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WTM 2009

World Travel Market has consistently performed as a fantastic tradeshow within the hospitality community over the years, and 2009 was no different. Despite the industry having high cloud coverage over the past 18 months, WTM’09 was an excellent exhibit of the bright light at the end of tunnel for bustling hoteliers.

Both new and veteran exhibitors alike will testify that this year’s event was well attended, and more importantly attended by the right parties. At RateTiger we definitely felt the presence of hoteliers and OTA’s visiting our stand with intent. Visitors have become shoppers! As a result, our expanded stand was constantly lively and packed with prospective hoteliers roaring with the desire to put a tiger in their hotel.

WTM has always been a dynamic event not only for generating new clients, and building on existing relationships but also for creating new partnerships and sharing great ideas. For me personally, the event was a great success, especially hearing the many stories from hoteliers’ on how RateTiger tools have already or will in the future save them time and help maximise revenue.

Without a doubt I look forward to WTM 2010. See you there next year.

Casey Davy is Sales Manager – UK at eRevMax. He is responsible for sales of RateTiger products in United Kingdom. Casey is based out of London and can be reached at caseyd@ratetiger.com

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ITB Asia 2009

ITB Asia 2009 which took place at the Suntec Exhibition & Convention Centre, Singapore, was worth the value of time and resources we spent planning and exhibiting there. It was the perfect setting for an Asian travel tradeshow and I am glad the second edition of the three-day B2B show has maintained its growth despite recent economic challenges.

This was our first participation in an Asian tradeshow; Sascha, Keith and I were quite excited to see how it would turn out. I had a large number of appointments and many delegates dropped by. The interactions went really well and now back in Delhi I have already done quite a few product demos with the newly built contacts.

We were amazed and pleased to see the reaction we got from fellow exhibitors and visitors, mostly hoteliers. They were aware that RateTiger offered premium quality products and they wanted to get a first hand feel of the software. We obviously were geared up to show them the tools and how it can help them.

The event presented us with an opportunity to network with Asian hoteliers, online travel website owners as well as travel agents, all of whom form a crucial part of our prospective audience. ITB Asia managed to attract the right mix of people with nearly 43% from accommodation sector, tour operators and travel agencies made up 31%, while tourism organizations and associations accounted for 10% of the audience.

Infact to translate its success – the show had 679 exhibitor organizations, among them one was RateTiger. Along with that 553 vetted quality buyers from 50 countries were present and nearly 18,000 buyer-seller appointments took place.

I look forward to ITB Asia 2010 and I am sure it is going to be bigger and better.

Sudhir Ghildiyal is Sales Manager – APAC at eRevMax. He is responsible for sales of RateTiger products in the Asia Pacific region. Sudhir is based out of Delhi, India and can be reached at sudhirg@erevmax.com

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2009 NBTA International Convention & Exposition

San Diego recently witnessed the very successful NBTA International Convention & Exposition organized by National Business Travel Association (NBTA). It turned out to be a very busy event where I met many old friends from the industry, which is not a surprise given that over 5,600 travel professionals attended the 4-day event (August 23 -26, 2009) at the San Diego Convention Center.

The setting was spectacular as the convention center was situated right on the waterfront. The attendees were a blend of airlines, hotels, software providers, OTAs and travel company representatives.

The discussions mainly revolved around how to survive the current economic scenario. There were over 65 educational sessions where industry experts from the corporate travel community discussed business travel growth in today’s volatile economy and shifting corporate culture. It was a very intense and active convention with a blend of all the components of the travel experience.

With more than 400 exhibitors and 1240 travel buyers, it was a good milieu of people. A big advantage from RateTiger’s perspective was the opportunity to meet up with independent hotel groups face to face. The added access to the OTAs was a huge plus which helped develop rapport with them for future business relationship.

I would conclude by saying that the NBTA Convention is rightly known as the Business Travel Event of the Year. It has lived up to its reputation and is one of the few successful travel events in recent times.

Phil Stiles is the Vice President of Sales at RateTiger. He manages RateTiger’s sales and support operations in North, Central and South America regions and has facilitated the expansion of the RateTiger brand in the US market leading to increased business opportunities. Phil is based in RateTiger’s Florida office and travels to the European and Indian offices when work demands. Being a new business specialist, he attends various travel trade shows throughout the year to keep himself abreast of latest developments.

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Venice hotel error is an eye opener for hotels

The €0.01 per room incident experienced by the Crowne Plaza is a pure example of how human errors can have a major impact on revenue. With the employment of a channel management system the revenue manager would have been able to ensure all rates were accurate across all channels before making the relevant updates.

Systems like ours allow hotels to set a minimum rate per hotel room to ensure typing errors are detected. As the online market place evolves, hoteliers are struggling to keep up, remain agile and control rates. This human error has occurred many times before and without utilising technology to simplify inventory and rate distribution, it is very likely to occur more frequently across the world as the number of channels that need attention increases.

Hoteliers really need to think sensibly during these times, to ensure revenues are optimized. Making mistakes like this will not only have an impact for the hotel itself but will also send the economy into further disarray.

Sascha Hausmann is the COO at RateTiger. He is a specialist in online distribution systems in Europe and the US and is looked upon as a trusted advisor. Sascha handles international operations and strategic alliances for RateTiger and speaks at various events. He is based in Germany, and also spends time across eRevMax’s international offices, mainly in America and the UK.

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HTNG 2009 Asia-Pacific Members’ Meeting & Conference

I recently went to Singapore to attend HTNG’s Second Annual Asia-Pacific Members’ Meeting & Conference. It took place from 13-15 July 2009 at the luxurious Ritz-Carlton – I was on the 22nd floor and enjoyed every minute of my stay, relishing the overwhelming view of the Marina Bay.

The HTNG member meetings are generally great and it was no different this year. It brought together key industry executives and eminent speakers who talked about thought leadership and HTNG workgroup progress reports.

It was an excellent platform to interact with like minded people ready to adapt to new technology. I met quite a few IT heads and GMs from various hotels and chains.

There was an interesting session on Hotel IT spending in the current scenario with panelists being CIOs of various hotels. It was good to get first-hand knowledge on what their priorities are currently.

The conference had an ideal mix of hoteliers and technology providers with around 150 people attending the event. As per the agenda, latest updates of the activities of various workgroups including In-room solution, Architecture and Property/Distribution Solutions, were shared with us.

The key take-away was the details of new technology and upcoming trends received from the core teams of different workgroups. Data security, green room technology and role of social media were the hot topics; other topics included technology updates on revenue management, online distribution and related areas.

I feel it was an event worth attending as it provided excellent rapport building opportunities and first-hand information on how the industry is faring. These kind of events give that realistic feel and allow you to compare between analysts forecasts and actual scenario, and accordingly decide your next move forward.

Udai Singh Solanki is the CIO at RateTiger where he steers the development team, oversees organizational process and IT strategy. He also looks into Information Security and Management. Udai is passionate about innovation and keeps himself abreast on latest happenings by attending events and tradeshows. He is based in eRevMax’s technical development centre in Kolkata, India.

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HSMAI Revenue Manager’s Luncheon

The Central Florida chapter of HSMAI organizes quarterly Luncheons for its members to meet and discuss the latest happenings in the field of revenue management over a hearty meal. On June 19, 2009 they hosted the Revenue Manager’s Luncheon at the Regal Sun Resort in Orlando.

The topic for the luncheon was “Market Conditions, Strategies, and New Technologies in Challenging times”.

Phil Stiles, Vice President of Sales, RateTiger, Daryl Cronk, Director of Research, Orlando/Orange County Conventions & Visitor’s Bureau and Debbie Morris, Founder and owner, Web Resource Management were invited for a panel discussion on the subject.

Phil describes his experience of the event, “The event was very productive as it allowed focused discussion on the ground realities of the hotel and travel market, specifically in Orlando. It was well attended and the presence of over 55 members, including Expedia and Travelocity signifies how relevant these sessions are to the industry.”

“HSMAI’s luncheon events are popular due to the fact that it allows meaningful networking with focused group of people and all involved benefit out of the process. RateTiger sponsored this event and I have to say it was worth it,’ concludes Phil.

RateTiger US Sales Manager Siobhain McArdle did a brief presentation on RateTiger products which was very well received by the attendees. Various queries came in after the event indicating how hoteliers are looking at technology more than ever to tide over the current scenario.

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BHA Annual Luncheon 2009

The famed BHA Annual Luncheon is getting bigger and better. This year’s gathering took place at Grosvenor House, London on June 24, 2009. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson was invited as the guest of honor to share his views on tourism.

RateTiger’s Director of Sales Keith Povah and Sr. Sales Manager Sunaina Jagtiani attended the event with some prospective and current clients.

“The champagne reception provided great networking opportunities and an ideal platform for members to interact with some key industry people to understand their take on the current market scenario and get an insight on how they are mapping their road ahead,” said Keith Povah.

BHA Chief Executive Bob Cotton officially opened the event, attended by over 600 people, stressing the significant role that tourism and hospitality industry plays in the UK’s economy. He mentioned how the industry helps create jobs and brings revenue thereby assisting in the revival of the economy.

Before inviting Boris Johnson to address the audience, Bob stressed on the importance of the Government’s role in providing the right kind of environment and encouragement for the industry to operate successfully and grow.

Sunaina really enjoyed the Mayor’s speech and says, “Boris delivered a great speech focusing on current economic trends and its impact on tourism. He applauded the hospitality industry for the immense effort it has put in coping with the market and mentioned how despite the prevailing conditions, there are more hotels opening in London. He also touched upon the plans for 2012 London Olympics and urged greater investments in hospitality sector to ensure that London maximizes the benefits coming its way through this mega sporting event.”

Keith and Sunaina hosted some of the key hospitality members including Marketing magazine’s Travel & Tourism Specialist Alex Brownsell, Len Louis from Classic British, Paul Kay from Greene King Hotels, Stuart Bailey from Splendid Hotel Group, Ghislaine A. Oliver of Hotel Info Ltd., Colette Togus and Darren Kerr from Corus Hotels and Kieran Tobin from Destinations of the World (Europe) Ltd.

The audience represented a good mix of hotels, management companies and travel technology companies. The overall discussion was focused on the current economic trends, however hoteliers highlighted that the scenario was not as bad as they had expected.

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HITEC 2009

Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition & Conference, HITEC, is today considered one of the world’s largest hospitality technology events. It took place from June 22-25, 2009 at the Anaheim Convention Center in California USA. RateTiger was represented by Sascha Hausmann, COO and Phil Stiles, VP of Sales.

As expected the attendance was lower than in previous years by around 35 to 45%. The main theme of the event was partnerships and product launches. Many travel technology companies announced partnerships and integrations to further help the industry offer seamless connectivity and better technologies.

At HITEC we announced our integration partnerships with Trust International and Micros as the travel industry moves towards automated online distribution. Seamless connectivity remains the priority for PMS / CRS companies and channel management is now used to supplement where XML seamless connectivity cannot be established technically or from a ROI perspective for existing key players.

A new addition to this year’s HITEC was the Roundtable session, one of which was hosted by RateTiger. Sascha led a discussion on – ‘Maximizing revenue during turbulent economic times: has seamless connectivity failed?’ He considers Roundtables to be a good concept which encouraged considerable knowledge exchange and he would like to see this becoming a regular feature at HITEC.

The Twitter discussion had the most successful roundtable attendance Digital and social media is what hotels are focusing on to get those ‘more-than-ever important’ travelers’ attention. So gear up people!

RateTiger also hosted a tutorial session on ‘Channel Management and the traditional reservation system’. Phil and Sascha had a good audience who understood the relevance of the topic and requested further information to make better buying decisions.

This year’s event turned out to be more of an exhibitor-meet-exhibitor show than a visitor-meet-exhibitor show. RateTiger did meet with some hoteliers and provided product demonstrations. Their feedback conveyed their trust in our brand and made us aware of the fact that RateTiger is identified as a company which innovates constantly and has relevant new tools to offer, which is what we continually aim for. HITEC rocks!

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Web In Tourism, 2009

Italian magazine Job in Tourism organizes the Web in Tourism conference annually where leading experts from the industry are invited to discuss on the opportunities available in the e-space for the tourism industry. This year’s edition was held on 28 May 2009 in Milan.

RateTiger’s CEO and co-founder Andrew Morsi, being a well known figure in the Italian hospitality circuit, was invited as one of the guest speakers for the conference. The event was attended by over 300 hoteliers including general managers, revenue and sales managers, hotel owners among others.

The principal discussion topics included future of online tourism, importance of digital marketing and communication, reputation management strategies, brand website optimization etc. Mr. Andrew Morsi presented on the topic – ‘The next big evolution in Online Distribution’ which was received well by the audience.

Andrew emphasized the importance of having an online presence, specifically for hotels, as more people are referring to the internet while planning their holidays. People are using the web for user reviews, researching and, best rates etc. Hotels need to be competitive when providing rates and availability across various distribution channels to generate relevant bookings and maximize opportunities.

The event was worth attending and we look forward to future editions of the same.

See photos from the event.

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UK rates fall – the first time in four years

The first news to hit the wires on Monday continued to throw gloom into the financial markets with Hotels.com’s Hotel Price Index (HPI) revealing rates for rooms in the UK to have fallen for the first time since 2004.

The HPI indicates that in the final quarter of 2008 prices dropped 4% to an average of £97 per room per night compared to £101 a year earlier. The rates are representative of many major UK cities as hoteliers scramble to maximise occupancy over rates. However, properties in more remote regions, like Inverness in Scotland experienced a rate decline of 15%.

A new report from Pricewaterhouse Cooper (PwC) hospitality and leisure team claim that rates in London will decline as much as 23% in 2009. While on average it will drop by approximately 10% across the UK.

It is essential today that hoteliers focus on expanding their sales channels and market outreach. This will help to maximise opportunities and secures bookings in the short, mid and long-term. Since 1995, the internet has experienced a significant increase in bookings with travel websites gradually becoming the key source for consumer’s travel purchases.

Employing proper channel management technologies will enable hotels to identify appropriate selling rates through competitor benchmarking. Allocation mechanisms will then help to allocate inventory to the most successful and relevant channels to maximise occupancy. In a single year, total business via the internet for Thistle’s 56 hotels increased 130%:

“Basically, Rate Tiger gives the hotel an understanding of what the demand is and what is happening so we choose our rate wisely,” said Warren Mandelbaum, Area Revenue Manager, Thistle.

2009 is a year that requires exploring opportunities presented by online sales channels, focussing on price and offering to capture a share of the difficult market.