Santa’s Official Post Office1 in Rovaniemi, Finland, is expected to receive over 30,000 letters daily from children and adults around the world this year. In a bid to attract novice elves, a magical cabin stay has been listed on Airbnb for guests – free of charge – to roll up their sleeves, lend a hand with the backlog of letters and experience the joy of the holiday season from the Arctic Circle.
Citadines Arnulfpark Munich hotel is ideally situated just a few minutes away from Munich’s main train station and the city centre. The hotel offers guests a variety of modern and functional rooms, studios, and apartments, making it suitable for both short and long stays. A key feature of the property is its fully equipped kitchens, which appeal to guests requiring more space for extended stays.
Choice Hotels EMEA, the 100% franchise-focused hotel company, has signed a new Distribution Agreement with leading Spanish hotel chain Sercotel.
Visitors heading to Paris for next year's Olympics face major accommodation problems amid soaring hotel prices and a crackdown on rentals of tourist apartments.
TrustYou, ein weltweit führender Anbieter von Gästefeedback- und Reputationsmanagement Lösungen für das Gastgewerbe, gab heute die Einführung von nahezu unbegrenztem responseAI- credits für seine aktuellen und neuen Nutzer bekannt. Dieses innovative Angebot bietet Hoteliers eine enorme Flexibilität und verbessert ihre Fähigkeit, sowohl die Gästezufriedenheit als auch den Umsatz zu steigern.
EHL Graduate School in Lausanne is excited to announce an exclusive course titled "Achieving Profitable Growth in Hospitality with Revenue Management Strategy" scheduled for Monday, November 13, 2023. As the hospitality industry evolves, revenue management remains a pivotal strategy, ensuring increased profitability and efficiency for businesses large and small.
Airbnb, VRBO, and vacation rentals did surprisingly well during the pandemic. Many travelers choose to stay in home-sharing or vacation rental facilities over hotels for a reason. That shows how strongly consumers demand a new type of lodging product.
The question is fallacious, as it's set up in black-and-white terms. We're stuck in this loop of "traditional hospitality good, alternative hospitality bad." But, you know what? We have to stop thinking like that! Travelers certainly don't; for them, hospitality is hospitality, no fancy labels needed.Do vacation rentals speed up gentrification?
The impact of inventory loss within the travel and hospitality sector's key markets is a multifaceted issue with far-reaching consequences for both businesses and their clientele. These markets are often the lifeblood of demand, making any decline in resources a matter of significant concern.
I believe the vacation rental industry is to blame itself for these very restrictive regulations and all of its recent woes. For years it fought against licensing its hosts. Fought against including local hotel taxes in its pricing as if their customers didn"t need public infrastructure and safety, street lighting, etc.
The ability to source detailed information based upon complex questions is an extremely powerful tool. The time saving possibilties from the travel research perspective are tremendous. While there is critique of the quality of feedback and recommendation at what is still a relatively early stage, this will continue to improve as information portals increase their suitability for access of their information to the various AI tools.
In the near term, the biggest opportunities AI provides for driving direct revenue revolve around creating richer, more personalized experiences at each stage of the guest journey. Hotel marketers can use AI to better segment potential guests based on behaviors and deliver content and offers — at scale — that match those segments' intent. Increasingly, you can let the AI select and orchestrate campaign messages, images, and offers that align with the needs of potential guests, and drive conversion. Similarly, these tools can provide intelligent rate displays and offer attractive upsell opportunities to guests to improve the revenue you achieve during each stay. Real-time guest service during the booking process, including chat, can help improve that experience and increase conversion rate.
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.
Avantio, global leader in vacation rental management solutions, is pleased to announce its exclusive client event to be held on October 4, 5 and 6 in Valencia, Spain.
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.
Once upon a time, a very chatty donkey agreed to swamp-sit for Shrek. Before he hits the road again, Donkey is inviting guests near and far, far away to sleep like an ogre in Shrek’s Swamp, only on Airbnb.
Travelodge, the UK’s first budget hotel brand, today launches a new multi-million pound integrated advertising campaign, which celebrates the company’s role as the ultimate enabler of the great value getaway - helping millions of people to get out there and do their thing, whether that is for business or leisure, at a great price.
Data from SiteMinder, the world’s leading open hotel commerce platform, reveals that hotel bookings for September in Spain are off to their strongest start in five years. SiteMinder’s World Hotel Index shows that hotel bookings in Spain are currently at 116.3% of 2019 volumes – 10.8% higher than the global average. Among neighbouring countries, only Portugal is outpacing Spain’s momentum, with hotel booking volumes that are 127.7% of 2019 levels.
As corporate travel returns, hoteliers are re-examining their strategies to target and win this share of business. A strong distribution mix is essential to reach travelers and travel agents on the channels where they actively shop and book.
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.
Katanox, the travel accommodation distribution and fintech platform, announced today its partnership with leading Budget Hotel Brand Premier Inn.