eRevMax completes integration with Portugal based Newhotel PMS

Hotel connectivity solution provider eRevMax has completed 2-way integration with Newhotel Software, a global hospitality technology company headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal. Mutual hotel customers can leverage this integration to update rate and availability to third party online booking sites whenever they are updated in the property management system and receive reservations from OTAs.

Newhotel Cloud Suite PMS incorporates a wide range of features for full-service hotels, and chains, independent of its size or operation. Known for its user-friendly interface and advanced features, the solution is a popular choice in Europe, South America and Africa, and currently caters to over 3000 properties in more than 50 countries. eRevMax’s distribution solutions are used by over 9000 hotels globally to manage online distribution.

“We’re proud to have eRevMax – RateTiger as our partner as they have become an inevitable option of integration for our clients worldwide. eRevMax offers some of the most innovative and intuitive hospitality e-distribution products in the industry, and our hotel customers can now take advantage of this integration to improve their online visibility and revenue,” said Pedro Matoso, CEO, Newhotel Software.

“South America and Africa remain our growth zone, and this strategic partnership with Newhotel, one of the fast growing PMSs in the region, strengthen our offering. A greater number of hotels can now leverage the benefits of our Channel Ecosystem while streamlining their distribution efforts,” said Ashis Saha, SVP – Project Management, eRevMax.

eRevMax offers seamless connectivity with around 400 OTAs & technology providers. The company is developing its connectivity solutions to offer sophisticated real-time revenue management functionality to the hospitality industry. This includes solutions for the independent market and scaling up through the Tier One enterprise hotel groups. eRevMax’s Channel Ecosystem facilitates quality certified connectivity and relationship management services to support complex revenue generation strategies.

For more details, please visit http://www.erevmax.com/ or contact us on marketing@erevmax.com

2019: Time to relook at your Hotel Cancellation Policies

With ‘Free Cancellation’ almost becoming a norm with major OTAs, high cancellation rate has become a source of major concern for hotels. Cancellation is not at all welcoming for the host, and sometimes for guests as well.

For a long time, hotel industry has been fairly flexible with the cancellation policies. However, with the popularity of meta-search sites, even after booking, consumers now keep track of room rates. Whenever there is a drop in the room rates of the booked hotel or it’s competing properties, guests often cancel their existing reservations and rebook.

This high cancellation rate especially closer to the arrival has a major impact on the hotel’s revenue management decision where often inflated estimation of potential occupancy level leads to sub-optimal rates and lost revenue.

In the last few years, major hotel chains have been relooking at their cancellation policies and developing a strategy to address the changed consumer behaviour. While some hotels have followed the airline way, and introduced non-refundable early-bird rates, some have extended the cancellation cut-off. Empowered with comprehensive reservation data sources, including cancellation information, and analytics, hotels are now making thorough assessment of cancellation cost to hotel’s revenue and fine-tuning their cancellation policies in a strategic way. If you are planning to re-work your cancellation policy, here are some tips you can consider.

Limiting the Cancellation Period

Free cancellation is a major draw, especially on OTAs, to attract potential guests. However leading hotel groups are now extending the cancelling notice period from existing 24 hours cut off to 72 hours. Guests who cancel after that are charged with a penalty which varies from the cost of one night’s stay to total booking amount.

Variable Policy

Many hotels are now adapting to a dual strategy where there is a non-refundable rate and relaxed cancellation policy for premium rates.

Partial Payment for Guarantee

High-demand hotels often charge one night’s stay immediately after booking and debit the rest of the amount closer to the arrival while enforcing a strict no-show / cancellation penalty. While booking, guests are made aware of these finer points and as a result think twice before going for cancellation.

Vouchers instead of refund

Boutique hotels and resorts are now adjusting their cancellation policy in a way where for a last-minute cancellation, instead of a penalty, or refund, they are offering a voucher which the guests can use for a future booking within a stipulated period of time.  It’s often a win-win situation where the hotel gets the revenue and the guests the option to modify their plans.

Loyalty member specific cancellation policy

Some hotel groups with their own loyalty programmes have designed member-exclusive cancellation policies where loyal guests are given the flexibility to cancel their stay at the last minute even as other guests have shorter window. This benefit additionally gives hotels another opportunity to improve their loyalty programme which eventually results in more direct bookings.

No Cancellation

While some hotels do have this policy, in the age of online booking and price-comparison sites, this policy is tending to lose its acceptance.

The choice of cancellation policy depends on the dynamics of the market, hotel size and categories. For a business hotel, it’s is very difficult to implement a strict cancellation policy, whereas high-demand leisure resorts can afford to do so.

For years the hotel industry has been relying on a cookie-cutter approach when it comes to their cancellation policy. It’s time for change. Monitor your reservation sources and identify channels where the cancellations are coming from. Based on their data, hotels need to create cancellation policy terms for each rate-category, plan and channel. An advanced system like RateTiger, for instance, allows restrictions and cancellation policies to be assigned and updated for different rate plans on OTAs. The reservation delivery options immediately notify hotels whenever there is a cancellation, making it easier for them to allocate inventories accordingly.

Invest in a system which helps you to optimally manage your revenue and distribution efforts and save time to focus more on strategy.

The Week, That Was – January 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!!

RateTiger joins the Spanish Association of Hotel Directors – AEDH

RateTiger Hotel Channel Manager initiates collaboration with AEDH at FITUR 2019

https://www.erevmax.com/ratetiger-news/ratetiger-news-archive/jan2019-erevmax-ratetiger-joins-spanish-association-hotel-aedh.html

 

Hotelbeds launches new features on its hotel extranet

Hotelbeds’ extranet for hoteliers adds functionalities that allow the visualization of fares and availability in real time for any hotel.

https://news.travelling.gr/2019/01/hotelbeds-launches-new-features-on-its-hotel-extranet/

 

The power of personalization and building personal connections

Expedia on how the travel industry is entering an era of both traveler and supplier personalization – leveraging high tech to deliver high touch experiences.

https://www.hotel-online.com/press_releases/release/2019-hotel-trends-the-power-of-personalization-and-building-personal-connec

 

The psychology of online reviews

From the humble beginnings of word-of-mouth to an entire industry, feedback has certainly come a long way and it’s not stopping here.

https://www.trustyou.com/blog/guest-feedback-reviews/psychology-of-online-reviews

 

How consumer driven trends are impacting the world of hospitality

Sabre released a study which reveals the top consumer trends that will shape the hospitality industry in 2019 and beyond.

Download the report – https://www2.sabrehospitality.com/2019-global-trends-report?utm_source=hotelmarketing_com

 

How to resolve negotiated rate audit failures in the GDS

Some corporations test in their online booking environment that utilizes the GDS for connectivity. Requesting a screenshot from the client at the time they report an issue will help you identify the point of sale source of the audit. Unfortunately, during January and February many hotels will learn they have failed a preferred rate audit.

http://www.sabrehospitality.com/resources/hotel-marketing-blogs/best-practices-how-resolve-rate-audit-failures

 

Hotel coworking space: The future of hospitality

Coworking spaces in hotels provide an area for hotel guests and locals to gather to work and meet. With the number of coworking members expected to jump to 3.8 million in 2020, it is only natural for hotels to capitalise on this feature.

https://www.traveldailymedia.com/coworking-space-hotels/

 

Hoteliers use revenue management to boost off-season

The off-season isn’t a hotelier’s favorite time of year. Rooms can sit empty, restaurants are quiet and the cash flow isn’t as robust.

But, this can also be the best time of year for hoteliers to try out creative promotions, boost their properties’ profiles with online travel agencies, partner with local attractions that are weather-appropriate for the time of year and even experiment with new restaurant menu selections.

http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/292401/Hoteliers-use-revenue-management-to-boost-off-season

 

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

Thanks and have a good day!

 

 

RateTiger joins the Spanish Association of Hotel Directors – AEDH

RateTiger, the connectivity division part of the leading hotel technology group eRevMax, provider of online connectivity tools for hotels, has joined the Spanish Association of Hotel Directors (AEDH). As a member of the association, the company will participate in the events organized by the AEDH with the aim of educating hoteliers about trends and technological innovations in the hotel sector. The company will also present its innovative solutions at the AEDH stand 10B08 at FITUR in Madrid from 23 to 27 January 2019.

Recognizing RateTiger for its technological skills, the AEDH has endorsed the efficiency of its tools, thus making RateTiger its preferred partner for the management of online channels in hotels. AEDH hotel members can take advantage of RateTiger special offer at FITUR to reduce their cost of acquiring guests online, saving time and increasing their revenue.

RateTiger is one of the most efficient online distribution and hotel management platform, currently used by more than 9000 hotels around the world. RateTiger offers XML connections with more than 450 leading OTAs and partners worldwide and regionally, achieving optimal connectivity.

“It is an honor to join forces with a company like RateTiger with such prestige in hospitality. Our goal is to be able to generate a positive impact on the hotel members of our association by providing them with state-of-the-art technology that complements their growth strategy and RateTiger is the perfect match. We strongly recommend our members to contact RateTiger to benefit from our exclusive offer for members of the AEDH,” said Manuel Vegas, President, AEDH.

“We believe that the AEDH has been doing a great job and we hope to contribute our bit to the success of the organization as a whole. The hospitality discussion and knowledge exchange sessions organized by the AEDH are very effective in helping hoteliers to better understand how to use technological innovation to maximize the revenue of their properties and improve customer service. We hope to have the opportunity to meet in person each of the members of the association,” said Samantha González, Director of Sales – Spain, eRevMax – RateTiger.

Meet Team eRevMax at FITUR in Madrid at Stand 10B08, Hall 10 from 23- 27 January 2019. Book an appointment today – https://bit.ly/2F6knJ0

Top Tips to Improve Your Hotel’s Visibility on OTAs

Assuming that you are already distributing your hotel rates and availability on multiple online travel agents, we will delve straight into some top tips that you can utilize to boost your online visibility and improve booking revenue. The ground rule for working with any distribution/sales channel is to ensure that you keep your hotel listing up-to-date to give a true picture to the guests. That said, here are some simple tips that can further increase your hotel’s presence on these important channels.

hotels OTAs

1.  Regular Update of Content

Reinforcing the ground rule again – it is super important to keep your hotel listing updated and attractive. The language used to define your hotel amenities should be simple and fluid. Ensure that you have posted recent photos of the hotel’s different segments – lobby, façade, rooms, restaurants, banquet, swimming pool, gym etc. As they say, a picture speaks a thousand words – travelers like to know how the place looks before they decide if they wish to stay there. Details of room amenities, location, direction to reach, nearby attractions as well as hotel policies should be accurately displayed in relevant sections of the listing.

This builds customer trust and helps them make informed decisions. Further, it helps bring up your hotel on relevant search results when guests use filters on OTAs. For example, if your hotel is pet friendly, ensure that you mention it in your listing so that travelers who are looking to bring their pet can consider your property amongst others. Further, if any hotel policy changes, it is important to update them on OTAs. For example, if your hotel was a no-smoking property earlier, but if you have recently added smoking rooms, then you need to showcase that on the OTAs, so that people looking for such rooms will keep your hotel in consideration. These updates may seem minor but goes a long way to ensure that your hotel can be found easily depending on the visitor’s search behavior.

Further, to increase visibility in the search results, coordinate with the Market Manager of different OTAs you work with, to add relevant keywords and meta tags to highlight special offers and promotions. Depending on the OTA policy, most of the market managers allow you to submit the tag copy to emphasize your hotel’s new offering, renovation, festive discount etc.

2.  Ensure Rate Parity

The second most important tip is to ensure you keep your rates in parity across different distribution platforms. Travelers like to shop around when looking to book accommodation. When they see different rates for your property on different sites, it somehow impacts their trust factor. Further, OTAs tend to give you better ranking to hotels that have no rate parity issues as it helps maintain rate integrity for their channel as well. Additionally, when your rates are in parity, you can push your presence on meta-search sites to drive more direct bookings.

3. Targeted Advertising

Making updates and tweaks to your hotel listing on OTAs is a crucial part, but to give an additional boost to your property’s visibility, you can invest in targeted ad by bidding for top spots in OTA search results. Most OTAs offer this capability today and this is an easy way to increase exposure in these channels. However, it is best to make it goal oriented – pushing these ads for either specific promotional campaigns or to push visibility in certain markets during off-peak period.

Ads such as Expedia TravelAds or Sponsored Search on Travelocity and Orbitz can be effective if used correctly and it also helps improve the organic search ranking for the hotel on these OTAs.

4. Sell Last Room Availability

One of the core concepts of revenue management focuses around the fact that hotels should spread out their inventory on not rely on just 1 or 2 channels. While, the brand website, consortia and wholesalers are all important sales channels along with OTAs, there are times when you need to look at specialized or niche channels to make sure you sell off distressed inventory, up to the last available room.  Channels like HotelTonight helps hotels sell inventory in a 24-hour window as that is the core concept of the channel. The channels user base are mostly travelers that are looking for last minute deals and hence this can be a good platform to dispose distressed inventory. Further, channels like HotelByDay offer room booking by the number of hours thus raising the revenue potential of fixed inventory. As a hotelier, it is good to know about new distribution options and try them to explore new revenue potential.

5. Rapport building with OTA Market Managers

You can only do what is in your control with regards your OTA listing. However, if you maintain a great rapport with the OTA Market Managers, that can go a long way in helping you maximise your hotel presence. People like to do business with people they like – hence the human element is very critical in most businesses. Being in the good books of the OTA Market Managers, communicating with them regularly, inviting them for your hotel events etc. can help create strategic business relations and have a positive impact for your business. The market managers keep a tab on the pulse of booking patterns and trends and can be very resourceful, it all comes down to your strategy and skills to bring out the results.

It’s time to put these tips and tricks into practice and see how you can leverage them. A good presence across OTAs will have a billboard effect, which not only will improve OTA bookings but will also positively impact direct bookings from your brand website.

If you need help with managing OTAs for your hotel, set up an appointment with one of our Connectivity Advisors today – https://bit.ly/2HiEzJp.

The Week, That Was – January 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!!

Spanish upscale hotel endorses RateTiger for distribution connectivity

Hotel Guadalmedina, an upscale hotel in Spain has recommended RateTiger for stable and seamless connectivity with world’s leading OTAs. The hotel, which has been using RateTiger Channel Manager for online distribution, has improved its visibility across OTAs resulting in positive revenue and occupancy growth.

https://www.erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2019/01/spanish-upscale-hotel-endorses-ratetiger-for-distribution-connectivity/

11 uncomfortable truths about hotel revenue management

Hotel revenue management (RM) is not new and has been around for 30+ years, yet only 3% of hotels globally use revenue management technology today. The main goal of sharing these uncomfortable truths is to elevate the dialog around the importance of RM and why, as an industry, we must strive to do better in driving revenue performance using data driven insights.

https://www.phocuswire.com/Uncomfortable-truths-hotel-revenue-management

 Are you using Metasearch Channels for your hotel distribution yet?

Today, it is important for hotels to be visible on metasearch sites to increase direct bookings and visibility, thereby generating more revenue. You might be thinking – why do I need to add one more channel to my distribution mix? Here’s why –

https://www.erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2019/01/are-you-using-metasearch-channels-for-your-hotel-distribution-yet/

Airbnb Sees Increase in Hotels Using the Platform

Last year, Airbnb saw a 1​52​%​ increase in the number of rooms available on Airbnb in properties that hosts categorized as boutique hotels, bed and breakfasts, and other hospitality venues like hostels and resorts.

https://www.hotelbusiness.com/airbnb-sees-increase-in-hotels-using-the-platform/

The megatrends defining travel in 2019, according to Skift

From the rise of undertourism to blurred lines in hospitality to travelers’ demands for control, these are travel’s megatrends in 2019

Click to download the report- https://skift.com/megatrends-2019/

Will Google stay off the OTAs patch?

As Google’s meta-model becomes increasingly monopolistic, Pamela Whitby takes a look at how travel distribution is evolving. Although Expedia’s gross bookings continue to rise – by 11% to $2.5 billion year-over-year, according to third-quarter earnings published last week – Booking Holdings remains the biggest revenue spinner, and has the strongest operating margins (36.7% vs just 5,69% at Expedia). Meanwhile, China’s Ctrip remains the fastest growing, according to a recent report from EyeforTravel.

https://www.eyefortravel.com/distribution-strategies/will-google-stay-otas-patch

Online marketplaces gaining momentum in tours booking race

The tours technology specialist says total bookings made directly via operator websites went from 79% in 2017 to 67% in 2018, while the percentage of total bookings going to online marketplaces increased from 3.2% to 9.1%.

https://www.phocuswire.com/trekksoft-travel-trends-2018

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

Thanks and have a good day!

 

 

Spanish upscale hotel endorses RateTiger for distribution connectivity

Hotel Guadalmedina, an upscale hotel in Spain has recommended RateTiger for stable and seamless connectivity with world’s leading OTAs. The hotel, which has been using RateTiger Channel Manager for online distribution, has improved its visibility across OTAs resulting in positive revenue and occupancy growth.

Located in picturesque Malaga, Hotel Guadalmedina is a four- star property largely catering to leisure travelers. A popular choice for international tourists, especially from Western Europe and North America, it’s important for the hotel to maintain visibility across global and regional OTAs and metasearch sites. They have been leveraging RateTiger’s XML interface with leading channels to maintain real-time rate and availability for maximum exposure. RateTiger provides fully integrated, two-way XML connections to over 350 global and regional online booking sites.

“It is a very useful tool for rate and inventory management. RateTiger is fast and accurate, and any change in price and availability is immediately reflected across channels. The quick-close option has made it really easy for us to minimize overbookings,” said Gloria Noblejas, Director, Hotel Guadalmedina.

Prior to using RateTiger, Hotel Guadalmedina was finding it difficult to manage online sales channels. They signed up for RateTiger Channel Manager in 2010 and for the last eight years, they never had to rethink. Since partnering with eRevMax, the property has improved their online exposure considerably by expanding their distribution mix.

“Having tested other solutions available in the market, we can say RateTiger is far ahead of others when it comes to usability and support,” commented Gloria Noblejas, Director, Hotel Guadalmedina.

Meet the connectivity experts from RateTiger at FITUR Stand 10B08 in Madrid from 23 – 27 January 2019 – book a meeting now – https://bit.ly/2F6knJ0

 

 

Are you using Metasearch Channels for your hotel distribution yet?

Metasearch sites help travelers compare hotel rates from various online travel agencies and other booking sites in one place. Metasearch, as a sales channel, is growing in the travel ecosystem. Travelers today want technology that offers information at the click of a button. Metasearch offers just that, by aggregating rates and availability across multiple OTAs and brand websites onto one screen, thus making comparison easy and decision making simpler.

Today, it is important for hotels to be visible on metasearch sites to increase direct bookings and visibility, thereby generating more revenue. You might be thinking – why do I need to add one more channel to my distribution mix? Here’s why –

Metasearch allows for more direct bookings

While OTAs continue to lead the third party sales booking, they have one very big disadvantage for hoteliers – bookings are made exclusively through the merchant site, for which the brand will pay a nominal fee.

Metasearch sites allow visitors to book either through OTAs or through the brand website, helping to increase direct sales for hotels if they are listed on the metasearch. Metasearch sites such as TripAdvisor have been criticized for favoring OTAs with which they have a partnership, but direct hotel booking information is available, which is more than can be said for OTAs themselves.

Traditional search is a dying breed

Metasearch might still be kept in the back burner when compared to traditional searching, but reports show that search statistics on these sites are up by 13 percent in recent years and are continuing to grow. In this age of technology, traditional search is a dying breed, as more and more internet users opt to take advantage of the features of metasearch sites, that traditional search simply cannot offer.

In utilizing metasearch channels, hotels can remain modern and relevant, and can widen and diversify their audience.

Rate comparison can work in favor of hotels

The core concept of metasearch channels is that they offer multiple hotel comparison – a feature that OTAs typically do not offer.

Believe it or not, comparison isn’t solely based upon price. For example, it has been found that an estimated 71 percent of users look at basic information, while 67 percent of users compare photographs. Comparison may seem daunting, but it’s actually a good chance to show off.

Upgrading to two-way connectivity can help you improve your channel content, by making it quicker and easier to update multiple channels with up-to-date information regarding the establishment.

With meta search considered to be one of the biggest marketing techniques of the year, there has never been a better time to add these channels to your distribution portfolio. Make sure you choose to work with connectivity advisors that provide relevant channels to get it right the first time.

In essence, metasearch channels save time and money for guests in their travel booking journey, while offering a robust distribution platform for hotels to improve visibility and direct booking revenue.

Connect to metasearch channels like Google, TripAdvisor, Trivago, HotelsCombined, Skyscanner & Escapio. Update them directly from your RateTiger channel manager to improve your direct hotel revenue! Book a demo today – https://bit.ly/2HiEzJp