The goal of OTA1s has always been a one stop shop. Whatever ChatGPT-based travel planning toolkits they will have access to - Brand.com will also have, so the question is as it always has been, how to get Brand.com to stand out and entice guests enough to book directly. AI can have its shining moment here as well.
AI can certainly do a lot of things and holds great promises at various levels in business and tourism. But let's not kid ourselves - OTAs are way ahead of the game not only in providing great platforms to book on - UX, imagery, etc.
I spoke at a conference in Norway last week and had the privilege of attending a keynote by Terry Jones. He said something that really resonated with me: "AI is the new UI." In traditional UI, the focus is primarily on how users interact with a system.
IDeaS, a SAS company, the world’s leading provider of hotel revenue management software and services, announced today that Summerstar Tourist Parks has adopted the IDeaS’ G3 Revenue Management System (RMS) across fourteen of its Australian-based caravan and holiday park sites.
On the occasion of the International Housekeepers Week (10th – 16th Sept), Hilton India today announced #YouAreTheSparkleAndShine, a heartwarming digital campaign and a first-of-its-kind initiative aimed at shining the well-deserved spotlight on the tireless efforts of the housekeeping teams in the hospitality industry, marking the first time that the industry’s housekeeping heroes are being celebrated with a dedicated digital campaign.
Australians will now be able to earn more than just endorphins after a workout when travelling, with leading fitness brand, Peloton, and Australia’s largest hotel operator, Accor, announcing a new partnership today.
In a groundbreaking move that is likely to reshape the Indian hospitality landscape, Cozzet Hotels & Resorts has proudly unveiled its latest venture: the “ Cozzet Collection”. Cozzet Hotels & Resorts is affiliated with Cygnett Hotels & Resorts. The objective is to support small and medium-sized unbranded hotel owners and help them improve their technology, marketing, and business know-how. The economy hotel and resort segment is the fastest-growing sector amidst the broader hospitality sector, however, budget hotels do not have access to the latest technology and business solutions.
Do the OTAs generate demand in hospitality? Absolutely. But are they the biggest driver in the decision-making process? That would be a different question altogether...
In my view, people who claim that the OTAs generate travel demand completely ignore the complexity of the Digital Customer Journey and its five phases Dreaming, Planning, Booking, Experiencing and Sharing/Retention. According to them, the customer Journey consists of a very simplistic "cast the hook" (marketing) and "catch the fish" (booking).
In May 2023, during their annual Expedia Connect event in Seattle, Expedia shared recent insights from this latest "Path to purchase" report, due for publication this summer. At the inspiration stage, for example, we see that OTAs are NOT the main online source.
IDeaS, a SAS company, the world’s leading provider of hotel revenue management software and services, announced today that Iconic Hotels by Geocon has adopted IDeaS Revenue Management System (RMS) across five of its Australian-based properties to automate daily pricing tasks and drive Average Daily Rate (ADR) performance.
PHIST (Phuket Hotels for Islands Sustaining Tourism), Southeast Asia’s biggest sustainability event for the travel and hospitality industries, is back with a bang this September with an energizing full-day forum headlined by one of the region’s most inspiring leaders: KP Ho, the founder of Banyan Tree Group and pioneer of Laguna Phuket.
He will be joined in a Double Bill by community advocate, artist and “maximalist” hotel designer, Bill Bensley, who will be interviewed by PHIST organizer Bill Barnett. KP Ho will be interviewed by David Johnson of Delivering Asia Communications.
Accor, the largest hotel operator in Australia and New Zealand, hosted its first ever Pacific Leaders EMPOWERED Conference and Awards with more than 400 general managers and senior leaders from Accor attending from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, French Polynesia, and across the world.
Australia is a land like no other. Renowned for its breathtaking beaches, vast landscapes, fascinating wildlife and cosmopolitan cities, Australia is a gem of the Asia-Pacific (APAC) tourism market and a dream destination for travelers around the globe. We take a look at what makes the Australian tourism sector so unique, and how online travel agencies (OTAs) do their part to help support local hospitality entrepreneurs big and small. A land down under Australia occupies a special place in the hearts and minds of travelers. If you want evidence of its enduring popularity, just look at the numbers. Australia generated AU$122 billion in tourism revenue in the 2018–19 fiscal year (the benchmark year for the travel industry before the coronavirus pandemic struck). Almost 10 million international visitors traveled to Australia from 2018 to 2019 and they spent AU$44.6 billion, a 5% increase on the previous year. 44% of visitor spend was in regional areas, and regional tourism accounted for over 4% of GDP and 8% of regional employment. The Australian travel and tourism sector is diverse, but there are two key features that define it: seasonality and domestic travel. Australia is one of the biggest tourism markets in the southern hemisphere and an important winter sun destination for those living in the Global North. The summer months, unsurprisingly, attract the most visitors; over 2.7 million international travelers touched down in Australia from December 2018 to February 2019. Of the top six countries of origin for international visitors to Australia, four are in the northern hemisphere. “Australian travel is largely concentrated around school holidays. British holidays in September really help us stay occupied during low season for Australians.” (Source: EY Parthenon OTA Impact Report APAC 2021) A key pillar of the travel economy in Australia is domestic tourism. Three quarters of total tourism spend comes from domestic travelers who make an average of five trips a year. Australians are consummate travelers and clearly enthusiastic about the diversity in their country — in 2019, they spent over AU$80 billion on overnight trips and a further AU$26 billion on day trips. Supporting Australian tourism Research from Oxford Economics finds that, in 2019, OTAs generated AU$1.6 billion in incremental GDP and helped create around 12,000 incremental jobs. How does that happen? As trusted intermediaries, digital platforms like Booking.com provide transparency, convenience and choice for consumers. This, in turn, expands the market as more people book stays in a destination, more stays equals more room nights booked, and more room nights booked generates more money and supports more jobs. On average, online platforms helped providers generate 4.1 additional room nights, which equals 4 million heads on Australian beds. Accommodation managers had this to say about working with OTAs: “The biggest advantage of working with OTAs is that our property is having visibility all over the world. When people search for our location on OTAs, we are one of the first properties to show up. This has really benefited us.” Small accommodation provider at tourist destination, Australia (Source: EY Parthenon OTA Impact Report APAC 2021) While it may feel like a very common experience — to book accommodation on a digital platform like Booking.com — actually only 18% of the 259 million nights sold by Australian accommodations in 2019 were processed through OTAs. Perhaps one of the key ways OTAs affect consumer choice is the competition it introduces to other channels of booking accommodation. Ultimately, this improves affordability of travel and helps consumers discover smaller, regional accommodations, who may not have the budgets to market in competition with the larger chains. Guests are more strongly oriented towards small & independent accommodations when booking through online platforms — 67% of sales in 2019 went to these providers compared to 49% in the whole market. Sustainability agenda in travel One of the most notable developments that OTAs, travelers, and hoteliers alike have come to recognize is the importance of preserving our environment. Our research shows that the majority of people want to travel sustainably in the next year. Globally, travelers are becoming agents of change by taking their sustainable habits abroad and Australian travelers are leading the charge. 70% of Australians reuse the same towel, 65% use their own water bottle and 46% shop at local, independent stores (compared to global averages of 60%, 55% and 43% respectively). Travelers want to be sustainable but they’re increasingly concerned about the cost of doing so — over half (58%) are worried about the cost of sustainable travel options. And yet, just over a third (36%) said that they would be willing to pay more for certified sustainable options. Consumers are caught in a balancing act between traveling sustainably and managing their costs. When it comes to the sustainability agenda, Australian tourism authorities, hospitality entrepreneurs, and other players in the ecosystem are not sitting idly by. They are placing sustainability at the heart of the industry. Australia ranks 7th in the world for sustainable and resilient tourism and sustainability is a crucial pillar of the country’s national tourism strategy. This approach mirrors our view that sustainable practices are an investment in the future of travel, and demonstrates that both travelers and providers can be changemakers. In it for the long haul Among many OTAs operating in Australia, Booking.com provides tourists with the freedom to choose from a wide range of options, while offering peace of mind and affordable room rates. Meanwhile, independent accommodations remain competitive and benefit from tailored marketing and distribution resources for a small fee, without any risk or upfront costs. By serving as trustworthy intermediaries, digital platforms are helping Australian accommodations rebound from the 3 years of travel restrictions and forge a special bond between global travelers and hospitality businesses who host them. Australia is a unique destination in the Asia Pacific travel and tourism market. From the tropical paradise of Queensland to the epic landscapes of the Outback, from the cosmopolitan hubs of Sydney and Melbourne to boutique stays in a myriad of different locales, Australia really has it all.
IDeaS, a SAS company, the world’s leading provider of hospitality revenue management software and services, has announced that Garden Hotel Suzhou has deployed IDeaS’ Revenue Management System (RMS) with significant success, increasing RevPAR over the period January to May 2023 by more than 30 percent of pre-COVID levels. As part of the initial phase of the project, IDeaS Consulting worked with relevant hotel staff to build a revenue culture within the hotel. The team also provided in-person guidance and training, including establishing a revenue management roadmap highlighting challenges and opportunities, developing internal processes and procedures, and creating monitoring tools to benchmark revenue performance.
Order pizza from your local restaurant and you'll likely tip on delivery. Use a food delivery service and you'll be given the choice to tip when ordering or on delivery. These examples cement a social norm: as a consumer, you have the choice to recognise - and reward - the service a person has provided to you.
No. They shouldn't. Tips are things we pay to a person who has helped us. In Europe it is to someone who has helped us beyond the usual. In the US it seems like the tip has replaced the salary. Asking for tips like this is like the resort fees, the green fees and all the other random fees that companies are adding in a way to give a false appearance of a lower price.
So hang on, the tip goes to hopper for making the booking and then charging commission to hotels on the other hand? Sounds to me like being married and having an affair same time.The Tip should go to the person providing the service.
Having surveyed more than 2,000 affluent Chinese travellers in early 2023 – after the China government lifted international travel restrictions after three years – a report offers insights into the preferences and plans of the world’s largest outbound travel market.
La Vie Hotels & Resorts, one of Asia Pacific’s leading and fastest growing independent hotel management companies, is today officially announcing the launch of its new lifestyle brand, NOOE, alongside its first NOOE resort, a new build island resort in the tropical paradise of the Maldives.
The School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) today (28 April) announced the findings of a study on “A Decision Support System for Post-COVID Tourism Policy Formation and Monitoring”. The study developed a cloud-based social listening platform, TOUROMETER, to measure Hong Kong residents’ sentiment towards visitors and tourism development as well as visitors’ sentiment towards Hong Kong tourism.
Almost nine in every 10 mainland Chinese say they miss traveling abroad. This, coupled with economic optimism, bodes well for a strong rebound of what was once the world’s largest outbound travel market. “Outbound Rebound: The Return of Chinese Travelers”, the latest industry report presented by global marketing agency Finn Partners and professional research consultancy Consumer Search Group indicates that mainland Chinese travelers intend to boost their pre-pandemic pace of overseas travel this year.
Films have the potential to reach and connect with a wide audience. How much can they influence tourism of a place? Read on to find out.