RateTiger presents at HSMA’s Pricing & Distribution Day


Germany’s Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association (HSMA) hosted its annual “Pricing & Distribution Day” in Frankfurt recently. An audience of around 300, consisting for mostly hotel executives involved in distribution and revenue management, was keen to learn about the latest trends and strategies in their sphere of action.

In the light of rising distribution costs and the increasing feeling amongst hoteliers that they are no longer in control of their own rates, sales channels and products, the guiding theme of the event was how to find and apply the right balance between direct and third party distribution. Clever online marketing, a strengthening of direct distribution channels, Web 2.0 applications and mobile technologies were among the options discussed to lower the costs of distribution. Speakers included top managers from major hotel brands such as Accor and Best Western, HRS CEO Tobias Ragge, consultants and industry experts. Amongst the latter, Ragnar Strerath, Division President RTConnect at RateTiger, was invited to share his expertise.

His presentation titled – “Learning against helplessness – How hoteliers can rid themselves of feeling dependent on their distribution partners” – dealt with options to get back on eyelevel with OTAs and other sales channels. The key message: it needs both distribution management technology and market insight, none of these two will do the job alone. Ragnar explained which competencies are essential, these ranging from insight in the distribution landscape and its options and conditions, product development and placement skills to revenue management, online marketing and competitor analysis. But how can hoteliers obtain this knowledge? While technology can be bought – and Ragnar pointed out relevant features for channel managers and the most important questions to ask possible suppliers – the latter can be acquired in various ways: by training existent staff, by employing specialists, or by working with external experts.


Ragnar listed the pros and cons of each option: while in-house training takes time and hardly ever reaches the level of focused experts, it might also be too expensive for smaller hotels to employ a specialist. For these, consultants who help setting up a strategy and choose suitable technology can be a promising alternative, particularly if these consultants are largely paid per booking and consequently interested in the hotel’s success. Ragnar concluded with some statistics on Ramada’s performance, which has improved significantly since implementing RateTiger, quoting hotel’s Regional Director Markus Barth as testimonial.

The presentation was followed by an intense discussion, which showed that the speaker touched the needs of today’s hoteliers and that his insights were well received.

Jasmin Keller is PR Representative for the German speaking markets and is responsible for driving all PR activities for RateTiger and eRevMax brands in the region. Jasmin is based in Hamburg and can be reached at ratetiger@jasminkeller.com

ITB Berlin 2012

The travel industry was at centre stage at ITB Berlin – the world’s biggest travel trade show, and one of the best predictors of upcoming trends in the industry. 

With over 230 travel technology companies exhibiting and over 110,000 trade visitors attending, the technology halls were buzzing with activities. The industry is really embracing channel management and the travel technology revolution is at its full steam. I was glad to see that this is mostly being driven by opinionated bloggers and well read journalists who understand the relevance of technology in travel.

RateTiger had a corner stand, giving us enough room to accommodate our never ending stream of visitors. Most of the audience this year showed an increased level of awareness towards the key online distribution technologies and the critical role of an efficient sales channel management strategy as part of the Revenue Management process. 

Cristina Hernandez, Sales Manager, Germany saw a lot of discussion around HRS and the price-fixing issue in Germany. She says “This could spell a game-change for HRS which is expected to launch a new business model. While one of the largest OTA websites, HRS could easily fall victim to consumer and industry dissatisfaction with so many other channels vying for their market. The big question – what happens to rate parity? We will soon see how hoteliers themselves need to respond to this price-fixing ruling.”

On another end of the scale, Cristina Blaj, Sales Manager, UK witnessed discussions on voucher-sites – Groupon growing its travel offering – its marketing activity ramping up, and gaining a greater consumer foothold. However many discussed how damaging this is to revenue and profits. It is claimed that Groupon encourages return purchases at the normal rates following a significant promotional offer, yet the impact of Groupon on this is yet to be seen.

While my colleagues were busy understanding trends in their interest areas, I managed to get involved with discussions on marketing in revenue management, how it is today being forgotten and yet it is so much a part of the buying process. I believe it is important for hotels to have visibility and exposure across as many channels as possible, yet have a strong website for direct sales. Even Cornell University recently published a paper showing how listing on Expedia increases direct website visits. The idea is to have a good distribution mix and keep flexing the different websites while assessing volume to improve occupancy and revenue through different channels.

Overall, like every year, ITB had put up a great show, offering exhibitors and visitors what they came looking for. Check out our pictures from the event. I look forward to the Asian edition of the event in Singapore later this year. Cheers!


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

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

Hungary Hotel Association General Assembly


Earlier in November, I was in Budapest to attend the General Assembly of the Hungary Hotel Association. It turned out to be a great event with many hotels attending. The Association President election was also held on this occasion.

Sascha Hausmann, CEO, eRevMax International was present at the event and was invited to do a presentation on the ‘Evolution of Online Channel Management’. The session was very well received and there was a lot of interest among hoteliers to understand new technology trends in online distribution.


Other topics of discussion revolved around issues related to tourism in Hungary, need for better industry statistics and election of the new president. The event provided a good networking opportunity and the Gala Dinner was great.

Overall it was a nice platform to meet up industry partners and hoteliers in a professional setting. I look forward to the next edition.

Lilian Stjepanovic is Sales Manager – Eastern Europe at eRevMax and is responsible for sales of RateTiger products in the region. She can be reached at lilians@ratetiger.com

eRevMax Expands its Global Footprint in America, Africa & Asia


eRevMax International, a global software and services house, has announced further expansion of its brands RateTiger and SimpleDistribution. The company has opened sales offices and representations in Australia, South Africa, South America and China.

The new offices will strengthen eRevMax International’s global market leadership in the hospitality and travel industries while enabling the company to enter new markets in Asia Pacific and South America. This will help keeping up with the growing demand of its products as well as its commitment to customers to provide local presence and support.

The two lead product brands, RateTiger and SimpleDistribution, have positioned eRevMax International as a thought leader of online distribution and revenue management. The solutions offer channel management technology and services to enhance hotel’s sales capabilities that have been recognized with the European Seal of e-Excellence for the Marketing of Innovation for the last three years (2009, 2010 & 2011).

http://www.mydigitalfc.com/news/erevmax-buy-two-more-hospitality-tech-firms-738

http://orientalhospitality.com/erevmax-expands-its-global-footprint-in-asia-america-africa

http://www.htrends.com/article57011ERevMax_Expands_Its_Global_Footprint_in_Asia__America___Africa.html