eRevMax launches RateTiger & Connect Analytics for hotels

eRevMax, the leading provider of electronic distribution, smart travel channel connectivity, market intelligence and revenue management solutions for the hospitality industry has launched RateTiger & Connect Analytics, a first of its kind of Business Intelligence solution for the hospitality industry. Hoteliers using Analytics will be able to get instant visibility into their business performance at anytime from anywhere.

On the launch of the Analytics Michael McCartan, CEO, eRevMax said “In today’s extremely competitive business environment, it has become critical for our hotel clients to filter data meaningfully to detect problems, identify opportunities, and respond to market dynamics. Our new solution combines eRevMax’s extensive expertise on online distribution, intuitive benchmarking and deep analytical capabilities.” 
Designed in collaboration with revenue managers Analytics, offers benchmarking on important parameters obtain real-time production data, analyse gaps to give hoteliers a clear picture of their business.

Barteo – 365nights.com completes XML integration with eRevMax

365nights has recently partnered with eRevMax, utilising the RateTigerdistribution system to make real-time ARI (Availability, Rates & Inventory) updates and receive bookings generated on the channel through eRevMax solutions directly into their property management system. The French-based company are confident that the ease of use and immediate results will boost their client portfolio whilst keeping existing users happy. 365nights chose RateTiger as they were looking to focus on “reliable connectivity which will save time and energy”, according to CEO Thomas Hiley and for a system that would simultaneously manage availability, rates, and inventory.

Launched in 2013, the France based price comparison site allows potential guests to negotiate on the price of the room directly with the hotel and in real time, before making an actual booking. Greg Berman, Chief Operations Officer at eRevMax said with this partnership 365nights.com will become certified eRevMax channel ecosystem partner through which both the channel and the hotels will be benefitted.

HMH Partners with eRevMax to Improve Online Sales for its Hotel Portfolio

Hospitality Management Holdings (HMH), a Dubai-based property management group, has announced that it plans to expand its portfolio with five new hotels opening this year alone, which has meant an urgent need for a rate and inventory management system to ensure all properties, both old and new, are digitally standardised. HMH CEO Laurent A. Voivenel was familiar with RateTiger Suite via word of mouth (WOM) marketing, and has recently completed integration with the software that allows for two-way real time ARI updates for all properties which meets the group’s growing demand for efficient and effective management systems. HMH anticipates that RateTiger Suite will boost revenue whilst being simple to execute.


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Infographic: eRevMax predicts 2014 to be the year of Meta-search

Previously, hoteliers have primarily focused upon direct marketing and OTAs, but there’s a new player in terms of hotel channel distribution and it looks like it’s here to stay. Meta search is proving hugely popular with the younger generation who, with perhaps tighter budgets than their older counterparts, are more cost conscious when it comes to travel. There has been a 13 percent increase in meta search traffic in the past year alone, with meta search websites such as Kayak processing almost 1600 million queries annually. It is widely suggested that hoteliers begin to amend their marketing strategies to include meta search in a more prominent role.


To access the full infographic, click Meta-search 2014 – It’s here to stay

TouristOnline integrates with eRevMax for seamless connectivity

TouristOnline, a major online booking provider in Denmark, has recently completed two-way interface integration with eRevMax. The reason for the integration was twofold. Firstly, eRevMax’s leading software has been implemented to assist TouristOnline in expanding their services, not just throughout Denmark and Scandinavia but also across Europe. TouristOnline will also get benefit from eRevMax’s Reservation Delivery service, which facilitates automatic transfer of reservations data booked through their various hotel booking portals like TouristOnline.dk, Hotel.dk, visitdenmark.com directly to the hotel management systems (CRS/PMS). 

Secondly, the software has been introduced as a way of reducing the need for manual update from the user end. Following the 2-way XML interface certification with eRevMax, TouristOnline joins the eRevMax Channel Ecosystem, whereby all hotel booking sites within the group gain access to broader inventory of hotel product, will see improved booking conversion on existing accounts and expects to realize increased revenues as part of its growth plans across Europe.

Ostrovok.ru integrates with eRevMax for seamless connectivity

The biggest hotel search engine in Russia, Ostrovok has completed a 2-way XML interface with eRevMax to offer faster connectivity to its growing base of customers. With this integration accommodation provider will be able to update inventory availability and room rates in real-time helping them control pricing strategies and optimize their revenue.


“We are glad to announce our partnership with eRevMax. RateTiger is leading e-channel manager on many markets and our partnership will help us to grow our hotel network both in Russia and in Europe.” said Pavel Babenko, Director for International Markets, Ostrovok.

The partnership will revolutionise bookings and inventory control for Ostrovok, which requires increased efficiency due to hastening demand in Russia, where the online travel market is expected to cross $10 billion, accounting for 20% of the total travel market.



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Adjusting to the Demands of Connected Customers: It’s All About Speed

The distribution landscape has changed rapidly in the last five years with the emergence of mobile as an important e-commerce channel. The advent of iOS and Android has changed the consumer behavior, and shortened the travel booking window. The popularity of same-day booking channels like HotelsTonight.com along with the dominance of traditional OTAs have thrown a major challenge for today’s revenue managers – i.e. how to stay in tune with the booking dynamics of each channel.

The opportunity that comes with the divergence of online distribution channels has also led to an increasing dilemma for hoteliers – how to manage channels profitably and accurately with limited resources. Throwing manpower at the issue is no longer an option. One small mistake and a hotel can face huge revenue losses as well as a downgraded ranking and a penalty from their distributors!

Facing a search-savvy customer, who will on average search 22 travel sites before booking, hotels have to stay visible at every touch point; and this is where superior connectivity becomes essential. In today’s multi-channel environment, keeping up-to-date with the distribution mix manually is not a daunting task, it’s virtually impossible! 

Understanding the role of social search
Over time, the growing power of web interaction, social media and mobile has changed the consumer’s shopping behavior, and hoteliers need to address them by taking advantage of technology to integrate social media into the distribution architecture. According to Expedia, hotels that scored one point higher in the guest popularity rankings were able to command a 9% higher average daily rate on Expedia. Several other studies have also pointed to the impact of user-generated content in the form of guest reviews as drivers of hotel rate and revenue. 

With Google, Bing and other search engines giving importance to social search, customer profiling has become important. Google has been making suggestions based on previous search and purchases for a while now. Major OTAs like Expedia, Orbitz and Booking.com have followed suite. This is where understanding the consumer becomes crucial. The more the revenue manager knows about the price sensitivity of a particular segment, the more he or she is able to price optimally. Social media provides hotels with vital inputs to map the customer’s state of mind and hence elasticity. Rate benchmarking tools help hotels to track the market dynamics and rate movements. Revenue managers also get an overview of how rates are positioned on different OTAs compared to their competitors for different dates on different channels. Knowledge of rate behavior along with price elasticity is the key to optimal pricing.

In the last couple of years, m-commerce has grown exponentially, and has the potential to contribute up to 20% of bookings through hotel-owned channels, according to PhoCusWright. For hotels, it not only means another channel to manage, but a channel to push the last available inventory. How fast you can react to the changing situation will have a direct impact on the revenue! But that can only be done if you are selling the right product to the right person for the right price on the right channel. Hence, it is important to understand consumer behavior and listen to what they are saying and address their concerns.

Future rate data provides revenue managers with the business intelligence important to creating rate strategy with the target to constantly increase product position and price and thus revenue. With prices set in sync with rate behavior, hoteliers have more confidence to manage last minute availability. This rate manipulation both for today and for tomorrow helps the revenue managers to begin improving the value of their product and its price. 

What is Enterprise Connectivity and why is it gaining prominence?
Equipped with sophisticated XML technology in the back-end, enterprise connectivity solutions deliver secure direct links between hotel systems like the CRS/PMS/RMS and the electronic sales channels including GDS, OTAs, IDS, Wholesalers, Tour Operators and other travel sales companies that process online hotel bookings. Hotels can take advantage of these pre-connected solutions reducing time to market thereby maximizing revenue opportunities and reducing distribution costs by efficiently increasing reach and visibility.

The seamless online booking connectivity guarantees real-time information flow, from hotel to third party channels and vice versa. Hotels can respond to market conditions and process ARI (Availability, Rates and Inventory) faster than ever before, while the system delivers reservations generated on the channel directly into the connected property management systems. Overbooking risks are therefore eliminated, as the available inventory in sales channels do not go beyond the defined threshold while the revenue manager can see all reservations directly in the PMS without having to make error prone manual updates. 

What’s more, superior systems can integrate information from all channels, and create a consolidated report in an easy to read format with bite size pieces of relevant information – this reduces the effort that revenue managers have to spend on collating big data and then extracting relevant information from it. Quality data is essential for producing meaningful analysis and accurate forecasts. Reservation Reports, available through advanced channel management systems, provide revenue managers with an overview of booking demand from all demand sources broken down into market segment. By analyzing the performance metrics, they can get a clear understanding of buying behaviors; what makes travelers book the property? Which channel delivers the most booking? Which OTA provides the highest RevPAR? And which delivers the longer lead-time to book reservations? What type of packages are people buying? This data helps hotels identify their most valuable guests, their demography and the channel they are using for booking, allowing them to adapt strategies accordingly to maximize revenue.

However, total revenue management will only be possible when they work together with the sales and marketing team. Today’s marketing promotions are built around rate strategy set by revenue management teams, and hence can only be successful through a cohesive approach. Marketing, sales and distribution departments have to work with revenue management to inform and advise on demand and pricing decisions. Hotels that tie their sales and marketing with revenue management strategies and find ways to incorporate this into their day-to-day revenue plans will lead their competitive sets and ultimately find themselves ahead on the bottom line.

The key to reducing distribution costs and improving profitability depends on how skillfully one can align one’s marketing strategy with the right technology. Technology helps hotels determine new metrics to measure total revenue management. A single integrated enterprise connectivity system saves time, reduces costs, and enables revenue managers to focus on the data at hand in order to make better decisions to increase revenue. The future will start now if we could change the way we do our job differently. 

This article by Michael McCartan, CEO, eRevMax, is published on Global Hotel Network.

Spain’s largest hotel complex to drive online revenue with eRevMax

Marina d’Or Holiday Resort has selected eRevMax for optimizing revenue through effective online distribution. All seven properties in the complex will use RateTiger Channel Manager for rate and inventory management across third party channels. “RateTiger will help our properties connect to a significantly higher number of important channels, managing them all from one user-friendly interface and streamlining our distribution process.” said Jorge Juan Iranzo, Revenue Manager en Hoteles Marina d’Or.

Located in Valencia, Marina d’Or Holiday Resort has five hotels in 3, 4 and 5 star categories along with two serviced apartments consisting of over 2150 rooms with capacity for 7000. RateTiger will help Marina d’Or Holiday Resort to manage the rate and availability distribution process, boost exposure to online booking channels globally and drive down the cost of booking acquisition.
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Chinese hotel chain signs eRevMax for market expansion and revenue growth

Rosedale Hotel Group has recently partnered with eRevMax to expand its online visibility to further improve market share. Intense competition in the Chinese hospitality sector has made it important for accommodation providers to optimize all demand sources. Online travel booking is growing in double digits in China and is expected to reach USD 48 billion by 2016.
“We chose RateTiger Channel manager as it is considered one of the best online distribution tools in the industry. It helps our Reservations team save valuable time while reducing workload, we can now make all updates directly from the RateTiger dashboard.” said Mr. Louis Cheng, General Manager of Rosedale Hotel Kowloon and Rosedale on the Park. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Rosedale Hotel Group will also be using RateTiger Shopper, the leading price intelligence tool to monitor rate parity across all its channels. This will empower the property with better room rates and price forecasting to generate more revenue. 
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HotelTravel.com Connects to eRevMax Channel Ecosystem

HotelTravel.com, a worldwide leader in online hotel reservations and part of MakeMyTrip Limited (NASDAQ: MMYT) has integrated with eRevMax, the leading provider of hotel online distribution solutions. Through this integration accommodation providers will now be able to make immediate ARI updates and receive bookings generated on HotelTravel.com through eRevMax solutions directly into their property management systems.

“This integration will help our hotel partners to further reduce their time to market while automating booking delivery directly into their PMS. In addition, the improved visibility to eRevMax’s hotel customers offers us the opportunity to tap new supply partners thereby increasing our inventory count.” said Neil D’Souza, Chief Operations Officer, HotelTravel.com.

The company underwent a two-way XML interface certification. This will provide HotelTravel.com direct connection to the leading hotel PMS and CRS, thereby enhancing its product proposition to potential hotel clients.

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