As IHG Hotels & Resorts (IHG) marks its 50th anniversary in Greater China and celebrates its milestone of 800 open hotels, the group officially launched its first major event of the year — “Let’s make travel easy” 2025 IHG Greater China Expo in Shenzhen, Beijing, and Shanghai. It empowers business travel by focusing on collaboration, digital empowerment, and mutual growth.
IHG Hotels & Resorts (IHG), one of the world’s leading hospitality companies, is proud to announce its sponsorship of World Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai and the UK Pavilion – a partnership that highlights its commitment to growth across Japan and Asia Pacific.
Traditional SEO is not dead, but traditional search is! Consumers simply do not search as they did 10 or 15 years ago. Social search is now a big component of the customer journey: from TikTok to YouTube to Instagram, the platforms are diverse and usage greatly vary depending on age and traveler habits.
In spite of all the buzz around genAI, the AI Search market share today is estimated around 6% of the total search market, and estimated to go up to 14% by 2028 (Search Engine Land). Google's own Gemini AI has already been made available to Google's 84 billion monthly users - compare this to ChatGPT's 121 million users!
I don't believe that SEO is dead. I am of the view that the role of SEO is going to develop in alignment with the evolution of search. After all, it doesn't resemble the way it began with the incumbent approach. The challenge remains how to be found.
We can hope regulators will someday "reimagine" policies to enable innovation, but let's face it: this is entirely beyond the industry's control. Expecting governments to grasp the complexities of hotel tech is like waiting for a no-show guest to miraculously fill your occupancy gap.
Technical fragmentation has long been a challenge in all aspects of hospitality. Some of this is a reality. Some of it is by choice and driven from vendor marketing propoganda about 'Best of Breed'. The reality is that to overcome this general challenge in industry, consolidation and unification is required.
Website analytics in isolation from the rest of the hotel tech stack has lost its importance. Combined with the property's CRM, RMS, a personalization engine and the rest of the tech stack, it is priceless and impacts many revenue-generation functions: Revenue Management: The website browsing behavior, booking engine denials, time spent on web pages of various packages, offers and hotel amenities are important data signals for the RMS and property pricing strategies.
Marriott Hotels, part of Marriott Bonvoy’s global portfolio of more than 30 extraordinary hotel brands, recently launched the "Wonderful Hospitality For Your Heartfelt Smile" brand campaign in Greater China. The campaign kicks off with five engaging videos starring popular Chinese comedians Yan Peilun, Zhang Youwei, Liu Yang, and Zhu Meiji, who shine a bright spotlight on Marriott’s signature hospitality through the delightful lens of comedy and laughter. The five campaign videos capture everyday moments at Marriott Hotels, from the front office associates who anticipate guest needs to exceptional, in-house dining experiences crafted with passion and care.
2024 has been a standout year for Indian hoteliers, with positive sentiments expressed by survey respondents across all major economic metrics. Twothirds of Indian accommodations reported good or very good business performance over the past six months, reflecting a substantial improvement from 2023 when the Barometer survey was first conducted. In comparison, only half of accommodations expressed similar optimism last year.
To give Aussies the ultimate festive experience, the team at KitKat is offering the chance to have a break in the IRL KitKat Christmas Cabin in partnership with Booking.com.
The short answer is no.
The threat by the genAI search engines has to be taken seriously and this is exactly what Google is doing. First, Gemini AI and its latest version Gemini 1.5-pro-002 is comparable to OpenAI's GPT-4o and better in more complex tasks like coding and problem-solving.
It's an interesting situation. Those who've always had the information and also the commerce. Versus those that have started with the information retasked to be more informative. But not yet the commerce. My view is that the more informative information coupled with commerce will prove out in the end.
Organised by the Singapore Hotel Association (SHA) and supported by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) as well as Workforce Singapore (WSG), the inaugural Hospitality Exchange held on 3 October 2024 at Hilton Singapore Orchard was a resounding success. The Guest of Honour for the event was Mr Olivier Lim, Chairman of STB.
Duetto, the world’s leading revenue management software provider for the hospitality industry, is proud to announce its further expansion into North Asia. This strategic move aligns with Duetto's goal to bring revenue optimization excellence to more markets, helping businesses maximize their profitability and deliver exceptional guest experiences.
India's festive season, marked by vibrant cultural celebrations, weddings, and long holidays, presents a significant opportunity for the hospitality industry to boost its revenue and enhance its brand image. The period from October to December sees a surge in domestic travel, family gatherings, and celebrations, making it a crucial time for hotels, resorts, and other hospitality ventures to position themselves for success.
Homegrown hotel brand, Vibe Hotels, is celebrating a milestone 21st birthday today, marking more than two decades of connecting people, places and creating memorable stays across Australia.
Dusit International, one of Thailand’s leading hotel and property development companies, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Saigontourist Group, one of Vietnam’s largest multi-service travel corporations, to drive tourism development in Thailand and Vietnam through strategic promotions, enhanced services, and the creation of innovative tourism products.
The World Travel and Tourism (WTTC) today announced its full stellar line-up for its 24th Global Summit in Perth, Western Australia (8-10 Oct), with 68th U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and conservationist and TV personality Robert Irwin set to take to the stage.
"Career" has taken on a new meaning for young professionals today. A 2022 McKinsey report highlighted that young people now prioritize well-being and job compatibility, seeking roles that align with their values. For them, a “successful career path” goes beyond earning money – it’s about personal growth, positive experiences, and joy in life. This shift has made working abroad increasingly appealing for young people in Vietnam. But can they find these opportunities in international workplaces, especially in the service industry? While many may view manual labor or contract work as the quickest route to working abroad, there are far more rewarding career paths to explore.
Search based ads are going to change, a lot. They're great for bottom of the funnel marketing. The low hanging fruit. But they're not great for discovery. However with AI there's a possible mix of intent and discovery which could be the most powerful of both world.
These are interesting times, indeed, when it comes to search. Specially when it comes to itineraries and travel recommendations suggested by GenAI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Claude. Traditionnally, when you asked Google for accommodations in New York City, you would get a listing with a bunch of hotels, and you'd have to use filters in order to get anything interesting.
Perplexity's shift to CPM is validating for luxury and lifestyle hospitality marketers. Attribution broke long ago for high-consideration, high-value travel purchases like hotels, resorts, and cruises. 7-14 day click windows work for a $20 t-shirt (no dependencies), not a $1,000/night hotel room (plenty of dependencies like booking flights, etc.).
IHG Hotels & Resorts, one of the world’s largest and leading hotel companies, today announces a major partnership with SXSW Sydney 2024. As an Official Partner of SXSW Sydney, IHG Hotels & Resorts will deliver a series of experiences set to delight and disrupt, including the launch of an interactive, experiential activation, ‘The Mind Lobby,’ and comes onboard as the Official Partner of the SXSW Sydney Screen Festival 2024.
Phuket Hotels Association, the non-profit organisation of hoteliers focused on creating a positive future for Phuket, and C9 Hotelworks, the award-winning hospitality consultancy, have confirmed the final line-up of speakers and moderators for this year’s edition of “Mind the Gap: Women & Diversity in Hospitality”, including some of the industry’s most inspiring female executives, entrepreneurs and diversity leaders.
Today's consumers expect online experiences comparable to top-tier eCommerce brands. The guest's first touchpoint with the hotel is almost always the website, and too often hoteliers overlook this digital real estate. Getting users to book direct requires a few different things: the website needs to provide relevant information and value, inspire trust and credibility, and reduce friction during the process.