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The Week, That Was – September 2018 Week 2

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!!

Philippine hotel chain solves distribution challenge with RateTiger and LiveOS

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.

https://bit.ly/2MqPyhi

Key challenges for today’s travel marketers

The marketing magic happens when you can turn a challenge into an opportunity. Stephen Taylor, Sojern’s SVP, shares how travel marketers today can do just that.

https://www.sojern.com/blog/challenges-for-todays-travel-marketers/

The impact of influencer marketing on the booking journey

Up until the digital revolution, traditional marketing and word-of-mouth were the only real ways to grow consumer awareness at a notable scale.

Digital word-of-mouth reaches millions more potential customers around the world more rapidly than ever before. This is where influencer marketing fits in.

https://www.phocuswire.com/influencer-marketing-booking-journey

TripAdvisor heralds landmark moment as fake reviews business is busted

TripAdvisor says that its investigators were tipped off by an Italian hospitality business which had received email promotions from a business called PromoSalento to boost its profile in exchange for a fee. Investigators then identified the people behind the fraudulent review service and confirmed that they had not only advertised fake reviews as a service but also tried to post fake reviews on the TripAdvisor site.

https://www.tnooz.com/article/tripadvisor-fake-reviews-jail/

How hoteliers navigate evolving distribution channels

As hoteliers navigate the different distribution channels available to them, their goal is to guide guests to the one that costs their companies the least.

During the “Distribution: A hotelier’s guide to channel surfing” session at t last month’s Hotel Data Conference, panelists explained their approaches to managing and lowering the cost of customer acquisition.

http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/290368/How-hoteliers-navigate-evolving-distribution-channels

Generating group business with hotel data is easier than you think

A well-executed group strategy, which answers the question, “What amount of group business, along with all other segments, constitutes the optimal mix for your hotel?” Of all the market segments that make up a hotel mix, group segments form the strongest foundation for most hotels’ pricing strategy.

https://www.traveldailymedia.com/hospitality/generating-group-business-with-hotel-data/

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

Thanks and have a good day!

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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!

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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!

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The Week, That Was – August 2018 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!!

Luxury hotel in Ghana recommends RateTiger for online distribution

The Royal Senchi Hotel & Resort, a luxury property in Ghana has recommended RateTiger for streamlining online distribution. The hotel has experienced significant improvement in their operational efficiency leveraging RateTiger’s cloud based channel manager and on-demand shopping tool.

https://goo.gl/m7LUN2 

Google says it’s time for travel marketers to rethink loyalty

Attitudinal loyalty relates to how loyal a traveler feels, and behavioral loyalty refers to how loyal a traveler acts.

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/travel-marketing-strategy/

Introducing RateTiger GDS – Your window to 600,000 travel agents worldwide.

Distribute your room and availability across various global distribution systems – Amadeus, Sabre & Travelport (Galileo & Worldspan) from RateTiger platform.

Contact us today- marketing@erevmax.com

 Chinese millennials’ travel expenditure increases by 80% YoY

Hotels.com research has revealed that Chinese millennials (born after 1990) are pushing the boundaries of international travel, increasing their expenditure in the past year by a staggering 80%. This is to fund social media-influenced trips full of edgy experiences, high-tech accommodation, exotic delicacies and taboo ticket-items.

https://www.traveldailymedia.com/chinese-millennials-expenditure-up-80/

 Privacy vs security: first fines reveal shift in data protection landscape

Over two months since ‘GDPR Day’, most organisations are still successfully processing personal data, but travel companies beware. With regulation now enforceable, consumers more empowered and security – a small part of GDPR – becoming an increasing focus, the Information Commissioner’s Office is keen to show it has teeth. Since May, several fines have been levied against companies making everything from annoying sales calls to not being rigorous with privacy and security.

https://goo.gl/FSfkhq 

How TripAdvisor changed travel

TripAdvisor used to promise its users a kind of escape, whether that be simply daydreaming over a vacation or actually booking one. Yet at a moment where such adages now seem horribly outdated, the future of TripAdvisor and similar enterprises seems less certain than it once did.

http://hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/how_tripadvisor_changed_travel

 Worldwide Distribution Trends for Meta Search Engines report from Fornova highlights direct booking challenges for hotels

Fornova, a leading provider of distribution intelligence and automation solutions to hotels, have released their first Meta Search Engines Distribution Trends report.The report analyses and highlights key challenges hotels face when participating on Meta Search Engines, and how their efforts compare when competing against their partner Online Travel Agents (OTAs) and other resellers online.

http://blog.fornova.com/worldwide-distribution-trends-for-meta-search-engines-report

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

Thanks and have a good day!

 

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The Week, That Was – April 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 partnerships, market performance and some general updates. Read on!!

eRevMax completes 2-way integration with Brazilian PMS provider Check-in
Interface to facilitate seamless real-time rate, availability and reservation data transfer between hotels and online sales channels

http://www.erevmax.com/ratetiger-news/ratetiger-news-archive/apr2018-erevmax-2way-integration-brazilian-pms.html

 The $28 billion opportunity for hotels
Ancillary bookings represent a significant opportunity for hotels to add revenue while increasing guest engagement. The airline industry adopted the practice of cross-selling and up-selling trip extras more than a decade ago with impactful results.  How can hotels do the same and best complete their guests’ travel experience by offering products beyond hotel rooms?

https://www.tnooz.com/article/the-28-billion-opportunity-for-hotels/

The Smart GM’s Checklist for Hotel Marketing

A smart, easy place for every GM to start is understanding the four traditional pillars of marketing that directly drive the success of your hotel.

https://www.hospitalitynet.org/opinion/4087765.html

Business travelers are eager to purchase more from hotels
Business travelers are more loyal than leisure travelers: 59% of business travelers belong to one or more hotel loyalty programs.
A new white paper commissioned by iSeatz, a technology company providing ancillary booking solutions, titled Business Traveler and their Demand for Ancillary Services, researched by Phocuswright, shows that business travelers are interested in purchasing more than just rooms from hotels.

http://hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/business_travelers_are_eager_to_purchase_more_from_hotels

European visitors to GCC to increase 17% by 2020Arrivals from Europe to the GCC will increase 17% over the period 2018 to 2020, driven by extra flights, routes, competitive fares, and the rising number of mid-market hotels throughout the region, according to the latest data published ahead of Arabian Travel Market 2018, which takes place at Dubai World Trade Centre from April 22-25.
https://www.eturbonews.com/181749/european-visitors-to-gcc-to-increase-17-by-2020

Meet us at
ATM Dubai, from 22 – 25 April 2018 to see how we can assist you – marketing@erevmax.com

Thanks and have a good day!

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BW Belgium Achieves 5% Revenue Growth in 2012

Hospitality Solutions has reported 5% growth in revenue for Best Western Belgium with a slight increase in direct online sales for the regional property portfolio. The Group which is using RTSuite in its 25 properties has achieved this growth by using RateTiger channel manager and pricing reports, to improve benchmarking and visibility of prices and packages across third party sales channels (OTAs), while systematically improving operational efficiencies for the revenue management team.

“By implementing a quality standard in strategy and technology we can homogenize the sales environment for hotels to make it easier for all staff members to understand. RateTiger, for example, will allow any member of staff to simply Close-Out the hotel across all sales channels should it become fully-booked. This control ensures we maintain good relationships with OTAs.” said Michael Thiry, Distribution Manager.
The key strategy for Hospitality Solutions was to draw reservations from OTAs towards the direct brand website of the member property. In 2012 OTAs achieved a minimum revenue increase of just 1.02%, compared to the 5% increase in overall revenue performance. 
    Full story on erevmax.com
     
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    HITEC 2012


    So the countdown begins… one more week to go and Baltimore will have Ryan C Haynes included in its list of tourist arrivals. And why just me? There will be thousands more who would be swarming the BWI Airport over the weekend to make it in time for the big hospitality technology show of the year – HITEC, starting 25th June 2012.

    I have a firm understanding that this is where deals are made and where the technology for the industry takes tip-toes, steps or leaps forward to meet the demands of the ever-changing hotel operation environment. I’m really interested to learn who the big players are, it’s not an event like the consumer shows, this is business, so interested to see what will happen?

    So what’s on offer? Well of course RateTiger will be there at booth 1716 speaking to the attendees, and I am there to meet the press.  After 5 very enjoyable years educating the journalists on channel management this is my time to say “Hello”, shake their hands, thank them and find out where we go next.

    The conference part of the show starts with various boot camps, educational sessions as well as CHAE and CHTP exams on Monday. Day 2 looks exciting with an interesting key note session by professional hacker Josh Klein, who will speak about ‘Self Defense in the New Media Age’ (a dose of this should come in handy!).  Day 3 includes the much talked about ‘Search, Mobile and Social media’, ‘Reinventing CRM and BI as Revenue Drivers’ and ‘Gleaning Business Intelligence from Social Media’. Given that RateTiger dabbles in all three offering relevant applications, we are very excited to hear what the speakers have to say.

    Still – seamless, two-way connectivity will be on the lips, as we continue the discussion to the next level looking deeper at simplifying the complexity of the “Push, Pull, Push, Pull models”. And we will be looking at how OTAs will be changing their sales model and the future role of social networks, Google and flash sales sites in hotel booking strategies.

    Other than this, there will definitely be a lot of networking and some nice evening dinners with the team. So, time for a few last minute preparations and then off I go. More when I am back. See you at HITEC.

    Ryan C Haynes is VP – Marketing Communications at eRevMax and is responsible for driving all PR and Marketing activities for RateTiger and eRevMax brands globally. Ryan is based out of London and can be reached at ryanh@ratetiger.com

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    Hotelympia 2012


    Hotelympia     is a product show catering to the needs of all departments and business units of a hotel, much different to the traditional revenue management, hotel technology and global travel trade shows we attend. Wandering among towels, cookers and dishwashers, key systems and tiles, I could see the focus of the attendees – goods that they could hold, while those in the technology space like RateTiger have to accept a more backseat.

    Our partners in HOSPA were there with a business area next to the small presentation section where I sat to listen to Mastering Digital Channels to Maximize Revenue. Although this really only touched on the very basics without looking at real revenue growth and opportunities of assessing data, bookings, production and traffic – it did identify some of the key points if seeking direct sales.

    Direct sales however is a very expensive business, and either you need to have a very innovative proposition or a very strong customer database and loyalty programme. To try to achieve direct sales fresh without integrating a full channel and social media strategy will certainly leave you out in the cold.

    However the presenter looked on at the basics – it’s no longer interruption marketing but conversational (no longer placement adverts but social media). The marketer needs to Attract, Engage, Convert, Retain. The presentation highlighted the task list for direct marketing – Online advertising, Articles/blogs/Online PR, Link Building, PPC, SEO, social media, and e-marketing offering tips on how to best manage these. Although it was a pity there were no real life case studies looking at how this has been fully achieved by a hotel and how much business it really represents. Direct sales will always be expensive unless there is something really innovative you offer the traveler.

    Overall Hotelympia is great for hotel managers – just not worth it for Revenue and Sales managers.

    Ryan Haynes is the VP – Marketing Communications at eRevMax and is responsible for driving all PR and Marketing activities of RateTiger and eRevMax brands globally. Ryan is based out of London and can be reached at ryanh@ratetiger.com

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    Newshound: Trends and Reports – Hotel Online Distribution

    Sydney flat, Perth hot and Cairns in trouble – STR Report

    The latest STR Global statistics for the six months to June 2011 reveal that Sydney remains flat, Perth is the hot market and Cairns is in trouble as a strong Australian Dollar continues to significantly affect the hotel industry.
    http://www.hotelmanagement.com.au/2011/07/18/anzphic-sydney-flat-perth-hot-and-cairns-in-trouble/
    Abu Dhabi hotels continue strong performance
    Abu Dhabi’s hotels and hotel apartments continued their strong performance in the first five months of this year with increases in guest numbers, guest nights, occupancy, revenue and length-of-stay, according to the latest figures released by Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA).
    http://www.hotelmanagement.com.au/2011/07/04/abu-dhabi-hotels-continue-strong-performance/
    Hotwire Reveals Hotel Rate Report for July 2011
    Hotwire.com®, a leading discount travel site, today announced the results of the July 2011 Hotwire® Hotel Rate Report. The report features the top five cities in North America where hotel rates have dropped the most and the top five cities where rates have experienced the biggest price increases. While one report guides customers to the destinations that will maximize their travel dollars, the other highlights places where using Hotwire to save money is even more essential.
    http://ahla.hsyndicate.com/news/4052199.html
    3 keys to revenue management success
    Demand is back and so is rate. STR reported an increase in all three key performance metrics for the first quarter of 2011: “The industry’s occupancy increased 5.7 percent to 54.9 percent, average daily rate rose 3.1 percent to US$99.37, and revenue per available room was up 9.0 percent to US$54.56.”
    http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/5981/3-keys-to-revenue-management-success
    OTA debate stresses better channel management
    What’s the topic that never ceases to pack a room or stir up emotion? The role of online travel agencies in hotel room distribution. Such was the case during a breakout session Tuesday at the New York University International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference that aimed to address the influence and implications of these intermediaries. But at the (literal) end of the day, panelists agreed that it has always been up to the hotel owner to choose how to get business.
    http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles.aspx/5702/OTA-debate-stresses-better-channel-management

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    Hoteliers ‘up their game’ through SimpleDistribution

    Australian hoteliers can now improve the management of online bookings and better target global travel markets with the arrival of integrated rate shopping, channel management and hotel and flight booking engine provider SimpleDistribution.

    SimpleDistribution will remove the complexities of selling online and enhance visibility, exposure and revenue from the Internet. Before processing rate and availability updates, hotels can price shop theirs and competitors’ rates to assess optimal product prices for excellent positions across Online Travel Agents. The web-based channel manager simultaneously and in real-time updates the hotel’s selected multiple sales channels and roomtypes with rates, restrictions and room availability.