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Travel Tech EMEA Day 4 – Operations – Automation vs Human touch: the impact on operation and customer experience

Hospitality, by definition, is the relation between the guest and the host. Since the very beginning, guest engagement is determined by human interaction. Even with the growing popularity of automation, the key differentiation between a good hotel and a great one has been the human intervention. All that has changed now.

If automation was one of the considerations for hoteliers in the beginning of the year, it has become the top most priority now. Covid-19 has been the biggest disruptor in modern times with guest behaviour and preference gone for a radical shift. Social distancing and minimal contact have become the norm forcing hotels to look beyond human-centric service and embrace automation.

If the smiling front desk and house-keeping staff were a key contributor to guest satisfaction, in the post-Covid world, the expectation is self-check-in and robot cleaning with personalized service in place. As hotels readjust their operations to minimize touch points, striking a balance between automation and human touch has become the biggest challenge now.

In today’s session at Travel Tech EMEA, Vinicius Geraldo of HS LATAM is joined by Neha Ginoria of eRevMax  to discuss with industry experts – Neil James of ReviewPro, Felix Said of myHotel, Erik Tengen of Oaky, Chris Alexadre of GuestRevu, Amit Rahav of HyperGuest regarding Automation and impact on hotel operations and customer experience. Join us – register now – https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6930318956520107533

 

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Travel Tech EMEA Day 3 – Digital Marketing – New ways and changes on guest booking journey

We all have been hearing about the change in guest behaviour and booking journey. Truth be told, the world has changed. Social distancing has become the norm. Everyone is extra cautious, and it looks like this is the ‘new normal’.

The new buzzword for the hospitality industry is ‘hygiene and sanitization’. ‘Safety’ has become the foremost consideration for travellers and they are ready to pay a price for it. While online still remains the most preferred way of booking, guests are giving far more weightage to remote check-in, digital key and remote services replacing the earlier expected face-to-face interaction.

While breakfast buffet was the earlier norm, no-contact in-room dining is the preference now. Weekend DJ evening is a thing of the past, instead you need to highlight safety measures and seclusion that you offer.

As for booking window, predictable seasonality is over for the time-being. With Europe and USA facing the second wave, there is apprehension and fear which is reflected in the irregular booking behaviour. Sadly this is expected to stay so and hoteliers need to adjust to shorter lead times. Non-refundable early booker rate is a thing of past. Guests now expect extra flexibility and support.

Brands across the globe are now coming to terms with the volatile business environment. What does this mean for hotels and their online digital marketing?

In today’s session at Travel Tech EMEA, Cofounder Vinicius Geraldo joins Alejandro Gomez and Rita Jusztina Varga along with the expert panel of speakers – Rodrigo Teixeira from Asksuite Hotel Chatbot, Nicola Seghi from SimpleBooking, Alberto Recanatesi from Bookassist, Theodoros Katsimpras from Bookonlinenow and Pavlina Zychova from MyStay to discuss Digital Marketing – news ways and changes in the guest booking journey. Register to exchange ideas and insights with the stalwarts – https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6930318956520107533

 

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Travel Tech EMEA Day 1 – The New Normal of Pricing Strategy

With the second phase of lock-down and restrictions in many countries in Europe, the hotel industry is again facing confusion and uncertainty. The pandemic has made the job of the hotel revenue manager even more difficult. With historical demand patterns, key metrics for forecasting becoming obsolete, hotels need to overhaul their traditional revenue management technology.

Historically, every time the industry has hit a crisis, many hoteliers resort to discounting in order to stimulate demand. However, experts warn that price cut is not the solution. Far from the easy way of price war, it is time for the hospitality industry to reset the traditional way of revenue management and rebuild a recession-proof pricing strategy.

In today’s session at the Travel Tech EMEA, founder Vinicius Geraldo will be discussing all this and more with Paula Carreirao. Joining them on the panel is Damiano Zennaro from IDeaS Revenue Solutions, Erik Muñoz from Lybra | Assistant RMS, Fernando J. Cuesta from Amadeus and Philip Niemann from Atomize. Do join the exciting session on Revenue Management: The new normal of pricing strategy. Register now if you haven’t yet – https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6930318956520107533

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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!

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The Week, That Was – Nov 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!!

5 things to look for when switching your Booking Engine

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. Know some important factors that hotels need to take into account when switching their booking engine

https://www.erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2020/11/5-things-to-look-for-when-switching-your-booking-engine/

The five emerging trip types of 2021, according to Booking.com

The impact of the pandemic is changing not just our choice of destination but also the type of trips we’re most likely to take in the coming year. Booking.com’s new research reveals the five emerging trip types for 2021 to motivate and inspire travelers to take a trip (or five) to best fit their newfound travel preferences.

https://globalnews.booking.com/the-five-emerging-trip-types-of-2021/

A reset in hotel bookings is happening right now

For the first time in recent history, the travel industry is learning how to start a new. While a lot remains unknown, what is evident is that the new behaviors and preferences of today’s traveler are likely to linger, if not become permanent changes for some.

https://www.phocuswire.com/a-reset-in-hotel-bookings-is-happening-right-now

Winding Tree, Skyware Hospitality Solutions and Veturis Travel join the eRevMax Partner Ecosystem

Staycations are now popular in and around, hotels are now giving lucrative packages and deals to the customers. Domestic tourism is expanding rapidly with the dominance of last-minute bookings. Various OTAs have launched multiple programs to help hotels attract more guests as well as offer a safe and clean stay environment. 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.

https://www.erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2020/11/winding-tree-skyware-hospitality-solutions-and-veturis-travel-join-the-erevmax-partner-ecosystem/

Trivago hopes for travel recovery in mid-2021

Reporting third quarter 2020 results the hotel metasearch company says increases over that period were driven by nearby trips to nature spots in “developed Europe.” The company is launching a local travel discovery product in core markets.

https://www.phocuswire.com/trivago-q3-2020-soft-demand

How the US election might determine the future of travel

When demand is back to normal, the real bottleneck will be airport infrastructure. With the travel industry decimated by Covid-19, the presidential response could determine whether the industry revives or is crushed beyond repair.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/us-election-2020-trump-biden-travel/index.html

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!

 

 

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Winding Tree, Skyware Hospitality Solutions and Veturis Travel join the eRevMax Partner Ecosystem

Travel has become a privilege again. Staycations are now popular in and around, hotels are now giving lucrative packages and deals to the customers. Domestic tourism is expanding rapidly with the dominance of last-minute bookings. Various OTAs have launched multiple programs to help hotels attract more guests as well as offer a safe and clean stay environment. 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 partners leading in their specific markets. Get in touch with us if you wish to connect with these channels or any of our 400+ distribution channel network.

Winding Tree
We are glad to feature our partner – Winding Tree, the first platform to process a hotel booking on a public blockchain. The core of the platform is open source and distributed, which creates endless possibilities for real customer use, including lower costs, security, connectivity and unlimited innovation opportunities. Hotels and travel providers can choose to accept fiat or crypto on the Winding Tree platform, and payments can be in the form of fiat, credit card or cryptocurrency, namely Lif tokens or Ether. If you are looking to make travel cheaper for travelers and more profitable for providers, connect to Winding Tree via RateTiger today.

Skyware Hospitality Solutions
One of our long-standing PMS partners, Skyware Hospitality Solutions is known for its powerful property management software and smart automation simplifying hotel operations. Skyware offers the best cloud based property management system for the hospitality market. With it’s seamless integration, scalability, and multiple paths for direct bookings, it is designed for properties of all sizes. Please contact us today if you are considering switching your current PMS, or just interested in seeing a new vendor.

Veturis Travel

Headquartered in Spain, Veturis Travel is an online travel wholesaler with a presence in 90 countries. They delivered over 700,000 reservations last year and have a network of over 25,000 agencies. Veturis Travel specializes in hotels, cruises, transfers, tour packages and other travel products and has been ranked as ‘1,000 Companies to Inspire Europe’ by The London Stock Exchange Group. Recently the company has integrated with eRevMax to facilitate real-time data transfer between hotels and the bed bank through RateTiger and LiveOS platform. Get your property listed now to expand your visibility amongst European travellers.

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

 

 

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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

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The Week, That Was – Oct 2020 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!!

Travel advisers: A secret weapon during Covid-19

In the wake of Covid-19, travelers are relying more and more on agents to have the insider knowledge on hotels, border openings and quarantine rules, as well as protecting their payments on future trips if they need to be canceled or postponed.

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/travel-agents-covid-19-pandemic/index.html

As tourism dries up, European countries moving to use Airbnb rentals for long-term use by citizens

Now that the pandemic has all but cut off the steady flow of visitors, many European cities are seizing an opportunity to push short-term rentals back onto the long-term housing market. Governments enacting or planning new laws to curb explosive growth of rentals aimed largely at tourists.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/25/world/europe/airbnb-lisbon-housing.html

Amex GBT adds sustainability badges for hotels in its Neo booking tool

Clients now can configure the tool to display hotel options with the badge, which signifies that a hotel meet certain environmental standards.

https://www.businesstravelnews.com/Technology/Amex-GBT-Adds-Sustainability-Badges-for-Hotels-in-Neo

Hotel metasearch opts for commission-based model

As many hotel marketers slowly increasing their ad spending again, commission-based models for charging for ads grow in popularity as the recovery blossoms.

https://skift.com/2020/10/27/a-newer-way-of-charging-for-hotel-metasearch-ads-is-catching-on/

eRevMax partner Hotelbeds launching new initiative to promote sustainable accommodation within its hotel portfolio

The company now has over 15,000 properties within its portfolio certified as sustainable and easily identifiable to the more than 60,000 travel trade client partners.

https://press.hotelbeds.com/news-room/press-release/hotelbeds-launches-green-hotels-programme-support-sustainable-tourism

Holiday bookings down this year, but rates are rising

In lieu of less people traveling this season, rates have already begun to rise and people are opting for longer lengths of stay.

https://www.essence.com/culture/essence-pepsi-hbcu-homecoming-jonathan-mcreynolds-day-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!

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The Week, That Was – Oct 2020 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!!

eRevMax presents Travel Tech LATAM in October

eRevMax, in partnership with HS LATAM, is delighted to bring the next edition of TRAVEL TECH for LATAM hoteliers. The online panel discussions start this week and are scheduled between October 19 -23, 2020, with 22 speakers participating from 24 companies across the travel technology spectrum, including Amadeus, ReviewPro, eRevMax, Sabre, Mews, Mirai, Asksuite, Expedia, GHL Hoteles, HSystem, HS LATAM, Howard Johnson Argentina, Lybra, myHotel, STR, Sojern, Siteminder and Tag among others.

https://www.erevmax.com/ratetiger-news/ratetiger-news-archive/oct2020-erevmax-presents-travel-tech-latam.html

Booking.com reveals nine predictions for the future of travel

Innovation within the travel industry will accelerate faster than ever to respond to marked shifts in travel expectations and behaviors.

https://news.booking.com/smarter-kinder-safer-bookingcom-reveals-nine-predictions-for-the-future-of-travel/

Japan and China to lift ban on business travel

Short-term business travelers will be exempted from a two week self-isolation on condition that they submit negative coronavirus test results and travel itineraries to authorities.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Japan-and-China-to-lift-ban-on-business-travel

Domestic travel will dominate in 2021, says Airbnb

62% are interested in a vacation ‘within driving distance’. Entire homes have replaced apartments as the top pick of guests on Airbnb, according to a new report the short-term rental platform released today.

https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/domestic-travel-will-dominate-in-2021-says-airbnb/

The World Economic Forum on how to rebuild trust in international travel

International framework required to more safely resume travel whilst we wait for vaccines. To more safely open borders, countries, airlines and people will need to trust test results, vaccination records and potentially other health data from across borders.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/10/rebuild-trust-international-travel/

Travel advisors will be essential post-pandemic travel

To navigate the complicated landscape of traveling during the pandemic, people are turning to travel agents, some for the first time. InteleTravel, a company that has independent travel agents working from home in the United States, the United Kingdom and Mexico, told the paper that since the pandemic hit, travel agents are seeing an increase of demand. Since April, InteleTravel told the Washington Post it has added more than 4,000 travel agents per month, which is a 40% increase over 2019.

https://www.travelmarketreport.com/articles/Washington-Post-Travelers-Should-Use-an-Advisor-During-the-Pandemic

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!

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The Week, That Was – Oct 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!!

Saudi upscale hotel experiences 25% revenue growth with RateTiger

The Riyadh based four-star property has been using RateTiger Product Suite to manage its online distribution since 2018 and has experienced almost 25% growth in revenue since then. Moving away from manual updating of online channels has made life easy for the team. With real-time ARI updates, it helped the team to apply dynamic rate strategies swiftly which led to better conversions and revenue.

https://www.erevmax.com/ratetiger-news/ratetiger-news-archive/oct2020-erevmax-saudi-upscale-hotel-experiences-revenue-growth-ratetiger.html

Expedia on emerging travel trends

Understanding who will travel first, when and how travelers intend to book their stays, and what they expect in a guest experience will help inform hoteliers business plans and successful recovery.

https://www.hotelmanagement.com.au/2020/10/14/exclusive-expedias-bowering-on-new-travel-trends/

GMs forecast operations, guest behavior after pandemic

GMs from properties around the globe gave their thoughts on how things will change for their hotels and the industry coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

https://hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/304762/GMs-forecast-operations-guest-behavior-after-pandemic

SEERA and ESTUR join the eRevMax Partner Ecosystem

eRevMax continues to integrate with distribution partners worldwide and this week’s highlighted channels include Seera (formerly Al Tayyar Travel Group), the largest travel and tourism group in the MENA region as well as ESTUR the popular Tour Operator company in Mexico. Various OTAs have launched multiple programs revolving around stricter cleaning protocols and safety measures to help hotels attract more guests.

https://www.erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2020/10/channel-update-seera-and-estur-join-the-erevmax-partner-ecosystem/

70% of travellers plan to fly internationally within next six months, reveals OAG report

Most consumers, especially younger travelers, are prepared to fly under the right circumstances. OAG has released The COVID-19 Recovery: Getting Passengers Back on Board, a new report on traveller confidence based on a global survey of over 4,000 users of its flightview travel app. Overall, fear levels over catching COVID-19 while flying are tepid, and most consumers are open to air travel.

https://www.traveldailymedia.com/70-of-travellers-plan-to-fly-internationally-within-next-six-months-reveals-oag-report/

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!