Tag: hotels

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GBTA Convention 2012 – Preview

Come Monday and one of the biggest Business Travel events will kick off in Boston, Massachusetts. With two former US Presidents featuring as key speakers among the biggies of the travel industry, there is surely some exciting time ahead!

With over 1400 pre-registered buyers, the 2012 GBTA Convention will have the largest buyer attendance in its 44 year history, which speaks volumes about the show. The agenda looks well-defined and with huge cuts on global business travel budgets, we can expect to witness hot discussions and debates on ways to achieve more productivity.

How do we do that? Well with technology moving forward in leaps and bounds, there will be much to catch up on. And of course I will be there at the RateTiger stand 959 speaking to attendees on how they can leverage our tools to achieve ultimate rate transparency. 

A recent PhoCusWright report mentions how quickly corporate travel bookings are moving online, with over 56% of all business travel bookings to be made over the internet by 2013. The technology boom doubled with increase in mobile and tablet usage has converted corporate travelers into corporate tourists. Further with travel managers keeping a close check on online hotel rates, it has become difficult for hotels to disregard their corporate contracts and offer differential pricing.

New technology and software tools are expected to play an important role with TMCs experiencing increased pressure from companies to thoroughly assess and deliver returns from their travel spend. Corporates are defining stricter ROI metrics to ensure they get ‘more from less’ when it comes to their money spent. Therefore buyers need to look at rates carefully and ensure they are getting the best deal – hence the importance of rate shopping tools (aka RTCorp). Our corporate price management tool will give the transparency needed when negotiating RFPs with hotels.

I look forward to all the discussions and networking, as well as checking out what others in the business travel space are doing. Watch this space for updates when I am back from the show.

Jan Murza is Sales Manager – USA at eRevMax and is responsible for sale of RateTiger products in the region. He is based out of Orlando, USA and can be reached at janm@ratetiger.com

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Newshound: Trends and Reports – Hotel Online Distribution


Reviews and more reviews: a question of confidence

Efforts are being made to ensure that travellers are getting accurate information that is relevant to them. Even online travel agencies (OTAs) are now diligently integrating reviews on their sites, e-newsletters, promotional campaigns and other outlets. Firstly OTAs are improving descriptions of hotels across the board so that customers can more directly compare rooms and facilities at different hotels. This includes more photos and videos for travellers to browse through. Secondly, the overall contribution from various stakeholders including employees, fellow travellers, hoteliers and so on is on the rise on their sites.
http://www.eyefortravel.com/social-media-and-marketing/reviews-and-more-reviews-question-confidence

How Facebook is Shaping Your 2012 Travel Decisions

Recent studies reveal that what matters most when planning a trip is not where you’re going, but rather who you know that has already traveled to that destination.  Without a doubt, the ubiquitous marketing tool’s unique brand interaction is setting a new beat to the travel pulse. While trusted travel brands unquestionably provide valuable trip advice, word of mouth from a loyal group of friends may be more worthwhile.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/traceygreenstein/2012/07/06/how-facebook-is-shaping-your-2012-travel-decisions/

Hotel Industry Business Outlook: Summer 2012

What does the summer have in store for the hotel industry? The recently published Christie + Co’s Business Outlook Summer 2012 report reveals all. With the banks coming to terms with their positioning and exposure in the hotel sector, the year to date has been typified by some reasonable transactional activity, according to the publication.
http://www.hotel-industry.co.uk/2012/07/hotel-industry-business-outlook-summer-2012/

What online retailers can learn from Orbitz

All stores – both online and physical – should tailor offerings to their purchasing segments. In an online environment, that might mean offering different choices to customers based on their purchase history or the kinds of products they’ve clicked on in the past.
http://hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/what_online_retailers_can_learn_from_orbitz

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Flash Sales – the future of hotel booking

Flash Sales offer great deals for a very limited time, they can often have much tougher terms and conditions to many other offers that can make it difficult for travelers to cash-in their voucher. Yet some hotels are seeing this as a great way to promote their hotel and show travelers what they can offer.

One hotel I spoke to offered 75% off their standard rate, and this is in London – what a potentially excellent deal. But as a traveler it is really worth price shopping and seeing what rates are on the market, across traditional booking channels, to make sure it is a great deal.

Yet tapping into travelers with a budget mindset is ideal as the speed of purchase encourages them to buy faster.

A few places you can find these interesting deals include Secret Escapes, GroupOn, Living Social, Voyageprive.com and Travel Zoo. I recently attended an event organized by HOSPA – an association for hoteliers to find out more.

As a hotelier – you do need to think of what brand represents your hotel. You need to agree with the supplier a sustainable pricing model on the discount and commission the website charges. Don’t get surprised if the results don’t come in as you expect, nothing worse than planning booking based on a pure marketing promotion.

The HOSPA panel agreed that on the whole, those who bought these Flash Sales were often consumers who can afford to spend several hundred in a daily deal, making a decision in a moment.


 
Advising hotels on how to make the most of Flash Sales, Nick Stafford, General Manager of Escapes Europe of Living Social remarked: “The worst thing you can do is discount heavily to your own customers. I booked a flight and 2 days later received a discount promotion of 60% from that airline. Discounting to loyal customers is dangerous and can reduce the value of your product as they just hang around waiting for the sale,” Nick felt short changed by the airline. “Our offers are for a specific time, feeding recipients needs then and there.”

However hotels maybe trying these new forms of social and digital marketing, yet are still very behind on the online basics, TravelZoo still needs to create web landing pages for hotels that (believe it or not) still do not have websites. Then these hotels complain when they don’t get the results they need. To me, hotels need to get a grip with the basics before trying this method of sales.

The only advice these channels seem to offer to hotels is to think in advance, do not call up last minute desperate to fill the hotel. This is not last minute bookings, these are future bookings aimed at helping the quiet periods, and revenue managers should know the weeks when the hotel is usually quiet.

There are no exact figures on how much these flash sales cost, it will be anywhere between 10% – 50% commission depending on the offer, the location of the property and the brand.

I am hoping that independent hotels are offered good deals, but I get the impression it maybe more financially challenging for small independent properties.

Some immediate tips for hotels:

  • Select the right channel that markets hotels like your property
  • Identify the lowest rate you publish and can make money from
  • Build from this lowest rate, taking into account maximum commission you are willing to pay before you make a loss
  • Look at your additional services – value-adds – and see how you can create a great package offer that costs you very little
  • Get a good idea of how the flash sales members behave to identify the best price

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

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Newshound: Trends and Reports – Hotel Online Distribution


Making hotels comfortable with the notion of confirmed demand
A start-up called BackBid is offering hotels the ability to reach confirmed travelers – in other words, travelers that are definitely going to be traveling, not just those who are doing research or comparison-shopping online. With such offering, hotels can assess who is coming to their market, how much they are willing to pay, and what their travel preferences are, whereas consumers get to choose from personalised bids designed to meet their needs/ preferences.

TripAdvisor expands Facebook integration
Trip Friends will now start showing links to reviews from people within their friend’s network. This is probably the biggest development to the Trip Friends channel on TripAdvisor so far and plugs into where TripAdvisor is heading – tapping into the social graph of users so that they can rely on reviews from people they trust or like-minded travelers that may share similar interest by virtue of being within an existing social circle.

Room 77 grows up, adds loyalty points
In addition to searching multiple online travel sites simultaneously, Room 77 now helps travelers uncover special rates, including advanced purchase, AAA member rates and senior discounts – saving travelers up to 50% off other online travel providers. 


Top three hotel marketing myths (and the truth behind them)
The way consumers shop for and book hotel accommodations has evolved and disciplines such as social media and mobile have entered the picture, and likely won’t be leaving it any time soon. The article identifies and explores these myths and reveal the truths behind them.

Major markets enjoy the benefits of raising rates
Rising occupancy levels will enable hotel managers in the nation’s major markets to significantly raise their room rates in 2012. The average daily room rate for hotels in the 50 metro areas for which PKF Hospitality Research prepares a Hotel Horizons fore- cast is projected to increase 5.3 percent in 2012. This compares to an ADR increase of just 2.7 percent for all other U.S. hotels located outside of these 50 markets. Favorable supply and demand conditions in the large metro areas during 2010 and 2011 have set the stage for the strong 2012 ADR forecast.
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BTL 2012


I attended BTL earlier this month. This was the 24th edition of the event and it witnessed close to 800 exhibitors and over 80,000 visitors.

Various hotels participated in the event and most of them were concerned with the economic situation. The hotel industry in Portugal is currently experiencing falling occupancy and RevPAR. Many revenue managers and proprietors we spoke to were interested in understanding how to boost revenues.

Awareness about online distribution is rising which has led to many local players now offering channel management solutions. The Portuguese market is surely maturing and understands the benefits they can derive from a good channel management product.

RateTiger has been attending BTL for five years now and there is no denying the fact that it is a business platform of reference to both professionals and for the general public. It provides a chance for all interested to meet in one place and is one of the largest and most comprehensive tourism events in Portugal.

Pilar Sanchez Aita is Sales Manager for Spain & Portugal at eRevMax and is responsible for sales of RateTiger products in the region. She can be reached at pilara@ratetiger.com

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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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RateTiger Shortlisted for Travolution Awards 2011

RateTiger, the premium channel management solution provider, has been nominated as a finalist for the Travolution Awards in the Best Technology Provider category. The nomination has been made based on its channel connection achievements.

The Travolution Awards, considered one of the industry’s highest accolade for online innovation and excellence in the UK, aims at recognising companies, brands and individuals who excel in the fields of online travel distribution, digital marketing and technology.

RateTiger has been recognised for its success in creating the largest online channel network, offering hoteliers’ access to more than 750 OTAs globally. The full service channel manager constantly develops technology to help hotels to take advantage of new opportunities to optimise marketing and sales online including utilising social media platforms like Facebook. It recently became the first channel manager to distribute hotel inventory and rates to eBay, the largest international ecommerce platform representing 14% of global e-commerce.

“We encourage innovation and integration of technologies to support the evolution of online sales and channel management. Hoteliers are fond of our solutions because we provide them meaningful single-point access to all required channels, and continue to add new platforms” said Michael McCartan, COO RateTiger. “GDS, via CRS, booking engines, tour operators, OTAs to social media, online advertising and auctioning platforms has been very successful. Now with this prestigious award nomination, we know we are on right track and will continue to create value for our customers.”

These connections help hoteliers to broaden the reach of newer market segments, further maximises online revenues while minimising the workload involved in researching and managing new media.


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Newshound: Trends and Reports – Hotel Online Distribution

The 5 Defining Moments of 2011 (So Far)

Tumultuous. This is the word that springs to mind to characterize 2011 for our industry. Whereas last year saw online travel companies at the mercy of economic conditions it seems that 2011 has been more defined by competitive forces and players. Survival of the fittest has evolved into only the savvy prosper.
http://www.eyefortravel.com/news/industry-analysis/5-defining-moments-2011-so-far

Are travel shopping sites killing technical performance?

This is a guest article by Dorian Harris, founder of hotel booking site Skoosh. I stumbled across an amazing piece of software recently called Splunk. It does for server logs what Google does for web-pages, more or less.
http://www.tnooz.com/2011/09/05/news/are-travel-shopping-sites-killing-technical-performance/

Dubai hotels posts biggest jump in occupancy in MENA region | EY Reports

Hotel occupancy in Dubai witnessed a 10.5 percentage points increase in July 2011 year-on-year, the biggest such increase within the region, global consultancy Ernst & Young said in its Middle East Hotel Benchmark Survey.
http://ahla.hsyndicate.com/news/4052831.html

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Golden Tulip Implements ExtraConnect

Pegasus Solutions® and RateTiger Launch Collaborative Solution with One of World’s Largest Hospitality Groups

Louvre Hotels Group, one of the largest hospitality groups in the world, has implemented ExtraConnect, an integrated central reservation and channel management system from industry leaders Pegasus Solutions and RateTiger by eRevMax International. It is the first central reservation system (CRS) to combine the next generation enterprise delivery of Pegasus’ RezView® NG with the powerful channel management capabilities of RateTiger’s leading Channel Management technology.