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!

Indonesian aparthotel improves online sales with eRevMax

The Malibu Suites – Balikpapan, an Indonesian aparthotel has improved its online sales with efficient rate and availability management through RateTiger. The property offering 35 serviced apartments in Borneo Balikpapan, has been using RateTiger Channel Manager since 2018 to manage all its online distribution channels in real-time.

Managed by Sissae Living, the Malibu Suites, has begun its operations in the business town of Borneo Balikpapan in February 2018. Primarily catering to business travellers, it is important for the property to connect with leading global and regional OTAs for maximum exposure. Prior to RateTiger, the Malibu Suites was managing the OTAs manually.

“It was difficult to distribute and manage rate and availability across channels. We also wanted to connect with more channels to improve our visibility,” said Frank Inakoe, Director, The Malibu Suites by Sissae Living.

Recommended by their Booking Engine provider, the Malibu Suites signed up for RateTiger Channel Manager in mid-2018. The cloud-based solution hosted on LiveOS, is helping the revenue management team to update rate and inventory (ARI) across all connected travel channels and receive reservations directly into their hotel management system. They are also monitoring their booking and production performance in real-time from the dashboard.

“With RateTiger, we found an easy way to manage our room availability and rates across all our channels from a single dashboard. The 24 hours support is always there for any assistance we need,” commented Frank.

5 ways to attract millennials

It’s 2019, and it’s clear that millennials have a definite impact on travel and tourism than any other generational group. Around 20% of international travelers are young travelers of millennial generation, who value experiences over material possessions.

Boston Consulting Group, in its report, suggests millennials will account for almost 50% of travel spending by 2020. A high spending segment with very distinct travel preference is a reality that hospitality industry has been learning to accept and adjust.

Millennials, who were born between 80s and 90s, comprise almost half of the global workforce. Technologically sound with strong online presence, social and worldly, they have different set of values and expectations. They cherish individuality and prefer personalized travel experience. A cookie-cutter approach of traditional marketing does not work with them. Hotel needs to deliver customer journeys tailored to the changing travel habits of this segment.

To help you better connect with the millennials, we’ve got some quick tactics. You might be already be doing some of things we’re going suggest, which is great. However, you can always fine-tune and add more to your strategy while exploring our ideas.

  1. Online booking – give the channel for online booking a boost – Boost the online booking system so that it is fast and does not take much time for completion of the booking. The system should have the ability to push promotions across social media.

The millennials are tech savvy and they would do extensive research prior to booking.

i) Go for an in depth check of the website for your hotel and then get the site updated with all features and images that will help you attract millennials. They are the original smartphone generation with 43% checking their phones every five minutes. They use it to stay social, connect with people, take photos, do businesses and make purchases. If your hotel website is not mobile optimized and looks un-attractive to them, they will simply move to another site. Invest on a website which is fast, responsive and visually enriched.

ii) One reason OTAs are scoring high is their user-friendly interface. Most OTAs follow a simple booking process which is also highly secure. Invest in a booking system which is simple, stable and secure. Millennials know technology and are used to seamless buying experiences from applications like Amazon or Uber. Unless you live up to their expectation, they will look for another option.

2.   Millennials are price conscious and will not waste money

While millennials are the biggest spenders, however, unlike the earlier generations, they do not like to overspend. A generation that was most hit by global recession and education loan, millennials look for deals and often shop for last minute deals and alternative housing like camping or homestays. Given their busy work schedule, they prioritize shorter trips making memorable experiences out of lower budgets and tighter schedules.

This is one generation which have grown up with online travel agents and are familiar with their booking process. However, as they look for a more holistic experience, they are exploring new opportunities from a value and service perspective. To attract them to book direct, hotels need to ensure that their offers and rates are as good or even better than OTAs. Millennials are used to flexible terms and conditions, and expect no less from your direct booking engine. If your rates are just in parity with OTAs, they might go for the OTAs given their comfort factor with the travel websites. Provide additional value as Book Direct rewards like free parking, wifi or loyalty bonus.

3.      Millennial Family Travel is on Rise

Depending on time when they were born, millennials have very distinct preferences, with the travel journey of millennials varies based their life stages. Some of them, who are in the early stage of adulthood are still exploring their preference, while elders in the category have families. While the young ones often look for traveling solo in off-beaten adventures, those with family have more different sets of priorities. According to a survey by Resonance Consultancy, millennials with kids prioritize on safety, lower prices and convenience when considering their vacation plans. Digitally savvy, they take months to plan and visit multiple sites to compare prices before booking. Interestingly elder millennials with kids are almost as comfortable in experiencing urban life as their elder generations preference for beach resorts.

Major hotel chains are taking note of this change in travel habit. As more and more millennials see local experiences, out-of-the-way places and genuine connections with locals, hotels are increasingly collaborating with cooperating with local guides and teaming up with local restaurants to show off the region’s cuisine.

4.     Add visual pleasure to hotels

One thing that drives the millennials to travel is the social currency. According to a study by UK based Schofields, the millennial choice of holiday destination is being driven by how ‘Instagrammable’ it is. 40% of those surveyed with 18-33 put picture-worthiness of a particular place over other factors such as cost, local cuisine and availability of alcohol with sightseeing being the lowest priority.

In a similar way, over 42% Facebook posts by millennials are about travel. They connect with their families and friends over social networking platform and expect the same from hotels. For hotels this gives a unique opportunity to catch the attention of millennials and get their booking. However posting content on social media would not make millennials book property. Millennials expect personalization and customer engagement can make a lot of difference.

Compared to older generations, millennials have distinctly different travel expectations and behaviours compared to other generations. Travel companies need to align themselves with the changing mindset in order to make themselves relevant with this generation. When this tactic is executed well, travel companies are satisfied with the results.

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