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The Week, That Was – June 2021 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 attains Preferred Connectivity Partner status with Expedia Group

eRevMax, the leading hotel distribution technology provider, announced that it has been certified as the 2021 Expedia GroupTM Preferred Connectivity Partner. This recognition underscores eRevMax’s focus on building and maintaining a high-quality connection that empowers RateTiger customers to grow their businesses on the Expedia Group marketplace.

https://www.erevmax.com/ratetiger-news/ratetiger-news-archive/june2021-erevmax-attains-preferred-connectivity-partner-status-expedia-group.html

US Hotels’ Memorial Day weekend tops 2019

U.S. hotels had more guests over Memorial Day weekend than at any other point during the pandemic, with 40% of all hotels reporting 90% occupancy or more, and those guests paid more for rooms than they did over the holiday weekend in 2019.

https://www.costar.com/article/891563165/us-hotels%E2%80%99-memorial-day-weekend-tops-2019

Futuristic technologies for safer travel

Whether from novelty or necessity, travel providers have adopted robots, drones and other technologies to make travel safer, more interesting and arguably better for consumers.

https://www.travelweekly.com/Articles/futuristic-technologies-for-safer-travel

eRevMax expands Partner Ecosystem with Tour10, Hotel Intelligence and Simplotel

Hotels looking to expand their online distribution for better visibility and improving room occupancy, contact us to know which travel sites can bring you more business. Consult our connectivity advisors to see a demo of RateTiger. To know more about these new partners, read more – https://lnkd.in/gN5PYXg

Guests expect hotel tech experience to be similar to how they use technology at home

More and more hotels are adopting internet of things technologies, which include smart speakers and thermostats accessed over a Wi-Fi network that many guests use at home.

https://www.costar.com/article/1834909468/industry-tech-group-gives-guidance-on-hotel-internet-of-things

Google’s guide to summer travel 2021

Google searches for “summer vacation” and “sunscreen” are seeing a major spike, and those are just a couple of the many interesting Google Trends emerging.

https://blog.google/products/flights-hotels/summer-guide-2021/

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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eRevMax expands Partner Ecosystem with Tour10, Hotel Intelligence and Simplotel

With various companies opening their borders for vaccinated travellers, summer travel is expected to be strong and booking trends and hotel sentiment already reflect a sense of optimism. It is important for hotels to make sure they refresh their hotel description and listing travel sites and make their property visible on relevant OTAs and sell on channels that are bringing future bookings into their cities. eRevMax, the leader in hotel distribution technology, continues to partner with travel channels, booking engine providers and other tech companies to provide hotels with maximum connectivity options to choose from. RateTiger currently offers a network of over 450 deeply integrated global, regional, and local channels. Contact us to discuss how you can expand your distribution connectivity today.

Tour10

Headquartered in Spain, Tour 10 is an online wholesale travel agency with presence in 160 countries. The company works with over 180,000 properties worldwide to create magnificent vacation packages for its guests while taking care of all covid protocols. If you are looking to attract leisure travellers, you may want to consider adding Tour10 to your distribution mix. Contact us to know more.

Hotel Intelligence

France based booking engine provider, Hotel Intelligence is a newly integrated RateTiger partner and provides AI based solutions for hotels. The company helps increase hotel direct bookings by up to 10% through its simple and intuitive platform, that is flexible and reliable. Contact us today to know more about Hotel Intelligence.

Simplotel

India based Simplotel is currently powering over 2000 hotels worldwide with their booking engine and website solution. It helps hotels drive their direct business with OTA like features to increase website revenue. If you are looking to try a new booking engine or get a new website, contact us to know more about Simplotel.

Are you looking to manage any new tech partner or channel from your RateTiger platform? CONTACT US TODAY – https://www.erevmax.com/erevmax-contact.html

 

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The Week, That Was – June 2021 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 releases Q2 Hotel Sentiment results for European accommodation providers

Europe shows positive Hotel Sentiment for Q2 – Q3 2021. Our latest survey report reflects a sense of optimism for the first time since Covid19. The survey conducted for hoteliers in April – May 2021 reports high expectations in terms of occupancy and business growth. To know more about the trends, access the full report here: https://rb.gy/e6rvnq

Leisure travel likely to hit pre-COVID levels by next year

Leisure is probably going to hit 100% of pre-COVID levels by some point next year, and United Airlines is saying that they’re already seeing leisure fares match the prices people paid in pre-COVID times.

https://finance.yahoo.com/video/leisure-travel-likely-hit-100-181911057.html

Airbnb’s future is about ‘living,’ not just travel

Working from home trend is reshaping Airbnb’s business, as it spurred flexibility in terms of where and how people live or how long they stay in one place.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-26/airbnb-s-future-according-to-ceo-brian-chesky-living-not-just-travel

The Importance of a Property Management System (PMS) in the Hotel Industry

With travel recovery steadily picking up pace, hotels are seeing encouraging signs with reservations starting to trickle in. Expanding hotel occupancy and online revenue will be one of the key focus for rest of the year and there will be an increased focus on inter-connectivity of systems and getting the distribution basics right. Does your Property Management System integrate to various other technology solutions you use today? Are you getting third party reservations delivered directly into your hotel system? Do you have a bird’s eye view of your inventory status at all times? Find out the key to a good Hotel PMS. Read more – https://lnkd.in/gq73Rs5

Google Hotels adds vacation rentals

Google is adding vacation rental listings to its Google Hotel platform, with both vacation rental and hotel options set to appear alongside each other in search results for a given destination.

https://searchengineland.com/348972-348972

Expedia launches huge deals promo

From June 8 to 12, travelers will be able to save up to 60% on hotels and activities for travel until the end of January 2022.

https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Agent-Issues/Expedia-post-pandemic-sales-blitz

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 Importance of a Property Management System (PMS) in the Hotel Industry

Hotel Property Management Systems have come a long way to become one of the most essential technology tools for accommodation providers today. Simply put, a good PMS is considered the backbone for a hotel. Property management systems make it easier for coordinating the functions of the front office, guest management, sales, planning, and reporting. It allows property owners to manage front desk operations, rates and promotions, and customer loyalty data, consolidating the status of all hotel properties in one place.

Why every hotel needs a PMS and the benefits they can derive?

Guest Reservations

The most important benefit of a PMS is that it helps hotels to seamlessly manage guest reservations. An ideal PMS should allow a hotel to centralize all guest bookings in one place whether they are coming from third party channels. Brand.com or direct walk-ins. When all the reservations are reflected in one place, it becomes easier for the hotel staff to have access to up-to-date inventory information. It gives clarity to hotel employees to know which rooms are reserved and when, so they can manage operations accordingly.

Managing online third-party sales channels

Most PMSs work with various hotel channel managers, like RateTiger, to make it seamless for hotels to transfer rate and availability data to OTAs and get reservation delivery into the hotel system. Some PMSs offer in-built channel management functionality which allows hotels to offer better online reservation experience through a vast network of volume-producing online sales channels.

Revenue Management

Property management systems also helps hotels to manage revenue effectively.  It helps hoteliers to assess the performance of the property, using key performance indicators like ADR (average daily rate), RevPAR (revenue per available room) and GOPPAR (gross operating profit per available room). A good PMS also offers rate plan management where hotels can quickly create room type-rate plan combinations, which assists hoteliers to easily respond to changes in demand. These change in demand may occur due to seasonality, local events, and various other factors.

Front-desk Operations

A front-office module allows a front-desk manager to view and update room reservation status, manage guest check-ins, and process payments. Some property management systems offer integration into check-in kiosks or allow checking in or out via QR code. This module connects reservation, housekeeping, spa, activities, and guest relations management modules in a single environment.

Digital Check-In

With social distancing becoming the norm, digital or contactless check-in is a preference for many guests nowadays. The contactless technology allows guests to arrive, and then check-in using the mobile app on their phone, or by using a self-service check-in machine. The PMS can sync automatically, keeping check-in and occupancy information updated.

Guest Data Management

It is critical for hotels to collect and organize guest data to keep in touch with current and past customers during and after check-out. A CRM integrated with PMS can help the front desk and reservation team to collect all guest information from these sources, store guest data and have a database in an accessible format.  Advanced PMS also enables hotels to manage guest loyalty programs effectively.

Third Party Integrations

Hotels today need multiple technology solutions to manage their property efficiently. But the key challenge for hotels is that most technology solutions work in silo, and it becomes difficult for hotels to get a clear picture of how everything can work together. An integrated system helps hotels to have synchronized data essential for informed decision making. Hence it is important for a hotel PMS to have open API or option to integrate to other technology systems so that hotels can take benefit of it.

Reporting

Last but not the least, is reporting. Everyday hotel staff access many reports including guest data, reservation, booking pace and trends, channel performance and various other relevant metrics for business performance analysis. A good PMS provides quality reports with advanced analytics and insights in easy-to-use formats.

How to get started?

If you are looking for a good PMS, get in touch with us today. RateTiger works closely with all leading PMSs including Opera, Prologic First, IDS Next, WinHMS, ArabSoft, Cenium, Guestline, ePMS, Ezcloud, Hotelogix, HotSoft, Indra, Infor, Protel, Intimus, Mews, Oracle, Skyware, and Visual Matrix,  and we are happy to recommend you systems that work well in your region.

Further, if your property is looking for any technology solution individually or integrated on a platform – Hotel Channel Manager, CRS, Internet Booking Engine (IBE), Rate Shopper, GDS & Metasearch management, Website development, Business Analytics – please reach out to us for a ‘no-obligation’ demo today – https://www.erevmax.com/erevmax-contact.html

 

 

 

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Airbnb predicts historic travel rebound in 2021

Airbnb, the home-sharing and accommodation rental giant, has predicted an unprecedented travel recovery in the coming months as more countries ease travel restrictions due to vaccine roll-out. The pent-up demand for travel after a year of uncertainties are making people get back out there. This trend is also captured in the eRevMax Hotel Sentiment survey where 2 out of three BnB and Home Rental owners have reported significant increase in bookings and occupancy compared to last year.

Airbnb has recently published its customer survey report which shows a shift toward more meaningful travel. As more people work remotely from home, they want to go out and stay at another place, not necessarily a hotel, for a longer than usual duration.

More than a year of restrictions and lockdown have made people prioritize personal trips over mass tourism. People want to reconnect with family and loved ones and are willing to take trips while keeping the safety and security in check.

Among the key points that surfaced in the Airbnb research:

People miss traveling and plan to travel. More than bars, restaurants, sports, or other live events, people miss traveling. In one survey, 54% of people said they either already booked a trip or expect to travel in 2021.

What this means: There is a significant pent-up demand as people can’t wait to travel again.

People will be flexible on where and when they travel. With remote work and learning here to stay, people will have more flexibility with travel. This will likely impact where, when, and how long people stay—for example, there may be more demand for off-peak days of the week and times of the year. Nearly 25% of those surveyed said they envision longer stays.

What this means: Be ready to adapt to new guest needs, like offering longer stays, upgrading wi-fi, setting up a laptop-friendly workspace, and including amenities suitable for families and people with disabilities.

People will want to travel nearby. In the survey, 56% of people said they prefer a domestic or local destination. Just 21% said they want to travel farther away and internationally.

What this means: Guests will go anywhere—as long as it’s nearby. This means travel will likely disperse to thousands of smaller cities, towns, and rural communities.

People will prioritize affordability. Those surveyed said affordability was the top priority in choosing accommodations for future travel. The pandemic has hit a lot of people financially, but the desire to travel and connect is universal.

What this means: Offering a great value would help accommodation providers to attract family and group of friends traveling together.

People want to travel to connect with family and friends. In the survey, 41% said connecting with family and friends will be “much more important” post-pandemic.

What this means: There is a shift from mass travel to meaningful travel, and bookings from families and groups of friends who want to reconnect.

As people begin to make plans to reconnect with friends and family, Airbnb is launching the Summer of Responsible Travel, an 8-point plan to help hosts, guests and communities they call home stay safer. The Summer of Responsible Travel plan includes new tools to help travelers and hosts stay healthier, systems to crack down on bad behavior and more help for people if some part of their trip doesn’t go as planned.

You can now manage your property on Airbnb via RateTiger/ LiveOS. Contact us today to connect to Airbnb or manage your existing connection via RateTiger –https://goo.gl/3gKUJZ

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The Week, That Was – May 2021 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

Reef Boutique Hotel drives its travel recovery strategies with RateTiger

One of the most sought-after properties in Bahrain, Reef Boutique Hotel, has recommended RateTiger for helping implement its recovery strategies for online sales growth. The 5-star address is seeing a surge in direct bookings since its implementation of RateTiger booking engine.

https://www.erevmax.com/ratetiger-news/ratetiger-news-archive/may2021-erevmax-reef-boutique-hotel-drives-travel-recovery-strategies-ratetiger.html

Booking.com’s narrative for post-pandemic travel

The company’s new narrative is all about deeper value, better choice, increased flexibility and transparency as well as more thoughtful experiences.

https://www.thedrum.com/news/2021/05/20/bookingcom-s-cmo-arjan-dijk-the-emerging-post-pandemic-traveller

Top OTAs in China back on track

Trip.com Group, China’s largest online travel agency, reported higher-than-expected financial performance for Q1, indicating resilient recovery of China’s domestic tourism market. Both domestic hotel and air ticketing reservations have fully recovered.

http://epaper.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202105/20/WS60a59b7ea31099a2343563e3.html

Survey finds caution being replaced by eagerness to travel

According to GetYourGuide’s Reopening Research report, more than half – 56% – of respondents say they plan to travel within the next six months, which the report classifies as “eager.

https://www.phocuswire.com/getyourguide-survey-finds-caution-being-replaced-by-eagerness-to-travel

E.U. Reopening Borders To Vaccinated Travelers, Those From “Safe” Countries

European Union announced its decision to reopen its borders to visitors who have been fully vaccinated with an approved vaccine or those who are coming from a list of “safe” countries from a COVID-19 perspective.

https://www.travelagentcentral.com/europe/e-u-reopening-borders-to-vaccinated-travelers-those-from-safe-countries

 Airbnb sees a new kind of business travel emerging

That new kind of business travel would include more employees working remotely and returning to headquarters occasionally, and they may prefer to rent an Airbnb accommodation over a hotel.

https://www.businesstravelnews.com/Lodging/Airbnb-Remote-Workers-Could-Spur-New-Kind-of-Business-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!

 

 

 

 

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Connect to niche travel channels to generate more bookings

Explore Verychic and HalalBooking from the eRevMax Partner EcosystemAs the world slowly recovers from the impact of the pandemic and international borders are starting to open, travel is expected to pick up. In the post-COVID-19 world, travellers will be extremely conscious of safety protocols, hygiene as well as social distancing norms.

Travel and tour operators will have a big role to play in designing itineraries that avoid public forms of transportation and crowded tourist areas. Further, hotels need to find new ways to market themselves to multiple audience types. Hence it is important to consider niche travel channels that cater to specific guest segments and could be a potential source to generate new bookings.

eRevMax works with a variety of digital travel platforms to offer its hotel partners a whole range of demand sources to choose from. Today we are featuring two such niche OTAs that you may want to consider adding to your distribution mix.

Verychic

VeryChic organizes private sale of outstanding hotel rooms exclusively for its select upscale members, offering attractive deals. It is one of the fastest growing online travel agencies in the French market with over 5000 hotels partnerships attracting 12,000 bookings per month. Verychic has a loyal customer base of over 9 million members across Europe. Verychic enables its luxury and upscale hotel partners to optimize distribution and provides them access to new guests via its private sales.

HalalBooking

UK based HalalBooking is a leading travel booking website for halal-conscious travelers, and allows travellers to find hotels, resorts and villas suitable for their individual needs. The website lists over 71,000 properties in 50 countries. Over 2000 travel agencies worldwide are part of its affiliate partner programme. You can now manage HalalBooking directly from your RateTiger / LiveOS platform.

If you are looking to add any of the above or manage a new tech partner or channel from your RateTiger platform, do contact us today

 

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The Week, That Was – May 2021 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

Are you attending ATM Dubai 2021?

Dubai is preparing to ride high on international tourist arrivals. Meet Teba Mezher from 16th to 19th May at the show to discuss changing guest behavior and new booking trends – find out how RateTiger can help your hotel achieve revenue targets. Book a meeting today –https://www.erevmax.com/eshots/invites/erevmax-invite-atm2021-register.html

Mining the new signals in travel marketing

Consumer behaviors and attitudes toward travel purchases have shifted in the past 12 months. Brands need to grasp their prospects’ current mindsets, and look at more signals than ever before in order to segment your audiences to find the best prospects and drive ROI.

https://www.phocuswire.com/Marketing-tactics-to-think-about-as-travel-attempts-to-recover

STR: UK to lead hospitality recovery in Europe

April saw the first increase in occupancy across major cities in Europe, but the increase ranged only from 5% to 15%.

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/accommodation/uk-to-lead-hospitality-recovery-in-europe-says-str

Mirai: Google free booking links impact; time for the numbers

The share of free booking links averages 17% in clicks and 11% in sales, according to Mirai data.

https://www.mirai.com/blog/google-free-booking-links-impact-time-for-the-numbers/

Airbnb’s brand vs. Booking.com’s performance marketing – is there a playbook for recovery?

2020 was certainly not “another-day-in-the-office” type of year for the travel industry. But Airbnb deserves a section on its own in the annals of that cataclysmic year.

https://www.phocuswire.com/Airbnb-brand-vs-Booking-com-performance-marketing

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 – April 2021 Week 5

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!

Webinar Invite: Direct Bookings –  Same Game | Different Rules

Over the past year the hotel industry has been on the defensive. The time has come to go back on the attack with a new strategy. Join our team of Game Changers on 11th May where they will discuss how their specialist companies, with compatible technologies have joined forces in order to enable their modern solutions to drive direct bookings and improve payment processes across all hospitality companies; from big hotel groups to small guesthouses.

Register here – https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_J5n5oa6FRdaEeuBSr7vnWQ

Hotel rates on the rise as travel demand ticks up

Hotel accommodations will rebound despite a migration to vacation rentals. Nightly rates, while still somewhat lower than a year ago, are slowly rising to match or – in some popular destinations – surpass pre-pandemic prices, according to Koddi.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/28/hotel-rates-on-the-rise-as-travel-demand-ticks-up.html

Business travel 2021: Where we’re headed as the recovery takes shape

What if booking a business trip was as easy as ordering an item from Amazon Prime? Hear how industry experts are leveraging technology to shape the future of the business travel experience. The global pandemic has forced leaders across industries to rethink design and the user experience.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90624621/business-travel-2021

How to get onboard with Google Hotel Link for Free

Is your hotel leveraging the Google Free Listing yet? Find out how you can easily get your hotel rates and availability on Google through this quick guide – https://www.erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2021/04/how-to-get-onboard-with-google-hotel-link-for-free/

Travel marketers look ahead toward recovery

Expedia on how travel marketers can continue being flexible, and appropriately move forward in light of ongoing uncertainty.

https://martechseries.com/mts-insights/guest-authors/travel-marketers-look-ahead-toward-recovery/

Trivago partners with TUI for attractions

eRevMax partner Trivago users will have direct access to more than 55,000 excursions, activities and tickets in over 100 countries.

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/04/27/2217759/0/en/Trivago-Collaborates-with-TUI-to-Offer-New-Activities-Feature.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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How to get onboard with Google Hotel Link for Free

Last month, Google has made hotel listings free for hotel businesses and travel agencies. If you are a hotel owner or a travel agency, you can now display your rates and availability in the All Options section. While the results shown in this section is based on organic search results, this is a major opportunity for hotels to showcase their properties on the world’s biggest search engine without worrying about metasearch budget.

In this blog, we have shared a quick guide for hotels to get on Google.

Why Booking links?

For long, hotels have had to compete through PPC campaigns to appear on Google Hotel Booking listings, where cost was often a big factor. This new development removes the cost barrier and gives hotels a level playing field to appear in Google when users search for accommodation. Based on the search query, a listing of various hotels appear along with property photos, ratings, prices, and a map. While the hotel website’s SEO would play a role in appearing in the top results, if done correctly, it helps hotels to connect with more travelers and drive more bookings at no cost.

Google Hotels immersive view

When a user searches for hotels in a particular location, Google shows an immersive view including both a list and a map of hotel search results that contains hotel names, photos, prices, and ratings. Often these results include property promotion ads, which are paid hotel ads on Google. The traveler then either books from the options or can further filter prices by check-in date, occupancy, price, amenities, user rating, brand, and hotel class. Clicking on a hotel sends the traveler to the hotel booking module. The overview section on the booking module shows four paid listings under the Featured options and two organic search results. Clicking on the Prices Tab, the traveller would be able to see all four paid listings along with all search results.

How to get started: Existing Hotel Ad Users

For hotels already displaying rates and availability and booking link through metasearch, they do not need to do anything as they are automatically eligible to show free booking links. Any property with a bid in a hotel campaign and participating feeds will be eligible. Bids also have no impact on the ranking of free booking links.

Hotels and travel agencies who do not take part in Hotel ads

If you are a hotel or a travel agency which does not take part in hotels ads, the first thing you need to have is a Hotel Center Account. Hotels and hotel booking partners who do not have a Hotel Center account but are interested in getting started with free booking links should fill out the interest form. Google has integration with multiple third-party integration partners including RateTiger and recommends hotels to work directly work with these providers to connect to Google. At RateTiger, we are helping many of our client hotels to set up Hotel Center Accounts. For onboarding, you need to provide us with the following:

  1. The hotel list containing all the properties that the hotel/ group/ travel agency wishes to show on Google.
  2. Selecting an option for sending hotel pricing updates to Google.
  3. Customize landing pages that will be shown to a traveler after they click on a hotel’s price on Google or Google Maps.
  4. Maintain an excellent Price Accuracy score

To know more or to get started, contact us today – https://www.erevmax.com/erevmax-contact.html