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Supranational Hotels Conference 2013

This year’s edition of Supranational Hotels Conference took place at County Hall Park Plaza, London last week. The event meant exclusively for Supranational members offers them the opportunity to network with peers and leading industry figures, participate in seminars on key industry topics and conduct one-to-one meetings with invited consortia and corporate clients.

Chaired by its Managing Director, Cho Wong, the conference witnessed interesting discussions on various topics including Total Revenue Management, Outlook on Corporate Travel, Reputation Management and Corporate RFP.  

Michael McCartan, CEO, eRevMax, one of the speakers at the conference, took the opportunity to announce RateTiger’s selection as the preferred supplier and Channel Manager of Choice by Supranational Hotels.


He presented on The Distribution Landscape in 2013 – outlining the impact online travel has on total hotel bookings. Today, one in six travelers prefer to book online. They visit between 17 – 20 websites and check reviews before finalizing accommodation. Hotels need to ensure they are visible at every important touch point to get customer’s attention. However given the wide variety of channels it is difficult for them to identify the best demand generators from among the ever expanding channel universe.

Further, more channels mean more updates. The only way out is leveraging technology to automate distribution and avoid getting tangled in the channel-web. By utilizing a smart channel manager, hotels can collect and access the multitude of data in their systems to analyze rates, market pricing trends, competitor selling activities, historical and trend information to achieve the best possible room rates from the most desired guests.

Michael shared suggestions and examples on how to drive direct online bookings and how hotels can optimize product value through innovative room packages, new promotions and better positioning across different online distribution channels. The idea was to help hotels deal with the distribution challenge efficiently!

The conference was followed by interactive sessions where I got a chance to speak to member hotels about managing distribution and optimizing revenue strategy through RateTiger solutions.


Cristina Blaj is Sales Manager – UK, Ireland and Scandinavia at eRevMax and has gained extensive experience in the hospitality industry. She is based out of London and can be reached at cristinab@erevmax.com

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Newshound: Changing hotel online booking, How to tackle same-day booking market, Brands & OTAs mending relationship

How will online hotel booking change in the near future?

In recent years, supplier sites have gained at the expense of OTAs. Hotels want to drive bookings to their own channels because the payouts to online agents for hotel bookings are huge. To be sure, commissions seem to be declining lately. I used to see major chains paying out commissions in high 20% ranges, while more recently such high payouts seem to apply mostly to independent hotels. The savvier big chains like Marriott, depending on the online channel, may have negotiated down the payouts to the high teens.
http://www.tnooz.com/2013/05/23/news/how-will-online-hotel-booking-change-in-the-near-future/#dqApEQ1SIyQGSugH.99

Addressing the 3 Cs of same-day bookings: Control, cannibalisation, commissions

With the recent surge worldwide of same day booking apps, hotel chains know they need to get on board but there are significant challenges to overcome in the same-day booking market – to avoid cannibalisation, to avoid paying high commission on already discounted rates and not relinquish control of how their last minute inventory is sold and promoted via third parties. Let’s take a look at how hotel chains can address the 3 C’s when considering how to tackle the same-day booking market. 
http://www.webintravel.com//blog/addressing-the-3-cs-of-sameday-bookings-control-cannibalisation-commissions_3799

Connect to your hotel guests – directly!

Travel brands have a huge opportunity to circumvent the OTAs and connect directly with consumers searching for their products and services through paid, earned, and owned media strategies. Many travel brands are missing basic SEO strategies that would help them compete with OTAs. 
http://www.hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/more_on_how_travel_brands_can_connect_directly_with_consumers_online/

Brands, OTAs mending relationship

Although large-scale hotel brands have denounced online travel agencies in recent years, instead focusing their efforts on driving travelers directly to their own websites, there seems to be a shift in attitude of late. Hotel brand executives are beginning to embrace OTAs again, even calling them partners, as companies such as Expedia and Priceline work through complex negotiations with many of the major brands.
http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/articles.aspx/10542/Brands-OTAs-mending-relationship?utm_source=feedly

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Newshound: Leonardo continues with RateTiger, Bookings through Multi-channel management, More on Review Express & Hotel price-fixing lawsuit

Leonardo Hotels extends contract with RateTiger for future-proof eDistribution and company expansion

Leonardo Hotels is extending its contract with RateTiger by eRevMax to support the development of the company’s sales and distribution processes. This follows Leonardo Hotels‘ acquisition of 20 properties from the QMH Hotel Germany Group, in one of the biggest deals the European hotel industry has seen in recent years.
http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4060480.html 


Maximising booking in a multichannel environment requires serious knowhow

It is impossible to invest time in every available channel, so how should distribution managers allocate their time? Being responsible for desktop and mobile websites on a daily basis as well as coordinating e-commerce projects and keeping up relationships with global online travel agencies is a challenge. Indeed senior distribution executives must display sound judgement, because one wrong move can have a profound impact on overall channel profitability. 

More on TripAdvisor’s new hotel review collection service “Review Express”

TripAdvisor announced the expansion of its suite of review collection services with Review Express, a powerful, free solution available exclusively on TripAdvisor. The new service makes encouraging fresh reviews easier than ever by giving registered businesses the option to send customizable, bulk emails to their guests asking them to write a review about their experience.
Hotel price-fixing lawsuit adds EyeForTravel, Hyatt and Wyndham as defendants

The lawsuit alleges that EyeForTravel “facilitated the conspiracy and agreements at issue” from 2004 to 2012 by conducting “private, industry-only conferences” in which presentations and discussions covered various hotel pricing strategies, and the need to enforce rate parity in all distribution outlets.

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Newshound: Trends and Reports – Hotel Online Distribution


GHOTEL hotel & living selects RateTiger for smart online room distribution

German hospitality group GHOTEL hotel & living has selected RateTiger’s industry leading Channel Manager to maximise its distribution reach for its unique accommodation offerings by updating distribution channels efficiently in real-time.
http://www.eglobaltravelmedia.com.au/z-more/technology-more/ghotel-hotel-living-selects-ratetiger-for-smart-online-room-distribution.html

The Future of Hotel Marketing: Social Media Synopsis
Hotel chains that are open to 24/7 online social communications with their fan base can sense the power of a free flowing exchange of ideas, and capitalize on a low-cost marketing channel solution. Communication with customer base via social media channels is now expected as standard, whether these platforms are utilized to shape brand image, facilitate user-generated content or compliment a targeted pay-per-click campaign, social media is vital to the success of a hotel property.
http://hotelexecutive.com/business_review/3441/the-future-of-hotel-marketing-social-media-synopsis

Data transformation key for revenue managers

As more data becomes available, revenue managers must be able to filter and make sense of only the best information in order to achieve their goals, sources said during a Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) webinar. “Some people may say that we’re drowning in data, but I think it’s more accurate to say that we’re drowning in information,” said Kevin Coleman, partner and COO at Intelligent Hospitality, a hotel business intelligence company that provides reporting and analytics for hotel sales, marketing and revenue management.
http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/10263/Data-transformation-key-for-revenue-managers

A Call to Arms: How to Shift Market Share from the OTAs to the Hotel Website

 
This year, the hospitality industry is in for a lot of pain. OTA dependency continues to plague the hospitality industry, despite gains in the past three years and positive trends in all three industry indicators. This isn’t new. What’s new is the pain to the bottom line inflicted by the fat commission checks hoteliers are now paying Expedia and other OTAs, due to the widespread adoption of Expedia”s and Booking.com”s agency model in the U.S.
http://www.hospitalitynet.org/column/global/154000392/4060290.html  

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Newshound: Trends and Reports – Hotel Online Distribution


Automation is on the up and could hold the key to increasing online sales

In today’s multi-channel environment, hoteliers need to have quick access to hotel-rate data and inventory positions on various sales channels. “Over the last couple of years we have seen an increased focus on integrated applications, allowing hotels to do most of these complex tasks through a single system,” says Michael McCartan, chief executive officer, eRevMax International.


Analyzing the OTAs

Whether you’re in the camp that believes online travel agencies are single-handedly ruining the hotel industry or in the camp that looks to them for a majority of your demand, there’s one thing almost all hoteliers agree on: Third-party room distributors are here to stay. However, while OTAs serve an important role in the industry, it’s no secret their relationship with hoteliers is not perfect, said Brian Mullan, a research analyst with Janney Capital Markets in New York.

The end of the rate-matching machine: ways to count on competitive pricing

Competitive pricing is an element of pricing decisions in any market. How this is done depends on the availability of such data to providers, the visibility and comparability of it to customers and the level of fragmentation in the market. In hospitality and travel, thanks largely to broad Internet distribution, all of these factors make competitive pricing particularly important.

TripAdvisor tests hotel metasearch service – now the fun really begins

User review giant TripAdvisor is finally doing what pretty much everyone involved in the hotel sector expected it to do years ago – consumer metasearch for its vast portfolio of properties.The company confirmed this week that it is currently testing “new search functionality” for hotels, covering both desktop and mobile versions of the service.

The total cost of travel technology [INFOGRAPHIC]

From individuals who have implemented a small system to those coordinating major overhauls of existing platforms in large companies, organising travel technology is not an easy process. It is clearly a combination of establishing the business and technology requirements, alongside budget, expectations, crystal ball-gazing and market analysis.

Report: PwC European Cities Hotel Forecast 2013

Overall, RevPAR growth is expected to slow in 2013, held back by strong economic headwinds across the eurozone. But there will be thrivers; cities expected to show robust RevPAR growth include Paris, St Petersburg and Edinburgh and more modest increases should be seen in Frankfurt, Berlin, Dublin and Moscow.The second edition of PwC’s European cities hotel forecast for 2013 features 19 of Europe’s most important gateway cities.

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Newshound: Trends and Reports – Cost of Distribution


Cost of Distribution: Out of control or a real expense

2013 could be a turbulent year for the hotel industry should the price-fixing fiasco take a further step forward. Proving yet again, following the collapse of the financial markets in 2008 and 9/11, that while hospitality maybe an old industry dating 1000’s years, the environment of online sales is still in its infancy and terribly immature.
http://hotelexecutive.com/business_review/3210/cost-of-distribution-out-of-control-or-a-real-expense

Best Practices for Optimizing Online Reputation and Reviews

Can hotels really over-respond to reviews? The review page for a given property on, say TripAdvisor, is a social space in its own way. If the host of the party (the hotel) is crowding out the conversation with a lot of jabber, it appears to turn people off from participating in the conversation, with the end result of guests writing fewer reviews.
http://blog.digitalmarketingworks.com/2012/12/best-practices-for-optimizing-online.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DigitalStreetSmarts+%28Digital+Street+Smarts%29

Automated RM: a game changer if you avoid some common mistakes

True revenue optimisation takes place when one is able to accurately assess the overall contribution from customer micro-segments towards overall profitability. In the absence of an automated revenue management system (RMS) such decision-making and assessment is not possible, nor practically viable. With an automated RMS, however, one is able to process a volume of historical and future reservation data which allows you to forecast in a granular way by customer segment and be able to recommend actions that lead to much greater profitability.
http://www.eyefortravel.com/revenue-and-data-management/automated-rm-game-changer-if-you-avoid-some-common-mistakes

Re-Evaluating Your Hotel’s Social Media Strategy For 2013

2013 is just around the corner and now is the perfect time to re-evaluate your hotel’s social media strategy and have it ready to roll out January 1st. If your strategy includes ways to convert more business through your social channels then ask yourself the following questions.
http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/154000320/4058765.html

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Newshound: Trends and Reports – Hotel Online Distribution


Indian Vacation Ownership Leader increases occupancy with RateTiger

Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India Ltd., the leader in the Vacation Ownership space with over 147,000 members, has installed RateTiger to automate and streamline its revenue management and online distribution process across its multiple sales channels.Twenty-three Club Mahindra resorts have increased occupancy in the last six months as a result of increasing online exposure through third parties.

http://www.etravelblackboardasia.com/article/88090
http://www.traveldailynews.asia/news/article/51108/indian-vacation-ownership-leader-increases
http://www.hospitalitybizindia.com/detailNews.aspx?aid=15315&sid=41

TripAdvisor reveals some secret sauce for hoteliers to increase user engagement

TripAdvisor has crunched a heap of data to find out what increases the interaction between a hotelier and guests that leave reviews on the site. The study conducted by looking at North American hotels, TripAdvisor claims, shows a link between hotels with a “greater number of reviews, photos and videos” and a notable increase in interaction with their respective pages.
http://www.tnooz.com/2012/12/04/news/tripadvisor-reveals-some-secret-sauce-for-hoteliers-to-increase-user-engagement/#W4H9pewPRf3LSHry.99

What is in the ultimate tool kit for hotel revenue managers?

We thought it would be interesting to compile a list with the tools that a revenue manager should have at his disposal. Let’s call it the Ultimate Hotel Revenue Management Toolkit. We have done some digging through our Excel reports, yield tools, systems and technology and come up with quite an extensive list of tools and gadgets any revenue manager requires to do his or her job well.
http://www.tnooz.com/2012/11/30/how-to/what-is-in-the-ultimate-tool-kit-for-hotel-revenue-managers/#9sEpOr7aBOU03Vci.99

Hotel Promotions in a Multi-Channel Marketing Interview with Max Starkov

We live in a multi-channel marketing environment. We are dealing with increasingly hyper-interactive travel consumers who switch channels on an hourly basis (e.g. desktop during the day; mobile device during lunch break and after work hours; a tablet when lounging in front of the TV in the evening).
http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/154000320/4058674.html

Infographic: Time spent on the internet every month

Ever wondered consumers are doing with their time spent on the web, especially as social networks such as Twitter and Facebook have become intrinsic parts of the modern life of millions. Socially Aware has pulled together a range of data sources to create a decent infographic outlining the above and a lot more.
http://www.tnooz.com/2012/12/04/news/time-spent-on-the-internet-every-month-infographic/#V8RIzorTT6r3ZQ4I.99

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Newshound: Trends and Reports – Hotel Online Distribution


5 key trends in hotel distribution

The rapidly evolving distribution landscape emerged as a focal point during a panel at September’s Annual Conference for the International Society of Hospitality Consultants. During the conference, John Burns of Hospitality Technology Consulting shared five key trends every hotelier should keep an eye on.
http://hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/9283/5-key-trends-in-hotel-distribution

Semantic search will be standard across online travel by 2020

Technology continues to push the travel, tourism and hospitality industry forward and make it more dynamic than ever before. But the next phase is where it gets REALLY exciting. For background, this week I took part in a panel discussion at World Travel Market in London alongside Nate Bucholz, industry head for travel at Google, and Andrew Jones, head of search account management at Bing.
http://www.tnooz.com/2012/11/08/news/semantic-search-will-be-standard-across-online-travel-by-2020/

Priceline-Kayak deal: Marketing expertise & global footprint at heart of $1.8 billion takeover

Priceline is acquiring Kayak for $1.8 billion in cash and stock. Yes, read it again. While unexpected, interestingly the news does not fundamentally tell us anything about the industry. Unless, that is, aside from Priceline’s willingness to use its strong stock performance to continue its aggressive growth.
http://www.tnooz.com/2012/11/08/news/priceline-kayak-deal-marketing-expertise-and-global-footprint-at-heart-of-1-8-billion-takeover/#mcFwBaR3aTDH0kmE.99

Exploring TripAdvisor as a demand generator

Market Metrix indicated that in 2010 user reviews became the biggest determining factor in why guests chose a specific hotel. Using online consumer panel data from comScore, we illustrate the upstream impact of TripAdvisor on online hotel reservations; specifically we show that the fraction of consumers consulting reviews at TripAdvisor before booking a hotel room has steadily increased from 2008 through 2010. Not only has the fraction of consumers visiting TripAdvisor increased, but also so has the number of reviews they are reading before making their hotel choice.
http://hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/9281/Exploring-TripAdvisor-as-a-demand-generator

Social Travel Infographic

Social Travel becomes a travel-planning trend. With so much information available online, it’s almost impossible to using any kind of social media. Reviews, Facebook, Twitter and blogs are all amazingly helpful in planning travel of any kind. Obviously, you are already doing at least some social travel, since you read this blog.
http://beforeitsnews.com/travel/2012/10/social-travel-infographic-10-26-12-2447076.html

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Newshound: Trends and Reports – Hotel Online Distribution


eRevMax Restructures Customer Service To Deliver Product Consultancy

eRevMax International has restructured its customer service to deliver 24/7 technical support and full service product consultancy for revenue managers. Customers of the RateTiger Suite portfolio and RTConnect will benefit from immediate attention on all technical issues relating to product performance and channel connectivity with a ‘Follow the Sun’ approach adopted by the hotel technology specialist.
http://www.hospitalityupgrade.com/_news/showNewsDetail-docID-5809.asp

Individuality is key for proper channel mix

An overall strategy for managing a hotel’s distribution channel mix should include individual plans for each of the channels, according to several industry experts on the topic. Experts said that while revenue management and channel management practices have become more technical over the years, neither of them should be considered rocket science.
http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/9081/Individuality-is-key-for-proper-channel-mix

Victory for value: good deals drive bookings for corporate travel

Corporates are getting savvier about the way they choose and procure accommodation, and a key influencer today is value for money. Firms are trying to extract more for their hotel stays by cashing in on value-added incentives.  Recent data released by hotel distribution technology provider Hotelzon has highlighted the growing popularity of five-star hotels with business travelers.
http://www.eyefortravel.com/distribution-strategies/victory-value-good-deals-drive-bookings-corporate-travel

Distribution challenge: how OTAs are making appropriate use of online technology

To ensure the best possible yield for hotel partners, online travel agencies (OTAs) must ensure that they are compatible with most of the key channel management solutions. At the same time they must aim to increase accommodation choices for travellers. The ultimate aim of the OTA is to expand their global coverage to offer a range of properties from ordinary global chains to elite hotel groups and unique, independent hotels around the world.
http://www.eyefortravel.com/mobile-and-technology/distribution-challenge-how-otas-are-making-appropriate-use-online-technology

Infographic:Turning social media reaction into booking action for travel brands

We know the basics – social media allows travel companies to engage with existing and potential customers and can act as an unofficial watchdog of products. But with 61% of travellers apparently referring to some kind of user review and almost a third posting reviews of placed they’ve visited, for example, what can companies do to increase booking conversions as a result of activity on social networks.
http://www.tnooz.com/2012/10/04/news/turning-social-media-reaction-into-booking-action-for-travel-brands-infographic/#FH7CCAC6MYpKpQ7g.99 

Online travelers in Europe visit fewer websites

When it comes to online travel shopping, European consumers are keeping it simple. According to PhoCusWright’s European Consumer Travel Report Third Edition, a Global and European Edition report, online travel shoppers in France, Germany and the U.K. trimmed down the number of websites they visited when shopping for travel in 2012. The percentage of online travel shoppers who used only 1-2 websites to shop for travel products increased within the past year – to 41% in France, 30% in Germany and 37% in the U.K. http://hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/online_travelers_in_europe_visit_fewer_websites

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Newshound: Trends and Reports – Hotel Online Distribution

Travel products dominate savings from daily deal sites, as does Groupon

Interesting data out of UK-based DealZippy after analysing a year’s worth of deals from across a range of industries and platforms, showing how popular the channel remains in travel. Given that the company takes a feed from over 30 UK deal sites, such as Groupon, LivingSocial, Wahanda and Qype, the data is pretty robust and representative of the marketplace. So what did it discover? Over the course of the past 12 months just over 60,000 deals have been published by the sites it covers, featuring some 22,600 individual businesses.
http://www.tnooz.com/2012/09/25/news/travel-products-dominate-savings-from-daily-deal-sites-as-does-groupon/#wqqk1bl1HsggZhAM.99

The implications of last-minute bookings for hotel operators

With shifting consumer expectations due to the proliferation of last-minute booking apps, hotels must consider the implications of offering rooms via the last-minute mobile channel.
The promise of reducing empty rooms via last-minute bookings is nothing new – last minute travel has always been big in Europe, where the close proximity of dozens of relatively inexpensive destinations encouraged many consumers to care less about advance planning in favor of a lower priced getaway.
http://www.tnooz.com/2012/09/20/mobile/the-implications-of-last-minute-bookings-for-hotel-operators/#XWuUA5BcisbrwrZy.99

More hotels posting reviews from their own guests

The online review of the Best Western hotel in Eagle Rock started with a critical headline: “Very poor quality, will never stay here again.” What is surprising is that the review was posted on a link found on the website of that very same hotel. Best Western International, one of the world’s largest hotel chains, recently announced that it had redesigned its website, adding links to reviews submitted by its guests to TripAdvisor.com. The move marks a trend in the hotel industry.
http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-hotel-reviews-20120921,0,7499976.story

Focus on online search vital as channel grows

With nearly 80% of the average consumer’s Web experience beginning with an online search, optimizing online content for search is crucial for hoteliers to compete in the market. “That’s an advantage for us,” said Tran Hang, head of the travel industry at Google, who shared that statistic last week during a session at EyeforTravel’s Travel Distribution Summit North America in Las Vegas. “We’re seeing a big shift from offline working media to online working media,” said Jack Feuer, founder and president at digital consulting firm Digital Marketing Works.
http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/articles.aspx/9002/Focus-on-online-search-vital-as-channel-grows

Travel marketer takeaways, cross-channel optimization and hotel revenue management

This month’s EyeForTravel North American Travel Distribution Summit was chock-full of travel industry thought leaders sharing case studies, best practices and knowledge surrounding the various areas of travel distribution. From keynotes to social media to mobile to revenue management, the conference covered many of the au courant challenges that travel marketers, startups and executives are tackling.
http://www.tnooz.com/2012/09/24/event/eyefortravel-travel-marketer-takeaways-cross-channel-optimization-and-hotel-revenue-management-video/#mALmDqPj4CZzyEK7.99