Hospitality Industry
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The Growing Disparity between Guest experiences at Home and in Hotels
Do I need to provide a statistic to show how digitalization accelerated during and after the pandemic? Consider your own smartphone usage and the number of tasks you completed on it before and after the pandemic.So this is what your guests have become accustomed to.👉🏼 They can order food from the comfort of their own homes by using an app.👉🏼 Users can use shopping apps to order almost any product and have it delivered to their home.👉🏼 They have instant access to any type of entertainment.👉🏼 The majority of apps learn about the user and provide personalized recommendations.👉🏼 Their friends, as well as Google, Alexa, and Siri, respond immediately to…
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Guest Messaging is the New Review Response
Although messaging is common in the vacation rental industry, hotels do not take it as seriously. There are hotels that make sure to respond to all reviews, but many questions from various platforms go unanswered. This is a huge missed opportunity. You receive messages from: Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram Google Maps/ Business Profile Line, Whatsapp, WeChat, and other instant messaging apps OTA extranets Your website or app All of these will assist you in: Solving guest doubts Generate leads Upsell Cross sell Reduce the number of cancellations Convert them to direct customers Fine-tune the content on your website, OTAs and booking engine I've already…
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What distinguishes top revenue managers?
Revenue management is an important part of a larger commercial strategy that I helped to manage. I've interviewed and trained dozens of revenue executives in digital and CRM strategies. More than half of the distribution/e-commerce managers I hired are now in senior revenue positions across the region. Here is what the best and brightest have in common.They are aware that it is 20% numbers and 80% people. They dedicate more time to training, lobbying, persuading, and learning from various stakeholders.They know that the revenue management system will do most of the hard work, but the systems may not handle major shifts in strategies and trends. The system must be constantly…
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Rate reduction is not always a bad idea. Please hear me out.
It's fashionable to say, "Once you dump your rates, it'll take months or years to get them back up." Senior executives don't want hotels to play the volume game, and for many owners, a high rate level is a source of pride. Whatever the reasons for this attitude, I've seen it play out in ugly ways at hotels.They artificially raise online prices while selling super low rates to offline agents and groups. I've also been asked about ways to secretly discount OTAs without affecting public rates. Even properties under global chains are not immune to this.1️⃣ I've seen too many hotels keep their prices high, especially in the most visible…
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Five simple ways to boost your hotel’s OTA revenue
Not ranking, but conversion rate - you don't have to be on page one. Improve your conversion rate regardless of which page you are on. Leverage geographic strengths - for example, Booking excels in Europe and the Middle East, whereas Agoda excels in Asia. Expedia is best positioned to bring in business from the United States. Take advantage of this. Room types by channel - for example, Booking outperforms Agoda in driving higher room category bookings. Expedia falls somewhere in the middle. Make up for the cancellation rate - for example, Booking has the highest cancellation rate of all. More than half of all bookings are canceled. Try to get…
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Key learnings from managing high-performing teams
Prior to the pandemic, I managed a team of 25 at the corporate level, with close to 50 team members on the ground in 8 countries with a dotted line to me. My corporate team members had an average tenure of nearly 8 years.This is what I discovered:Inspiration: They are inspired because they want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Our team's goal was to be the best E-Commerce/Digital operation in the hospitality industry across APAC.Expectations: They must be completely clear about their role, goals, and what I expect from them. If things change, they have a say in which direction they go.Safety net: They thrive when…
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What do the best E-Commerce/Distribution Managers have in common?
Over the last 15 years, I've had the pleasure of interviewing, training, and mentoring dozens of E-Commerce/Distribution Managers. The best of the best all had these qualities in common.✅ They understand their annual targets and keep track of them by breaking them down into quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily objectives. ✅ They raise issues such as pricing, conversion rates, parity, price difference with wholesale, and segment shift during revenue and other meetings. ✅ Based on performance data, they constantly tweak their packages, offers, add-ons, and upsell items. ✅ They keep in touch with the market managers of OTAs, but they also know what they can't do.✅ They understand how algorithms affect page views,…
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The ten things I will never understand about hotel budget practices
Being in the digital transformation business, having an outsider perspective on the hospitality industry I serve has always helped me. That's why I don't understand the following.🤔 Regardless of the opportunities or pitfalls in the coming year, the previous year remains a benchmark.🤔 After the initial submission, owners or corporate/regional offices always want more revenue.🤔 GMs are aware of this and will submit a version with a buffer built in for the next submission.🤔 Dumping everything in the retail segment or high and peak season when there is pressure to achieve more.🤔 OTA commission costs can go over budget, but digital marketing costs cannot.🤔 Even though it can save on…
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How does Hick’s Law apply to hotel distribution and marketing?
Hick's Law is a simple idea that says that the more choices you present your users with, the longer it will take them to reach a decision. Although I have always struggled with it, I have never stopped advocating for simplicity and fewer options when presenting options for our hotel guests to book. You can also interpret the time scale differently. The longer it takes for your website, booking engine, or app to load, the lower their conversion rates. One more way for hoteliers to look at this law is in the context of wait times in front offices, restaurants, and for guest service requests, as well as the number…
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Does your hotel need an app?
For most hotels, the answer is still “No". It's time to skip, move on, and browse away!However, if you're interested in how guest behavior has changed as a result of the pandemic, what hotel apps can do these days, whether they can drive revenue, and whether they're a good fit for your property, keep reading.Let us begin with the guest behavioral changes hastened by the pandemic.They can use an app to order food from the comfort of their own homes.Shopping apps allow users to order almost any product and have it delivered to their home.They have access to any type of entertainment on demand.Most apps learn about the user and…