What’s New in Hotel Distribution and Tech Trends? W1, October 2021

In the news round-up today, we see that Expedia is looking at a boom in international leisure travel with US opening borders for vaccinated Brits. Mobile bookings continue to grow – check out some of the key benefits of using mobile apps for your property. Further we have a piece on understand guest booking journey, an upcoming webinar jointly hosted by Simplotel and RateTiger for the US market focusing on Direct Bookings, and Booking.com introducing native ads within its platform.

Enjoy the read!

In the news round-up today, we see that Expedia is looking at a boom in international leisure travel with US opening borders for vaccinated Brits. Mobile bookings continue to grow – check out some of the key benefits of using mobile apps for your property. Further we have a piece on understand guest booking journey, an upcoming webinar jointly hosted by Simplotel and RateTiger for the US market focusing on Direct Bookings, and Booking.com introducing native ads within its platform.

Enjoy the read!

Expedia on getting back to normal

For Expedia, the expected US opening up to vaccinated Brits in early November will be an important next step towards what Kern confidently predicts will be a boom for international leisure travel.

https://travolution.com/news/in-depth/big-interviews/big-interview-a-more-ambitious-less-complex-expedia-primed-for-boom-times

Mobile Check-in Apps for Hotels: Top 5 Benefits

Smart technology and contactless digital interaction have become the buzzword now.  With health and safety becoming a priority for travelers, it has become essential for hotels to put guest safety and experience first for business growth and sustainability.

https://www.erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2021/09/mobile-check-in-apps-for-hotels-top-5-benefits/

Hotels need to effectively link first-party data across the value stack

Better understanding of how guests search – and ultimately book – their hotel stay, as well as better information on how guests utilize services and the actual amenities offered in the hotel.

https://www.costar.com/article/1820582034

UPCOMING WEBINAR: Accelerate Direct Bookings through Hotel E-commerce for US hotels

The rollout of vaccines, flexible booking policies and reduction in travel restrictions means that hotels are starting to see pent-up demand turn into bookings. With booking numbers steadily picking up across key destinations globally, domestic travel continues to aid travel recovery in USA. Join RateTiger and Simplotel for a webinar to understand how to “Accelerate Direct Bookings through Hotel E-commerce” on 28th October 2021 at 12:00pm ET.

Register today – https://cutt.ly/EENnxtt

Booking.com introduces ‘native ads’

The winner of that bid gets direct access to the second position in the results first page. The entry will have an ‘Ad’ label, different from the ‘Promoted’ one used when hotels participate in booster programs.

https://www.mirai.com/blog/booking-com-introduces-native-ads/

Reach out to RateTiger for your hotel channel manager, rate shopper, booking engine, website development or revenue management consultancy requirements. We are happy to have a discussion to see how we can help you achieve your property’s occupancy and revenue goals – contact us today

 

The Week, That Was – April 2021 Week 4

In five minutes or less, keep track of the most important news of the week, curated just for you. We present to you hand – picked news on latest industry perspectives and some general updates. Read on!

Suha Hospitality boosts online bookings with RateTiger

Leading hotel chain Suha Hospitality has endorsed eRevMax distribution solutions which helped the group improve their online booking productivity. All properties of the brand are currently using RateTiger Connect for managing rates and availabilities across connected OTAs directly from their PMS.

https://www.erevmax.com/ratetiger-news/ratetiger-news-archive/apr2021-erevmax-suha-hospitality-boosts-online-bookings-ratetiger.html

Demand may exceed supply, as IHG sees surge in bookings

Bookings are rising in parallel with vaccinations, and a significant portion of the travel industry’s recovery will be seen in the second half of 2021 and the bulk of 2022.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/demand-may-exceed-supply-as-ceo-of-one-of-the-worlds-biggest-hotel-groups-sees-surge-in-bookings-11618999201

Google is phasing out third-party cookies… Will it impact hotel marketing?

Google recently announced that they are going forward with their plan to block third-party cookie tracking through Google Chrome (Chrome commands 63% of browser market share). What this means exactly for hotels is not totally clear.

Read more – https://www.hospitalitynet.org/panel/125000098/126000990.html

Hotel Sentiment Short Survey- Q2 2021

As a distribution connectivity provider, eRevMax – RateTiger has been interacting with hotels worldwide to identify pressing challenges that affect your day-to-day operations. We invite you to participate in our short survey and share your valuable responses. Your participation will enable us to prepare a collective Hotel Outlook Report for the next quarter. We will make the report available to all respondents once it is published next month.
Click the link to access the survey – https://lnkd.in/ga4Xx2d

eRevMax Partner Expedia launching major brand revamp

The new brand positioning includes the tagline of “It matters who you travel with,” which is meant to illustrate Expedia’s desire to be more of a companion that can support travelers get more out of their trips.

https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Agent-Issues/Expedia-launching-major-brand-revamp

 The intersections of tomorrow’s hotel industry

Now is the time, to reinvent, revitalize and reposition the entire hotel industry by offering fewer rooms and more space dedicated to activities other than lodging.

https://www.hotelbusiness.com/the-intersections-of-tomorrows-hotel-industry/

 Reach out to us for your connectivity needs to make the most of your online revenue- https://goo.gl/3gKUJZ

Thanks and have a good day!

 

5 tips to optimize your hotel’s profile on Booking.com

We are glad to bring you a short series of posts, where we will cover 5 specific tips on how you can optimize your hotel’s profile on Booking.com and attract more reservations.

Through our 5-tips series, we will share 1 recommendation on each post and explain how you can utilize it to your hotel’s advantage. Starting with the first of this series, lets talk about the Genius Program.

Join Booking.com’s Genius Program

Genius is an exclusive loyalty program which brings partner hotels and frequent bookers closer.

According to Booking.com data, on average, hotels taking part in the Genius program have experienced increase in their bookings by 18% and revenue by 17% – even including the cost of discount.

Hotels taking part in the Genius program gets a special Genius tag, ranking boost and better visibility in search results on Booking.com which helps in getting more bookings faster.

The property is displayed to a select group of customers who travel more often, book further in advance, and spend more when booking.

Hotels can always check their eligibility on the booking.com extranet:

https://admin.booking.com/hotel/hoteladmin/extranet_ng/manage/genius.html?lang=en&ref=menu&ses=9a4c805441d3dabfc9d218c48e008cf2&hotel_id=522903.

If the eligibility criteria are met, they can sign up to Genius via the “Opportunities” tab in their Booking.com Extranet.

The participating partners automatically enable the mandatory 10% Genius discount on their least expensive or most popular room and start attracting high-value Genius guests.

To know more about the perks of becoming a Genius Hotel Partner, click here.

If you are looking for assistance with managing your online channels, contact us today.

The Week, That Was – Dec 2020 Week 2

In five minutes or less, keep track of the most important news of the week, curated just for you. We present to you hand – picked news on latest industry perspectives and some general updates. Read on!!

Prologic First, Trivago and Atlantis join the eRevMax Partner Ecosystem

Domestic travel is driving recovery for hotel businesses across the globe. Are you getting your share of the room bookings? RateTiger provides real-time connectivity with 450+ channel and technology partners assisting hotels worldwide to increase revenue opportunities and streamline business processes. Choose from RateTiger’s wide network of partners and expand your hotel’s online visibility. https://www.erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2020/12/prologic-first-trivago-and-atlantis-join-the-erevmax-partner-ecosystem/

Google launches Hotel Insights tool

The Hotel Insights tool provides small and medium-sized businesses with extensive insights about the demand for hotel bookings from Google searches every day.

https://travelinsights.withgoogle.com/

Hotel Business Outlook for 2021 – Take this Short Survey

eRevMax is preparing to publish a collective Hotel Outlook Report for 2021. As a distribution connectivity provider, eRevMax has been interacting with hotels worldwide to help them strategize and find new demand sources in these difficult times. Please join this initiative and participate in a short survey to share your valuable response.  https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=wYQ5sTjBNkq2B3dI0fSKeSxWE_Rc8p5NgXDqbPjgRI1URjBRTUIyTzBHT0VFMEVUMTRHSzVZWjk5SS4u

How will Airbnb & Co. grow their rental inventory?

Industry leaders expect the spike in demand to continue and are now putting a focus on growing the supply of rental properties. The company calls individual hosts “the core of our host community” and says, “Historically, we have seen an increase in the number of, and revenue from, professional hosts on our platform.”

https://www.phocuswire.com/how-will-airbnb-vrbo-booking-others-grow-rental-inventory

Tripadvisor launches new trip designing platform

Called Reco, the service helps travelers plan vacation experiences that are handcrafted by trusted experts who build tailor-made itineraries featuring the best of what a destination has to offer.

https://tripadvisor.mediaroom.com/2020-12-08-Introducing-Reco-from-Tripadvisor-New-platform-matches-travelers-with-a-personal-Trip-Designer-to-simplify-vacation-planning

Sojern: COVID-19 Insights On Travel Impact, Asia Pacific – December.

The latest report analyses travel intent for Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong following the vaccine announcements, and looking into 2021.

https://www.sojern.com/blog/covid-19-insights-on-travel-impact-apac-december/

Reach out to us for your connectivity needs to make the most of your online revenue- https://goo.gl/3gKUJZ

Thanks and have a good day!

Prologic First, Trivago and Atlantis join the eRevMax Partner Ecosystem

As lockdown and social distancing restrictions start to ease across the globe, domestic tourism is set to play a vital role in the rebuilding of economies. Advance hotel bookings are steadily rising in some parts of the world. Travelers are focusing on staycations and regional travel. Various OTAs are working closely with hotels to ensure health and hygiene protocols are strictly followed. They are offering new packages and creating local campaigns to attract guests and help increase hotel reservations. Knowing the right channels that bring business to your city is a key and being connected to them is very important to increase your hotel’s presence online.  Here are some of our technology and channel partners leading in their specific markets. Get in touch if you wish to connect to any of our 450+ partners.

Prologic FIRST

One of our long-standing technology partners, Prologic First is known for its smart solutions for the hospitality industry. Over 2000 hospitality businesses across 40 countries use Prologic First as a preferred technology vendor. Their lead product WISH PMS is an advanced, new generation Hotel Front Office Software that consolidates all hotel front desk functions into a single workplace. Prologic First provides WISH PMS to both multi-property and standalone clients. With its contactless features, hotel guests can update their profiles, acknowledge registration cards, view the folio, avail express checkout, settle their bills and give feedback from their phones. If you are looking for a PMS provider, get in touch with us today.

Trivago

Are you looking to attract leisure travelers? Trivago, the global hotel search engine, empowers more than 120 million travelers every month in their search for the ideal hotel. In total, trivago’s sites cover more than 2.5 million hotels and other types of accommodations in 190 countries. Connect to trivago today through RateTiger and boost your hotel’s visibility with trivago’s Rate Connect and advertise direct rates to millions of travelers. Get your property listed now to grow your domestic booking share.

Atlantis

Are you looking to increase your hotel’s direct bookings? Implement a smart booking engine on your brand website for a smooth booking experience for your guests. Atlantis Online Reservation System (ORS) provides hoteliers with multiple direct booking solutions, including reservations management and integration to popular PMSs. Atlantis marketplace provides $450 million in gross bookings every year. If you are looking to change your booking engine, contact us today.

Are you looking to manage any new tech partner or channel from your RateTiger platform? CONTACT US TODAY – https://www.erevmax.com/erevmax-contact.html

The Week, That Was – Nov 2020 Week 3

In five minutes or less, keep track of the most important news of the week, curated just for you. We present to you hand – picked news on latest industry perspectives and some general updates. Read on!!

Mexico’s hotel industry gain momentum, as per eRevMax report

Mexico was among the first LATAM countries to reopen travel back in June, and since then it has been leading the travel recovery with easy entry requirements and extra safety measures taken by the government being cited as a case study on doing things right. The certification to showcase the government’s seriousness is clearly paying dividends with advance bookings now reaching 76% of pre-Covid level for our partner Mexican hotels.

Read the full report- https://www.erevmax.com/ratetiger-news/ratetiger-news-archive/nov2020-erevmax-mexico-hotel-industry-gain-momentum.html

Tripadvisor on latest travel trends and top recovering destinations

Two-thirds of consumers surveyed say the ability to avoid crowded places when traveling is now a more important factor in their choice of destination than it was pre-pandemic.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Covid19WhitepaperNovember2020

NH Hotel Group launches new digital platform.

eRevMax’s client NH Group launches The ‘Mobile Guest Service’ allows customers to use a mobile device to order room service, make spa, gym and restaurant reservations, request extra amenities, and order products from a ‘virtual minibar’.

https://www.businesstraveller.com/business-travel/2020/11/14/nh-hotel-group-launches-new-digital-platform/

Booking.com launching minimum cleanliness standards for short-term rentals

Company taking giant step toward guaranteeing quality stays in home rentals. The phased initiative will require rental managers and homeowners to maintain a Minimum Cleanliness Score of 6 out of 10 in order to remain on the platform.

https://vrmintel.com/booking-com-affirms-commitment-to-quality-with-minimum-cleanliness-score-requirement

“Perfect timing” – travel industry reacts to Airbnb’s IPO filing.

Airbnb surprised many in the travel industry when it announced its intent to list on the public markets earlier this year despite a crisis year for the travel industry. Though the home-share giant stated in 2019 that it would, in fact, file for its IPO in 2020, the pandemic upended plans for nearly every business around the globe.

https://www.phocuswire.com/travel-industry-reacts-to-airbnb-ipo-filing

Trivago preparing for a long-term shift in travel patterns.

While the perception will be much more positive towards travel, people at first will probably feel safer to travel within their regions than on long-haul flights, the company says.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/travel-wont-go-back-to-normal-even-after-a-vaccine-top-exec-says-51605522600

Reach out to us for your connectivity needs to make the most of your online revenue- https://goo.gl/3gKUJZ

Thanks and have a good day!

5 things to look for when switching your Booking Engine

These days it is as important for hospitality businesses to have a website of their own as their brand name. Direct booking means more profit, and that is only possible when you can offer booking capability in your website. Whether you have a small hotel in a quiet town or an independent boutique hotel or managing hotel chains in some of the best destinations across the world, you have to show your presence through your website.

And not just a website, but a site which shows your brand ethos and value proposition to grab the attention of your target market and makes travelers interested enough to drive bookings.

To make your hotel brand site visible, hotels need to have a beautifully designed website. Stunning hotel website that is rich in content can help attract potential travellers and influence them to book a room. Attractive images and strong content play a vital role in hotel’s website search engine ranking.

What is a Hotel Booking Engine?

The Internet Booking Engine or Hotel Booking Engine is an application that allows customers to book online directly on the hotel brand website. Here are some important factors that hotels need to take into account when switching their booking engine –

Customizable and Scalable – A booking engine should be powered with advanced customization capabilities including description, amenities, media, color, theme, search engine optimization and more. RateTiger Booking Engine powered by LiveOS is one of the most advanced solutions available in the market that helps you win more direct business. The product has flexible pricing model to manage costs for new and existing bookings while increasing revenues.

Multi-lingual and Multi-currency – Hospitality industry is one of the most diverse in the world. Since it involves a wide variety of customers from different regions and countries globally, hotels should make the booking process smooth for the customers without any language barriers as well as supporting multiple currencies.

Plug & Play – connect to your website easily– This feature of RateTiger’ s booking engine, will allow hoteliers to set up the booking engine easily. An online booking engine works by plugging into your hotel website and processing secure online reservations made through the website. The data is then passed onto your property management system so you can access and manage the bookings seamlessly.

Integrations with third party PMS / CRS / RMS – Managing room rates and availability on your brand website has never been this transparent.  You are always just one click away in making updates to your rate plans, room types, policies and hot dates across any channel(s). Auto-sync rates and availability with seamless integrations to your PMS/ CRS/RMS or channel manager.

Data safety and security – When guests are making bookings, a hotel’s booking engine should securely accept the credit card/ net banking payments. Streamline your payment process with a seamless and secure, PCI compliant payment gateway.

RateTiger Booking Engine, powered by LiveOS, is a next-generation online reservation solution that enables hotels to offer direct bookings from brand and mobile sites. It offers simple, elegant and easy-to-use interface for seamless guest experience.

RateTiger offers multiple solutions including CRS / Channel management capabilities, Booking Engine, Rate Shopper, GDS & Metasearch management, Website development, and Business Analytics for individual and chain hotels, all from one integrated platform.

Make your website your most profitable booking channel! Contact us for a ‘no-obligation’ demo and free trial today – https://www.erevmax.com/erevmax-contact.html

Finbat.ma and Fiesta PMS join the eRevMax Partner Ecosystem

Agoda promotes its GoLocal program to RateTiger hotel users

As travel reopens across different geographies, domestic travel is on the rise. At present hotel occupancy is driven by staycations, drive-in and local travelers. This is the time for hoteliers to evaluate their online distribution mix and capitalize on the local channels. The ground rule of working with any distribution/sales channel is to ensure that you keep your hotel listing up-to-date to give a true picture to the guests. Knowing the right channels that bring business to your city is a key and being connected to them is very important to increase your hotel’s presence online.

Here are some of our newly connected channel and tech partners leading in their specific markets. Get in touch if you are looking to expand your distribution connectivity and wish to connect to any of our 400+ OTA and PMS channel network.


Finbat.ma

If you are looking to connect to a regional OTA in Morocco, Finbat.ma can be a good bet. Offering a variety of accommodation across Morocco, this channel attracts bookings both from native and international travellers and is focused on providing high-quality service and a great travel experience. If you have a hotel in Morocco, get your property listed with Finbat.ma to attract domestic bookings in your city.

Agoda GoLocal

With domestic bookings becoming the key revenue generator, Agoda GoLocal program could be beneficial for your property. Through a multi-platform marketing campaign, Agoda aims to generate more demand and bookings for your property from travellers in your country. Simply offer domestic customers an additional 10% discount on top of existing channel discount. Contact us today for more details.

FiestaPMS

Our newest PMS partner, Fiesta Technologies, is a popular technology provider in Philippines. It offers a wide range of features and functionalities for full-service hotels and chains, as well as independent properties. Known for its user-friendly interface and quick support response time, Fiesta can be a great partner for your property. If you are looking for a PMS provider, get in touch with us today.

Are you looking to manage any new channel from your RateTiger platform? CONTACT US TODAY – https://www.erevmax.com/erevmax-contact.html

 

The Week, That Was – Sep 2020 Week 1

In five minutes or less, keep track of the most important news of the week, curated just for you. We present to you hand – picked news on latest industry perspectives and some general updates. Read on!!

eRevMax expands connectivity offering in Europe with Veturis Travel

Travel technology leader eRevMax announced it has completed integration with one of Europe’s fastest growing travel wholesalers, Veturis Travel. The seamless connectivity will facilitate real-time data transfer between hotels and the bed bank through RateTiger and LiveOS platform and help in expanding its direct contacts with accommodation providers.

https://www.erevmax.com/ratetiger-news/ratetiger-news-archive/sep2020-erevmax-expands-connectivity-offering-europe-veturis-travel.html

What today’s travelers want in their accommodations

Of the 9 in 10 travelers who would be comfortable booking accommodations for a leisure trip in September or October, travelers are most comfortable staying in a vacation rental (31%), followed by chain hotels (28%), and resorts (15%), according to new Expedia data.

https://blog.advertising.expedia.com/vacation-accommodations-traveler-preference-trends

The state of group travel

The year 2020 was supposed to be a good year for the roughly 150 member brands of the USTOA. Nearly half were forecasting a “boom year,” with growth of at least 7% to 10%

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/group-travel-companies-are-still-a-thing-how/ar-BB18ELys

Hoteliers plan for a budget season unlike any other

As the pandemic has thrown off expectations for most of 2020 and limited the usefulness of historical data to guide the process, hoteliers are saying setting a budget for 2021 is a completely new experience.

https://hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/304207/Hoteliers-plan-for-a-budget-season-unlike-any-other

Pricing principles to maximize hotel revenue during COVID-19

The sudden demise of travel demand on a global scale is an opportunity for your hotel to switch to dynamic pricing if you were not already doing so. Here are some things to consider when setting rates in the current market.

Monitor your competitor’s price movement with #RateTiger Shopper  – marketing@erevmax.com

https://www.phocuswire.com/hotel-pricing-principles-vikram-singh-opinion

How travel will be bought and sold in August 2021

Brand loyalty will be a more critical factor in future travel decisions than ever before, and experts predict an upside for direct bookings for travelers who are looking at brands that provided assurances about safety and health protocols.

https://www.travelweekly.com/Arnie-Weissmann/How-travel-will-be-bought-and-sold-in-August-2021-Part-2?

Reach out to us for your connectivity needs to make the most of your online revenue- https://goo.gl/3gKUJZ

Thanks and have a good day!

The Week, That Was – July 2020 Week 1

In five minutes or less, keep track of the most important news of the week, curated just for you. We present to you hand – picked news on latest industry perspectives and some general updates. Read on!!

WinqBid partners with eRevMax to make its hotel booking app available to hoteliers worldwide

WinqBid has launched a special Covid-19 Heroes Appreciation Program wherein they bring hotels the opportunity to offer much needed Rewards & Recognition to health care workers and emergency first responders. Through this program, RateTiger hotels can participate and offer a free room night to first responders, which in turn may lead to paid bookings if the guest chooses to book multiple room nights.

https://www.erevmax.com/ratetiger-news/ratetiger-news-archive/june2020-erevmax-winqbid-partners-with-erevmax.html

Bloomberg invited Airbnb, Carnival and Leading Hotels of the World to discuss what’s next

Will the world start traveling again at the same pace, or will businesses discover the merits of virtual convening? Will the sharing economy ever fully recover?

Watch the video – https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2020-07-01/grounded-the-future-of-travel-video

Southeast Asia to become preferred destination for Chinese travelers in 2021.

With IATA not expecting air travel to return to pre-COVID-19 levels until 2023, China looks to extend its dominance over Thailand’s and Bali’s tourism market.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Travel-Leisure/Can-soaring-Chinese-arrivals-save-Bali-s-tourism-market

Rebuilding Hospitality for the New World

With reopening of travel, it is important that we ensure ways and means to keep employees and guests safe. This blog post sets out a plan for hoteliers to help them rebuild their business and attract more travellers.

https://www.erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2020/07/rebuilding-hospitality-for-the-new-world/

Facebook study shows how social media may influence our vacation behavior

Facebook scientists want to know more about what vacation snaps could reveal about travel behavior and the world’s most popular locations – and they’ve trained an A.I. trained on some 58,000 geo-tagged photos to help do so.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/news/facebook-study-vacation-images/

 Travel agents cautious of selling summer 2020.

Agents are taking a cautious approach to selling holidays this summer, with some refusing new bookings until there is more clarity on travel corridors and in-resort operations.

https://travelweekly.co.uk/articles/376944/travel-agents-cautious-of-selling-summer-2020

Phishing attack targets hospitality industry.

With close to 100,000 customers worldwide between Mailgun and SendGrid, it’s no surprise that attackers would setup a fake login attack campaign targeting customers (and likely those that aren’t customers but could be susceptible to social engineering).

https://ironscales.com/blog/Fake-Login-Attack-Spoof-Two-Leading-Email-Delivery-Service-Providers/

Reach out to us for your connectivity needs to make the most of your online revenue- https://goo.gl/3gKUJZ

Thanks and have a good day!