The Internet Booking Engine or Hotel Booking Engine is an application that allows customers to book online directly on the hotel brand website.
How to Promote Your Hotel to Business Travelers?
Business travelers form one of the major groups of travelers, and this group is increasing with time. Expenses on global business travel are expected to rise by 7% by the year 2020, which means hoteliers have to go that extra mile to attract business travelers to their properties. Most of the business trippers like to stay in hotels for face-to-face and corporate meetings. The opportunities for business expansion are very high, which has led to a rise in more room reservations, choosing from amazing foods and more. Here are some tips on how to promote your hotel property to business travelers.
Use social media platforms
The internet is being used too much these days, and there is high demand for social media channels among vacationers as well as among business travelers. They make use of social media platforms to interact with business experts, update themselves on the latest trends in business and find out what their competitors are doing. You can post ads on Face book, YouTube and other websites to offer multi-media experiences to business trippers. LinkedIn is another robust platform that you can use to reach out to business travelers.
Offer them a wide variety of dishes
Business travelers tend to work for more time while traveling, and do not get the time to choose from the available food options in hotels. They like to choose whatever is offered to them. If you offer them the best foods, they will be impressed. It is a good idea to offer them healthy menu items, and provide them with a variety of healthy snacks such as fruits, yogurt, cereal, self-serve toast etc. Offer them vegan meals and gluten-free foods. Ask them whether they suffer from any food allergy, and offer them meals accordingly, so that they can stay fit and healthy.
Offer real-time services
For business trippers, time is something precious. They often spend much time in moving from place to place – such as shuttles, taxis, airport, home etc – before they arrive for rest or check in or to run for their following appointment. You can keep them satisfied with a fast process, like mobile / online check-in, and gathering all the important data and payment processing before guests arrive. You should also ensure a flexible policy for business travelers’ check-out and check-in times, to let them avoid delays in schedule, making life more convenient and ensuring brand loyalty.
Running loyalty programs
Hotels operate loyalty programs that can encourage guests to come back often. These types of programs can let you boost your brand reputation and value in the market. A flexible loyalty program can help hotel groups as well as independent properties to draw in business trippers, and retain repeat business by providing business travelers with the things that they appreciate – such as discounted stays and free nights.
Try to offer amenities that can make trips less tiring for business guests – such as discounted spa services, complimentary beverages and free transportation services. Loyalty programs can drawn in corporate guests very well, and also collect guest information that can be used further to provide them with more personalized services.
Travel and Holidays – What Does the Future Hold in Store?
Every day, new marketing techniques and tools are launched almost every week – which increases the complexity of the marketing sector. Experts have different ideas and opinions about how holidays will be like two or three decades from now. The possibilities are limitless.
Virtual travel will be ‘in’:
Travel is likely to become virtual In the future. By the year 2050, holidays for most people will be about enjoying the popular as well as not so popular attractions of the world from the comfort of home. Time travel will be in, and it will be possible for travellers to visit New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina ravaged it or seeing the Pyramids right after their completion – all through virtual reality. They will be able to customize their surroundings and the weather, and also get a digital tour guide. They can also make situational or hypothetical travel – such as visiting the Taj Mahal without the tourists. This will help them remove the stress of travel without needing to visit the locations actually.
More personalized travel experience:
Travel brands, in order to get brand recognition and loyalty, need to make use of customer data in such a way that shoppers can get value. The travel marketing techniques are likely to be made more personalized to help customers find the most relevant travel products and ideas for their choices – whether it comes to room, hotel, airline, airport or occupancy duration type.
Smarter Retargeting:
While retargeting has existed for quite a few years, it is expected to see more innovation. Travel companies will use live user session user profiling in real-time, which would allow a smarter retargeting that offers more relevant recommendations and information to users. For travel brands, it can increase the ROI significantly on every interaction.
Use of Chatbot technology:
Travel brands are making increasing use of the chatbot technology from companies such as Amazon, Expedia and Skyscanner, in an attempt to pre-empt the purchase requirements of customers. The use of Cortana or Alexa can be expected sooner rather than later.
Use of PWAs (progressive web apps):
These come with all the good things about mobile websites and mobile-based applications. These are delivered online and act just like native apps. PWAs help sell holidays quickly and form an important part of the overall user experience. The programs also operate in areas with inferior connectivity or in those spots where connectivity drops and comes – as in cars or trains. These will help travellers on the move.
Get Hotel booking channel manager software at https://www.erevmax.com/ratetiger/ratetiger.html.
Absolute Hotel Services implements RateTiger solutions for its hotels and resorts
Following dramatic changes in numbers of traveller and recession, as well as increased competition due to the consolidation of some major OTAs, more hotel chains around the world are focusing upon customer research in detail. Absolute Hotel Services Group, who operate properties throughout Southeast Asia and the Middle East, are one such chain seeking to understand the wants and needs of their guests on a more personal level. Absolute Hotel has choosen to partner with eRevMax, making use of RateTiger Corp solution to keep tabs on the competition and deeply analyse room rate trends. Absolute CEO Jonathan Wigley reports that RateTiger Corp is the best way of ‘understanding our customers and the challenges they face’.
IHTF 2014
The eleventh edition of the International Hotel Technology Forum (IHTF), took place in Barcelona, Spain in early April this year. The two-day event saw over 600 business meetings with 50 speakers delivering cutting-edge insights into latest trends in the hospitality industry.
John Seaton, VP Sales APAC & EMEA, and Cristina Blaj, Sales Director UK, Ireland & Scandinavia at eRevMax attended the event to network with industry veterans. Cristina participated in a panel discussion on “Engaging with the Digital Traveller – The Move to Mobile”. The panel consisted of Monika Nerger from Mandarin Hotels; Jeremy Ward from Kempinski Hotels and Nancy from Jumeirah Hotels. The discussion focused on evaluating the advent of mobile bookings and its trends to capitalise on modern buying patterns. They also emphasised on implementing guest-led trends in hospitality industry as more happy customers equal to more revenue.
John Seaton was invited to participate in a panel on “Over-coming the Challenges in Diverse Distribution Channels”. He had Jon Siberry from Sarova Hotels and Lennert de Jong from CitizenM; among others as co-panelists. The speakers examined the current challenges faced by hoteliers in the diverse distribution space and the strategies for better channel performance. They also focused on how to analyze channel performance and how to capture guest data to determine best communication channel for each guests.
Overall the event concluded on a positive note and there was constructive exchange of ideas and experiences.
Stephen Burke joins eRevMax as Vice President – Connectivity & Enterprise Integration
Following the highly anticipated introduction of eRevMax’s Connect software, which allows hoteliers greater visibility to online travel agents and direct customers all around the world, the company are happy to announce the appointment of Stephen Burke, who will act as the Vice President of Connectivity and Enterprise Integration. Burke hails from an enterprise connectivity integration strategy background and will be focused on the task of improving relations between eRevMax and distribution channels, hotel companies, and third party hotel management systems all around the world, with a particular interest in the European market, where Burke will work alongside Chief Technology Officer Udai Singh Solanki.
Read the full story: Stephen Burke Appointment