The Week, That Was – February 2019 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!!

HospitalityUnited.Club announces its signature Cocktails & Conversation event in Berlin

HospitalityUnited.Club, a consortium of travel technology companies, brings back its classic Cocktails & Conversation event to Berlin in March. The Club will be hosting an exclusive evening for hoteliers on 7th March 2019, in partnership with Cendyn, Fornova, Hotelbeds, LiveOS, RateTiger, Roiback and Sojern.

https://bit.ly/2XdYEEG

Expedia announces Certified Technology Partner Program

Expedia Partner Solutions (EPS) has launched its Certified Technology Partner Program, an elite program for EPS’ top technology partners from around the world.

https://bit.ly/2GVY09e

Experimenting with the future of business travel: three hypotheses

There are three clear hypotheses that the business travel industry should be experimenting with to be truly customer-centric in the future.

https://www.egencia.com/public/us/experimenting-with-the-future-of-business-travel-three-hypotheses

Growing travelling population shaping the future of the hospitality world

Demographics and growing economies are changing the shape of future travelers in the world. What factors is the future of hospitality looking to deal with? Within the next decade, the number of households making at least US$ 100,000 annually will increase by 30 million, with one out of three of these households located in emerging markets.

https://www.hotelmarketing.com/articles/growing-travelling-population-shaping-the-future-of-the-hospitality-world

Distributed ledger technology can bring rate parity to hotel distribution

The last few years have seen a steady rise in the impact of rate parity and onward distribution issues on hotelier’s bottom line.

 https://www.phocuswire.com/Distributed-ledgers-rate-parity-hotel-distribution

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

Thanks and have a good day!

 

The Week, That Was – February 2019 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 completes integration with Portugal based Newhotel PMS

Hotel connectivity solution provider eRevMax has completed 2-way integration with Newhotel Software, a global hospitality technology company headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal. Mutual hotel customers can leverage this integration to update rate and availability to third party online booking sites whenever they are updated in the property management system and receive reservations from OTAs.

https://www.erevmax.com/ratetiger-news/ratetiger-news-archive/jan2019-erevmax-completes-integration-portugal-based-newhotel-pms.html

2019: Time to relook at your Hotel Cancellation Policies

For a long time, hotel industry has been fairly flexible with the cancellation policies. However, with the popularity of meta-search sites, even after booking, consumers now keep track of room rates. Whenever there is a drop in the room rates of the booked hotel or it’s competing properties, guests often cancel their existing reservations and rebook.

This high cancellation rate especially closer to the arrival has a major impact on the hotel’s revenue management decision where often inflated estimation of potential occupancy level leads to sub-optimal rates and lost revenue.

https://www.erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2019/01/2019-time-to-relook-at-your-hotel-cancellation-policies/

 Hotel sales and marketing trends to watch in 2019

Sales and marketing is a constantly evolving discipline within the hotel industry, and some experts in the field recently shared their takes on what to expect heading into 2019.

http://hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/292059/Hotel-sales-and-marketing-trends-to-watch-in-2019

Corporate hotel loyalty programmes may drive adoption

A recent survey of European business travellers reveals that 43 per cent would be motivated to book a hotel with which their company has a corporate loyalty account if it guaranteed better rates. The research by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) in partnership with Accorhotels found 80 per cent of travel buyers said their company is not enrolled in a corporate hotel loyalty scheme. However, 60 per cent would be interested in joining one for lodging purposes, with 85 per cent saying they find the dedicated room rates offered to travellers appealing.

 https://buyingbusinesstravel.com/news/3129841-corporate-hotel-loyalty-programmes-may-drive-adoption

Guests Demand a 21st Century Stay

Guests expect reliability, ease and security when they activate their mobile room key and unlock the door. Behind that satisfying click, however, is a complex integration of separate technologies and software. Mobile access architecture comprises four parts: 1) the property system, 2) the secure mobile credential and delivery management system, 3) the app and 4) the door lock.

https://www.hotelbusiness.com/guests-demand-a-21st-century-stay-2/

Are hotels on the verge of a parity nightmare?

Booking.com appears to have rolled out its Booking.Basic feature to European hotel listings, six months after it was first spotted on listings for hotels in Asia. Booking.Basic is an accommodation tier that periodically appears on Booking.com’s hotel listings when the rate provided to Booking.com is not the cheapest available online. The rates it offers are nonrefundable and made via a third party that is only revealed to guests after they have paid to book a room.

https://www.phocuswire.com/booking-basic-triptease

Will Chinese technology give hoteliers a fat problem this Year of the Pig?

Technology is a major barrier for hoteliers when dealing with the Chinese market. At the core of the problem is the fact that the technology platforms they are used to using are all entirely different from ours. They can´t access Google, Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or even WhatsApp.

https://www.travolution.com/articles/110128/will-chinese-technology-give-hoteliers-a-fat-problem-this-year-of-the-pig

Hotelbeds adds price and availability insight to its MaxiRoom hotel extranet

Leading global accommodation wholesaler Hotelbeds revealed new features for MaxiRoom, its free hotel extranet designed to maximise hotel occupancy through its distribution channels.

More than 60,000 out of the 170,000 hoteliers who work with Hotelbeds are connected through either technology platforms or direct integrations, the firm said. That figure has doubled in the last three years

https://www.travolution.com/articles/110116/hotelbeds-adds-price-and-availability-insight-to-its-maxiroom-hotel-extranet

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

Thanks and have a good day!

 

 

eRevMax completes integration with Portugal based Newhotel PMS

Hotel connectivity solution provider eRevMax has completed 2-way integration with Newhotel Software, a global hospitality technology company headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal. Mutual hotel customers can leverage this integration to update rate and availability to third party online booking sites whenever they are updated in the property management system and receive reservations from OTAs.

Newhotel Cloud Suite PMS incorporates a wide range of features for full-service hotels, and chains, independent of its size or operation. Known for its user-friendly interface and advanced features, the solution is a popular choice in Europe, South America and Africa, and currently caters to over 3000 properties in more than 50 countries. eRevMax’s distribution solutions are used by over 9000 hotels globally to manage online distribution.

“We’re proud to have eRevMax – RateTiger as our partner as they have become an inevitable option of integration for our clients worldwide. eRevMax offers some of the most innovative and intuitive hospitality e-distribution products in the industry, and our hotel customers can now take advantage of this integration to improve their online visibility and revenue,” said Pedro Matoso, CEO, Newhotel Software.

“South America and Africa remain our growth zone, and this strategic partnership with Newhotel, one of the fast growing PMSs in the region, strengthen our offering. A greater number of hotels can now leverage the benefits of our Channel Ecosystem while streamlining their distribution efforts,” said Ashis Saha, SVP – Project Management, eRevMax.

eRevMax offers seamless connectivity with around 400 OTAs & technology providers. The company is developing its connectivity solutions to offer sophisticated real-time revenue management functionality to the hospitality industry. This includes solutions for the independent market and scaling up through the Tier One enterprise hotel groups. eRevMax’s Channel Ecosystem facilitates quality certified connectivity and relationship management services to support complex revenue generation strategies.

For more details, please visit http://www.erevmax.com/ or contact us on marketing@erevmax.com

2019: Time to relook at your Hotel Cancellation Policies

With ‘Free Cancellation’ almost becoming a norm with major OTAs, high cancellation rate has become a source of major concern for hotels. Cancellation is not at all welcoming for the host, and sometimes for guests as well.

For a long time, hotel industry has been fairly flexible with the cancellation policies. However, with the popularity of meta-search sites, even after booking, consumers now keep track of room rates. Whenever there is a drop in the room rates of the booked hotel or it’s competing properties, guests often cancel their existing reservations and rebook.

This high cancellation rate especially closer to the arrival has a major impact on the hotel’s revenue management decision where often inflated estimation of potential occupancy level leads to sub-optimal rates and lost revenue.

In the last few years, major hotel chains have been relooking at their cancellation policies and developing a strategy to address the changed consumer behaviour. While some hotels have followed the airline way, and introduced non-refundable early-bird rates, some have extended the cancellation cut-off. Empowered with comprehensive reservation data sources, including cancellation information, and analytics, hotels are now making thorough assessment of cancellation cost to hotel’s revenue and fine-tuning their cancellation policies in a strategic way. If you are planning to re-work your cancellation policy, here are some tips you can consider.

Limiting the Cancellation Period

Free cancellation is a major draw, especially on OTAs, to attract potential guests. However leading hotel groups are now extending the cancelling notice period from existing 24 hours cut off to 72 hours. Guests who cancel after that are charged with a penalty which varies from the cost of one night’s stay to total booking amount.

Variable Policy

Many hotels are now adapting to a dual strategy where there is a non-refundable rate and relaxed cancellation policy for premium rates.

Partial Payment for Guarantee

High-demand hotels often charge one night’s stay immediately after booking and debit the rest of the amount closer to the arrival while enforcing a strict no-show / cancellation penalty. While booking, guests are made aware of these finer points and as a result think twice before going for cancellation.

Vouchers instead of refund

Boutique hotels and resorts are now adjusting their cancellation policy in a way where for a last-minute cancellation, instead of a penalty, or refund, they are offering a voucher which the guests can use for a future booking within a stipulated period of time.  It’s often a win-win situation where the hotel gets the revenue and the guests the option to modify their plans.

Loyalty member specific cancellation policy

Some hotel groups with their own loyalty programmes have designed member-exclusive cancellation policies where loyal guests are given the flexibility to cancel their stay at the last minute even as other guests have shorter window. This benefit additionally gives hotels another opportunity to improve their loyalty programme which eventually results in more direct bookings.

No Cancellation

While some hotels do have this policy, in the age of online booking and price-comparison sites, this policy is tending to lose its acceptance.

The choice of cancellation policy depends on the dynamics of the market, hotel size and categories. For a business hotel, it’s is very difficult to implement a strict cancellation policy, whereas high-demand leisure resorts can afford to do so.

For years the hotel industry has been relying on a cookie-cutter approach when it comes to their cancellation policy. It’s time for change. Monitor your reservation sources and identify channels where the cancellations are coming from. Based on their data, hotels need to create cancellation policy terms for each rate-category, plan and channel. An advanced system like RateTiger, for instance, allows restrictions and cancellation policies to be assigned and updated for different rate plans on OTAs. The reservation delivery options immediately notify hotels whenever there is a cancellation, making it easier for them to allocate inventories accordingly.

Invest in a system which helps you to optimally manage your revenue and distribution efforts and save time to focus more on strategy.

The Week, That Was – January 2019 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!!

RateTiger joins the Spanish Association of Hotel Directors – AEDH

RateTiger Hotel Channel Manager initiates collaboration with AEDH at FITUR 2019

https://www.erevmax.com/ratetiger-news/ratetiger-news-archive/jan2019-erevmax-ratetiger-joins-spanish-association-hotel-aedh.html

 

Hotelbeds launches new features on its hotel extranet

Hotelbeds’ extranet for hoteliers adds functionalities that allow the visualization of fares and availability in real time for any hotel.

https://news.travelling.gr/2019/01/hotelbeds-launches-new-features-on-its-hotel-extranet/

 

The power of personalization and building personal connections

Expedia on how the travel industry is entering an era of both traveler and supplier personalization – leveraging high tech to deliver high touch experiences.

https://www.hotel-online.com/press_releases/release/2019-hotel-trends-the-power-of-personalization-and-building-personal-connec

 

The psychology of online reviews

From the humble beginnings of word-of-mouth to an entire industry, feedback has certainly come a long way and it’s not stopping here.

https://www.trustyou.com/blog/guest-feedback-reviews/psychology-of-online-reviews

 

How consumer driven trends are impacting the world of hospitality

Sabre released a study which reveals the top consumer trends that will shape the hospitality industry in 2019 and beyond.

Download the report – https://www2.sabrehospitality.com/2019-global-trends-report?utm_source=hotelmarketing_com

 

How to resolve negotiated rate audit failures in the GDS

Some corporations test in their online booking environment that utilizes the GDS for connectivity. Requesting a screenshot from the client at the time they report an issue will help you identify the point of sale source of the audit. Unfortunately, during January and February many hotels will learn they have failed a preferred rate audit.

http://www.sabrehospitality.com/resources/hotel-marketing-blogs/best-practices-how-resolve-rate-audit-failures

 

Hotel coworking space: The future of hospitality

Coworking spaces in hotels provide an area for hotel guests and locals to gather to work and meet. With the number of coworking members expected to jump to 3.8 million in 2020, it is only natural for hotels to capitalise on this feature.

https://www.traveldailymedia.com/coworking-space-hotels/

 

Hoteliers use revenue management to boost off-season

The off-season isn’t a hotelier’s favorite time of year. Rooms can sit empty, restaurants are quiet and the cash flow isn’t as robust.

But, this can also be the best time of year for hoteliers to try out creative promotions, boost their properties’ profiles with online travel agencies, partner with local attractions that are weather-appropriate for the time of year and even experiment with new restaurant menu selections.

http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/292401/Hoteliers-use-revenue-management-to-boost-off-season

 

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

Thanks and have a good day!

 

 

Are you using Metasearch Channels for your hotel distribution yet?

Metasearch sites help travelers compare hotel rates from various online travel agencies and other booking sites in one place. Metasearch, as a sales channel, is growing in the travel ecosystem. Travelers today want technology that offers information at the click of a button. Metasearch offers just that, by aggregating rates and availability across multiple OTAs and brand websites onto one screen, thus making comparison easy and decision making simpler.

Today, it is important for hotels to be visible on metasearch sites to increase direct bookings and visibility, thereby generating more revenue. You might be thinking – why do I need to add one more channel to my distribution mix? Here’s why –

Metasearch allows for more direct bookings

While OTAs continue to lead the third party sales booking, they have one very big disadvantage for hoteliers – bookings are made exclusively through the merchant site, for which the brand will pay a nominal fee.

Metasearch sites allow visitors to book either through OTAs or through the brand website, helping to increase direct sales for hotels if they are listed on the metasearch. Metasearch sites such as TripAdvisor have been criticized for favoring OTAs with which they have a partnership, but direct hotel booking information is available, which is more than can be said for OTAs themselves.

Traditional search is a dying breed

Metasearch might still be kept in the back burner when compared to traditional searching, but reports show that search statistics on these sites are up by 13 percent in recent years and are continuing to grow. In this age of technology, traditional search is a dying breed, as more and more internet users opt to take advantage of the features of metasearch sites, that traditional search simply cannot offer.

In utilizing metasearch channels, hotels can remain modern and relevant, and can widen and diversify their audience.

Rate comparison can work in favor of hotels

The core concept of metasearch channels is that they offer multiple hotel comparison – a feature that OTAs typically do not offer.

Believe it or not, comparison isn’t solely based upon price. For example, it has been found that an estimated 71 percent of users look at basic information, while 67 percent of users compare photographs. Comparison may seem daunting, but it’s actually a good chance to show off.

Upgrading to two-way connectivity can help you improve your channel content, by making it quicker and easier to update multiple channels with up-to-date information regarding the establishment.

With meta search considered to be one of the biggest marketing techniques of the year, there has never been a better time to add these channels to your distribution portfolio. Make sure you choose to work with connectivity advisors that provide relevant channels to get it right the first time.

In essence, metasearch channels save time and money for guests in their travel booking journey, while offering a robust distribution platform for hotels to improve visibility and direct booking revenue.

Connect to metasearch channels like Google, TripAdvisor, Trivago, HotelsCombined, Skyscanner & Escapio. Update them directly from your RateTiger channel manager to improve your direct hotel revenue! Book a demo today – https://bit.ly/2HiEzJp

 

 

eRevMax completes integration with Vietnamese PMS ezCloud

Hotel connectivity expert eRevMax has completed 2-way integration with ezCloud, one of the leading PMS providers in South East Asia. Mutual hotel customers can now get the benefit of automatic distribution of availability and rate to third party online booking sites whenever they are updated in the property management system and receive reservations from OTAs seamlessly.

Ho Chi Minh City based ezCloud PMS is a popular property management system catering to 3000 hotels across Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia and recommended by leading hotel chains in the region. eRevMax’s distribution solutions are used by over 9000 hotels to update availabilities and rates across their booking channels and immediately update inventory across those channels when a booking is made.

“Real time OTA channel connection is a key feature of ezCloud PMS. eRevMax Channel Ecosystem offers the largest number of two-way interfaces, and hence will provide our hotel customers the ability to expand their distribution portfolio to reach out to larger audience,” said Nguyen Hoang Duong – CEO, ezCloud Technologies.

“This interface complements our continuous efforts to offer our hotel customers superior connectivity between their technology solutions and OTAs. South East Asia has been one of our growth regions, we are connected with some of the biggest OTAs and PMS providers in the region.  Being a preferred connectivity partner of ezCloud will further improve our portfolio. A greater number of hotels can now leverage the benefits of our Ecosystem while streamlining their distribution efforts,” said Ashis Saha, SVP – Project Management, eRevMax.

Bellevue Hotels & Resorts using RateTiger Web on LiveOS to manage online sales for 4 properties

Philippine hotel chain the Bellevue Hotels & Resorts has recommended RateTiger for centralizing online distribution. All four properties of the group have begun using RateTiger on LiveOS  platform earlier this year and certifies it to be ‘the best friend’ for hotels.

The Bellevue Hotels and Resorts manages luxury and midscale hotels across Philippines. The revenue management team is managing premiere properties such as the Bellevue Manila and the Bellevue Resort Bohol along with midscale properties in Alabang and Quezon City with its B Hotels. With its diverse guest profile which include luxury, midscale, leisure and business travellers, the team was grappling with the online distribution.

They turned to RateTiger Channel Manager and On Demand Shopping available on LiveOS, the hospitality operating platform by eRevMax. RateTiger’s XML connectivity with over 350 online sales channels including OTA, GDS, metasearch and wholesalers gives the hotel group the opportunity to boost reservations and revenue and attract larger segments of both the corporate and leisure markets it caters for.

“The most important feature for me is RateTiger Channel Manager. Being able to view all 4 properties at one time on LiveOS has a great impact for me in terms of time and efficiency. The “smart fill” feature works like magic! I just use this field, and in 2 steps, all my different room categories would be live and bookable!” said Annie Bisuna, Revenue Director, The Bellevue Hotels and Resorts.

They are also extensively using On-Demand-Shopping tool to generate a real-time rate shopping report as-and-when they require to keep up with the fast pace business movement. RateTiger Shopper captures all its competitors’ rate data across hundreds of websites instantly and delivers granular analysis to monitor market dynamics on time.

“Rate Tiger is my new best friend. We hang out most of the time – that is during duty hours, share secrets by showing rates of our competitors through their Shopping on Demand tool and gives advise on how to position our properties in terms of pricing with the objective of maximizing revenue. I am truly satisfied having the chance to do partnership with Rate Tiger and would highly recommend to other hotels,” said Annie Bisuna, Revenue Director, The Bellevue Hotels and Resorts.

The Week, That Was – September 2018 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 completes integration with IDS Next PMS

Hotel connectivity expert eRevMax has completed integration with leading hospitality technology solution provider IDS Next.Mutual hotel customers can now get the benefit of automatic distribution of availability and rate to third party online booking sites whenever they are updated in the property management system and receive reservations from OTAs.

http://bit.do/ewp76

How hoteliers are setting their tech budgets for 2019

Hotel companies are preparing their annual budgets for 2019, and technology is an important investment as guests expect more and more out of their stays.

http://bit.do/ewp8h

How travel agents are working differently with technology

In an article on Phocuswire in March 2018, Trisept Solutions’ president and CEO John Ische positions the relationship between agents and technology as the ability to create what he termed “genuine intelligence” about a traveler.

https://www.phocuswire.com/Travel-advisors-technology-changes

Airbnb for Work expands beyond travel

Team-building, relocations and off-site meetings are part of the new strategic direction for Airbnb For Work as it looks to capitalise on its “exponential growth” in providing accommodation to business travellers. A few weeks ago it announced that some 700,000 companies have had employees sign up and book with Airbnb for Work, with more than 275,000 enterprises directly engaged with Airbnb to help manage their travel.

https://www.tnooz.com/article/airbnb-for-work-expands-beyond-travel/

Why Middle East travel deserves a closer look!

Travel spend by travellers from just some of the countries, the six who make up the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – is likely, says Statista, to grow from $64 billion three years ago, to $94 billion by 2020. In 2025 the sum could reach $140 billion, it adds. The GCC is assessed by the World Tourism Organisation as accounting for well over 60% of the region’s outbound market.

http://bit.do/ewp8K

China’s Big 5 hotel platforms have 96% of the market

Analysis of China’s online hotel booking market in the second quarter of the year shows that almost the entire market is controlled by five businesses. Trustdata, a mobile internet big data monitoring company in China, found that Ctrip, Meituan, Qunar, Tongcheng-eLong and Fliggy accounted for 96.4% of online hotel bookings in the second quarter. The big five were also the fast-growing platforms for the quarter, suggesting that their dominance is getting stronger.

https://www.tnooz.com/article/chinas-big-5-hotel-platforms-have-96-of-the-market/

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

Thanks and have a good day!

The Week, That Was – August 2018 Week 5

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!!

Luxury boutique hotel in Philippines has experienced 5% growth in just 3 months with RateTiger.

Bayleaf Intramuros, an upmarket boutique hotel in Philippines has improved in online sales with efficient rate and availability distribution through RateTiger.

https://www.erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2018/08/luxury-boutique-hotel-in-philippines-improves-online-sales-with-ratetiger/

Miki Travel invests in online booking systems for groups

Miki Travel recently invested in two online booking systems to facilitate ease of doing business and enhance confirmation speed.

http://www.ttgasia.com/2018/08/30/miki-travel-invests-in-online-booking-systems-for-groups/

Why Channel management is fundamental to hoteliers?

Today consumers are influencing room rates more than anytime in history. The internet – with multiple price comparison websites and booking channels – provides a choice. The more savvy consumers get, the more likely rates will continue to fall. However if hoteliers take control of their presence and rates online, revenue managers can make more accurate forecasts to identify occupancy and rate levels to ensure sales are on target.

https://www.erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2018/08/channel-management-is-fundamental-to-hoteliers-2/

Distribution dilemmas, beastly rate parity and Google ‘the travel company

“Google is very much a travel company. They have a platform that provides access to prices, products and reputation related information for travel components, creating immense value for the traveller. At the same time, their search engine and metasearch platforms are an integral and unavoidable part of the traveller’s booking journey from the dreaming to the booking phase. And they are able to capture the subsequent value from these customer phases.”

https://www.eyefortravel.com/distribution-strategies/distribution-dilemmas-beastly-rate-parity-and-google-travel-company

 What hoteliers should know about guest acquisition!

How people travel has as much to do with who they are as where they are going, Lorraine Sileo, SVP of research and business operations at Phocuswright, said during a session at the recent Hotel Data Conference.

Research shows one of the biggest differentiators in how people choose where they research their travel products is age, she said during her presentation, “Hotel path to purchase: The complexity behind consumer choice.”

http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/289088/What-hoteliers-should-know-about-guest-acquisition

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

Thanks and have a good day!