded as the epitome of luxury tourism in South Asia, Maldives, with its over 1000 coral islands has emerged as a ‘premier’ brand. Tourism remains the largest economic industry in the country.

https://www.erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2019/12/maldives-travel-trends/

2019 Chinese Outbound Travel Report

Total spending from Chinese travelers covered 158 countries worldwide, and the report suggests that they are increasingly willing to go further afield for the best shopping experiences. Although Japan still topped the list of most-visited destinations, the rest of the top ten overseas shopping locations for Chinese travellers in 2019 dotted the globe.

https://www.moodiedavittreport.com/jing-daily-2019-chinese-outbound-travel-report-key-takeaways/

What is the impact of social media on travel?

Everybody wants to return home with an album full of aesthetic and ‘instagramable’ photos that show off their trip. In fact, 40% of UK Millennial travellers say that they consider how “instagramable” a location is when planning their travels, whether it will look good on their feed and get enough likes.

https://theboar.org/2019/12/what-is-the-impact-of-social-media-on-travel/

How Google is navigating today’s privacy environment

Laws like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), enacted over a year ago in Europe, and the CCPA, taking effect imminently, introduce new requirements for how businesses collect and use data.

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-resources/data-measurement/google-user-privacy/

How to drive demand during a slow season

Just because a market enters its off-season, it doesn’t mean hoteliers in the area have to halt business. Here are three key ways your hotel can win during a slowdown and maintain a positive revenue stream.

http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/299192/How-to-drive-demand-during-a-slow-season

Younger travelers more likely to consult with travel advisors

Travelport Global Digital Traveler Research 2019, which mapped travel preferences according to age groups, turned a common assumption on its head, finding that younger travelers are more likely to consult with travel advisors and tour operators for assistance in booking.

https://skift.com/2019/12/10/who-loves-travel-advisors-the-most-its-millennials-not-boomers/

Brand.com, OTA bookings continue to grow

Brand.com year-to-date bookings are up +7.7% compared to the same period last year and are growing faster than OTA (+7.1%), according to new Kalibri Labs data.

https://www.hotelbusiness.com/report-brand-com-ota-bookings-continue-to-grow/

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!

 

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5 Questions to Ask About Channel Management for Hotels

A Hotel Channel Management Software can be assistive for you, whether you are in search of revenue management or hotel distribution. The primary functionality of this type of application is to make sure that every hotel sales channel keeps abreast of restrictions, rate modifications and any changes that take effect. These types of systems make sure that OTAs can remain in touch with a hotel. Thus, only actual information about hotels is passed on to possible guests. There are many types of hotel channel managers, and all of them are quite useful to use. Here are 5 questions that you have to ask about channel management software systems for hotels.

5 Questions to Ask About Channel Management for Hotels

What kind of support will it come with?

When there is a breakdown, powerful distribution systems have fast support infrastructure and related troubleshooting protocols. This type of support that is offered tends to differ across systems. Although some of these come with an automated backup that can ensure booting as soon as there is a failure of the main system, others come with customer care centers that operate 24X7.

What are the access rights?

Better access rights for this type of software is the tool for proper marketing of products. At times, sound strategies for revenue management are able to protect as well as get data together. These can pave the way for different access rights across various kinds of user levels. Typically, multi-level access rights are offered through 4 main roles:

  • Front Desk
  • Reservations Manager
  • Property Owner
  • System Admin

Every one of these has rights and limitations of its own.

Is it easy to use?

You have to ensure that the system is easy to use. A few channel management systems are also available with a full user acceptance test, which is followed by strict testing for the team of the hotel. This makes sure that the product can be used smoothly. It is important that you consider that the tool can be implemented and adopted with ease.

Can automatically sync inventories?

You have to check whether your chosen channel management software automatically inform the user and update the availability to all connected channels for any modification or cancellation happened on any channel. Lots of software programs can manage more than one channel, although that does not mean that they can sync inventories based on reservation modification, which is possible only when the channel manager has 2-way XML connectivity with channels for seamless data transfer. Thus, it is important that you check this thing beforehand. It is also essential that you check whether the channel manager is available connectivity with the right PMS and Channels.

Does it ensure data security?

Finally, you should also choose a hotel channel manager that gives you data security. Data security has become the biggest challenge for the hospitality industry. For hotels, protecting guest data like address and credit card details has become crucial in post-GDPR age. While finding out the right vendor for your distribution management, do check whether the provider is PCI and GDPR compliant.

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Maldives Travel Trends

Regarded as the epitome of luxury tourism in South Asia, Maldives, with its over 1000 coral islands has emerged as a ‘premier’ brand. Tourism remains the largest economic industry in the country.

To keep up with the tourism demand, which is expected to cross 1.5 million in 2019, the Government has been undergoing renovation of its key airport and actively encouraging new luxury resorts. International brands like Waldorf Astoria, Pullman, Westin and Hard Rock Café have recently opened in the archipelago.

With over 135 resorts and 10 major hotels along with numerous guest houses, the occupancy rate in the country however has remained stagnant for the last few years. While China, Germany, the UK, Italy and India has consistently been the top five source market, in recent times Maldives has seen a surge in tourist arrivals from South Korea.

A long stay destination, where average length of stay is over 6 days, hotels for years have depended on tour operators and travel agents for bookings. However, with the increase in supply of rooms and change in guest booking behavior, hotels have been adapting to online travel.

Global OTAs like Booking.com, Expedia and Agoda  has become quite popular with hotelieres. Booking.com, for instance, has 795 properties listed, Expedia has close to 700 hotels and guest houses in Maldives listed on its channel.

As online distribution evolves, hotels are increasingly adjusting to changes in market dynamics. While GDS remains their most popular channels, they are opening up to OTA and metasearch as well.

Are you connected to right 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

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The Week, That Was – December 2019 Week 1

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!!

eRevMax announces seamless connectivity with leading Chinese B2B platform HaoQiao

eRevMax has completed 2-way XML integration with the largest travel wholesaler in China, Haoqiao. Hotels using RateTiger and RTConnect, powered by LiveOS, can leverage the interface to distribute rates and availability on the booking platform, is used by over 17,000 travel agencies worldwide.

https://bit.ly/2RrceEq

Google’s playbook to become a super app in travel

The giant’s slow but unstoppable rise to travel industry domination can not be explained without the more than one billion daily users of Google Maps.

https://www.phocuswire.com/Google-playbook-travel-super-app

How Airbnb profits from our love of experience

As people begin to value “things” less and “doing stuff” more, Airbnb has simultaneously personalized and commoditized the food-related experience.

https://www.eater.com/2019/12/4/20951866/airbnb-rentals-experiences-travel-food-tours-cooking-classes

Total revenue forecasting: Sunny with a chance of profits

Marketing and revenue management rely on accurate demand forecasts to plan campaigns and optimize revenue.

https://ideas.com/total-revenue-forecasting-profits/

Hotel revenue changes suggest new guest preferences

From the high-tech preferences of Generation Z to the experiential fondness of millennials and the health and wellness realities facing baby boomers, hotels continually adjust the amenities and services they offer to satisfy their guests based on extensive consumer research. From the perspectives of owners and operators, the changes in guest preference manifest themselves on the hotel operating statement.

http://hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/298888/Hotel-revenue-changes-suggest-new-guest-preferences

As cycle nears end, benchmarking required to be reborn

Hoteliers are in no doubt benchmarking has been one of the major, if not the most major, catalysts of the last decade helping fuel hotel performance, and the data is only getting better and more involved, according to sources. Now hoteliers are considering how benchmarking might change as the industry reaches what many consider the end of a cycle.

http://hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/299236/As-cycle-nears-end-benchmarking-required-to-be-reborn

Hotel guests want cybersecurity

For hotels, the issue of cybersecurity is – or should be – among the most critical factors in partnering with any third-party. With so many interconnected technologies the risk is greater and greater that you’ll run onto a technology that isn’t wholly secure.

https://blog.apaleo.com/hotels/a-make-or-break-issue-for-hotels-guests-want-cybersecurity

Which? brands most travel comparison sites a ‘waste of time’

New survey ranks sites used to find flight and hotel deals and reveals that many offer a poor user experience – and do not list the best prices. After asking more than 2,200 holidaymakers about their experiences of using comparison sites, the consumer body found that only Skyscanner, Kayak and TripAdvisor scored highly in terms of finding the best deals and being easy to use.

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/dec/04/which-survey-brands-most-travel-comparison-sites-waste-of-time?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

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!

 

 

 

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The Week, That Was – November 2019 Week 4

Spanish hotel chain boosts productivity and connectivity with eRevMax

Spanish hospitality chain Actahotels has recommended eRevMax solutions for online distribution. Twenty properties of the group, including the newly opened 313 room Acta Voraport, have been using RateTiger Channel Manager and Connectivity solutions, powered by LiveOS, for updating rates and availability across multiple OTAs and accessing high quality rate data and insights.

https://bit.ly/2XSYgMJ

Hotelbeds claims to drive high value visitors to hotels

Hotelbeds works with over 60,000 travel agents, tour operators, airlines, and loyalty point schemes from 140 source markets. More than half of bookings through global bedbank Hotelbeds are for stays of more than four nights, the company has disclosed.

https://www.travolution.com/articles/113360/hotelbeds-claims-to-drive-high-value-visitors-to-its-hotel-partners

Google Eyes: More and more travelers are looking to Google

Online travel agencies (OTAs) have always been dominant on meta search channels such as Google but advertising your direct hotel website on Google Hotel Ads provides an opportunity for hotels to divert this traffic to their brand websites.

https://www.sabrehospitality.com/blog/google-eyes-more-and-more-travelers-are-looking-to-google/

Travel Statistics to Know About in 2020

Is your hotel ready to take on 2020? Check out key travel statistics & trends that can help you maximise your hotel online bookings and revenue in the coming year-

https://www.erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2019/11/travel-statistics-to-know-about-in-2020/

Airbnb tests teaming with Google’s vacation rental business in the U.S.

Google waded into its own vacation rental advertising business on its travel pages early in 2019, and in October began giving vacation rentals hotel-like treatment in Google search.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/airbnb-tests-teaming-google-vacation-200037742.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!

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Travel Statistics to Know About in 2020

Travel Statistics to Know About in 2020

The online global travel market was over $629 billion in overall worth in 2017 and is anticipated to reach a figure of around $818bn by the year 2020. These are some travel statistics that you must know about for the year 2020.

Longer family holidays are becoming more popular

These days, family holidays spanning for a longer time are up. While it is always that family trips have been a staple part of annual programs, family holidays are being influenced too much by @travelling_family, @byjetpack, @thebucketlistfamily and the likes. By 2020, it is figured that around 50% of the labor force of America and the UK will comprise of freelancers. 40% more kids got home-schooled in the year 2017 instead of in 2014 (comprising of as many as 48,000). It comes as no surprise that the freedom offered by home-schooling is being embraced by parents.

Rise of Online Travel Research

These days, more and more travellers are carrying out research over the World Wide Web to know about the different types of travel options, accommodations etc available. The travel website Tripadvisor is being used increasingly to find out about hotels, restaurants, flights and more. Tripadvisor, with over 325 users every month, is in the position to have an impact on travel purchases online. Travelers who visit this website are also likelier to take time on research, with over 80% taking over 4 weeks to finish a purchase. This is a popular point to start for lots of travel searches, particularly in the preliminary stages of travel research.

Solo Travel is getting friendlier

These days, the introduction of co-living apartments is being given more and more prominence. These let solo travellers come across people on their trips having a similar mindset. WeLive is a leading name in co-living that has apartment complexes these days, with hot tubs, yoga classes, events programs, shared social leaders etc in Crystal City and New York. Travellers can stay in these complexes for a few months or only a few days. Dublin Airport made a claim that 57% out of its estimated 31.5 million passengers in 2018 were solo travellers. In Solo Travel in 2020, younger travellers can be expected more than ever earlier.

Travel decisions will be impacted by Generation Alpha

The term ‘Generation Alpha’ means the generation of people who were born after the year 2010, and is exhibiting more signs of having an impact on family travel planning and decisions than was supposed previously, as per Expedia Group Media Solutions. According to the study of Expedia Group 2019 globally, on an average, travellers from Generation Alpha are making over 3 family vacations in a calendar year.

According to Short Term Rentals 2019, 95% of family trippers mentioned that their priority was to keep their families happy and entertained, while other important priorities were closest theme parks or main attractions (as mentioned by 85%), making travel plans around the time of school holidays (mentioned by 85%), outdoor activities (mentioned by 85%) and value and deals (mentioned by 89%).

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