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HITEC 2010

The RateTiger USA team attended the annual HITEC event last month. The Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC) showcased the integration of current technology trends and how the industry is being shaped like never before.

Orange County Convention Centre in Orlando was the hub of all the activities, events and power discussions from June 21–24 as it became a one-stop platform for technology experts, hoteliers, travel companies and industry leaders to network and find cost-effective ways to improve company bottom lines.

HITEC remains one of the best B2B platforms for RateTiger meeting many PMS and CRS companies who are looking to extend their existing products. This is our chance to present our powerful back-end tools for vendors and large hotel chains, RTCorp and RTConnect, though it amazes me how much of the industry is playing catch-up with new business revenue models through the internet.

The overall footfall at the show was much better compared to last year and that was a big relief for us. The main RateTiger attraction (apart from myself) was the RTSuite iPhone app demo that we showcased to visitors. Customers liked it very much and were interested in the application.

Tradeshows like these provide us an opportunity to see how customers and the industry in general perceive RateTiger. We always get to hear good reviews and appreciation, which further encourages us to innovate and develop new features and products to serve the sector better. I am already looking forward to HITEC 2011. Congratulations to HFTP for making HITEC so successful year after year.

Bill Goldsberry is Director of Int’l Group Sales at eRevMax. He is based out of Florida and can be reached at williamg@ratetiger.com
 
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Publituris Portugal Travel Awards 2010

The Publituris Portugal Travel Awards 2010, considered the “Oscars of Tourism in Portugal” took place on 18th June at the beautiful Tivoli Victoria Hotel in Vilamoura.
Our client, the elegant Internacional Design Hotel was conferred with the Best Four Star Hotel in Portugal title. The hotel’s design concept, great location and extraordinary customer service makes staying here a truly memorable experience for guests. 
The impressive, classical facade reveals an exciting and contemporary interior. Each of the hotel’s four floors has a special theme inspired by world cultures. From minimalism and Zen to urban chic, pop art and African touches, each room is different with images, lighting, textures and colors creating a unique and stylish ambience. 
 
Celso Terra Assunção (in picture left), Director of Internacional Design Hotel was present to collect the award. The event was superbly hosted by José Pedro Vasconcelos and also featured a concert by Rodrigo Leão & Cinema Ensemble. The Gala was attended by Bernardo Trindade, Secretary of State for Tourism.
We at RateTiger are pleased to have winners on our side and extend our warm wishes and congratulate every member of the Internacional Design Hotel for winning the coveted trophy and making this chic hotel a truly world class property.
Pilar Sanchez Aita is Sales Manager – Spain & Portugal at eRevMax and is responsible for sales of RateTiger products in the region. She is based out of Spain and can be reached at pilara@ratetiger.com

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RateTiger Academy Distribution Day, Frankfurt & London

After the launch of RateTiger Academy at ITB Berlin, we organized a couple of Distribution Day seminars this month. The first took place on 8th June in Frankfurt, Germany and the second on 15th June in London, UK. 
My colleague Ulf Guldi accompanied our CEO Sascha Hausmann and a couple of Xotels members for the German seminar; while I was at the London session which had our International Sales VP Keith Povah addressing the attendees.
The concept behind RateTiger Academy is to help hoteliers gain better control over travel channels in changing markets including pricing techniques, revenue management, competitor strategies and distribution management.

The Distribution Day was a full day programme focused on helping hoteliers to optimize their online and offline hotel distribution channels. The seminar focused on bringing renewed insight in today’s hotel distribution landscape and provided alternative techniques and ideas that can help to increase and optimize revenues and profits. 
The highlights included importance of online and offline business, marketing power of individual channels, cost of distribution & channel contribution and distribution power / yielding opportunities.
We planned to have a maximum 25 members for each session but the London seminar got a great response and we had 27 attendees. The session was very fruitful for the hoteliers and we received a lot of positive feedback. They were very happy with all the information and knowledge sharing on revenue management and online distribution concepts and available technologies.

The newly opened H10 Hotel in Waterloo, London proved to be the perfect location for the seminar. The Distribution Day turned out to be a very fulfilling experience for the attendees as well as the organizing team from eRevMax and Xotels.

Casey Davy is Sales Manager – UK at eRevMax. He is responsible for sales of RateTiger products in the region. Casey is based out of London and can be reached at caseyd@ratetiger.com
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The Hotel Industry Forum 2010

I was in Portugal in the second week of June to attend the Hotel Industry Forum. The 4-day event took place at the beautiful Grande Real Santa Eulália Resort in Albufeira, an exclusive resort hotel with the perfect combination of elegant standards and relaxed atmosphere.

The Hotel Industry Forum is a premier business platform for executives who work within the UK and European hotel and leisure industry. The event covers the full supply chain requirements of hotel and leisure group operators.

This weekend event brought together buyers and suppliers from various facets of the industry and enabled us to create opportunities for new business, enhance relationships with existing clients, and share best practices amongst industry peers. It was the perfect forum to not only do business but also build close rapport with acquaintances in a socially charged environment.

I met over 35 hoteliers who could be perfect users of RateTiger solutions in the long run. I also managed to contract some new clients and potential upgrades. Overall it was a great opportunity for networking and building long-lasting relationships, as well as reinforcing brand awareness.

Casey Davy is Sales Manager – UK at eRevMax. He is responsible for sales of RateTiger products in the region. Casey is based out of London and can be reached at caseyd@ratetiger.com
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IHA Hotel Congress 2010

The German Hotel Association [Hotelverband Deutschland (IHA)] recently organized its Annual Conference from 9 – 11 June in Adendorf, one of the oldest and most beautiful parts of Germany.

Expert sessions on latest developments in the field of Channel Management, Metasearch and Direct bookings, Web Tourism 3.0, Social Media and Mobile trends had packed audiences. Since channel management was one of the key topics, it gave me an opportunity to present RateTiger as the specialist in the field with solutions ranging from benchmarking, allocation to revenue management. This helped raise the level of awareness about RateTiger among the hoteliers present. Listeners became prospects and prospects converted to customers.

The IHA-Get-Together and the Gala evening were culinary delights which fostered networking in a relaxed atmosphere. I really enjoyed attending this well planned event and with good key note speakers and relevant topics, the value of this event increased manifold. With over 150 hoteliers, it was definitely an event worth attending.

Ulf Guldi is Sales Manager – Germany at eRevMax and is responsible for sales of RateTiger products in the region. He is based out of Cologne and can be reached at ulfg@ratetiger.com

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Institute of Hospitality Annual Luncheon 2010

The Institute’s Annual Lunch Champagne Reception is one of the top networking and social events in UK’s hospitality industry calendar. It attracts an abundance of senior management professionals, offering a fantastic opportunity to share ideas and build new contacts. The luxurious Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington proved to be the perfect venue for the June 8th event.

This was the first luncheon I’ve had a chance to attend, usually the sales team have their mitts all over these events, but fortunately there was a space at our table for 10. An event of this nature gives me the opportunity to find out more about our customers; who they are, how they run their hotel, what their challenges are and what value they find in RateTiger. For a marketer this is all invaluable information that we can use time and time again; anecdotal information that my team can share with journalists and use within our marketing campaigns.

The event itself was jovial with an excellent presentation by Philippe Rossiter FIH, Chief Executive, and a hilarious speech by another speaker. The three-course lunch was well presented and there was a welcoming and friendly atmosphere. It’s exciting to be part of the IoH as it undergoes change to represent a larger sector of the hospitality industry and diversify with more education-led events. I look forward to the opportunities ahead – and another luncheon!

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

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Revenue Management – A Look At 2010

The North California chapter of HSMAI organized an educational luncheon last month at Hotel Adagio in San Francisco. The team brought together a panel of leaders in Bay Area Revenue Management, all experts in their field.

I managed to be there and was glad about my decision. The topics revolved around new Revenue Management Strategies for 2010 & beyond and long term growth strategies for developing market share. Panelists included Gerald O’Rourke from Hilton, Mandy Kam from San Francisco Downtown Marriott Hotels and Gregory Weiss from Joie de Vivre Hospitality and they shared some really interesting insights.

The event was meant for hoteliers and revenue managers. This helped me develop new contacts locally and further popularize RateTiger. For a local event, it was good and I would like to be around for such events.

Bill Goldsberry is the Director of Int’l Group Sales at eRevMax. He is based out of Florida and can be reached at williamg@ratetiger.com
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CEHAT Congress 2010

Recently, I had an opportunity to be at Santiago de Compostela, a World Heritage City, and the capital of Galicia in Spain. I was there to attend the eleventh edition of the CEHAT Congress, the Spanish Hotel Association’s bi-annual conference for the hospitality industry.

Being a significant association, CEHAT gets its share of importance and its events are well attended by members as well as the media. The Congress attracted an attendance of over 350 this year. The opening ceremony was conducted by the Minister for Galician Tourism, Carmen Pardo Lopez; President of CEHAT, Juan Molas, and the President of the Hotel Association of Galicia, Hector Cañete del Campo.

During his speech, Juan Molas laid stress on the importance of public – private collaboration to take the industry forward and to help it emerge from the current economic situation. Some of the topics which garnered a lot of attention were “Is the tourism sector in a recession?” and “Analysis of the current situation and its impact on the hospitality industry”. Given the relevance of the two topics, these turned out to be the crowd pullers.

The first topic – “Is the tourism sector in a recession?” had the President of Hotusa, Amancio López Seijas sharing his comment – ‘the tourism sector has a young and dynamic business network, and is capable of pushing globalization and that is their best hope.’ The other speakers in this session were Marisol Turro, President of Sercotel and Alfonso Castellanos, CEO of Mindproject, while it was moderated by Carlos Diaz, VP of CEHAT. The panel discussed numerous issues, including the fragmentation of the sector and the inevitable process of concentration which is working, training and the need for labor reform, the relationship with distribution channels, the role of government, the risks of competing in prices and the importance of tending to specialization, the oversupply or depletion model of “sun and beach”.

The other important discussion was on ‘Analysis of the current situation and its impact on the hospitality industry’. Here the speakers included former Treasury minister, Carlos Solchaga, and the President of the Council of Chambers, Javier Gómez Navarro. Both agreed that while the number of passengers and occupancy figures this summer will look like the high season of 2009, the room rates will show a different graph as it is expected to continue falling, and therefore comparison of the margins may not be positive.

The CEHAT Congress is a must attend event for RateTiger and I will ensure I am around here in each edition. I had the opportunity to set-up meetings with many Hotel Groups, Associations and Independent Hotels and it provided an unparallel business platform to foster long-term relationships and also strengthen the unique relationship RateTiger has with CEHAT as members.

Pilar Sanchez Aita is Sales Manager – Spain & Portugal at eRevMax and is responsible for sales of RateTiger products in the region. She is based out of Spain and can be reached at pilara@ratetiger.com
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Executive Vendor Summit 2010

Our jet setting CEO Sascha Hausmann was in Houston, Texas earlier last month to attend Hospitality Upgrade’s invitation-only Executive Vendor Summit. From what he tells us, it turned out to be a good show and he enjoyed being there those three days.
With lots of executives from across the industry present, the networking session was bound to be productive and meaningful. Even the line up of speakers was impressive and he particularly enjoyed the sessions by Jim Underwood (professor & author) and Colonel Philip A. Bossert, Jr who is Commander, Air Force ROTC Detachment 003, and Professor of Air Force.
Jim’s address focused on how companies can use strategic alignment to overcome adversity. Interestingly he is a leading expert in the field of chaotics and strategy and has authored books like Thriving In E-Chaos which won the International Competia Award 2001, and More Than A Pink Cadillac, a New York Times, Wall Street Journal best-selling book.
Colonel Philip was the dinner speaker and he spoke about leadership and alternative management. With real life examples, he managed to have a captive audience and the attendees were really impressed by his repertoire of case histories.
An event worth attending as the organizers put in lot of effort to get the right speakers, attendees and create the right ambience for a summit of this stature. Congratulations of Hospitality Upgrade for putting up a successful show!
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Arabian Travel Market 2010

A couple of weeks back I was in Dubai to attend the Arabian Travel Market with my colleague. It was our first visit to a mid-east event and hence I would like to share a bit of background detail on the event. Organized by Reed Exhibitions, organizers of World Travel Market in London, ATM is the principal travel and tourism exhibition in the Middle East, attracting exhibitors from all over the region as well as from Asia, Europe, South America, etc. This was the 17th edition of ATM and it continues to grow in importance and size. 
Many hotel brands exhibited at the event including major international chains like Accor, Starwood, Marriott, IHG, etc. as well as the larger regional players like Rotana, Coral and Ramee. The independent hotels and smaller chains were also present and were operating from booths on destination stands like Dubai and Abu Dhabi. A separate section was dedicated to Travel &Technology companies which had representations from OTAs including HRS, Expedia, etc. and a couple of providers such as Amadeus.
My colleague Sudhir and I concentrated on exhibitors from our respective regions – generally only meeting up in the evenings to discuss the day’s happening and then moving on to sample the extremely varied nightlife Dubai has to offer. We managed quite a few meetings with prospective hoteliers and presented RTSuite solutions to them. Channel management solutions are not widespread in the region and are mostly used by 5 star hotels. 
However with the growth of ecommerce and shift in booking patterns from offline to online channels, many hotels, including single star and standalone properties, are now looking to work more actively with online channels. The feedback I received was very encouraging and hoteliers were very receptive to my presentation of RateTiger solutions. 
Overall I am very pleased with the interest shown by exhibitors – it seems the timing is right for us to focus on the region, as previously hotels were not selling through enough channels to warrant the investment. ATM was definitely worth a visit and I will surely be back next year.
Giles Gurney is Sales Manager – Europe & Middle East for corporate products at eRevMax and is responsible for sales of RateTiger products in the region. He can be reached at gilesg@ratetiger.com