Author: Guy Lean

Briefing: Hospitality and tourism drive luxury consumption

Posted on by Guy Lean

The latest edition of the Bain Luxury Study has found that the overall luxury market exceeded €850 billion in 2014 and showed a growth of 7% overall. The report says that luxury hospitality (9%) was driving this growth, along with luxury cars (10%).

The worldwide market study states that: ‘The luxury-goods industry in most markets is now driven by touristic spending.’ It says that many tourists are willing to spend more when abroad than at home, and that this is particularly true of Chinese tourists who spend three times more when abroad. It is interesting to note that in 2014 luxury spending within China showed a negative trend of 1% growth for the first time since the study has been published. However, the consumer segment which report calls the ‘upper-middle-class “wannabe”’ in China is expected to double by 2017.

In this briefing experts discuss luxury brands and consumer behaviour worldwide:

In the hospitality market, luxury hotels have had steady growth (up 9%). According to the report it is ‘younger generations seeking superior lifestyle experiences’, who have helped to fuel 5% growth in the cruise market.

Research by the Travel Leaders Group found Luxury hospitality bookings in the U.S are going strong. The survey states that 92% of luxury oriented travel agents had increased or steady bookings in 2014.

The Affluence & Wealth Survey by Time Inc. and YouGov sheds some light on the luxury consumer. In a survey of high earning individuals (predominately American), 78% of people said they enjoy being treated like a VIP. 73% said they worry less about money while on holiday.

So how can brands appeal to luxury consumers? The Affluence & Wealth Survey found that 82% of people prefer brands that reflect their values, and 82% prefer brands that stay true to their history and heritage. There is also a strong use of mobile devices among luxury consumers. According to Criteo, 33% of Fashion and Luxury Transactions are on mobile.

If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.hpgcms.wpengine.com for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: OTA giants are eating up the industry

Posted on by Guy Lean

According to a report from IBISWorld, online travel agents are expected to account for 51% of the UK travel industry’s total revenue in 2015. This has risen from just 10% a decade ago. Online travel agents are now powerful entities in the hospitality world and are growing and consolidating. Industry leader Expedia has announced the acquisition of two travel agents in as many months.

In these videos, hospitality experts discuss how the OTAs have gained such power and what this means for hoteliers. Includes comment from Expedia’s Christopher Michau:

A Report by Euromonitor International ‘Online Travel Intermediaries: A Fast Changing Competitive Landscape’ found that on-line travel intermediaries grew 8% CAGR over the 2008-2013 period. This reflects activity both from OTA’s and online booking platforms owned by hotel brands. But in an industry where online booking is growing so rapidly in popularity, the OTAs more specialist expertise gives them an advantage, as discussed by Brian Reeves above.

The Euromonitor Report also states that: ‘The online travel agency sector is seeing increasing consolidation, with Expedia and Priceline emerging as its dominant players.’

For 2014, gross bookings for Expedia Inc increased by 28% from 2013 and revenue increased 21%. Currently Expedia Inc includes (among others); Expedia.com, Hotels.com, trivago (a metasearch website), and Travelocity. The last of these, Travelocity, was acquired in January 2015 for $280 million. This month Expedia has also announced an agreement to acquire Orbitz Worldwide, which comprises of a travel technology solutions company and travel planning sites such as cheaptickets.com.

The Priceline group had $39.2 billion gross bookings in 2013. The Connecticut, USA, based group owns and operates Booking.com which takes over 750,000 room nights reservations a day.

If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: A new era for hotel F&B?

Posted on by Guy Lean

After 187 years one of the London’s oldest hotel restaurants, Simpsons-in-the-Strand, part of The Savoy, could be closing according to The Londonist. This could indicate a shift in attitudes towards food and beverage in the industry. But while it may be the end for this traditional establishment other hotel brands are taking on more F&B projects and finding new ways to make them stand out. How integral are restaurants to a hotel experience? Our experts discuss the importance of F&B:

The Savoy is managed by Fairmont Hotel and Resorts and has six restaurants and bars. Simpsons-in-the-Strand offers a very traditionally British dining experience but may be bought and rebranded by another operator, according to the report.

On 16 January IHG acquired Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants for $430 million. Kimpton operates 71 hotel-based destination restaurants and bars. This is not the only area where IHG is showing an interest in F&B. IHG’s Hotel Indigo boutique brand has launched a new “food and drink philosophy” focusing on “Locally crafted” products. The brand is running a competition in the UK to find “Britain’s favourite local food artisan” and has celebrity chef Jimmy Doherty on the judging panel.

Finally, DoubleTree by Hilton has pulled in award winning chef Jean-Christophe Novelli for it’s new property in Liverpool, which opens in April this year.

If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Robot Staff: How technology is changing guest experience

Posted on by Guy Lean

It has been reported this week that a hotel at a theme-park in Japan is to be staffed by Robots. The Henn-na Hotel is scheduled to open in July and alongside some human staff it will have, ‘remarkably human-like robots who will be able to greet, carry luggage to rooms, make cups of coffee – and even smile’, according to the Telegraph article.

Our experts discuss changing technology in hotels:

This remarkable plan is taking technology in hotels yet another step in to the future. But whilst guests interacting with robots sounds extraordinary it is only highlighting the trend for changing guest touch points and the emphasis on experience in hotels.

Another new product launched this year was the very first Virgin Hotel in Chigaco. A new player in the hotel industry, the brand promises to be innovative much like Virgin’s other ventures. The hotel has its own app which guests can use to interact with staff and other guests, and to request services. The app can control the room thermostat, order room service, plays music from a built in music library, and displays messages from staff for updates on hotel events and the processing of the guest’s requests.

If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.hpgcms.wpengine.com for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: Global employers need to rethink recruitment

Posted on by Guy Lean

A new report from CEB has revealed that 1 in 5 new hires are “bad” or a “regretted decision”. Staff are of vital importance to the success of a business and the recruitment process can be an important factor in the way a new recruit behaves, according to the CEB SHL Global Assessment Trends Report, first published in November 2014. The report states that; ‘New hires who report a positive candidate experience apply 15% more discretionary effort and are 38% more likely to stay with the organisation.’

Does more attention need to be paid to recruitment in hospitality? Our experts give their insight:

Global employers are finding it difficult to find and keep talent. A survey by Towers Watson found that 65% of respondents were experiencing problems attracting ‘top performers’ and 64% had problems attracting ‘high-potential employees’. It also highlights that employee career development could be paid more attention as only, ‘27% say their organisations monitor the effectiveness of their career management programmes.’

According to the research base pay/salary, job security, and career advancement opportunities were the top three things mentioned by employees that attract them to new roles. However when business leaders were surveyed they only ranked job security 7th suggesting that there is a lack of recruitment understanding across employers.

If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.hpgcms.wpengine.com for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: Hotels struggle to follow trend for personalisation

Posted on by Guy Lean

Companies using personalised marketing have experienced an average uplift in sales of 19% according to research. Personal customer service has always been key in hospitality; ‘A warm and sincere greeting using the guest’s name’ is step one of the Ritz Carlton’s three steps to service. With the increase in data that is being collected from guests, hotels should be able to recognise guests from previous stays and personalise service towards them, but it is not easy. Figures from UNWTO show that there were 1087 million international tourists in 2013 and 6 billion domestic tourists worldwide. With so many different faces passing through the doors it is hard for hoteliers to distinguish individual customer profiles as our experts discuss in this week’s briefing:

Many hotel brands have loyalty programs, which can help them keep a profile of each guest but even within this there are many people to keep track of. Hilton HHonors is Hilton Worldwide’s loyalty programme, which has 42 million members. IHG has 161 million guests nights per annum and its reward club has 82.4 million members globally.

Research shows that 78% of consumers feel that personalised marketing content leads to a deeper relationship with a brand. Personalisation is also used in online retail. 60% of consumers prefer it when online store remembers their contact details and purchase information. In a survey by Oracle 54% of retail consumers said personalisation was important. With customer service becoming more personalised across the board this will continue to be a challenge for hospitality to figure out.

If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.hpgcms.wpengine.com for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: 2015 could be a tipping point for mobile commerce

Posted on by Guy Lean

30% of travel will be booked on mobile devices in 2015 according to Expedia. Mobile and tablet usage is set to grow further in all industries this year following 2014 during which the number of people owning both a smartphone and a tablet in Europe more than doubled to 48%. eMarketer predict that in 2015 half of digital travel researchers will use mobiles as well as PCs, while Gartner predicts that by 2018 more that 50% of users will use a tablet or a smartphone first for all online activities.

In the following videos industry insiders explain how mobile devices are being used in hospitality today:

Criteo’s report State of Mobile Commerce Q4 2014 shows that at the end of 2014 mobile accounted for 30% of ecommerce transactions in the US.  Smartphones have overtaken tablets in mobile transactions in the US, although there are currently higher conversion rates on tablets than mobile. The difference is being attributed to the larger screen size and the fact that not all websites are designed for easy mobile use. Criteo’s global research shows that Japan is the most advanced mobile shopping market with 49% of retail transactions being done on mobile there. The UK is not far behind this at 41% and the US is at 27%.

2014 saw an increase in hospitality companies using apps. Mobile only companies such as Hotel Tonight have grown, and more sophisticated approaches to mobile commerce are emerging. Expedia’s Scratchpad software is designed to help customers use the Expedia website across multiple devices. Apps can be used to show hotel information and process bookings. They can also be used to enhance the guest experience inside the hotel or for travel around the area. In America 33% of hotels now offer an app for their guests. According to Expedia almost 1 in 5 travellers globally have checked into a hotel on their mobile for business purposes, with around 15 percent having done so for a leisure trip. Mobile technology is sure to be integrated yet further in of all aspects of the travel and hospitality experience over the next 12 months and will continue to be a focus point for the industry.

If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.hpgcms.wpengine.com for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: Online Reviews – How getting involved increases bookings

Posted on by Guy Lean

Online responses to customer reviews by hotel managers encourage bookings, according to research by TripAdvisor. The review site analysed customer usage of its pages and found that responding to 50% of reviews increased the likelihood of hotels receiving a booking enquiry by 24% (compared to not responding at all). The study places management responses as the factor with the third biggest impact on customer engagement behind the number of photos and the total number of reviews that a property has.

Experts give their views on the power of online ratings, including TripAdvisor’s Minesh Shah, who offers advice on responding to negative reviews:

TripAdvisor’s research also shows that responding to reviews increases ratings. Properties which respond to 5%-40% of recent reviews have on average a 4.04 review rating, compared to a review rating of 3.81 for those which don’t respond. The highest factor influencing bookings and clicks on the site continues to be photos, with just one image increasing engagement by 138% compared to properties with no photo.

TripAdvisor advisor is not the only review site and reviews are also integrated into OTA sites such as Booking.com. TripAdvisor is currently the largest travel site with 280 million unique monthly visitors in the second quarter of 2014 and more than 100 new contributions posted every minute.

In response to a poll by TravelClick, 78% of hoteliers said that TripAdvisor was the social media channel which drove the most bookings to their property site.

The poll also found that these hoteliers are investing in other social media with two thirds now spending on Facebook advertising. Nearly 11% of the hoteliers polled named Facebook as a booking driver with the same number mentioning Google+. Facebook is also integrated into the TripAdvisor site and statistics from Facebook say that users logged in through Facebook contribute more than 1 in 3 new reviews on TripAdvisor.

If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.hpgcms.wpengine.com for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: 60% of Consumers are acting on their conscience

Posted on by Guy Lean

Consumers’ buying choices are increasingly influenced by the social responsibility that brands have displayed, according to new research by Nielson. In the survey, 60% of global online consumers said that they are willing to pay extra for products and services from companies that are committed to positive social and environmental impact. This has increased from 45% in 2011. These attitudes were found to be strongest in the Asia-Pacific (64%), Latin America (63%), and Middle East/Africa (63%) regions.

In this briefing experts comment on how responsible business practice can drive profits and corporate value:

In September in the UK an initiative called Social Saturday encouraged consumers to buy from social enterprises. In relation to this event Social Enterprise UK and the Cabinet Office polled British adults on their attitude towards social responsibility in business. 1 in 3 people surveyed said they feel ashamed when they buy from a socially irresponsible business and 26% said that there is a stigma attached to buying from socially irresponsible businesses.

But this is more than a passive reaction to corporate responsibility. Research by Cone Communications and Echo Research found that 27% of global consumers believed that consumers themselves can have significant positive impact through their purchases. The study surveyed 10,000 citizens in 10 of the largest countries in the world (by GDP), and found that 91% of people believe companies must go beyond the minimum standards required by law to operate responsibly. It would seem that this is a matter that people not only care about but are willing to confront. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed (62%) said they use social media to address or engage with companies around CSR and 93% said they will be more loyal to a company that supports CSR.

If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.hpgcms.wpengine.com for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

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