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PolyU Study Finds How Hotel Loyalty Programmes Can Boost Brand Relationship Quality
Well-designed hotel loyalty programmes can increase members' satisfaction and improve the quality of their relationships with the associated brands, according to Dr Ada Lo of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and her co-authors. In a recently published article the researchers highlight the loyalty programme features that are most effective for building brand relationship quality (BRQ), and how BRQ contributes to outcomes such as members' word of mouth recommendations and purchase intention.
Chinese Tourists Are Taking Over the Earth, One Selfie at a Time - bloomberg.com
One of the strongest drivers of global economic growth isn't factories or financial services or internet startups, it's what we do when we're not working. We are becoming a planet of tourists.
Can South Korea sustain a surge in tourism from the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics? Asks GlobalData
The Winter Olympics and the Olympic Games are two of the world's biggest sporting events and consequently attract large spectator and huge audience numbers from all over the globe. Airlines and hotels benefit from increased tourist flows – both international and domestic – to the city where the Games are held, and so the city of PyeongChang can expect more demand and hence higher prices.
Dusit International now accepts Alipay at its hotels and resorts in Thailand, offering more convenience for Chinese travellers
Dusit International, one of Thailand's foremost hotel and property development companies, has rolled out Alipay at its hotels and resorts in Thailand to cater to Chinese travellers who prefer to make quick and secure payments via mobile.
Experts to take the stage at the ITB China Conference 2018
Top Speakers from major travel companies, such as Ctrip, one of the biggest online travel agencies in China, as well as Google, Expedia Affiliate Network, VisitFinland, Wyndham Hotels, Tencent, Meituan, China Tourism Academy will provide exciting insights into their expanding markets in the conference of the second edition of ITB China (16 – 18 May 2018 in Shanghai). This think tank of Chinese travel, co-hosted by TravelDaily will provide up-to-date key insights of these seven areas: 'Destination', 'Travel Tech', 'Corporate Travel & MICE', 'Online Travel', and – for the first time – 'Unique Travel', 'Business Travel' and 'Education & Job'.
Oaks Hotels & Resorts caters to growing demand from international travellers with launch of new dedicated Chinese website
In a bid to meet the growing demand for self-contained, serviced accommodation from international markets, leading accommodation provider Oaks Hotels & Resorts has launched a brand new, dedicated Chinese website in time for the Chinese New Year.In 2017, visitors from China overtook those from New Zealand as Australia's biggest tourism market, with figures more than tripling over the past seven years*.Further to this, 6.16 million Chinese visitors travelled overseas during Chinese New Year 'Golden Week' in 2017, a seven per cent increase from the previous year, and is poised to break travel records again in 2018, reinforcing the need for hoteliers to offer dedicated Chinese services to cater to this burgeoning source market.To this end, Oaks Hotels & Resorts has gone live with its new Chinese website, providing Chinese travellers with an easy-to-use booking engine, exclusive promotions and source of travel inspiration to assist with holiday and business travel planning.To celebrate, the online platform will offer Chinese visitors a 20% discount on bookings made on Oaks Hotels & Resorts' Chinese website between 1st January and 1st February 2018, with no deposit required, a flexible 72 hour cancellation policy, and pay on arrival facilities, plus access to a range of thoughtful services and amenities as part of the hotelier's Chinese 'guì bīn' – or VIP – program.Launched earlier this year, Oaks Hotels & Resorts' 'guì bīn' program has proved successful since being introduced at select CBD and leisure properties across its network, enabling the hotelier to attract a new level of Chinese visitors who appreciate customary conveniences when travelling.The initiative has seen the implementation of UnionPay facilities at select hotels, the addition of traditional Asian meals at participating properties' in-house restaurants, access to 24 hour Wi-Fi, Chinese speaking staff, and the inclusion of dental kits and slippers in hotel rooms and apartments, all of which are motivating factors that can influence accommodation decisions.Terms and conditions apply, subject to availability; available at select properties in Australia and New Zealand only. Must book between 1st January and 1st February 2018.For more information and to book, visit http://www.minorhotels.com/en/oaks/*ABC News (online), Chinese poised to overtake Kiwis as Australia's biggest tourism market, 27 October 2017.
China is Expedia’s Achilles heel
With a projected compound annual growth rate in outbound journeys of 8% to 2020 and an even faster growing domestic market, Expedia needs to get a slice of the Chinese market but since its sale of eLong, the competition has only got stronger and it may be too late to make inroads according to EyeforTravel's new report into the company.
Fujita Kanko's Japan-Based Hotels Implement Multilingual AI Chatbot
Leading Japanese hotelier Fujita Kanko Inc. is implementing a multilingual chatbot that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to handle guest inquiries on the websites for some of its Japan-based properties that are attracting a growing number of international guests. Website visitors can use the chatbot in Japanese, English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, or Korean to receive 24/7 assistance. If the chatbot fails to answer any questions, human operators are available to provide assistance between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Japan time.
PolyU Study Urges Hotels to Engage the Facebook Generation
Hotels should make greater use of social media to evaluate their performance from the customer's perspective, according to Dr Bona Kim (Ph.D. graduate) and Dr Sam Kim of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and a co-researcher in a recently published study. Having analysed hundreds of online hotel reviews, the researchers identified the hotel features that customers find most satisfying and dissatisfying. Their results provide helpful suggestions for how hotel managers can make effective use of social media to monitor and respond to customers' positive and negative experiences.
Centara Hotels & Resorts sets out 5 year vision and strategy for growth
Following Centara's recent announcement that it had strengthened its management team by welcoming back seasoned industry professional Markland Blaiklock, in a newly formed role of Deputy CEO, the group has now released its significant expansion plans for the next five years.
Japan’s Hotel Okura Partners with Trinity Investments to Launch New Upscale Brand
Japan's Hotel Okura Co., Ltd. has come together with Trinity Investments, LLC, a Hawaii-based private real estate firm with much experience in the hospitality space, to create an exclusive joint venture called Nikko Style, an upscale select hotel brand that will soon be introduced throughout Japan.
Best Western Australasia Enters Economy Market, Launches SureStay in Australia & New Zealand
Best Western Australasia (BWA) today confirmed that SureStay, its new 'white label' economy hotel brand, is coming to Australia and New Zealand.Head of Commercial Steve Richards says fruitful discussions are under way with a number of hotels and anticipates the first property will go live in early 2018 with others to follow.Richards says Best Western sees the economy sector as a major network growth opportunity, especially across regional areas with a lot of competition but little brand differentiation."We estimate there are 2000 economy hotels across Australia and New Zealand and that 80% of them are unbranded independents," said Richards."These are the hoteliers who will benefit most by joining SureStay – it's a new brand with great values that we think has enormous potential for increasing visibility, credibility and bookings for independent economy hotels."He said to carry the 'SureStay Hotel by Best Western' brand hotels must be rated minimum 3.5 stars on TripAdvisor, offer guests good quality facilities and service, a continental breakfast and free wi-fi.In return, Richards said SureStay branded hotels will have marketing support, access to Best Western's preferred travel agent and corporate agreements, scale, and global distribution through numerous channels including bestwestern.com and the Global Distribution Systems."We are also targeting the corporate market with SureStay, giving guests the opportunity to earn or redeem Best Western Rewards points, which is a real point of difference in the economy sector," Richards said.SureStay was launched last year has now has 33 properties in the United States, Sweden and Thailand with another 44 in the pipeline.There are three brand tiers - SureStay Hotel by Best Western, SureStay Plus Hotel by Best Western and SureStay Collection by Best Western.Richards says BWA has decided to keep things simple from a brand management perspective and only bring entry-level SureStay Hotel by Best Western to Australia and New Zealand."We wanted to avoid any kind of confusion with our core brands, Best Western and Best Western Plus, where uniformly higher standards of facilities and service are required."
Hotel Okura and Trinity Investments Unveil Plans to Create NIKKO STYLE, a New Upscale Lifestyle Hotel Brand in Japan
Hotel Okura Co., Ltd. ("Okura"), a leading Japanese hospitality company, and Trinity Investments, LLC ("Trinity"), a Hawaii-based private real estate firm with an extensive background in hospitality, are pleased to announce an exclusive joint venture (the "Joint Venture") to create NIKKO STYLE, a fresh new upscale select service hotel brand that will be introduced throughout Japan.
Total Revenue Management
It is a fact that over the last years, we have seen a growing need for traditional revenue management (RM) to evolve from having sole emphasis in maximising revenue mainly from rooms, towards adopting a more holistic view and focusing on achieving profit maximisation across the whole organisation. The latest developments in technology and added pressure in the market have advanced RM to acquire a strategic and proactive planning role with emphasis in maximising all components of the customer journey, instead of being utilised as a short-term reactive solution. This gave birth to the idea of Total Revenue Management which should be implemented as a business philosophy and strategy as its principles take into account the entire operation. Total Revenue Management, (TRM), comprises both strategical and tactical procedures and aims to identify & optimise the customer journey. For this customer-focused role to be effective it is imperative to understand consumer behaviour and patterns before, during purchase as well as throughout the product utilisation in order to accurately identify and map demand forces with profit potential. TRM has remarkable potential and the main benefit of its application as a business strategy, is the formation of a mutual and clear vision that enables everyone to work towards adopting the right attitude and commercial approach while expanding knowledge and insights on factors that influence profit. Installing a Revenue culture, right from the start, is of outmost importance for successfully deploying TRM. A Revenue culture implies that all stakeholders have a common vision of what needs to be achieved, why, and how. By having a clear understanding of what the organisation stands for and the strategies & tactics used to reach set targets, it is easier to define standards of performance and establish expectations. Whilst not everyone will ultimately be responsible for achieving what is required, it is essential that relevant stakeholders will participate in the discussions and everyone is aware of decisions taken. This will improve cross-departmental communication, while having an overall view of the business will motivate and incite involvement that will give the team a sense of ownership. The implementation of a rigorous training program is mandatory to shape and instil the right mentality and guarantee a long term success. This will create an environment that celebrates opportunities, transparency and diversity. Moreover, the role of a Revenue Manager and its position in the organisational structure will need to be re-examined and expanded to include additional responsibilities. Beyond the analytical skills, the modern RM will also need to possess character traits such as impeccable communication, influential and leadership skills. As requirements will include focus on overall profitability, current metrics will need to be re-evaluated to reflect that. While RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Room) will still play an important role, TrevPAR (Total Revenue Per Available Room) will need to be established to measure overall performance, while GOPPAR (Gross Operating Profit Per Available Room) should be adopted to measure profit. Calculating GOPPAR could prove challenging as different organisations place different cost elements before or after GOP. Therefore, a universal re-positioning in financial statements will be required for the adoption of this fundamental metric. Furthermore, to increase benefits from a TRM system, it is vital to optimise the buying process and measure total spend, consider different type of customers, their purchasing power, needs and habits. For optimum results the process of segmenting customers will need to take into account the contribution of each segment in all revenue streams as well as the cost of sale. This will provide a detailed view and understanding of who the customers are while having the knowledge of which segment is more profitable, will offer a clear insight and enable the development of the Optimum Business mix. In fact, while examining only rooms may classify a segment secondary due to less booked revenue, the contribution in ancillary products combined with how they book can make it more profitable. To facilitate the above a seamless system that enables cross-departmental sharing of data will be a key element. While the benefits of technology are undeniable, the variety of systems used in different departments may present a challenge for implementing a TRM process. System integration is required to ensure that cross departmental data processing necessities are met and total spend can be accurately mapped. A seamless system will ensure constant communication between all outlets and provide with accurate, timely and complete information for successful optimisation while enabling and supporting better management forecasts. Additionally, to proactively RM the business not only by price point but also by cost of acquisition & contribution by revenue source, it is essential to understand the unconstrained market demand. Forecasting is an essential business-planning tool that allows a view of how business is likely to perform in the future and it determines the fine-tuning of long term strategies and the deployment of short term tactics. It is one of the building blocks of Revenue Management and offers a way to plot business activities so that future demand will be met. It involves the analysis of past booking and spending patterns combined with the current and future trading in order to project a detailed outlook and in a TRM system this needs to be performed not only by market segment but also by revenue stream. Moreover, knowledge of the market and the forces that drive competition is necessary as forecasts should not only be based upon what is happening within the establishment, but needs to include external factors that can influence demand as well as the perceived value of the product. Obviously, a forecast is only as reliable as the information on which it is based and therefore a well-designed system will incorporate all the required procedures to guarantee the quality of data collection. The accuracy of forecasts will determine key decisions on strategies to adopt for revenue maximisation throughout the organisation, while the ability to anticipate demand patterns and preference requirements will facilitate the design and availability of services and products. Optimisation, another key element, compliments the forecast outcome and is the ongoing process of controlling product availability and price to ensure revenue and profit growth. In a constantly changing market place, having a thorough understanding of booking patterns, lead times and cost of distribution will enable managing demand not only by price but also by cost of acquisition & contribution by revenue centre. With demand fluctuating, optimisation aims to highlight deviations from the strategies in place and suggests corrective measures. It takes into consideration the profit elements that influence performance in all revenue streams in order to decide potential reformulation of adopted strategies. Having the right revenue culture makes optimisation easier to implement as there will be times where a sacrifice in price will need to be made for a product in one department in order to secure a piece of business that has significant profit value in another. Looking at business displacement plays an important part in the optimisation process when deciding which pieces of business to consider or decline. The process of calculating displacement will need to include cost of sale, overall revenue contribution, contribution margins for different revenue centres, past performance over considered dates as well as forecast and external factors that might be influencing demand. When considering pricing it is important to keep in mind the perceived value for money and have a thorough view of the value themarket places on the product. To achieve this, it is essential to incorporate ranking and review scores in different sources as it can be a critical decision factor for potential customers. Even though the components emphasised in this article are by no means a definitive list for a TRM system they highlight some key focus areas. And while there are still challenges in the adoption of such a business practice it is an exciting time for Revenue management. Technological advances have led to systems with enormous potential for handling the complexities of managing revenue streams due to their abilities in advanced problem solving, reasoning and perception. This will elevate the role of RM and empower it to reach its full potential whilst allowing the whole organisation to benefit from its concepts. Written by: Nicholas Tsabourakis / Managing Director at Bespoke Revenue Managemnt Katia Savoca / Revenue & Capacity Manager at Europcar
By Katia Savoca and Nicholas Tsabourakis
Mr.Headbox Named As Southeast Asia And Australia Winner In “Project Aloft Star, Amplified By Mtv” Music Talent Discovery Competition
Kicking off the first finals of the Project Aloft Star, Amplified by MTV competition, cutting-edge Aloft® Hotels and global youth entertainment brand MTV crowned Mr.HeadBox as winner of the Southeast Asia and Australia cluster. Now in its fourth year, the competition identifies the hottest emerging music acts throughout three clusters spanning nine markets – Southeast Asia and Australia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Australia), South Korea, and Greater China (China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan). This year also proved to be the most successful edition, with over 1500 original song entries published, and more than 1.2M online votes cast. These figures represent an increase of 3x the number of submissions, and double the votes from 2016.
ITB Asia 2017 wraps up 10th anniversary with record highs
Asia's leading travel trade show, ITB Asia 2017 has completed its milestone anniversary event with record-breaking numbers. The tenth edition of ITB Asia came to a close today at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
ITB Asia 2017 kicks off highly-anticipated milestone event
Celebrating its 10th anniversary as Asia's Leading Travel Trade Show, ITB Asia 2017 has opened its doors today at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands.
China’s travel apps on a growth path
Chinese consumers are far more smartphone and app-focused as they research and book their travel than their Western counterparts, with 60.3% using their smartphone as their main research device, versus 30.4% who mainly use a desktop or laptop finds the research.
W Maldives Partners with Reebok Women Brand to Redefine Perfection with #PerfectNever Campaign
W Maldives partners with the famous Reebok Women sports brand to host prominent influencers from seven countries, to redefine the notion of perfection via #PerfectNever campaign.