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Stay Connected with latest news: Update from eRevMax- July 17, 2015

5 Online Travel Agents shaping the travel industry in the Middle East

One of the youngest regions of the world with over 50% of the population aged between 18- 34, travel in United Arab Emirates is largely influenced by digital experience. Always connected and eager to research, millennials in the country have become trend setters in the online travel segment. Empowered with easily available information, they are forcing hospitality brands in the region to realign their marketing strategies according to their preferences.

See more at: eRevMax Blog

Trending news of this week

Quantitative data-driven insights to make better business decisions

Data analysis is not new, yet everyone seems to be talking about it. What is new is the way companies are approaching using data as a core element in their day to day decision making. What is also new are the variety of tools available to measure and report on data. Whether you are a large enterprise company or an SMB, there are four key elements a company should embrace to execute better business decisions using quantitative data –training, measuring, balancing, and choosing.

See more at: Hospitalitynet

Google quietly adds instant booking for hotels, copying TripAdvisor

For the first time, Google users can book a hotel room without ever leaving the search giant’s familiar desktop interface. The addition of assisted booking to Google.com/hotels, the search giant’s metasearch tool, hasn’t been officially announced. But the Google-faciliated bookings appear to be slowly rolling out across a select handful of listings in U.S. desktop search.

See more at: Tnooz

A cheat sheet to drive direct business

Hotel marketers can take a page from most of the OTAs’ playbook and apply those lessons to their own direct presence. Here are six e-commerce tips that can help you shift share away from OTAs and drive more direct business for your hotel.

See more at: Hotel News Now
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Stay Connected with latest news: Update from eRevMax- June 17, 2015

Top five trends which will shape US Hospitality industry this year

The first generation travellers who are connected to the world with internet have become the fastest growing customer segment in hospitality industry. Travellers aged between 18 to 34 comprise the largest and most diverse segment of US population. These hyper-connected travellers are communicating with the entire world in a new way with their always connected device- using laptop, tablet or mobile phone.

See more at: eRevMax Blog

News Trends

THE BATTLE FOR ONLINE TRAVEL CONSUMERS: WHO WILL WIN?

Will the Internet – and online travel in particular – end up being dominated by juggernauts? Do online travel agencies (OTAs) stand a chance in a world where search engines offer e-commerce facilities, and giant retailers get into travel?

See more at: Web In Travel

Pushing Rates: Getting More Out of Every Room Night

The major hotel brands are assembling integrated software systems for their hotels that are stocked with advanced revenue management tools that automate the pricing process as much as possible, allowing operators to be much more strategic in their distribution and room rate decisions.

See more at: Lodging Magazine

Website, GDS and OTA: the right mix in hotel distribution channel investments

Investing marketing dollars in these online distribution channels is becoming essential if hoteliers want to retain customers, improve hotel positioning, and gain a competitive advantage in markets that are sometimes saturated with hotel supply. The Internet has made marketing more measurable and accountable with different metrics and analytics that show the contribution of marketing to the bottom line.

See more at: HVS

Hotel brands must travel cross-channel route to bookings

To engage consumers on their path from discovery to purchase, hotel marketers must sell the way their customers wish to buy and ultimately, that means distributing the brand effectively across all consumer facing touch points.


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Stay Connected with latest news: Update from eRevMax

eRevMax News
eRevMax completes 40 XML integrations in four months

Hotel online distribution specialist, eRevMax, has added 40 new technical interfaces in the first four months of 2015, continuing its long standing position as the largest distribution network provider in the industry. The new 2-way certified demand partners including Nustay, roomlia®, Bookit.com, Tourplan, EET Global, Traveltool/Logitravel, myHotelShop, NetAffinity, TravelRepublic and Southall Travel among others will add more versatility to the eRevMax Channel Ecosystem.


Your Hotels Worldwide endorses eRevMax as the Preferred Channel Manager Partner​
Your Hotels Worldwide, a leading hotel chain of independently-managed properties in Scandinavia, has strengthened relationship with eRevMax by implementing its 2-way XML connectivity solution for seamless data transfer between its property management system and online sales channels. All 65 properties under the group are using RateTiger Channel Manager to update rates and availabilities across their distribution mix in real-time.
News Trends
How to avoid “big data paralysis” – A Guide for Hoteliers
Given how competitive the environment, hotels cannot afford to wait until everything is perfect before moving on to the next step. Applying advanced analytics to the data you have today can provide enough insight and value to justify moving forward with the data you want to collect for tomorrow.
How and why travel metasearch will have to evolve
To survive and grow, travel metasearch engines will have to consider how they can highlight the differences in the actual product in a better way, perhaps even making price a secondary (but still important) influencing factor for consumers.
Using Review Data as Rich Snippets To Improve Search Rankings and Increase Direct Bookings
Most hotels are focused on SEO, or are at least aware of the potential benefits of improving their search rankings. It allows them to stand out and ultimately generate more traffic (and direct bookings!). Content marketing is one way to improve search rankings, and travel reviews can play an important role in this content strategy.
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Newshound: OTAs lead in US, changing distribution strategies, traveler’s path to purchase


OTAs remain the top research source for US vacation package buyers, says Expedia

Online travel agencies continue to be American consumers’ favorite source of information prior to booking vacation packages, despite all the buzz about review sites such as TripAdvisor and metasearch sites such as Kayak.
http://www.tnooz.com/2013/08/26/news/otas-remain-the-top-research-source-for-us-vacation-package-buyers-says-expedia/


RM hits the big stage but must work harder to secure the lead role

Revenue management today is beginning to deliver strategic benefits across the business. With a bigger and broader mandate, RM specialists have an important role to play in communicating with other departments to make the most of emerging opportunities.
http://www.eyefortravel.com/revenue-and-data-management/rm-hits-big-stage-must-work-harder-secure-lead-role

Revenue managers adapt distribution strategies

While new distribution channels are emerging seemingly every day, more accurate forecasting and improved technical automation are helping hotel revenue managers stay sane. Few hotels, unless they’re large full-service properties with a significant amount of meeting space, have a dedicated manager assigned to only that property, sources said. Many hotels share a revenue manager with a small group of properties and, in most cases, a general manager also acts as the revenue manager.
http://hotelnewsnow.com/Article/11094/Revenue-managers-adapt-distribution-strategies

The Traveller’s Path to purchase

When it comes to leisure travel shopping, consumers spend a significant amount of time online researching options. Up to 45 days leading up to a booking, a consumer will conduct as many as 38 visits to travel sites. Knowing how and when to influence their decision-making process is crucial to generating mindshare and ultimately driving bookings. In this report by Expedia Media Solutions, get a snapshot of how the overall purchase path looks like from initial exploration through the booking stage.
http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/149354/file-271132325-pdf/docs/Path_to_Purchase_Expedia_Media_Solutions_MillwardBrown.pdf

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Newshound: Changing hotel online booking, How to tackle same-day booking market, Brands & OTAs mending relationship

How will online hotel booking change in the near future?

In recent years, supplier sites have gained at the expense of OTAs. Hotels want to drive bookings to their own channels because the payouts to online agents for hotel bookings are huge. To be sure, commissions seem to be declining lately. I used to see major chains paying out commissions in high 20% ranges, while more recently such high payouts seem to apply mostly to independent hotels. The savvier big chains like Marriott, depending on the online channel, may have negotiated down the payouts to the high teens.
http://www.tnooz.com/2013/05/23/news/how-will-online-hotel-booking-change-in-the-near-future/#dqApEQ1SIyQGSugH.99

Addressing the 3 Cs of same-day bookings: Control, cannibalisation, commissions

With the recent surge worldwide of same day booking apps, hotel chains know they need to get on board but there are significant challenges to overcome in the same-day booking market – to avoid cannibalisation, to avoid paying high commission on already discounted rates and not relinquish control of how their last minute inventory is sold and promoted via third parties. Let’s take a look at how hotel chains can address the 3 C’s when considering how to tackle the same-day booking market. 
http://www.webintravel.com//blog/addressing-the-3-cs-of-sameday-bookings-control-cannibalisation-commissions_3799

Connect to your hotel guests – directly!

Travel brands have a huge opportunity to circumvent the OTAs and connect directly with consumers searching for their products and services through paid, earned, and owned media strategies. Many travel brands are missing basic SEO strategies that would help them compete with OTAs. 
http://www.hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/more_on_how_travel_brands_can_connect_directly_with_consumers_online/

Brands, OTAs mending relationship

Although large-scale hotel brands have denounced online travel agencies in recent years, instead focusing their efforts on driving travelers directly to their own websites, there seems to be a shift in attitude of late. Hotel brand executives are beginning to embrace OTAs again, even calling them partners, as companies such as Expedia and Priceline work through complex negotiations with many of the major brands.
http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/articles.aspx/10542/Brands-OTAs-mending-relationship?utm_source=feedly