2011 Year-End Hotel Technology Review
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Hotel Channel Management – Made Easy & Efficient!
Presents came through Secret Santa which was a big task to organize given the 140 plus headcount. It was good fun nonetheless and very heart warming to see everyone participating and getting lovely gifts.
The event began with a fun quiz and moved on to the ‘Guess your Santa’ activity. After all the gifts were attacked and unwrapped, the gang moved on to the cafeteria for some rich plum cake and snacks. An evening full of fun, laughter and camaraderie with wishes for many more such days!!
After an eventful and remarkable 2011, we at eRevMax look forward to an exciting 2012 and wish one and all a very prosperous and Happy New Year!!
The event opened with an overview of the industry and the upcoming Olympics, post which it moved on to a panel discussion on key issues, trends and developments facing Finance, Revenue Management and IT professionals followed by the Hospitality IT Debate and a Revenue Management Session.
There were some educational workshops lined-up as well. My colleague Casey Davy did a presentation on Online Distribution and Channel Management which was very well attended.
Overall it was a very successful show as the turnout was great. It was a good mix of suppliers including hotel technology and the buyers which comprised of large hotel groups as well as standalone properties which made it more interesting.
Not only did the event receive excellent feedback from all exhibitors, but the delegates too shared positive reviews and found it a worthwhile platform for business.
Sunaina Jagtiani is Sales Manager – UK at eRevMax and is responsible for sales of RateTiger products in the region. She is based out of London, UK and can be reached at sunainaj@ratetiger.com
Sascha Hausmann, CEO, eRevMax International was present at the event and was invited to do a presentation on the ‘Evolution of Online Channel Management’. The session was very well received and there was a lot of interest among hoteliers to understand new technology trends in online distribution.
As the Head of Human Resources in India, Anupama will be responsible to further develop the recruitment, HR and training strategy to continue eRevMax’s strong commitment towards nurturing future leaders within the industry sector. In a career spanning 14 years, she has been associated with firms across a range of industries leading HR programmes that contribute to organizational change to meet expansion and growth targets.
Announcing the appointment, Mr. Udai Solanki, Managing Director – India, eRevMax International said, “With increasing demand for our products, services and expertise, it is essential we continue to further invest in our internal processes to help execute our growth plans over the next few years. As we proceed to scale up our Indian and global operations, we are pleased to have Anupama in our leadership to oversee this endeavor. Her vast people management experience will contribute to our overall recruitment strategy and develop the training tools, initiatives and internal employee support networks to grow our people in-line with the growth of the business.”
RateTiger announced the launch of its RTSuite for Macintosh OS X. RTSuite, RateTiger’s premium rate shopping and channel management product has now been developed for Mac users. It will give hoteliers greater flexibility with rates and availability which they can now update via their MacBook.
http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/46716-RateTiger-launches-Apple-Mac-version
Booked.net Integrates with RateTiger for Improved Update Functionality
Hoteliers’ can now update Booked.net through RateTiger’s XML interface transferring data in real-time. This development will enhance the performance of communication between the two systems and provides hotels with the ability to update Booked.net instantaneously with the correct rates and availability.
http://hotelmule.com/showthread.php?5946-Booked.net-Integrates-with-RateTiger-for-Improved-Update-Functionality
How well do you (and your team) know your competition?
Maximising your knowledge of your competitors’ product is a vital tool in any hotel’s sales and marketing efforts and investment decision making. However recent experience suggests that some of the basics are being forgotten. Today individual hotels, as well as large hotel companies, have access to more information than ever about their competitive performance and customer views.
http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4054053.html
Mystery travel: A new distribution channel
Several companies are cashing in on the mystery-travel trend, and hoteliers around the globe are utilizing the trips as a new opaque distribution channel. According to EuroMonitor International’s Global Trends Report, mystery trips are quickly gaining popularity with consumers in North America.
http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/7106/Mystery-travel-A-new-distribution-channel
Last-minute hotel reservations on the rise
Smartphones are empowering a segment of hotel customers often overlooked by the industry: last-minute buyers who aren’t traveling. Hoping to draw impulsive buyers addicted to daily coupon alerts, hotels and online travel agencies are introducing a flurry of new specials and features targeting those who book a room locally on the day of the stay.
http://www.hospitalitynet.org/external/4054078.html
Hotel demand up in key central African cities
Hotel demand grew strongly across the three main economic centres in Western and Eastern Africa for year-to-date October 2011, compared to the previous year, according to data from STR Global, the leading provider of market information to the global hotel industry. Demand grew 27.9 percent in Lagos, Nigeria, 19.4 percent in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and 10.7 percent in Nairobi, Kenya.
http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/7083/Hotel-demand-up-in-key-central-African-cities
UK hotel prices explode for New Year’s
For the New Year’s Eve weekend report, cities across Europe such as Prague (268 percent increase), Edinburgh (196 percent increase), Venice (130 percent increase) and Amsterdam (119 percent increase) have significantly increased hotel prices compared to their average price for December. The UK has likewise experienced a jump in prices.
http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/46734-UK-hotel-prices-explode-for-New-Year%E2%80%99s
Extended-stay 2012 RevPAR to outpace industry
Extended-stay hotels and the overall hotel industry follow very similar cycles. Consequently, if STR’s forecast of significantly lower revenue-per-available-room growth in the hotel industry during 2012 compared to 2011 is realized, extended-stay hotels likely are to follow a similar trend.
http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/7046/Extended-stay-2012-RevPAR-to-outpace-industry
RateTiger was present in full force and most of our Sales Managers from across the globe descended upon London to witness this grand show. Below are excerpts from some of their feedback on the event –
Pilar Sanchez Aita, Sales Manager – Spain & Portugal says, “This year’s edition was excellent; it helped me further strengthen customer relations and gain new prospects. The main topics of my discussions revolved around new revenue trends such Flash sales (Groupon), Social Media booking engine, online distribution, the affect of the recession on Southern European markets for domestic travel, etc. RateTiger’s stand location was fantastic, which helped generate a lot of traffic.”
Ryan Haynes, VP – Global Marketing says, “This had to be the best show RateTiger has done in the 5 years of exhibiting at WTM. It was certainly the year for Technology and a year for Channel Management solutions with all global enterprises present and visible at the show. We had a busy four days and a very successful presentation on the second day delivered by Keith Povah.”
“As for the core discussions – Channel management, for the first time, was a key topic of conversation, while social media tried to reign supreme. Again the recent news and discussion surrounding TripAdvisor was not sitting well with hoteliers. Hotels are looking for tangible results from marketing and sales strategies and distribution was answering most of their questions. Many exhibitors were talking about RateTiger – some nice free marketing.”
Keith Watson, Division President – RTCorp concluded, “This year’s show was very successful. My team took the opportunity to setup many meetings with prospects we have been cultivating over the last 12 months. These went very well. We also met with some new potential customers, who liked what they saw in RTCorp. Our discussions focused around filtering shopped rates as well as better understanding price comparison websites.”
All in all, a grand show, very well organized and an event that will see RateTiger come back every year.
An exclusive meal followed a champagne reception in an elegant reception suite at the hotel accompanied by a string quartet of classical music. The founding presidents, Reuel Ghosh and Andrew Morsi, with the CEO, Sascha Hausmann delivered a speech reminiscing on a decade of eRevMax and RateTiger, recounting some of the more hilarious business encounters and silly mistakes all small businesses experience as they grow.
Following the dinner and it being Guy Fawkes Night in the UK it was the perfect opportunity to bring out the fireworks. We were entertained by a 15-minute firework display brightening the dark and dry cool night sky. After, we finished the evening in the bar to a soundtrack of light jazz music by band – Delta Detour.
In total there were about 30 of us looking at the new trends in channel management, the challenges hoteliers are facing and the effects that the economic situation could have on hotels. The International Sales Meeting gives us the opportunity to share best practices, identify similarities in market behaviours and plan product development to meet the new demands that hoteliers are facing with pricing, distribution and bookings.
This event is always an eye-opener as we discover there are similarities between Asia and USA while many European countries behave differently to each other. The past year has also seen emerging markets becoming more relevant for our technologies; through a series of regional sales presentations we learned which market wants what product immediately showing the differences in approach by revenue managers.
The three-day conference gave us all the opportunity to meet in person away from our emails and Skype in favour for more real discussion, debate and laughter. Now RateTiger has completed a very successful 10 years in the business, the team are pent up to drive forward for the next decade.
We’re ready for 2012.
Ryan Haynes is VP – Global Marketing at eRevMax and is responsible for driving all PR and Marketing activities of eRevMax and its various product brands globally. Ryan is based out of London and can be reached at ryanh@ratetiger.com