Hotel Consultancy Services - Asset Managers

Boosting Hotel Revenue Using Right Strategies

Tue, 03 Nov 2020 02:57:16 -0800

The travel industry has been at the epicenter of the economic turmoil due to the travel restrictions and social distancing imposed due to COVID-19. While the coronavirus continues to impact travel globally, the good news is that the market is expected to recover in the latter part of the year and next year. Therefore, it is important for you to keep track of the industry forecasts and trends to work up a recovery strategy to boost your hotel revenue.

Here are a few strategies you can follow to boost your hotel revenue post-COVID-19:

1. Cater to a new marketing mix

Post-COVID-19, your audience is bound to display a change of behavior. Business travellers will probably be the first to travel, followed by single travellers. The last to travel would be families. Consider customer behavior patterns to come up with a strategy to effectively target them. Also, make sure you use your existing customer database for retargeting your old customers. And, while you are onto creating strategies to target these segments of travellers, make sure that your re-gear your communications to target the locals and domestic travellers too.

2. Adopt an AIl-driven hotel revenue management software

Hotel revenue management software is known to boost hotel revenue by measuring demand and dynamically pricing the rooms. While this remains a core function of the revenue management software, it is critically important now than ever before to enable and empower hoteliers with this technology to help them work smarter and more effectively. The revenue increase will follow.

Is flying the future for taxis?

Sun, 15 Jul 2018 06:37:03 -0700

I was recently Reading Hosteltur news about the German flying taxi project. In fact it is a joint venture of Airbus and Audi with the German Government support.

And I want to share my thoughts about this. Because this is an ambitious and futurist vision that could change our way of living in the cities. And also because it is not the first time I am reading about this topic. Flying taxis it today an image out of a futurist movie and it will turn into reality soon.

In example, this Audi flying machine has the approval from the German Government to test it in and around the city of Ingolstadt, the headquarters of Audi.

This project name is Pop.Up Next and it is an electrical flying vehicle. And it is not alone. Uber also presented at the beginning of this year their Uber Air Concept. They have the same idea than Audi, a prototype of flying vehicle that will serve as private transportation, meaning, the Uber of the future. Furthermore, Uber announced the take off of this service for year 2020. Yes, you are reading correctly, only in two years time. And I am asking myself, is this possible?.

At the same time, we learned about test and trials done with autonomous car with no driver. Those tests are not yet successful and have ended causing accidents with strong social response about ethics and regulations. Therefore, we are all still waiting for cars driving itself and taking us around. Stop driving looks to me as a wonderful dream. ¡What a waste of time and energy for a human!.

Larry Page, co-founder of Google has initiated another important project around this idea. Kitty Hawk, his society is testing flying cars since 2017. They are doing all trials in the region of Caterbury, in New Zealand. Its name is Cora and it is a sort of helicopter taking off and landing...Read More

PRUVO, on the consumer`s side

Tue, 20 Feb 2018 00:06:16 -0800

Pruvo is an online tool which promise to deliver cheaper hotel rates than already booked by travellers (if any available of course). It is simple, they propose the same hotel, the same type of room at a cheaper price.

So, today I am taking my time to analyse what they do and share it. In fact, Pruvo is an start-up presenting a real innovation to the market.

It is in fact, different from other online booking platforms or price comparators for hotel reservations. I mean, pages like Trivago, Tripadvisors, Kayak, Booking and others.

Pruvo.net is positioned as a solution to the traveller, after booking a hotel room. Meaning, after you booked, they start searching for a better rate than yours. They affirm this is a real solution to a "hotel booking problem". Ups, ¿so do we have a hotel booking problem?.

The company was born in 2016. With Israeli-Argentine origins. This is why the launch took place at the Israeli market itself. And now they plan to expand their business to LATAM: Argentina, Chile, México, Brasil and Colombia to start with. The founder and Vice-president of business development is Doron, Navidi. And this is how his platform differs from the rest of the market services. Other platforms are offering the cheapest deal before confirming the hotel booking. Pruvo is searching prices if they get discounted and after being booked. This application is using sophisticated algorithms to track hundreds of hotel bookings web pages to find better deals than the one you booked. This is how they notify customer so he can change his current booking to the new one at a better rate than before.

Pruvo team declares that 40% of users booking hotel rooms via a reservation platform, ends to find out a better deal after booking. And this is always related to the same room type and same...Read More

Airbnb en la distribución hotelera

Mon, 12 Feb 2018 07:50:36 -0800

Es la noticia-bomba del sector hotelero en este momento. La compañía Airbnb anunció a principios de este mes de Febrero, su entrada en la distribución hotelera. Este ha sido un paso en su evolución que algunos expertos venían anunciando. Por lo que esperamos no nos haya pillado a todos de sorpresa.

Así que he estado leyendo opiniones y artículos sobre esta entrada triunfal de Airbnb en hotelería para poder entenderlo mejor. Y ya hay tantos argumentos a favor, como en contra. Como todo lo que hace Airbnb, genera reacciones inmediatas.

AirBnb anuncia el lanzamiento de un nuevo modelo de distribución hotelera que podría revolucionar el sector. Esta noticia no debería sorprendernos porque esta empresa ya ha revolucionado el sector con buenas ideas de negocio anteriormente. La plataforma se lanza a reservar habitaciones de hotel. Para ello, acaban de firmar un acuerdo con SiteMinder para que algunos de sus establecimientos aparezcan en su web. De esta forma ¿pretende la compañía acercarse al sector hotelero?. Este sector que le ha recibido más bien con recelo.

Posiblemente así sea. Y también el gigante del alojamiento turístico en el mundo va a adquirir su cuota de mercado compitiendo con los otros grandes distribuidores como son Expedia, Hotels o Booking. Así como con los propios hoteleros que venden en directo sus habitaciones.

Y no estamos solos, porque ahí tenemos una línea aérea como Ryanair. Que también lanzó un servicio denominado RyanairRooms. Con pagina web conectada a canales hoteleros que intenta capturar reservas hoteleras con la promesa de un cupón descuento del 10% en tu próxima reserva.

SiteMinder se convierte por el momento, en la primera plataforma que gestiona canales a nivel internacional, aunque este acuerdo no...Read More

Asistentes de voz en hotelería: ¿la revolución del lujo hotelero?

Mon, 05 Feb 2018 02:51:25 -0800

Hoteleros, la revolución ya está en marcha. Aquí tenemos más tecnología para integrar a nuestros servicios. Y ahora en categoría lujo. ¿O no hemos considerado siempre el servicio de mayordomo o butler service como lujo?.Añadir texto de párrafo aquí.

Pues bien, el nuevo mayordomo se llama Alexa, es tecnológico y lo fabrica Amazon. Os cuento esto porque ayer leía un artículo de la web americana GeekWire, especializada en tecnología. Donde Taylor Soper, el autor y periodista geek de la publicación, cuenta su experiencia en el Hotel Wynn en Las Vegas. Porque se ha alojado en una suite equipada recientemente con Alexa, el nuevo dispositivo de “Smart-voice” de Amazon.

En mi artículo anterior, ¿Para cuándo el hotel del futuro?, ya me lo preguntaba yo. Los hoteleros iríamos a integrar en nuestros servicios dispositivos como éstos. Ya sea Alexa, fabricado y comercializado por Amazon o bien, sus competidores como el Google Home o el HomePod de Apple. Porque estos dispositivos ya están en casa. Si los consumidores están integrándolos en su vida cotidiana y queremos que en nuestros hoteles se “sientan como en casa”, tendremos que tenerlos en el hotel.

Por eso Taylor Soper cuenta su experiencia al llegar a una habitación en la que encuentra instalados 2 dispositivos. Junto a ellos unas simples instrucciones de cómo dar instrucciones a Alexa. Con esto bastó para que pudiera interactuar con su cuarto, imaginamos que tumbado desde su cama.

Es decir Alexa le permitió encender y apagar luces. Y lo primero que se me ocurre como ventaja es que finalmente podremos eliminar una serie de diseños de llaves de luz que terminan por ser complicadas de instalar y aún más, difíciles de utilizar por nuestros...Read More

El lobby social: la hotelería de nueva generación

Mon, 05 Feb 2018 02:20:26 -0800

Después de abrir las puertas de los restaurantes y bares al público en general. Y enseñar a los clientes que en los hoteles hacemos y servimos buena cocina . Le toca el turno al lobby. Sí, así es. El lobby, esa área común que tradicionalmente servía para entrar, pasar por recepción y caminar a tu cuarto. Sí esos espacios anodinos, que para los directores y las gobernantas generales es tan difícil decorar.

Pues me congratula ver que se ha terminado esa etapa del negocio hotelero. Porque ahora, las zonas comunes de los hoteles no sólo se abren al público, sino que se diseñan y construyen para eso. Son espacios para socializar dónde se están eliminando las barreras físicas, los tradicionales mostradores de recepción, conserjería y bar.

Los nuevos modelos de hotelería han entendido las necesidades de los viajeros de hoy. El viajero inteligente no quiere trabajar en su habitación, no quiere estar solo en su habitación y no quiere comer en su habitación. ¡La era de los servicios en la habitación ha terminado¡. ¡Aleluya¡.

Ahora los viajeros encuentran lugares amistosos y culturales donde trabajar, conectarse, leer, ver cine, televisión, beber, comer o hacer amigos. Este es sin duda el nacimiento de una nueva etapa en hotelería: el lobby social es un lounge colaborativo o sala llena de vida y actividad para entretenernos. Incluso marcas como los Red Lion Hotelsreactivan los espacios públicos incluyendo actuaciones musicales de artistas que son grabadas y difundidas en otros hoteles de la cadena.

Y con estos servicios los hoteles están además compitiendo con otros servicios similares de la ciudad. Porque este tipo de espacio es un lugar de trabajo perfecto, responde totalmente al negocio de un “co-working”. También al negocio de un internet-café. Si Starbucks rompió barreras...Read More

¿Para cuando el hotel del futuro?

Wed, 31 Jan 2018 03:38:46 -0800

¿Para cuando el hotel del futuro?.

Hoy me pregunto ¿desde cuando estamos imaginando el hotel del futuro?. Y no tengo clara la respuesta.

Puede ser desde que comprendimos lo que era el Internet de las Cosas o “Internet of Things” (IoT). Incluso mucho antes, estábamos imaginando el “Hotel del Futuro”.

Yo recuerdo cómo se presentó este concepto en muchos grupos hoteleros internacionales con la llegada de FourSquare en el año 2010, cuando la aplicación revolucionó el mundo de la tecnología. Pues bien, entonces empresas como el grupo hotelero IHG InterContinental Hotels Group diseñaron y presentaron un Hotel Crowne Plaza futurista en Foursquare. La novedad de este proyecto era incorporar cromoterapia, musicoterapia y domótica a un diseño muy futurista.

Desde que tuve la oportunidad de asistir a LeWeb 2012 organizada por Loic LeMeure en Londres, estoy oyendo hablar de este tema. En aquella altura, quedé fascinada por los avances que internet incorporaba al uso de los objetos cotidianos. Ya se habló en estas conferencias de coches auto-dirigidos. También de puertas, luces y electrodomésticos de casa que se abrían con una orden de voz a tu llegada. Entonces descubrimos los drones y muchos otros avances. Al mismo tiempo que UBER se presentaba como transporte oficial del evento y nos ofrecía a todos los participantes un descuento por usar sus servicios.

El mismo efecto tuvo en mí la Web Summit del año pasado en Lisboa, donde descubrimos el Hyperloop y cómo viajaremos en el futuro. Pero aún este año, me quedé esperando contenidos aplicados al viaje, la hotelería y el turismo. ¿Tal vez en la próxima edición de la Summit?.

En Lisboa, acaba de terminar la Web Summit 2017. Dónde ya estamos viendo robots que entablan conversaciones como, y con los humanos. Realidad...Read More

Why not matchmaking in hotel business?

Tue, 16 Jan 2018 06:54:20 -0800

It has been over a year now, that I was reading travel news, and got impressed about KLM taking one step further into dealing with its clients on social media. Last March 2016 they announced to all their customers around the globe that they could book, check-in, get their boarding pass and update flight status via Facebook Messenger. This was a great step forward for a company with a good customer focus.

This is an easier way of travelling no doubts. Also it is a friendly way of travelling. It is finally, an up-today way of communicating with clients.

But it was far ahead of this move than KLM was introducing their “In-Flight Matchmaker Service Meet and Seat”. A very innovative service for today`s travellers. I loved it!. Don`t you?.

This innovative service was planned for a 2012 launch. The idea was simple. You could link your social media profile at your check-in information. So you can choose your next seat partner by assessing similar likes and dislikes. Brief, you can look for someone like you in the flight. So you can have a great conversation and share things you have in common. Their slogan “Make your flight a journey of inspiration” seems to me so appropriate for travellers today.

How many times have you flight with the wrong partner next to you during hours?. Too many myself. What is better than meeting new people you like while travelling?. On the top of reading, I know. And if flying for business, who knows if you can seat next to a peer, a competitor or a new partner?.

Matchmaking is about allowing guests to build personal connections with the hotel Brand and between themselves. Hotels can also be an integrator of people. What can be more powerful tan building a network of hotel guests that are loyal to your services and attract more business.

Preparing hotels for new EU GDPR changes

Tue, 16 Jan 2018 04:41:50 -0800

As hotel industry is one of the highest volume of data collected.

There is no surprise then why our industry accounts for a high number of breaches. Unfortunately data is exposed to hacking and cyber criminals. Hoteliers had numerous incidents on the past years affecting even a large amount of hotels belonging to hotel groups.

It is true that hotels process and store often a very high volume of guest´s personal information and payment card transactions. Moreover this information reaches hotels from many different sources (booking systems, point of sales, internet sites, faxes, phone calls, emails, etc.). Furthermore, this info is also store in different places and formats.

We are now aware that on 25th May 2018 the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come in force. But, are we informed of main changes involved?. As this new regulation is definitely protecting more and more consumers, as it should be.

de párrafo aquí.

What hotels need to know about changes on this regulation?

First of all, it applies to any organization of the world (even if not located in Europe) that processes European Resident`s personal data or information. This information is technically called Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

Secondly, hotels should be aware that penalties would be more important than before. Any breaches of this law should be notified to GDPR representatives within 72 hours and if they are really serious they may incurred into penalties of up to 4% of the organization`s turn over.

So, what to do?. How to start hotel compliance with GDPR?

To start with, hotels need to define and state the objective for gathering data from their guests. As very soon, data will belongs to the guest, not to the...Read More

Why is Artificial Intelligence so important in hotels?

Tue, 16 Jan 2018 04:25:08 -0800

Artificial intelligence is about technology that brings solutions to society in general. The term stands for the performance of intelligent behaviours by computers or machines. In essence we can say it is about computers, robots or machines performing tasks that traditionally require cognitive function to carry out. It is associated to automation and big data.

So, allow me to start by saying, it is a world of opportunities for our hotel industry!. We live in a world where consumers are flooded with information and options. Hotels must find new ways to get and build customer loyalty. Traveller expectations are higher now including great personalization at every step of their travel. There is not doubt today; guests want to experience the same self-service alternatives at hotels than at the rest of aspects of their lives. So, artificial intelligence is here for us to improve constantly client´s experience at hotels.

Artificial Intelligence is also about big data. It is about finding out all about consumers and use comprehensive data management systems and procedures to meet the customer dreams.

I firmly believe it is the time for robots, learning machines and chatbots. All of them are ways of replicate human behaviour. In hotels for instance we are using robots on the welcoming at the main door or at the reception. And hotels can also use them as concierge services. This is the example of Hilton Hotels, creating “Connie”. It is a robot providing touristic information to customers who interact with it. It happened last year. Connie is able to interact, learn from humans and adapt to individual requests and needs. Meaning, more it speaks to humans, better it will perform its job. This is the first time a hotel is experimenting with robots.

There are already other self-service hospitality solutions...Read More