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Luxury Ukrainian Hotel Leopolis Improves Revenue with RateTiger

Leopolis Hotel, a landmark Ukrainian hotel has successfully optimized online distribution connectivity to improve their hotel occupancy and revenue, by leveraging RateTiger. The property, which has been using RTConnect for channel management, ARI updates and Reservation Delivery has seen a substantial improvement in efficiency resulting in minimizing overbookings and reducing workloads.

Leopolis is the only luxury hotel in Lviv located right in the heart of the historical part. Located in the restored building that is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Leopolis is a popular choice for both business and leisure travellers. Given that the hotel attracts guests from across the continent along with domestic travellers, it is important for the hotel to be present in all leading online sales channels and metasearch sites in Europe.

RTConnect, the SaaS based distribution solution providing fully integrated, two-way XML connections to over 350 global and regional online booking sites, is helping the property to establish seamless connectivity between the OTAs and its PMS.

“By using channel manager by RateTiger we are saving a lot of time and get a lot of extra revenue. Everything works very efficiently and during our cooperation we did not have any overbookings at all,” said Ostap Shpachuk, Director of Sales and Marketing, Leopolis Hotel.

“My favourite tool is rate weight, as it allows to manage rates for separate channels, room types and rate plans – we use it a lot indeed. I also like the velocity of the support team,” said Ostap Shpachuk, Director of Sales and Marketing, Leopolis Hotel.

Leopolis has been accessing Reservation Reports, a key module in RateTiger to monitor channel performance and map demographics of their customers. Through the booking analysis, the hotel is identifying the top-performing channels to offer customized packages to their key markets. They are also utilising RateTiger’s on-demand intelligence tool – RateTiger Shopper, to monitor the competitor rate movements and improve pricing decisions for better profits.

 

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The Week, That Was – August 2018 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!!

Online Travel in LATAM

Do you know the most productive online travel channels in LATAM? Improve your online revenue by selling on the right channels with RateTiger.

Read further to know more –  https://www.erevmax.com/blog/?p=539

Abasto Hotel experiences 65% revenue growth with RateTiger Channel Manager

Abasto Hotel Buenos Aires, a property in Argentinian capital, has improved its online sales by over 80% leveraging eRevMax‘s gold standard of connectivity with leading OTAs.

Are you looking to expand your hotel channel connectivity?  https://www.erevmax.com/blog/?p=542

Online accounts for 80% of under-30s travel bookings, OTAs dominate (for now)

The New Horizons IV report found more than 80% of bookings were made online by under-30s in 2017, with an increasing number of bookings being made on mobile devices and through social media channels.

https://www.tnooz.com/article/youth/

What Are Bumper Ads And Why Does Your Hotel Need Them?

Bumper ads are the 6 second video formats that are saving the longest 30 seconds of any consumers time. However, it is not just consumers that should be praising them to the skies. They can provide your hotel with countless benefits, including high impact brand building.

https://blog.netaffinity.com/what-are-bumper-ads-and-why-does-your-hotel-need-them/

What hotels need to know about evolving metasearch distribution trends

Metasearch engines (MSEs) hold the promise of helping hotels increase their share of direct bookings. For any hotel or chain to pursue a direct booking strategy, the MSE channel needs careful planning and consideration.

https://www.phocuswire.com/Fornova-global-metasearch-trends

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

Thanks and have a good day!

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Abasto Hotel experiences 65% revenue growth with RateTiger Channel Manager

Abasto Hotel Buenos Aires,  a  property in Argentinian capital, has improved its online sales by over 80% leveraging eRevMax‘s gold standard of connectivity with leading OTAs. The Buenos Aires based property has been using RateTiger  Channel Manager  for online distribution and managing rates and inventory across its connected OTAs since 2012.

A family-friendly property with 126 rooms, Abasto Hotel is located in the historical district, just steps from Museo de los Ninos and Abasto Shopping Center and caters to upmarket business and leisure travellers. RateTiger’s seamless connectivity with global and regional OTAs as well as metasearch sites allows Abasto Hotel to be visible in all relevant sales channels for maximum exposure.

“In the past 4-5 years, we have seen our online revenue grow 65% with an 80% increase in OTA sales. We have experienced an overall growth in business and our occupancy have gone up despite the macro-economic factors,” said Silvina Donvito, Revenue Manager at Abasto Hotel Buenos Aires.

“RateTiger is more than just a hotel channel manager. It’s a powerful tool that makes connectivity simple and hassle free. The stable and secure connections help in making immediate rate and inventory updates across all channels while also delivering bookings back into the system. Further, the 24×7 support makes it very convenient as we can go to them whenever with the smallest of query and they are always happy to help,” concluded Silvina.

The Argentinian hotel market is characterized by regional operators that have a strong position. With supply of rooms outpacing demand, online channels have emerged as an important revenue source for hoteliers. Abasto Hotel, with 15 OTAs in its distribution mix, has been able to improve its occupancy to 85%, about 20 points more than the industry average in Buenos Aires. This has resulted in an increase in RevPAR and profitability, with the help of RateTiger Channel Manager.

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Online Travel in LATAM

For all its exotic beaches, historic sites, beautiful landscapes and rich culture, Latin America has always remained a distant fourth when it comes to travel and tourism. However, in the last decade, things have changed considerably fueled by better flight connectivity, macro-economic factors and internet penetration. This has led to a drastic a change in Latin American travel industry outlook. With consumers more informed than ever, travel bookings have shifted online as the buying behavior has changed to customized offerings.

Online travel penetration is growing at an average of 10%, higher than the global average and about 4 times more than the pace of the total market. The growth in online travel is driven by Brazil and Mexico, representing over 70% of Latin American total and online travel markets, followed by Argentina, Chile, Columbia and Peru.

In spite of diverse market character, currencies, languages, economic and political environments, Latin America remains a huge potential for online travel agencies and technology providers. According to reports, the online market is only utilizing 34% of its potential, way lower than North America, Europe or Asia. About 20% of travel is booked online, which experts project will grow close to 40% over next 10 years.  Increasing access to smartphones also drove mobile engagement, with the channel now accounting for 15% of online bookings. Clearly the market is up for grabs, and global and regional players are eying their share of this pie.

In this post, we explore the major players in the online travel space in Latin America.

Despegar / Decolar

Some call it union, some call it leader – Despegar, one of the oldest OTAs in the region holds the numero uno spot. Operating two well-recognized brands, Despegar, its global brand, and Decolar, its Brazilian brand, the company serves in 20 Latin American countries, and provides a broad suite of travel products, to over 17 million customers. Through its exclusive partnership, Despegar uses Expedia’s hotel inventory outside the continent.

Hotel Urbano

Hotel Urbano is the number one online travel agency in Brazil, and one the biggest travel media brand on social media with over 12 million likes. The website has largely been credited for bringing the fragmented Brazil independent hotel industry (85% of the overall market) online. Hotel Urbano has remained the fifth most popular brand in Brazil (behind only Coca Cola, Skol, Brahma and L’Oreal — Skol & Brahma are famous beers) and the biggest online brand. In terms of traffic, it is the biggest website in Latin America, getting over 25 million unique visitors every month. Following its agreement with Priceline Group, the channel exclusively uses Booking.com to source hotels outside of LATAM.

CVC

CVC is the best-known brand in the Brazilian leisure travel industry and one of the most recognized brands in Brazil. Having started as a brick and mortar travel agency, it has for long been the largest tour operator in Latin America in terms of bookings made. The company still has the maximum retail outlets, along with two rapidly growing online distribution platforms – CVC.com.br and submarinoviagens.com.br attracting over 100 million unique monthly visitors.

ViajaNet

Targeted more at budget travelers, Brazil based ViajaNet has grown impressively in the last few years. The site which has over 100,000 hotels listed, attracts over 5 million unique visitors every month.

BestDay

Cancun based BestDay.com is the most popular OTA in Mexico offering 150,000 hotels. It is one of the leading Latin American travel industry companies with a strong focus in business-to-business distribution. The company owns HotelDO, the Latin American (LATAM) regional leader in online and XML distribution for business to business (B2B) channels, supplying travel products for both the wholesale segment and retail segments. The company contracts, maintains and promotes a regional online portfolio of 100,000 hotels across 850 popular destinations in 30 countries.

If you are looking to expand your hotel’s visibility in LATAM, RateTiger can help suggest the right channels for your property. Drive more bookings and increase online sales today. See our connectivity partner list, know more about channel management, online distribution and rate shopping solutions, contact us today on marketing@erevmax.com.

 

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The Week, That Was – July 2018 Week 4

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!!

Hotel GDS Description – how to get it right?

The GDS still is, and will most likely remain, a noteworthy channel for ARI distribution and reservations for hotels. Both recreation and corporate travel operators utilize it to search and book hotels. Numerous OTA sites likewise utilize the GDS for room stock. Hence, it is critical that your hotel is available on GDS.

https://www.erevmax.com/blog/?p=531

Expedia: The travel trends of Latin American consumers

Most Latin American travelers are more likely to spend their travel budgets on domestic trips, according to a study from Expedia Group Media Solutions.

More than 50 percent of Latin American travelers use online travel agencies (OTAs) during the trip planning process, ahead of airline, hotel or destination websites. Forty-nine percent of travelers book their trip on an OTA – the strongest conversion from planning to booking among Latin American travelers. More than half use their smartphone when looking for travel inspiration and more than one-third conduct travel research on their mobile device. Unsurprisingly, mobile usage spikes in-trip, when more than 75 percent of Latin American travelers utilize their smartphone.

http://hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/287311/Expedia-The-travel-trends-of-Latin-American-consumers

Open pricing: A new strategy for maximising hotel revenue

Open Pricing is changing the way that hoteliers set hotel room rates. For properties from large to small, it has the potential to increase revenue and forever change hotel revenue management practices. So, how does it work? Is it a good fit for you? If you wanted to try it, where would you start?

Read on to find out more- https://suite.booking.com/blog/hotel-revenue-management-pricing-strategy-basics/

How independent hotels extend peak seasons

Independent hotels around the U.S. are boosting business outside of peak season through special events and promotions. Whether it’s a hotel that’s open year-round or one that’s only open a few months during the year, hoteliers and sales-and-marketing experts at independent hotels have found ways to bring in business beyond their peak season.

http://hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/287492/How-independent-hotels-extend-peak-seasons

What does the future hold for hotel booking websites?

The hospitality industry is regularly changing and hotel booking websites are no exception. Observing the current changes in the OTA market can give us a clue on what will it look like in the future.

https://insights.ehotelier.com/insights/2018/07/27/what-does-the-future-hold-for-hotel-booking-websites/

Google on why consumers like to know more before they travel

Google, which derived the insight by analyzing search trends as well as speaking to consumers, says that building anticipation, boosting confidence around traveling to somewhere new and stretching budgets are the primary drivers for consumers wanting to know more before they go.

https://goo.gl/ukWC8y

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

Thanks and have a good day!

 

 

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Hotel GDS Description – how to get it right?

The GDS still is, and will most likely remain, a noteworthy channel for ARI distribution and reservations for hotels. Both recreation and corporate travel operators utilize it to search and book hotels. Numerous OTA sites likewise utilize the GDS for room stock. Hence, it is critical that your hotel is available on GDS.

We have put together a few tips and tricks on how hotels are getting the most out of their GDS channels through descriptive content. The Hotel GDS Description (HOD) goes about as your hotel’s electronic leaflet. It is conceivably your brand brochure for tour operators and travel agents to access and get all the pertinent details with your property description, hotel amenities and data about neighborhood attractions etc. Here are the top GDS HOD Tips:

  1. General hotel description – Try to keep your hotel description very targeted – put the hotel USPs and try to provide key differentiators and why a guest must chose your hotel over competitor’s.
  2. Facilities and Services – List out all your amenities and services – provide restaurant details, timings, cuisine along with details of in-house services like salon, spa, gym, pool etc. Also, drop in a line about safety and security as these tend to be a key concern today.
  3. Area Information: Mention any specific locational advantage you might have. Or else list out the nearby attractions to draw interest. Whether your hotel is downtown or near the airport, remember to put your Geo code for correct location identification.
  4. Property Address – Make sure you put your hotel’s full address and zip code correctly. Sabre uses the official street address to geocode the property. If you don’t have a street number, use 1, to ensure better visibility and bookability.
  5. Driving Directions – Provide details on the easiest way to reach your property, whether it is from the airport, train or bus stations or from downtown. Also, provide a phone number in case a guest is stuck and wants to connect to the hotel.
  6. Room Type Name – GDS’s provide 30 characters to cover this, so be creative. But remember to make sure that it’s easy to understand the room type by the name you provide to it.
  7. Room Type Description – Try to use this section to attract your guests with room details and inclusions like in-room coffee machine, free wi-fi, luxury bathing products, etc. The description should also adhere to the kind of property it is – luxury, corporate, budget etc.
  8. Presentation – It is best to keep the description language crisp and fluid. Travel agents prefer short sentences or bulleted description. It helps to capture relevant points while covering all the necessary information.
  9. Nearby Attractions – Include details about attractions in the area, timings, distance and directions to the place. This makes your hotel more appealing and train your concierge or front office staff to have details about shows /tickets at these attractions.

Keep your Hotel GDS Description up to date. Whenever you introduce a new service or roomtype or if there are new attractions nearby, remember to update your hotel description. Always provide correct information and present in a nice and concise manner. Always keep your USPs on the top to catch the attention of the travel agents.

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Indian budget hotel endorses RateTiger Channel Manager for online distribution

Kolkata based IndiSmart Hotel has endorsed RateTiger for simplifying online distribution. The property has been using eRevMax’s cloud-based Channel Manager and Shopper for managing their online sales channels and has improved their business operational efficiency.

IndiSmart is a budget hotel with 76 rooms, conveniently located in the IT hub of Kolkata, India. The property caters to business travellers and hence the booking window is lesser than the usual duration with 48-72 hours. Given most bookings are coming from online, it’s important for the hotel to have real-time rate and availability on OTAs.

“We have been able to bring all OTA channels under one window for all possible modifications like rate and inventory. The option of changing rates and inventory at any point of time on a single click has really made online distribution really simple. Rate shopping also helps us to analyse the market condition, to understand our stand and projection,” said Jayanta Bhattacherjee, Front Office Manager, Indismart Hotel.

Prior to RateTiger, the hotel has tried other solutions. However, the result was far from satisfactory.

“The main issue was rate disparity and manifold changes in the extranets manually were really cumbersome. We can handle the OTAs easily and in a better way now with RateTiger. The support team is very good as well,” concluded Mr. Bhattacherjee.

 

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The Week, That Was – July 2018 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!!

Expedia says packages are better for hotels than room-only

Hotels are achieving higher average daily rates (ADR) from consumers who book packages rather than just rooms, according to data from Expedia Group.

The online travel giant said consumers buying packages paid around 30% more in ADR than those making standalone hotel bookings.

https://www.tnooz.com/article/expedia-says-packages-are-better-for-hotels-than-room-only/

 Indian budget hotel endorses RateTiger Channel Manager for online distribution

Kolkata based IndiSmart Hotel has endorsed RateTiger for simplifying online distribution. The property has been using eRevMax’s cloud-based Channel Manager and Shopper for managing their online sales channels and has improved their business operational efficiency.

https://goo.gl/gyX3Jr

Hotels.com launches hideaway hotels category

Hotels.com has introduced the Hideaway Hotels category in response to a lift in bookings in the last two years, with a 60% spike in guests leaving positive reviews for off-the-grid hotels.

https://goo.gl/N3SCFX

Is hotel luxury dead?

When hotel discount brokers offer “luxury” accommodations at $49 a night, as occurred during the recent Independence Day holiday, does the word “luxury” have any useful meaning?

Read the interesting article: http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/is-hotel-luxury-dead/travel-hospitality-event-management#When:13:51:00Z

 How Booking.com is trying to solve travel’s pain points

The CMO of Booking.com explains how the company is trying to ease some of those unhappy surprises. Learn more about it by watching the video.

https://goo.gl/4AoyiF

Google tests location tab for hotel knowledge panels

Google is testing a new location tab and section within the hotel knowledge panels. The location tab contains information that tells you what is around the hotel, including sections such as highlights, top sights and a getting-around section.

https://goo.gl/v4eKcn

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

Thanks and have a good day!

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Hotel Business Intelligence – The starting point

What is Hotel Business Intelligence (BI)?

Business Intelligence refers to relevant data – past, present and future, from different sources or hotel systems, that helps hotels to analyze and take meaningful business decision.

In todays’ world, business intelligence plays an important role for hoteliers to improve their revenue in a smart way. It helps hoteliers to draw insights and make better decisions. In-depth BI requires proper tools and investment to help drive a hotel’s revenue. BI plays an even bigger role for hotel chains and groups – where the headquarter is managing multiple properties and need to understand occupancy trends, rates and predictions to be able to define forecasts and budgets accordingly. The different system that a hotel uses to draw upon its BI data include –

  • PMS
  • CRS
  • RMS
  • POS
  • Sales and Distribution
  • Market Intelligence
  • Accounting, Budget and Forecasting
  • Market Reports
  • Competitor rate reports
  • Occupancy trends

The main benefits from leveraging business intelligence are:

  • Effective data management and analysis for clarity in decision making
  • Clear directions on daily targets for occupancy and revenue
  • Clarity on guest profile, booking journey, preferences and customer loyalty thereby giving scope to hotels for enhancing guest experience
  • Plan campaigns and promotions for marketing based on guest data
  • BI also helps identify cases of fraud, poor performance in a timely manner
  • Multiple Reports available at the click of a button as required

Advanced BI tools are platform-based giving hotels a consolidated view of their business. It allows for multiple systems to be integrated so that they talk to each other to provide relevant data in various formats for easier consumption.

Invest in a smart BI solution to take your hotel business to the next level. To know more about which solutions to opt for, contact us today on marketing@erevmax.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Week, That Was – July 2018 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!!

eRevMax completes integration with Argentinian Booking Engine

We are glad to introduce our new Argentina based Booking Engine partner –  Div-it. Connect and manage your hotel booking engine via  RateTiger and Connect platforms for seamless channel management.

https://www.erevmax.com/ratetiger-news/ratetiger-news-archive/july2018-erevmax-integration-with-argentinian-booking-engine.html

Google Hotel Ads joins Google Ads

Google Ads has introduced a new campaign type designed to help hotel marketers better manage their advertising. In addition, there will be a new “Hotel Center” in Google Ads to simplify the management of hotel price feeds.

https://www.blog.google/products/ads/hotel-campaigns/

Why Hotels need Channel Manager?

A channel manager helps you to implement yield management techniques effectively i.e. to sell the right room at the right time at the right price on the right channel.

https://www.erevmax.com/blog/?p=503

 lastminute’s Travel People builds up suite of marketing products

Our partner lastminute.com launched its advertising platform Travel People which allows clients to advertise across lastminute’s five brands, including lastminute.com, Rumbo, bravofly and Volagratis, as well as working with nine external sites run by partners through its Travel Alliance consortium.

Read the interesting story: https://www.tnooz.com/article/lastminutes-travel-people-builds-up-suite-of-marketing-products/

Why hotel brands and franchisers secretly love OTAs

What really matters most to the brands is getting their hotels to produce more revenue. The more revenue the better.. Now OTAs are the ones who are giving immense revenue to hotel industry.

https://insights.ehotelier.com/insights/2018/07/13/why-hotel-brands-and-franchisers-secretly-love-otas/

Day of the independents – why chains are seeing tech-savvy competitors celebrate

As competition among hotels remains heated due to new construction and market saturation, independent hotels continue to thrive and outpace chain hotels.

This is taking place in both growth and their average daily rate (ADR).

https://www.phocuswire.com/Rise-of-independent-hotels

Revenue management adapting to predictive pricing tools

It’s a constant back-and-forth: Hoteliers will always try to get the highest rate possible, and in return, guests will always try to figure out a way to pay the lowest amount possible.

As technology in the travel industry advances, guests are finding an advantage in the evolution of predictive pricing tools, such as those offered by Google Travel or apps like Hopper, which predict future hotel room rates to tell guests whether they should book now or wait until the rate lowers.

http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/287265/Revenue-management-adapting-to-predictive-pricing-tools

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

Thanks and have a good day!