The Week, That Was – August 2018 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!!

Luxury boutique hotel in Philippines has experienced 5% growth in just 3 months with RateTiger.

Bayleaf Intramuros, an upmarket boutique hotel in Philippines has improved in online sales with efficient rate and availability distribution through RateTiger.

https://www.erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2018/08/luxury-boutique-hotel-in-philippines-improves-online-sales-with-ratetiger/

Miki Travel invests in online booking systems for groups

Miki Travel recently invested in two online booking systems to facilitate ease of doing business and enhance confirmation speed.

http://www.ttgasia.com/2018/08/30/miki-travel-invests-in-online-booking-systems-for-groups/

Why Channel management is fundamental to hoteliers?

Today consumers are influencing room rates more than anytime in history. The internet – with multiple price comparison websites and booking channels – provides a choice. The more savvy consumers get, the more likely rates will continue to fall. However if hoteliers take control of their presence and rates online, revenue managers can make more accurate forecasts to identify occupancy and rate levels to ensure sales are on target.

https://www.erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2018/08/channel-management-is-fundamental-to-hoteliers-2/

Distribution dilemmas, beastly rate parity and Google ‘the travel company

“Google is very much a travel company. They have a platform that provides access to prices, products and reputation related information for travel components, creating immense value for the traveller. At the same time, their search engine and metasearch platforms are an integral and unavoidable part of the traveller’s booking journey from the dreaming to the booking phase. And they are able to capture the subsequent value from these customer phases.”

https://www.eyefortravel.com/distribution-strategies/distribution-dilemmas-beastly-rate-parity-and-google-travel-company

 What hoteliers should know about guest acquisition!

How people travel has as much to do with who they are as where they are going, Lorraine Sileo, SVP of research and business operations at Phocuswright, said during a session at the recent Hotel Data Conference.

Research shows one of the biggest differentiators in how people choose where they research their travel products is age, she said during her presentation, “Hotel path to purchase: The complexity behind consumer choice.”

http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/289088/What-hoteliers-should-know-about-guest-acquisition

 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 boutique hotel in Philippines improves online sales with RateTiger

Superior connectivity with OTAs results in 5% revenue growth in 3 months for Bayleaf Intramuros

Bayleaf Intramuros, an upmarket boutique hotel in Philippines has improved in online sales with efficient rate and availability distribution through RateTiger. The property offering 57 rooms in Manila, has started using RateTiger Channel Manager in June this year and experienced immediate result.

Located within the walls of the oldest district and historic core of Manila, Bayleaf Intramuros is an iconic landmark popular with luxury leisure travellers. The property has been leveraging eRevMax’s seamless connection with global and regional OTAs to update rates and availability across channels like Booking.com and Expedia and receive reservations in real-time. RateTiger’s interface with leading technology providers like DirectWithHotels has allowed Bayleaf to manage their online booking engine through the interface. This has resulted in 5% growth in revenue in just three months.

“We work with a number of online demand partners like Booking.com, Expedia, TripAdvisor- just to name a few. RateTiger has 2-way integration with all these travel sites plus a wide range of metasearch, wholesalers and niche channels to choose from. The best part is I can monitor performance, targets and reservations, always updated, on the LiveOS platform, to make informed decision. We are now able to yield better than before,” said Benjie V. Martinez, Area Director of Sales and Marketing, The Bayleaf Hotels.

Philippines is one of the world’s fastest-growing online travel markets – and much of the region’s online opportunity is yet to be tapped. With close to 46% bookings coming from online, it’s important for the property to maintain presence, maintain exposure in OTAs. The revenue management team of the Bayleaf Hotels is also using RateTiger’s benchmarking report to monitor competitor’s rate movement and maintain rate parity across online sales channels.

“I personally monitor the rates daily and update our prices according to the market demand. The competitor rate shopping tool on LiveOS has really made my daily operations smooth. I am now very hands on with revenue management, more than ever before, thanks to RateTiger”, said Benjie V. Martinez, Area Director of Sales and Marketing, The Bayleaf Hotels.

eRevMax offers seamless connectivity with over 350 distribution partners including OTAs, Metasearch channels, GDS, Wholesalers and offline tour operators among others. The company continues to expand its partner base through new integrations to offer hoteliers integrated and seamless connections across different systems. eRevMax offers rate shopping, channel management and connectivity solutions to hotels worldwide to support complex revenue generation strategies.

 

Channel management is fundamental to hoteliers

Hoteliers, now more than ever, need to concentrate on revenue and distribution management. The industry not only faces corporate budget tightening, but flight costs have increased and the decreasing value of world currencies plus job uncertainty has affected holidaymakers’ spending budgets.

Many travellers continued to book their travel using web booking engines. The success of Online Travel Agents (OTA) and the expansion of the online/offline press referring people to internet led technologies have enticed consumers to the cyber travel market.

Hence, it is the priority of any hotelier during this time to ensure yields and occupancy remain high, making the most of the sales channels available to maximise revenue over the coming years. With reports that RevPAR is dropping, hotels need to think intelligently and maximise on the tools they have to ensure business remains strong.

Today consumers are influencing room rates more than anytime in history. The internet – with multiple price comparison websites and booking channels – provides a choice. The more savvy consumers get, the more likely rates will continue to fall. However if hoteliers take control of their presence and rates online, revenue managers can make more accurate forecasts to identify occupancy and rate levels to ensure sales are on target.

The challenge for many hoteliers in managing these channels is to ensure accurate rates and inventory allocation to optimise each channel to increase sales and maximise revenue. There is no point selling across the internet for the sake of being online; it must be approached intelligently to avoid the mismanagement of rates. To make the most of the internet and online distribution channels revenue managers should look at technology to save time and make money.

By utilising tools to manage the distribution of rates online, revenue managers can ensure rates are accurate across all third-party websites, allocate rooms to the channels providing either a greater return or greatest number of bookings, and forecast future rates and occupancy levels. Technology has been developed to ensure time spent managing online rates is reduced to improve productivity and reduce human error. Channel management products can give you a snapshot of all online sales activity in a single screen; you can benchmark competitor rates, manage rates and rooms on third-party websites then make all the relevant changes you need to increase yields.

At this time hoteliers need to turn to technology to help them through this down-turn to remain competitive. Solutions and systems to support the revenue manager are constantly being developed that will reduce time spent distributing rooms so more time can be allocated to managing the hotel. We are currently looking at a product which is an amalgamation of revenue management solutions (RMS) and internet benchmarking and distribution systems (IDS). Hoteliers should be able to assess market competition, propose rates and allow automatic updates of distribution channels using definable strategies this will truly automate revenue and distribution management.

Without a doubt the travel industry will pick-up much quicker than it has in the past, with the rise of Eastern economies and larger worldwide travel markets, knowledge of price and availability will be fundamental to hoteliers. Further with the internet becoming a leading factor in booking travel, it is essential that it is the key platform to sell rooms. However at the same time, the internet is a world of its own which is broken into its own segments and markets so it is essential hoteliers know who its customers are and how to reach them – being on any third-party website isn’t going to provide the expected return.

As we have seen throughout the media and even in our own industry – belts have tightened and the economy is not as strong as it was – but we know that we have recovered before and should prepare for when it does. In the meantime it is essential to focus on making the most of what you have by optimising sales by using the internet to benchmark and allocate rooms efficiently to achieve greater occupancy and therefore increased yields.

 

 

The Week, That Was – August 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!!

How to Know When Your Hotel Property Management System Needs a Change?

Property Management System (PMS) is important for hotel properties, and here are a few signs to indicate when it needs a change.
With changes in time, the needs of your hotel tend to change and the goals and requirements of your hotel property, staffs and guests change as well. The Property Management System (PMS) of your hotel has a short longevity.

https://goo.gl/amfPj1

Technology Players Make Moves in Hospitality

Hotels are utilizing technology to make both the guest experience and hotel operations more seamless. From a digital concierge to bracelets doubling as wallets and room keys, here are the latest happenings in technology.

https://www.hotelbusiness.com/technology-players-make-moves-in-hospitality/

eRevMax partners with GuestCentric for Edinburgh roadshow on September 5

Would you like to increase your direct bookings and learn more about how to develop a successful digital strategy?
Experts from GuestCentric, OTA Insight and eRevMax will show you new ways of working with your website and booking engine, the importance of working your data through Business Intelligence and innovative Revenue Management solutions!

Sign up now: https://lnkd.in/fyHCpJQ

How Facebook and Google Are Changing the Travel Industry for Brands and Travelers Alike

After years of intense focus on the moment of conversion, travel companies are beginning to reach travelers much earlier in the search and discovery process.

https://goo.gl/PyyUBV

HotelTonight wants to wow more millennials by gamifying travel booking

HotelTonight, the mobile app that lets you book last-minute discounted hotel rooms, is making a bigger play for millennial stays. On Tuesday, the startup announced a new feature called Daily Drop, which promises a guaranteed 30% off online travel agency room rates.

https://www.fastcompany.com/90211543/hoteltonight-wants-to-attract-more-millennials-by-gamifying-travel-booking

Thomas Cook-Expedia hotel booking platform launches

Thomas Cook’s new city break and hotel-only booking platform in partnership with Expedia has gone live.
The online travel giant is now the preferred provider of hotels for Cook’s city and domestic holiday business.

http://www.travolution.com/articles/108372/thomas-cook-expedia-hotel-booking-platform-launches

TripAdvisor using machine learning to choose ‘best’ hotel pictures

TripAdvisor has begun using machine learning to automatically select the ‘best’ photos to portray a hotel listed on its site.
The review site says primary, or ‘hero’, images can often be lower quality when hotel managers don’t choose their own favourite.

http://travolution.com/articles/108435/tripadvisor-using-machine-learning-to-choose-best-hotel-pictures

The Data Journey in a Hotel

Data scientists are experts in collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data and can make educated decisions on what to do with and how to use that data. Within the hospitality industry, data scientists are crucial to understanding the hotel’s data and how to use it to benefit the overall business of the hotel. However, data scientists cannot analyze data without the help of hotel operations staff members who are doing the groundwork of collecting daily data – it doesn’t take a data scientist to be an integral part of a hotel’s data journey.

https://blog.snapshot.travel/the-data-journey-in-a-hotel

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

Thanks and have a good day!

How to Know When Your Hotel Property Management System Needs a Change?

Property Management System (PMS) is important for hotel properties, and here are a few signs to indicate when it needs a change.

With changes in time, the needs of your hotel tend to change and the goals and requirements of your hotel property, staffs and guests change as well. The Property Management System (PMS) of your hotel has a short longevity. Here are a few signs that will indicate when your PMS needs a change.

hospitality property management software

Less control / idea about hotel operations

The main purpose of a Property Management System is to smoothly manage the operations of your hotel. The long-term success of your hotel depends on a PMS that satisfies the reporting requirements of your hotel. In case the existing system makes it impossible or tough for you to generate the numbers required for your business’ growth or evaluation, you should look for a new PMS that makes the job easy. With a good PMS, you can create customized reports and filter, export and sort the data that you need.

Your existing PMS frustrates employees

The actual worth of a PMS is defined basically by those who use it every day. If your staffs complain that the existing system in your organization is buggy, slow and comes with poor support, it is better that you get in touch with a new PMS that is known to offer a better user experience and uptime. A strong Property Management System makes even complicated tasks simpler, and ensures that everything is automated and each process is streamlined.

Your PMS requires 3rd party app integration

With PMS, it is often complained that these do not integrate or important communication tools and features cannot be implemented fully. If the existing PMS in your workplace is showing its age, and seems to be outdated enough as far as features and integration go, it is important to go for a new one. It is important for your PMS to be cloud-based and ensure that its data can be accessed in real-time in all departments.

You are paying higher maintenance and vendor support costs

If the support and service for your PMS is costing you in terms of money and time, and your business productivity has taken a hit as well, you need a change in the system. With on-site systems, continuous upgrades are involved and these can become costly.

Need for better ROI

With a cloud PMS, you can save on the initial expenses involved with costly software and hardware, thus reducing your overall ownership expenses. These are designed to offer more security, reliability, data backups and high performance.

Whether a guest books a room online or with a tour operator, your PMS stays updated through RateTiger. Contact us today – marketing@erevmax.com

The Week, That Was – August 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!!

Luxury hotel in Ghana recommends RateTiger for online distribution

The Royal Senchi Hotel & Resort, a luxury property in Ghana has recommended RateTiger for streamlining online distribution. The hotel has experienced significant improvement in their operational efficiency leveraging RateTiger’s cloud based channel manager and on-demand shopping tool.

https://goo.gl/m7LUN2 

Google says it’s time for travel marketers to rethink loyalty

Attitudinal loyalty relates to how loyal a traveler feels, and behavioral loyalty refers to how loyal a traveler acts.

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/travel-marketing-strategy/

Introducing RateTiger GDS – Your window to 600,000 travel agents worldwide.

Distribute your room and availability across various global distribution systems – Amadeus, Sabre & Travelport (Galileo & Worldspan) from RateTiger platform.

Contact us today- marketing@erevmax.com

 Chinese millennials’ travel expenditure increases by 80% YoY

Hotels.com research has revealed that Chinese millennials (born after 1990) are pushing the boundaries of international travel, increasing their expenditure in the past year by a staggering 80%. This is to fund social media-influenced trips full of edgy experiences, high-tech accommodation, exotic delicacies and taboo ticket-items.

https://www.traveldailymedia.com/chinese-millennials-expenditure-up-80/

 Privacy vs security: first fines reveal shift in data protection landscape

Over two months since ‘GDPR Day’, most organisations are still successfully processing personal data, but travel companies beware. With regulation now enforceable, consumers more empowered and security – a small part of GDPR – becoming an increasing focus, the Information Commissioner’s Office is keen to show it has teeth. Since May, several fines have been levied against companies making everything from annoying sales calls to not being rigorous with privacy and security.

https://goo.gl/FSfkhq 

How TripAdvisor changed travel

TripAdvisor used to promise its users a kind of escape, whether that be simply daydreaming over a vacation or actually booking one. Yet at a moment where such adages now seem horribly outdated, the future of TripAdvisor and similar enterprises seems less certain than it once did.

http://hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/how_tripadvisor_changed_travel

 Worldwide Distribution Trends for Meta Search Engines report from Fornova highlights direct booking challenges for hotels

Fornova, a leading provider of distribution intelligence and automation solutions to hotels, have released their first Meta Search Engines Distribution Trends report.The report analyses and highlights key challenges hotels face when participating on Meta Search Engines, and how their efforts compare when competing against their partner Online Travel Agents (OTAs) and other resellers online.

http://blog.fornova.com/worldwide-distribution-trends-for-meta-search-engines-report

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 hotel in Ghana recommends RateTiger for online distribution

The Royal Senchi Hotel & Resort, a luxury property in Ghana has recommended RateTiger for streamlining online distribution. The hotel has experienced significant improvement in their operational efficiency leveraging RateTiger’s cloud based channel manager and on-demand shopping tool.

Located in Akosombo, a resort town near Ghanaian capital Accra, the The Royal Senchi Hotel & Resort, with its 84 rooms, caters to primarily leisure tourists. eRevMax’s XML connectivity with global and regional OTAs, GDSs and Metas have made it possible for the revenue management team to manage their OTAs, GDS and booking engine from LiveOS dashboard.

 “It was easy when we’re handling just the booking engine. The real challenge came when we signed up with several OTAs – updating multiple extranets and consolidating reports from these channels manually was time-taking and taking a toll on our efficiency.  RateTiger by eRevMax has solved it all. With just one entry I can update all OTAs simultaneously from the dashboard. It also gives me the data I want at one go with a simple click,” said Bennett Attakorah, Rooms Division Manager, The Royal Senchi Hotel & Resort.

 “Providing hotels with stable connectivity remained our priority for the last 17 years. RateTiger and LiveOS have been built with a vision to make online sales simpler for hotels, and this recommendation is a testimony to that,” said Ram Mohan Dubey, Regional Sales Director, eRevMax.

The Week, That Was – August 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!!

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.

https://goo.gl/ES1Cdy

 Trivago makes data on global hotel pricing trends more accessible to hoteliers

Global hotel metasearch trivago records hotel price shifts from over 400 booking sites for over 2 million hotels and alternative accommodations around the world in its Hotel Price Index.

Learn more about Rate Insights- https://businessblog.trivago.com/trivago-hotel-price-index/

 Google Hotel Ads launches Promoted Hotels

Google has launched a pilot test with a reduced number of partners and it will soon be open to more participants. Since it is a new advertising space, despite being in a well-known environment, it generates new demand for the direct channel, competing with other hotels and other sellers

https://goo.gl/RXvfyd

 Top tips to maximise ROI without compromising on the customer experience

Business will always be about the bottom line, but if personalised, functional service that gets the job done according to customer expectations and preferences come first, the rest should ultimately follow.

https://insights.ehotelier.com/insights/2018/08/09/top-tips-to-maximise-roi-without-compromising-on-the-customer-experience/

 Booking Holdings closely monitoring paid channels as it builds direct strategy

Booking Holdings says its continuing on its strategy to increase its direct business as it reported earnings for the second quarter of 2018. Booking Holdings also continues to build its travel offering through the development of its alternative accommodation platform, which now offers about 5.5 million listings of homes, apartments and other units.

https://www.phocuswire.com/Booking-Holdings-Q2-earnings-2018

How online payment trends are impacting the travel industry

The world of online payments is undergoing a rapid transformation. Whereas once customers had scant options – primarily credit cards and bank transfers – to make bookings over the internet, they now have an ever-expanding choice of 21st-century technology, from PayPal to MobilePay.

https://www.phocuswire.com/travel-payments-evolution

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 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 toolRateTiger Shopper, to monitor the competitor rate movements and improve pricing decisions for better profits.

 

Hotel OTTO Berlin recommends RateTiger for channel connectivity

Hotel OTTO, an upscale property in Berlin has recommended RateTiger Channel Manager for stable and seamless connectivity with world’s leading OTAs. The hotel, which has been using eRevMax’s award winning distribution solution, has improved its online exposure resulting in positive revenue and occupancy growth.

Centrally located, Hotel OTTO is a modern property with 46 rooms catering largely to business travellers. Since 2010, the revenue management team has been using RateTiger to update rates and availability across online sales channels. Following the suggestion from RateTiger’s Connectivity Advisor, the hotel added top OTAs from China and South East Asia in their distribution mix. This improved the hotel’s exposure in upcoming markets and brought a positive impact to their online business

“We have been using RateTiger for the last 8 years and are very satisfied with the services that totally match our needs. Thanks to the diversity of their distribution portfolio (OTA, Wholesalers etc), we can connect with bigger number of distribution partners and have experienced a steady growth in our online business.  Amongst all the products I have used in the market so far, RateTiger remains one of the most powerful and efficient,” said Mihai Cucu, Revenue & Operations Manager, Hotel OTTO.