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Hotels Don’t See Social Media as a Priority

Hotels are putting social media on hold as a marketing and selling mechanism, while they focus on driving direct bookings in response to their continuous struggle for better margins with the Online Travel Agents (OTAs), says research by Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (Switzerland) and RateTiger.

“We have found that hotels work with more travel agents and consortia contracts for the corporate segment, apply BAR to walk-ins, and develop special offers for returning customers, including the introduction of loyalty programmes.” said Horatiu Tudori, Senior Lecturer, Revenue Management, Ecole hoteliere de Lausanne, Switzerland.

The study ‘The Distribution Challenge 2012‘ conducted for six months in five countries, found that while social networks including Facebook, Twitter, TripAdvisor and YouTube are recognised as new forms of digital marketing, hotels are still unconvinced about the impact these channels will actually have on bookings and are therefore deterred from implementing strategies in the short term.
To see full report, click here
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Social Media Monitoring: Why Guest Review Matters?

The world is now online. Your guests are talking to each other, sharing their experiences. Information has never been so easy to create or access.

You too need to wake up – Monitor, Respond and Engage with your guests!

Good hotel reviews bring increased ADR and direct bookings. Consider this – 

  • 33% bookers change their hotel based on reviews 
  • 1 point ranking is a difference of 9% ADR
  • Increased engagement with reviews brings 5% more direct bookings

Now is the time for you to check out the video below and start managing reviews smartly to improve your hotel ranking.


Manage your online reputation with RTReview, your simple and efficient guest review management tool.
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4C Hotels increases direct bookings by 5% managing guest reviews


4C Hotels has seen its brand website bookings increase nearly 5% and its TripAdvisor ranking jump from 465 to 434 in the past six months since installing RTReview, a guest review management tool.

Guest reviews have enabled 4C Hotels to better understand its market position by comparing services, special offers and promotions against competitors and to adjust the revenue strategy accordingly. Prior to the installation of RTReview, by RateTiger, 4C Hotels only monitored its key guest feedback portals including TripAdvisor and Qype. However within weeks the hotel group noticed that its properties were receiving significant feedback across other bookings sites including Holidaycheck, Yelp, Trivago and several other websites previously not monitored. 

“Reviews have helped us to understand more about our guests and to improve our offering to meet their needs’’ said Amber Virani, Sales & Marketing Manager, 4C Hotels. “When we see a negative review, we carry out a proper investigation and respond quickly and efficiently to our guest which has enabled us to get even closer to our guests.”
With so many social channels it was impossible to manually search and manage all review sites. “RTReview has given us a wonderful way to measure our online presence and knowledge of how we can stay ahead of our competitors. It helps us to quickly and easily analyse guest feedback from online reviews so we can understand where there’s a room to improve.  We are now offering more promotions, special offers and implementing more marketing initiatives that seems to be of greater interest to our guests.”
4C Hotels installed RTReview from RateTiger in December 2011 that consolidates all guest feedback into a single interface for better management and is now monitoring over 60 guest review portals including Facebook and Twitter.
Review portals have received a lot of negative press due to the quality of feedback from guests and their potential fraudulent nature, however 4C Hotels proves that proactive management of these portals can deliver revenue and bookings results.
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NASSCOM EMERGE: Establishing a Niche in a growing market


Last Friday I attended my very first NASSCOM event in Kolkata.  For those who are not aware, National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) is a trade association of Indian Information Technology (IT) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry aimed at promoting and harnessing IT and Communications technologies for inclusive and balanced growth.

The topic for the event was ‘How to establish a Niche in a growing market?’ It was presented as a panel discussion and was essentially an experience sharing session characterized by a lively interaction between the panelists and the audience. Udai Singh Solanki, MD & CTO, eRevMax was invited as a panelist and he was fabulous on the day. He was joined by Atul Agarwal, Managing Director, InSync Tech-Fin Solutions Ltd and Kamal Agarwala, Founder & CEO, Exactlly Group Of Companies while Indranil Choudhury, co-founder & CEO, Lexplosion Solutions Pvt Ltd moderated the panel.


The session started with a round of introductions, post which the panelists shared their experiences on how they identified the niche segments in which their companies operate today and how they continue to lead in their segment. The topic was very close to the hearts of people on both sides of the table. Most of the attendees represented start-up firms providing products and services in highly specialized fields e.g. weather forecasting, engineering animation, to name a few.

The panelists each had a different yet similar story to tell. The difference primarily lay in how the business idea was conceived. Udai shared the story of how a chance meeting between the company’s founders led to the birth of eRevMax. He said, “Ideas should be rooted in a business need as there have to be takers to start with! When we created the Shopper product, we already knew that rate shopping was a pain point for hotel Revenue Managers and we provided them with an effective solution for it.”

When asked as to what the process is to define and succeed in a niche, Udai responded, “To start with, one must focus on both core competence and differentiation in terms of products / services offered. Establishing a niche is only the starting point. Competition will catch up sooner rather than later. Hence meeting the demands of a dynamic market in order to grow requires the ability to identify new opportunities and quickly respond to it. In our case, we continued to identify problems and develop new products to make life easier for revenue managers and today we can say we are the market leaders in hotel online distribution segment.”

Other panelists mentioned how they became niche players by trial and error, as a part of evolving and trying to establish a sustainable business. For a few, the idea stemmed from understanding genuine concerns of customers and a passion to resolve it for them. For yet others the motivation came from a sense of weariness of corporate life and the need to do something challenging.  The challenges faced by companies thereafter were quite similar.

The discussions also touched upon how start-ups find it difficult to attract and retain the right talent pool. The importance of having the right team cannot be emphasized enough!

It turned out to be a great session with meaningful takeaways for attendees. The panel discussion concluded with felicitation of the panelists followed by refreshments which provided networking opportunities to start-up owners keen for more ideas to push their business.

Overall, a well organized and interesting session, and I look forward to other such events. 

Kudos to NASSCOM for the job done well!

For pictures from the event, click here

Anupama Dasgupta is VP – Human Resource at eRevMax and is responsible for driving all HR and Organizational Development activities for RateTiger and eRevMax globally. Anupama is based out of Kolkata and can be reached at anupamadg@erevmax.com
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GBTA Convention 2012 – Preview

Come Monday and one of the biggest Business Travel events will kick off in Boston, Massachusetts. With two former US Presidents featuring as key speakers among the biggies of the travel industry, there is surely some exciting time ahead!

With over 1400 pre-registered buyers, the 2012 GBTA Convention will have the largest buyer attendance in its 44 year history, which speaks volumes about the show. The agenda looks well-defined and with huge cuts on global business travel budgets, we can expect to witness hot discussions and debates on ways to achieve more productivity.

How do we do that? Well with technology moving forward in leaps and bounds, there will be much to catch up on. And of course I will be there at the RateTiger stand 959 speaking to attendees on how they can leverage our tools to achieve ultimate rate transparency. 

A recent PhoCusWright report mentions how quickly corporate travel bookings are moving online, with over 56% of all business travel bookings to be made over the internet by 2013. The technology boom doubled with increase in mobile and tablet usage has converted corporate travelers into corporate tourists. Further with travel managers keeping a close check on online hotel rates, it has become difficult for hotels to disregard their corporate contracts and offer differential pricing.

New technology and software tools are expected to play an important role with TMCs experiencing increased pressure from companies to thoroughly assess and deliver returns from their travel spend. Corporates are defining stricter ROI metrics to ensure they get ‘more from less’ when it comes to their money spent. Therefore buyers need to look at rates carefully and ensure they are getting the best deal – hence the importance of rate shopping tools (aka RTCorp). Our corporate price management tool will give the transparency needed when negotiating RFPs with hotels.

I look forward to all the discussions and networking, as well as checking out what others in the business travel space are doing. Watch this space for updates when I am back from the show.

Jan Murza is Sales Manager – USA at eRevMax and is responsible for sale of RateTiger products in the region. He is based out of Orlando, USA and can be reached at janm@ratetiger.com

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RateTiger Q2 Sales Meet


I attended the recently held RateTiger Sales Meet in Glasgow. This was the first time I attended this event in my new capacity as Sales Manager UK and I found the whole experience to be very rewarding.

The EMEA team gathered in Erskine Bridge Hotel for two days of team building activities, presentations, trainings and a lot of fun. Brainstorming sessions were conducted on current industry trends and detailed analysis of the company’s sales and marketing strategies were shared. We were treated to a professional training session on advanced presentation skills to enhance our expertise.

Our CEO Michael McCartan shared important company and product updates while Keith Watson, Head of Commercial Operations, gave us inputs on new support structure and processes. Casey Davy, VP Sales EMEA, provided the team with useful tips to a more successful sales process, and ran through some administrative aspects of sales, while Ryan Haynes, VP Marketing, shared the upcoming marketing plans and encouraged us to work closely with partners and associations. 

I was given the opportunity to present my recently prepared competitor mapping analysis and I received a lot of kudos for it. All the sessions were productive and it was a great opportunity for us to come together and share a sense of camaraderie.

And obviously the after-hours parties were a complete hit. We were delighted when we found that we have been booked for ‘A Journey with Taste’ going back into the history of whiskey tasting, sampling the products from the top distilleries across Scotland. This was followed by a late night at The Corinthian Casino Club downtown in Glasgow – a perfect closure to the two day marathon meetings!


More fun pictures here 😉

Cristina Blaj is Sales Manager – UK at eRevMax and is responsible for sale of RateTiger products in the region. She is based out of London, UK and can be reached at cristinab@ratetiger.com
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Newshound: Trends and Reports – Hotel Online Distribution


Reviews and more reviews: a question of confidence

Efforts are being made to ensure that travellers are getting accurate information that is relevant to them. Even online travel agencies (OTAs) are now diligently integrating reviews on their sites, e-newsletters, promotional campaigns and other outlets. Firstly OTAs are improving descriptions of hotels across the board so that customers can more directly compare rooms and facilities at different hotels. This includes more photos and videos for travellers to browse through. Secondly, the overall contribution from various stakeholders including employees, fellow travellers, hoteliers and so on is on the rise on their sites.
http://www.eyefortravel.com/social-media-and-marketing/reviews-and-more-reviews-question-confidence

How Facebook is Shaping Your 2012 Travel Decisions

Recent studies reveal that what matters most when planning a trip is not where you’re going, but rather who you know that has already traveled to that destination.  Without a doubt, the ubiquitous marketing tool’s unique brand interaction is setting a new beat to the travel pulse. While trusted travel brands unquestionably provide valuable trip advice, word of mouth from a loyal group of friends may be more worthwhile.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/traceygreenstein/2012/07/06/how-facebook-is-shaping-your-2012-travel-decisions/

Hotel Industry Business Outlook: Summer 2012

What does the summer have in store for the hotel industry? The recently published Christie + Co’s Business Outlook Summer 2012 report reveals all. With the banks coming to terms with their positioning and exposure in the hotel sector, the year to date has been typified by some reasonable transactional activity, according to the publication.
http://www.hotel-industry.co.uk/2012/07/hotel-industry-business-outlook-summer-2012/

What online retailers can learn from Orbitz

All stores – both online and physical – should tailor offerings to their purchasing segments. In an online environment, that might mean offering different choices to customers based on their purchase history or the kinds of products they’ve clicked on in the past.
http://hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/what_online_retailers_can_learn_from_orbitz

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HITEC 2012 – The Show That Was!

For four years I was whiling away in the London office, coordinating the prestigious North American tradeshow that is HITEC. Over 5,000km away, the RTConnect and RTSuite sales team along with management members swooned the delegates and built relationships with some of the biggest and brightest hotel tech companies. I waited in earnest to find out their experience, with often William Goldsberry getting overly excited by the opportunities.

2012 – and I am told I get to go. The prospect was daunting, Goldsberry and our CEO tried to reassure me that it is not the big bad beast I imagined. (I was having nightmares of conversations with CIO and CTOs about the best system integration techniques). Indeed they are right, HITEC is a friendly show and much smaller than that of WTM and ITB, but much more specific in its approach.

I met journalists from across all the North American publications; it was a pleasure to meet them in person after 5 years. And their enthusiasm to finally meet the face behind all the emails on product updates, customer wins and case studies, was inspiring. We talked distribution, channel mix, sales opportunities and how RateTiger will be in more places in 2013 than it has done in its 10-year history.

The rest of the team had a good show, in fact I never saw them for the number of meetings they had. The RTConnect team were talking about seamless connectivity, and channel integration as more companies look to direct connect, from CRS to PMS and plenty of channels.


We were pleased to be joined by Trust and Travel Tripper for our post – HITEC meal. We even had chance to head to Fells Point, on the edge of the Baltimore harbour. The old cobbled streets, red brick buildings and array of small restaurants, eateries, bars and pubs reminded me of a quaint town of England – home! We made sure we had some of their finest seafood delicacies including fish and mussels. But, Must go back for the Crab! 


Ryan C Haynes is VP – Marketing Communications at eRevMax and is responsible for driving all PR and Marketing activities for RateTiger and eRevMax brands globally. Ryan is based out of London and can be reached at ryanh@ratetiger.com
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Flash Sales – the future of hotel booking

Flash Sales offer great deals for a very limited time, they can often have much tougher terms and conditions to many other offers that can make it difficult for travelers to cash-in their voucher. Yet some hotels are seeing this as a great way to promote their hotel and show travelers what they can offer.

One hotel I spoke to offered 75% off their standard rate, and this is in London – what a potentially excellent deal. But as a traveler it is really worth price shopping and seeing what rates are on the market, across traditional booking channels, to make sure it is a great deal.

Yet tapping into travelers with a budget mindset is ideal as the speed of purchase encourages them to buy faster.

A few places you can find these interesting deals include Secret Escapes, GroupOn, Living Social, Voyageprive.com and Travel Zoo. I recently attended an event organized by HOSPA – an association for hoteliers to find out more.

As a hotelier – you do need to think of what brand represents your hotel. You need to agree with the supplier a sustainable pricing model on the discount and commission the website charges. Don’t get surprised if the results don’t come in as you expect, nothing worse than planning booking based on a pure marketing promotion.

The HOSPA panel agreed that on the whole, those who bought these Flash Sales were often consumers who can afford to spend several hundred in a daily deal, making a decision in a moment.


 
Advising hotels on how to make the most of Flash Sales, Nick Stafford, General Manager of Escapes Europe of Living Social remarked: “The worst thing you can do is discount heavily to your own customers. I booked a flight and 2 days later received a discount promotion of 60% from that airline. Discounting to loyal customers is dangerous and can reduce the value of your product as they just hang around waiting for the sale,” Nick felt short changed by the airline. “Our offers are for a specific time, feeding recipients needs then and there.”

However hotels maybe trying these new forms of social and digital marketing, yet are still very behind on the online basics, TravelZoo still needs to create web landing pages for hotels that (believe it or not) still do not have websites. Then these hotels complain when they don’t get the results they need. To me, hotels need to get a grip with the basics before trying this method of sales.

The only advice these channels seem to offer to hotels is to think in advance, do not call up last minute desperate to fill the hotel. This is not last minute bookings, these are future bookings aimed at helping the quiet periods, and revenue managers should know the weeks when the hotel is usually quiet.

There are no exact figures on how much these flash sales cost, it will be anywhere between 10% – 50% commission depending on the offer, the location of the property and the brand.

I am hoping that independent hotels are offered good deals, but I get the impression it maybe more financially challenging for small independent properties.

Some immediate tips for hotels:

  • Select the right channel that markets hotels like your property
  • Identify the lowest rate you publish and can make money from
  • Build from this lowest rate, taking into account maximum commission you are willing to pay before you make a loss
  • Look at your additional services – value-adds – and see how you can create a great package offer that costs you very little
  • Get a good idea of how the flash sales members behave to identify the best price

Ryan C Haynes is VP – Marketing Communications at eRevMax and is responsible for driving all PR and Marketing activities for RateTiger and eRevMax brands globally. Ryan is based out of London and can be reached at ryanh@ratetiger.com

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HITEC 2012


So the countdown begins… one more week to go and Baltimore will have Ryan C Haynes included in its list of tourist arrivals. And why just me? There will be thousands more who would be swarming the BWI Airport over the weekend to make it in time for the big hospitality technology show of the year – HITEC, starting 25th June 2012.

I have a firm understanding that this is where deals are made and where the technology for the industry takes tip-toes, steps or leaps forward to meet the demands of the ever-changing hotel operation environment. I’m really interested to learn who the big players are, it’s not an event like the consumer shows, this is business, so interested to see what will happen?

So what’s on offer? Well of course RateTiger will be there at booth 1716 speaking to the attendees, and I am there to meet the press.  After 5 very enjoyable years educating the journalists on channel management this is my time to say “Hello”, shake their hands, thank them and find out where we go next.

The conference part of the show starts with various boot camps, educational sessions as well as CHAE and CHTP exams on Monday. Day 2 looks exciting with an interesting key note session by professional hacker Josh Klein, who will speak about ‘Self Defense in the New Media Age’ (a dose of this should come in handy!).  Day 3 includes the much talked about ‘Search, Mobile and Social media’, ‘Reinventing CRM and BI as Revenue Drivers’ and ‘Gleaning Business Intelligence from Social Media’. Given that RateTiger dabbles in all three offering relevant applications, we are very excited to hear what the speakers have to say.

Still – seamless, two-way connectivity will be on the lips, as we continue the discussion to the next level looking deeper at simplifying the complexity of the “Push, Pull, Push, Pull models”. And we will be looking at how OTAs will be changing their sales model and the future role of social networks, Google and flash sales sites in hotel booking strategies.

Other than this, there will definitely be a lot of networking and some nice evening dinners with the team. So, time for a few last minute preparations and then off I go. More when I am back. See you at HITEC.

Ryan C Haynes is VP – Marketing Communications at eRevMax and is responsible for driving all PR and Marketing activities for RateTiger and eRevMax brands globally. Ryan is based out of London and can be reached at ryanh@ratetiger.com