HTNG 2009 Asia-Pacific Members’ Meeting & Conference

I recently went to Singapore to attend HTNG’s Second Annual Asia-Pacific Members’ Meeting & Conference. It took place from 13-15 July 2009 at the luxurious Ritz-Carlton – I was on the 22nd floor and enjoyed every minute of my stay, relishing the overwhelming view of the Marina Bay.

The HTNG member meetings are generally great and it was no different this year. It brought together key industry executives and eminent speakers who talked about thought leadership and HTNG workgroup progress reports.

It was an excellent platform to interact with like minded people ready to adapt to new technology. I met quite a few IT heads and GMs from various hotels and chains.

There was an interesting session on Hotel IT spending in the current scenario with panelists being CIOs of various hotels. It was good to get first-hand knowledge on what their priorities are currently.

The conference had an ideal mix of hoteliers and technology providers with around 150 people attending the event. As per the agenda, latest updates of the activities of various workgroups including In-room solution, Architecture and Property/Distribution Solutions, were shared with us.

The key take-away was the details of new technology and upcoming trends received from the core teams of different workgroups. Data security, green room technology and role of social media were the hot topics; other topics included technology updates on revenue management, online distribution and related areas.

I feel it was an event worth attending as it provided excellent rapport building opportunities and first-hand information on how the industry is faring. These kind of events give that realistic feel and allow you to compare between analysts forecasts and actual scenario, and accordingly decide your next move forward.

Udai Singh Solanki is the CIO at RateTiger where he steers the development team, oversees organizational process and IT strategy. He also looks into Information Security and Management. Udai is passionate about innovation and keeps himself abreast on latest happenings by attending events and tradeshows. He is based in eRevMax’s technical development centre in Kolkata, India.

HSMAI Revenue Manager’s Luncheon

The Central Florida chapter of HSMAI organizes quarterly Luncheons for its members to meet and discuss the latest happenings in the field of revenue management over a hearty meal. On June 19, 2009 they hosted the Revenue Manager’s Luncheon at the Regal Sun Resort in Orlando.

The topic for the luncheon was “Market Conditions, Strategies, and New Technologies in Challenging times”.

Phil Stiles, Vice President of Sales, RateTiger, Daryl Cronk, Director of Research, Orlando/Orange County Conventions & Visitor’s Bureau and Debbie Morris, Founder and owner, Web Resource Management were invited for a panel discussion on the subject.

Phil describes his experience of the event, “The event was very productive as it allowed focused discussion on the ground realities of the hotel and travel market, specifically in Orlando. It was well attended and the presence of over 55 members, including Expedia and Travelocity signifies how relevant these sessions are to the industry.”

“HSMAI’s luncheon events are popular due to the fact that it allows meaningful networking with focused group of people and all involved benefit out of the process. RateTiger sponsored this event and I have to say it was worth it,’ concludes Phil.

RateTiger US Sales Manager Siobhain McArdle did a brief presentation on RateTiger products which was very well received by the attendees. Various queries came in after the event indicating how hoteliers are looking at technology more than ever to tide over the current scenario.

BHA Annual Luncheon 2009

The famed BHA Annual Luncheon is getting bigger and better. This year’s gathering took place at Grosvenor House, London on June 24, 2009. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson was invited as the guest of honor to share his views on tourism.

RateTiger’s Director of Sales Keith Povah and Sr. Sales Manager Sunaina Jagtiani attended the event with some prospective and current clients.

“The champagne reception provided great networking opportunities and an ideal platform for members to interact with some key industry people to understand their take on the current market scenario and get an insight on how they are mapping their road ahead,” said Keith Povah.

BHA Chief Executive Bob Cotton officially opened the event, attended by over 600 people, stressing the significant role that tourism and hospitality industry plays in the UK’s economy. He mentioned how the industry helps create jobs and brings revenue thereby assisting in the revival of the economy.

Before inviting Boris Johnson to address the audience, Bob stressed on the importance of the Government’s role in providing the right kind of environment and encouragement for the industry to operate successfully and grow.

Sunaina really enjoyed the Mayor’s speech and says, “Boris delivered a great speech focusing on current economic trends and its impact on tourism. He applauded the hospitality industry for the immense effort it has put in coping with the market and mentioned how despite the prevailing conditions, there are more hotels opening in London. He also touched upon the plans for 2012 London Olympics and urged greater investments in hospitality sector to ensure that London maximizes the benefits coming its way through this mega sporting event.”

Keith and Sunaina hosted some of the key hospitality members including Marketing magazine’s Travel & Tourism Specialist Alex Brownsell, Len Louis from Classic British, Paul Kay from Greene King Hotels, Stuart Bailey from Splendid Hotel Group, Ghislaine A. Oliver of Hotel Info Ltd., Colette Togus and Darren Kerr from Corus Hotels and Kieran Tobin from Destinations of the World (Europe) Ltd.

The audience represented a good mix of hotels, management companies and travel technology companies. The overall discussion was focused on the current economic trends, however hoteliers highlighted that the scenario was not as bad as they had expected.

HITEC 2009

Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition & Conference, HITEC, is today considered one of the world’s largest hospitality technology events. It took place from June 22-25, 2009 at the Anaheim Convention Center in California USA. RateTiger was represented by Sascha Hausmann, COO and Phil Stiles, VP of Sales.

As expected the attendance was lower than in previous years by around 35 to 45%. The main theme of the event was partnerships and product launches. Many travel technology companies announced partnerships and integrations to further help the industry offer seamless connectivity and better technologies.

At HITEC we announced our integration partnerships with Trust International and Micros as the travel industry moves towards automated online distribution. Seamless connectivity remains the priority for PMS / CRS companies and channel management is now used to supplement where XML seamless connectivity cannot be established technically or from a ROI perspective for existing key players.

A new addition to this year’s HITEC was the Roundtable session, one of which was hosted by RateTiger. Sascha led a discussion on – ‘Maximizing revenue during turbulent economic times: has seamless connectivity failed?’ He considers Roundtables to be a good concept which encouraged considerable knowledge exchange and he would like to see this becoming a regular feature at HITEC.

The Twitter discussion had the most successful roundtable attendance Digital and social media is what hotels are focusing on to get those ‘more-than-ever important’ travelers’ attention. So gear up people!

RateTiger also hosted a tutorial session on ‘Channel Management and the traditional reservation system’. Phil and Sascha had a good audience who understood the relevance of the topic and requested further information to make better buying decisions.

This year’s event turned out to be more of an exhibitor-meet-exhibitor show than a visitor-meet-exhibitor show. RateTiger did meet with some hoteliers and provided product demonstrations. Their feedback conveyed their trust in our brand and made us aware of the fact that RateTiger is identified as a company which innovates constantly and has relevant new tools to offer, which is what we continually aim for. HITEC rocks!

Web In Tourism, 2009

Italian magazine Job in Tourism organizes the Web in Tourism conference annually where leading experts from the industry are invited to discuss on the opportunities available in the e-space for the tourism industry. This year’s edition was held on 28 May 2009 in Milan.

RateTiger’s CEO and co-founder Andrew Morsi, being a well known figure in the Italian hospitality circuit, was invited as one of the guest speakers for the conference. The event was attended by over 300 hoteliers including general managers, revenue and sales managers, hotel owners among others.

The principal discussion topics included future of online tourism, importance of digital marketing and communication, reputation management strategies, brand website optimization etc. Mr. Andrew Morsi presented on the topic – ‘The next big evolution in Online Distribution’ which was received well by the audience.

Andrew emphasized the importance of having an online presence, specifically for hotels, as more people are referring to the internet while planning their holidays. People are using the web for user reviews, researching and, best rates etc. Hotels need to be competitive when providing rates and availability across various distribution channels to generate relevant bookings and maximize opportunities.

The event was worth attending and we look forward to future editions of the same.

See photos from the event.

InnPoints 1st Annual Worldwide Conference

We had the pleasure of participating in The InnPoints 1st Annual Worldwide Conference in Albuquerque, NM.

InnPoints is a client of RateTiger and they were eager to introduce our solutions to their entire client base. RateTiger was not only an exhibitor but I was invited to be a part of a business panel discussion.

The setting was unique in that there were less than 100 people in attendance but the attendees represented approximately 700 hotel properties. The opportunity to sit down in a “friendly” environment and discuss the specific business needs of individual hotels was very productive.

The demand for a demo of RateTiger’s solutions was so high that InnPoints allowed an unscheduled session with some of the hotels at the close of the panel discussion. The panel discussion was important as it allowed RateTiger to increase its online channel management education on how to survive in the present economic crisis. Everyone on the panel agreed that a channel management solution was a necessary component of a successful plan. RateTiger will definitely participate in next year’s InnPoints event.

Phil Stiles