eRevMax announces strategic partnership with Kuwaiti technology provider EEMC

Kuwait based hospitality solution developer EEMC has partnered with leading hotel connectivity provider, eRevMax to deliver advanced channel management solutions to its hotel customers. eRevMax has signed an agreement with the company making them an official sales representative of RateTiger, the award-winning integrated channel manager, rate intelligence and connectivity solution for hotels.

Enhanced Engineering & Multi -Technologies Co. (EEMC), a renowned name in Kuwait, provides a range of services varying from Hospitality and Retail solutions to Datacenter and Smart building infrastructure development. Their hotel technology solution which manages overbookings and improve housekeeping utilization, is a popular choice among the accommodation providers in the country. To improve its offerings, the company has been looking for an integrated hotel technology to manage all aspects of online distribution. RateTiger was the natural choice given its vast network of two-way XML connections and leadership position in the market.

eRevMax is the perfect online distribution partner for our business needs, and with this alliance we have strengthened our portfolio of solutions for hotels. RateTiger’s automated rate and inventory distribution and rate shopping capabilities complement our hotel management system making it a one stop solution for hoteliers to manage online sales,” said Mohamad Darwish, Sales Manager, EEMC Enhanced Engineering & Multi -Technologies Co. (EEMC). 

“Kuwait is an important market for our products, and this partnership with EEMC will help keeping up with the growing demand of its products as well as its commitment to customers to provide local presence and support,” said Prithwish Dutta, Regional Sales Manager (MENA & APAC), eRevMax.

Offering 99.9% system uptime and security certified under ISO, PCI and GDPR, RateTiger provides hotels with a 2-way XML channel connectivity platform. RateTiger product suite offers the industry’s leading Channel Manager for online distribution and Shopper for rate benchmarking and RTConnect for seamless 2-way XML integration of channel management functionality with the hotel’s central systems.

Meet the team at ATM Dubai from 28 April – 1 May 2019 to see how we can help automate distribution and improve revenue opportunities for your hotel. Book a meeting today – https://bit.ly/2v7fYye

Tips and Tricks for hotel online revenue generation

Travelers will always need someplace to stay when out of town on business or on vacation. Make your hotel their preferred option by offering the right balance of customer service and price. Offer a unique environment or specialty services to differentiate yourself from the competition, and limit the number of rooms you offer at discounted rates. Consider hiring an expert in hotel revenue management to study your operations and identify areas in which you can increase revenue, as well as provide associated training to your staff.

Social Media continues to grow in importance. It has not only become a critical tool to interact with customers, but is also a key element that impacts organic search rankings for your hotel.  Hotels that take advantage of this hot trend are seeing significant benefits in terms of online placement and revenue.

Growth of mobile as a channel – Mobile has grown as a key channel for search. The universe of mobile users is massive – 3 in 5 people use mobile devices to search and 80% of local searches on mobile devices convert into purchases.

Enhancing Your Hotel’s Local Presence – Your website has to tap into the possibilities of enhanced local search. The goal is to create optimized content and local profiles, manage quality citations and directory listings, and deliver a seamless brand experience across devices.

Social Media Marketing – In our connected online community, the synergy of social engagement empowers your digital marketing. Most travelers use social media sites including Google+, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn. Social media is a driver of brand awareness, customer relationships and retention. To be part of your guest’s social conversation and drive traffic on social platforms, your web content must be interesting, build relevant connections, and inspire conversion.

Content Marketing – Content marketing starts with understanding your audience and their purchase journey. Content should engage, inspire and enhance the user experience. Empower your audience with engaging content; include local attractions and activities, compelling visuals and trending topics to be on top of customers mind.

User Experience – An important aspect of digital marketing is the user experience. Your guests expect a seamless journey during their hotel search process. They expect to be able to navigate through your website without having to look for answers – your site should be intuitive and user friendly. Conversion optimization starts with usability factors such as speed and performance, information architecture, legibility, colors and images.

Understanding the Hotel Customer Journey – From travel inspiration and research to booking to post-stay reviews, understanding the customer journey is paramount to your digital marketing strategy. In hospitality domain, and just about any industry or business, customers refer to search results and reviews to plan a trip or book a room.

Discounts – Business hotels sell rooms during the week. Resort hotels generate the most revenue during high season. Selling rooms at discounted rates or offering interesting promotions during off-peak season helps generate additional revenue by improving the occupancy rate.

Choose the right distribution channels – How do you choose which e-distribution channels are right for your hotel? Several factors need to be taken into consideration, from channel contribution potential, distribution spread and cost to how easy the channels are to manage, what types of marketing exposure they can provide and the sort of technology they use. Choosing the right channels and the tools to manage those channels play a crucial role in a hotel’s online revenue generation strategy. Partnering with connectivity providers like eRevMax that can assist in choosing the right channels that bring maximum business to your city is important. Further, use a cloud based channel manager to manage all your OTAs in real-time.

Social Media is an integral part of the real-time search algorithm. Social media creates real connection between companies and customers, and that connection equals purchase intent. Ongoing connection and relationship with your customers will eventually turn them into a volunteer marketing army.  Make sure that social media is an integral part of your overall marketing plan.  If you are limited on budget and resources, still keep monitoring the social media domain and do the best you can.  Hoteliers who want to be ahead of the curve, should invest today in the media that is fast emerging as the future of internet marketing.

The Week, That Was – March 2019 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!!

Luxury UK hotel trusts RateTiger Shopper for pricing decisions

The Greenbank Hotel has been leveraging eRevMax’s price intelligence tool – RateTiger Shopper to monitor competitor rates across multiple sales channels and take informed pricing decisions to stay ahead in the market.

https://bit.ly/2OjzZdW

Traveler survey yields insights into booking behaviors

Online travel agencies have been a dominant force in the holiday booking space for years, but this dominance is coming under threat. How hotels view working with OTAs is a subject covered recently by Hotel News Now, but STR’s Consumer Travel Insight reports offer a different angle on the rising pressure that OTAs face due to shifting perceptions among travellers.

http://hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/294453/Traveler-survey-yields-insights-into-booking-behaviors

Customer acquisition costs continue to rise

Whether the booking costs are transaction-specific as in commissionable OTAs or GDS, or there are cross-channel costs via social media, franchise fees and even labor for sales and marketing, the total costs for acquiring our guests are increasing over time.

http://hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/294289/Owners-must-be-informed-on-customer-acquisition-costs

The state of corporate travel management in 2019

A new survey gathered more than 1,500 people responsible for managing employee travel, including executive assistants, who opened up about several major pain points of business travel. Half of those surveyed said the amount of time spent adjusting bookings and travel arrangements is an issue, as is time spent gathering receipts and completing expense reports (44 per cent).

https://www.hotelmarketing.com/articles/the-state-of-corporate-travel-management-in-2019

How social proof influences the travel booking cycle

A new study revealed that when it comes to planning travel, consumers increasing look to authentic social proof for inspiration and validation.

https://www.hotelspeak.com/2019/03/how-social-proof-influences-the-travel-booking-cycle/

Online travel agency giants spent $10.6B on marketing in 2018 (but look closer)

The power of the platforms is huge: Expedia Group and Booking Holdings splashed out a record amount on customer acquisition during 2018. The pair spent $10.6 billion on what they loosely term “performance advertising and brand advertising” in the case of Booking Holdings and “selling and marketing” at Expedia Group.

https://www.phocuswire.com/Booking-Holdings-Expedia-Group-marketing-spend-2018

Changes in consumer booking patterns reshape distribution strategies for hoteliers

As hoteliers grapple with implementing diverse distribution strategies that optimize their spend, reach and results, emerging trends around channel development and how consumers interact with direct and indirect channels are adding new dimensions to the challenge.

https://www.phocuswire.com/Consumer-booking-patterns-hotel-distribution

What will Google Hotels mean for OTAs?

Google Hotels offers all the functionality and tools of its competitors such as Kayak, Expedia and Booking.com. It has the benefit of Google Maps and integration with Google search results (generally pretty high in results). The question thus arises: will Google Hotels create a giant black hole that sucks all the direct traffic away from online hotel booking sites?

https://searchengineland.com/what-will-google-hotels-mean-for-online-booking-sites-313851

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

Thanks and have a good day!

The Week, That Was – March 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!!

Luxury UK hotel trusts RateTiger Shopper for pricing decisions

The Greenbank Hotel has been leveraging eRevMax’s price intelligence tool – RateTiger Shopper to monitor competitor rates across multiple sales channels and take informed pricing decisions to stay ahead in the market.

https://www.erevmax.com/ratetiger-news/ratetiger-news-archive/mar2019-erevmax-luxury-uk-hotel-ratetiger-shopper-pricing.html

Customer acquisition costs continue to rise

Whether the booking costs are transaction-specific as in commissionable OTAs or GDS, or there are cross-channel costs via social media, franchise fees and even labor for sales and marketing, the total costs for acquiring our guests are increasing over time.

http://hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/294289/Owners-must-be-informed-on-customer-acquisition-costs

How social proof influences the travel booking cycle

A new study revealed that when it comes to planning travel, consumers increasing look to authentic social proof for inspiration and validation.

https://www.hotelspeak.com/2019/03/how-social-proof-influences-the-travel-booking-cycle/

Online travel agency giants spent $10.6B on marketing in 2018 (but look closer)

The power of the platforms is huge: Expedia Group and Booking Holdings splashed out a record amount on customer acquisition during 2018. The pair spent $10.6 billion on what they loosely term “performance advertising and brand advertising” in the case of Booking Holdings and “selling and marketing” at Expedia Group.

https://www.phocuswire.com/Booking-Holdings-Expedia-Group-marketing-spend-2018

Changes in consumer booking patterns reshape distribution strategies for hoteliers

As hoteliers grapple with implementing diverse distribution strategies that optimize their spend, reach and results, emerging trends around channel development and how consumers interact with direct and indirect channels are adding new dimensions to the challenge.

https://www.phocuswire.com/Consumer-booking-patterns-hotel-distribution

What will Google Hotels mean for OTAs?

Google Hotels offers all the functionality and tools of its competitors such as Kayak, Expedia and Booking.com. It has the benefit of Google Maps and integration with Google search results (generally pretty high in results). The question thus arises: will Google Hotels create a giant black hole that sucks all the direct traffic away from online hotel booking sites?

https://searchengineland.com/what-will-google-hotels-mean-for-online-booking-sites-313851

Hotel experts warn data should not just be considered a “hobby”

The hotel industry must focus on how data can be used to understand guests better and remove friction.

https://www.phocuswire.com/man-v-machine-sabre-hilton-ITB-2019

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

Thanks and have a good day!

Luxury UK hotel trusts RateTiger Shopper for pricing decisions

The Greenbank Hotel has been leveraging eRevMax’s price intelligence tool – RateTiger Shopper to monitor competitor rates across multiple sales channels and take informed pricing decisions to stay ahead in the market.

The Greenbank Hotel is a luxury 4-star property in Cornwall with an interesting history. Having started out as a sailor’s pub back in 1640, the property today boasts of a unique location, characterful heritage, contemporary styling and outstanding levels of service, which keep guests coming back, year after year.

The hotel has been using RateTiger Shopper over the past few years to monitor trends in room rates over selected time periods and for up to 24 months in the future. The intelligent room rate data allows the hotel to access past and current pricing data for accurate forecasting.

“We have been using RateTiger Shopper for rate benchmarking. We save a lot of time as we can take our pricing decisions by just reviewing the pricing reports we get from the tool. We can easily shop multiple parameters, review the market data, know our price position, identify rate movements and monitor our competitors – all through a few reports and alerts. It is a simple and effective tool which makes our work very easy. I can recommend RateTiger Shopper for any hotel that is looking for real-time price intelligence as it saves lots of time,” said Oceane Mechain, Revenue Manager, The Greenbank Hotel.

RateTiger Shopper is a comprehensive yet easy to use hotel rate intelligence solution. It enables hotels to check room rates are accurate across all channels while analyzing room rates of your competitive set and rate positioning across multiple hotel websites, third party sales channels and online travel agents (OTA).

eRevMax is known for its innovative products and stable solutions with 99% uptime. The company is ISO and PCI certified and GDPR compliant. eRevMax offers excellent connectivity with around over 400 online channels and technology partners and provides 24×7 customer support.

The Week, That Was – March 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!!

Airbnb acquires HotelTonight

Airbnb agrees to acquire last-minute hotel-booking app HotelTonight. As Airbnb gears up for its big leap into the public markets, it’s expanding its accommodations platform to include more than just treehouses and quirky homes.

https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/07/airbnb-agrees-to-acquire-last-minute-hotel-booking-app-hoteltonight/

Top 10 fastest-growing European destinations for Chinese tourists

Europe is now the second largest destination for Chinese tourists after Asia, according to a new report by Huacheng International Travel Co., Ltd

http://www.china.org.cn/top10/2019-03/07/content_74530702.htm

3 keys to meeting customer expectations in 2019

Some 63% of people expect brands to use their purchase history to provide them with personalized experiences. One recent study even noted that a full 83% of Millennials said they would let travel brands track their digital patterns if it would provide them with a more personalized experience.

https://bit.ly/2CbhO5f

Booking.com launches BookingSuite app store

The BookingSuite App Store presents handpicked solutions from hospitality software providers in a number of different categories, to make finding the right solutions for a property’s business quick and easy.

https://suite.booking.com/blog/app-store/

TripAdvisor plots inspiration path in Google’s shadow

TripAdvisor debuted its new homepage at the end of last year with the hope of making the platform more relevant to users and, presumably, helping it make more money in the process.

https://skift.com/2019/03/06/tripadvisor-plots-inspiration-path-in-googles-shadow/

 How resorts are tapping into personalized pricing without using personal data

 Resorts are achieving personalized pricing without the need for such personal data from the consumer, and they are doing this at very granular levels thanks to some revenue science and strategy.

https://ideas.com/resorts-personalized-pricing/

Trivago shares insights into behavior of travelers on its metasearch platform

A new report by Trivago shares insights into traveler’s hotel search behavior on its platform.

The in-depth data analysis examines when trivago users search for a hotel, which factors narrow down their search options, what prices they pay, how much they are prepared to pay, and their hotel-stay patterns.

https://businessblog.trivago.com/industry-insights-traveler-profile/

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

Thanks and have a good day!

 

Google Hotel Ads – a must have for hotels in 2019

Summary- The blog elucidates as to how marketing done via Google Hotel Ads can help hoteliers to get their marketing game on track and build up business profits in a speedy way.

It’s been a little over eight years since Google entered the hotel space, and in 2019, we can safely declare them to be the undisputed king of hotel metasearch. Since its acquisition of ITA Software in 2010, Google has been making steady inroads into the travel domain.

Google’s ambition is clear. It’s not satisfied being a search engine for hotels and flights but wants not be a part of every point of a consumer’s online travel journey – right from dreaming to planning to booking and then in deciding on the activities during the trip.

Accounting for 77% of the world’s total search traffic, Google is the first touch point in the online purchasing journey for most travelers. According to a recent study by our partner Roiback, Google Hotel Ads (GHA), which publishes hotel prices in real time, now represents 65% of hotel bookings coming from metasearch engines. In the last couple of years, the popularity of the platform has grown exponentially amongst hoteliers even as OTAs dominate traditional metasearch channels.

Last year, Google rolled put a Hotel Center in Google Ads to simplify the hotel price management. The new enhancement allows hotel groups to manage multiple bid campaigns from within Google Ads’ main interface. As metasearch become the forefront of consumer research process, Google Hotel Ads, with improved booking capabilities that includes rice filtering and amenity details with have emerged as a platform hotel can no longer ignore.

The OTAs, with their financial and technical prowess, have been the dominant player in the hotel search results. The Google Hotel Ads is an opportunity for hoteliers to drive direct traffic to their website. By taking part in the campaign, hotels can have their listing shown up similar to paid results whenever potential guests make search for accommodation. The rates are displayed along with OTAs, enabling hoteliers to reach out to future bookers across devices.

As the guest moves from the generic search to specifics like filter, price range, location etc, available hotels are shown in list format alongside a map. Hotels which are part of the campaign and are providing up-to-date information on rate and availability can show their direct link when the user takes an interest.

The Hotel Details Card aggregates and displays available booking options in one place and show the best value to be had across the web. The potential guests can click on their preferred advertiser and will be brought directly through to that website to complete their booking, thereby giving hoteliers an equal opportunity to compete with OTAs.

True, it’s not easy for hoteliers to compete with OTAs, which have digital marketing specialists and high advertising budgets. Hoteliers have a task that goes beyond wooing customers to make bookings, as they also have to focus on many other aspects to offer an unparalleled experience to guests.

Hoteliers who wish to reverse the trend in the online booking market and drive direct bookings can use Google Hotel Ads to benefit from online search traffic and have an edge over OTAs.

Connect to Google Hotel Ads through RateTiger. Leverage the power of metasearch engines to drive direct traffic to your website – https://www.erevmax.com/erevmax/erevmax-google-hotel-ads.html

eRevMax presents another first at ITB Berlin 2019

Showcasing its new metasearch platform AgentX101 alongside new modules in RateTiger & LiveOS

Leading travel technology solution provider, eRevMax, will showcase its newest offering, AgentX101 – the metasearch platform for travel agents, at ITB Berlin next week. The company will also showcase latest enhancements to its suite of hospitality product brands – RateTiger and LiveOS.

The enhanced product suite includes RateTiger’s award-winning hotel channel management and rate shopping solutions, alongside newly introduced Booking Engine and CRS capabilities, all powered by LiveOS – the #1 Hospitality Operating System in the industry.

Known for robust security and 99.9% system uptime, RateTiger and LiveOS solutions empower over 9000 hotel groups, brands, and independent properties worldwide, to improve business strategy and maximize bottom-line revenue.

The company will be introducing the first of its kind metasearch platform for Travel Agents and Tour Operators – AgentX101. The platform aggregates deals and promotions from multiple wholesalers and GDSs thereby providing 360-degree visibility into production sources and suggests actions and alerts to maximize potential. Already tested by some of the biggest names in the industry, the web-based solution automates daily tasks and improves decision making with real time data.

“ITB Berlin is the perfect platform to exhibit and promote our existing and upcoming portfolio of products to the travel fraternity. It helps us to build new partnerships while strengthening our existing network as we continue to reinforce our capacity to explore and drive growth opportunities,” said Reuel Ghosh, Group CEO, eRevMax.

ITB Berlin is expected to attract over 170,000 visitors including 110,000 trade visitors over the five show days. RateTiger, located in Hall 8.1, Stand 132, will showcase its products to hoteliers through demos and discussions during show hours between March 6-9.

The LiveOS and AgentX101 team will be available in Hall 8.1, Stand 115 to drive discussions with travel agents, tour operators, suppliers and technology partners and form new collaborations.

To arrange an appointment with the team, contact us today on marketing@erevmax.com.

The Week, That Was – February 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!!

Dubai midscale hotel recommends RateTiger for online connectivity

Chelsea Plaza Hotel, a midscale hotel in the heart of Dubai has recommended eRevMax solutions for managing online distribution. The 3 star property has been using RateTiger Channel Manager to maintain real-time rate and availability on online sales channels and receive reservations.

https://www.erevmax.com/ratetiger-news/ratetiger-news-archive/feb2019-erevmax-dubai-midscale-hotel-ratetiger-online-connectivity.html

Hoteliers adjust pricing strategies to be more dynamic

Hoteliers’ strategic goals must include a more dynamic approach to pricing hotel rooms that can better adapt to shifts in demand.

http://hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/293736/Hoteliers-adjust-pricing-strategies-to-be-more-dynamic

 Expedia data reveals surge in inbound visitors to UK hotels

The latest data from travel platform Expedia Group has revealed that a surge of international visitors led to a growth in UK hotel stays throughout 2018

https://travolution.com/articles/110333/expedia-data-reveals-surge-in-inbound-visitors-to-uk-hotels

TripAdvisor reports growth in hotel and non-hotel segments

TripAdvisor’s total revenue rose 8% in the fourth quarter of 2018 to $346 million and grew 4% for the full year to $1.62 billion. The company reinvigorated hotel segment profitability while growing experiences and restaurants, two key strategic investment areas.

https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Technology/TripAdvisor-reports-hotel-and-non-hotel-growth

The hotel amenities travelers really want

What makes travelers content during their stay at a hotel? Do guests need extra packaged toiletries or a pool to rave about the establishment?

https://www.hotel-online.com/press_releases/release/the-hotel-amenities-travelers-really-want#When:19:50:01Z

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

Thanks and have a good day!

 

Chelsea Plaza Hotel uses RateTiger Channel Manager powered by LiveOS to manage online distribution

Chelsea Plaza Hotel, a midscale hotel in the heart of Dubai has recommended eRevMax solutions for managing online distribution. The 3 star property has been using RateTiger Channel Manager to maintain real-time rate and availability on online sales channels and receive reservations.

Located at the prime location of Bur Dubai, Chelsea Plaza Hotel, formerly known as Rydges Plaza Hotel, is a popular choice for mid-range travelers, especially from the Indian subcontinent and South Asia. The hotel is leveraging RateTiger’s seamless connectivity with leading OTAs including the major ones in India.

The best thing about RateTiger Channel Manager is that it is very easy to use. The data analytics on budget and production on the LiveOS platform provides us a good heads-up.  We look forward to continuing our working relationship over the coming years,” said Siva Prasad, Asst. Front Office Manager, Chelsea Plaza Hotel.

Given that Chelsea Plaza Hotel primarily caters to international guests, along with midscale domestic travelers, it is important for the hotel to be present in all global online sales channels.  Our channel ecosystem has helped hotels to improve exposure and tap new markets. Backed by real-time data and analytics, hoteliers can respond to market dynamics more efficiently, and optimize online revenue,” said Ram Mohan Dubey, Regional Sales Director, eRevMax.

eRevMax is known for its stable solutions with 99% product uptime. While other companies struggle to offer continuous connectivity, eRevMax has invested in building a robust infrastructure to provide hoteliers with uninterrupted service over the last 18 years. The company offers excellent connectivity with over 400 online channels and provides 24×7 support.

Meet the team at ITB Berlin, Hall 8.1, Stand 132 from 6 – 9 March 2019, to discuss your connectivity needs.