Tag: wyndham hotel group

Briefing: Look to the Future of Hospitality

Posted on by Guy Lean

If we could take a glimpse at the hospitality industry in five or ten years’ time what would it look like? 95% of people think, ‘hotels will increasingly look to new technologies to drastically increase efficiency, reduce costs, personalize the customer experience and improve service’. In the Future hotels will need to provide more personalised service and enhance guest experiences online and off. They will need to connect with their guests and allow them guests to connect to their devices. They will be deconstructing and reimagining hospitality spaces and considering new possibilities.

This week our videos explore what the future of hospitality will look like:

Connecting to mobiles and apps can help hotels personalise service. According to Grant Thornton’s Hotel 2020 report: ‘46% of millennials agree that being able to check in/out using a mobile device would motivate them to return.’ The report also shows that towards 2020 hotels will be making a bigger effort to connect with customers on digital platforms, with 30% of global hoteliers planning to hire staff specifically for social media.

Technology will continue to enhance guest experience with guest being able to more easily control their room features through mobile devices. New technologies like augmented reality could change how travellers interact with the space around them using wearable technology or mobile phones. Some companies are already starting to use virtual reality technologies. Best Western gave children an opportunity take a photo with a virtual Disney movie star and Marriot offered a 4D virtual travel experience, as reported in the Guardian.

A survey for Amadeus, Hotels 2020-Beyond Segmentation, asked people in the travel industry and on hotel discussion forums about the future of hospitality. 86% of respondents thought that by 2020, ‘customers will have the ability to choose the size of room, type of bed, amenities, audio-visual facilities, business equipment, etc. on booking and pay accordingly’. 96% said that ‘hotels will need to develop strong social media ‘listening skills.’

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 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.

Chinese are tourism’s biggest spenders

Posted on by Guy Lean

China overtook Germany and the United States as the largest spender in international tourism in 2012, according to UNWTO, with an expenditure of US$ 102 billion. The market is only getting bigger, in fact The Tourism Administration of China predicts that more than 100 million Chinese tourists will travel abroad in 2014.

Experts from the hospitality industry discuss increased travel within and out of China:

UNWTO says that the increase has been due to, “rapid urbanization, rising disposable incomes and relaxation of restrictions on foreign travel.”

Hotels.com has been following Chinese travel trends since 2012. The Chinese International Travel Monitor 2014 shows that 97% of Chinese travellers have been abroad for leisure and 49% have been for business and education. It says that Chinese international travellers were the top spenders for hotel accommodation in Australia, Japan, Netherlands, and New Zealand in 2013.

This monitor surveyed Chinese travellers about booking and travel behaviour. The research found that on average Chinese travellers looked at almost five sources of information when researching holidays, which is up from four in the 2013 monitor. 53% said they book accommodation online or through a mobile app. 59% of those surveyed said Free Wi-Fi was the most important service they look for on a trip abroad, and 71% of hoteliers said that Free Wi-Fi was the service most requested by guests from China. This desire for connectivity reflects global trends.

Countries across the globe, including Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, UK, and the US are targeting this growing source market with tourism campaigns and initiatives. However, according to Hotels.com, Australia is the place Chinese travellers would most like to visit. The USA was the top destination actually visited in 2013, and Hong Kong and Thailand follow in second and third place.

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: fair deals and trusting relationships

Posted on by pmalone

Deal-making at its best involves two parties working together towards a common goal. While profit will always be an underlying concern there is much more to a successful collaboration.

In an industry that is about people at its core, partners must create a solid relationship and be open with each other from the start. This briefing has four perspectives on the deal-making process from industry experts including:

  • Rui Barros, SVP & MD – EMEA, Wyndham Hotel Group on why a great partnership makes a great deal

  • Anil Bhardwaj, Director, AA Almoosa Enterprises on the importance of balance in deal-making

  • Olaf Schmidt, Global Sector Head – Tourism, Retail & Property Sector, IFC – World Bank Group on the need for solid counterparts.

  • Giorgio Manenti, Executive VP, Jones Lang LaSalle on how hotelier transparency will help see deals through

 


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: maintaining motivation and loyalty in colleagues

Posted on by pmalone

A motivated team member is infinitely more valuable than a stifled or disengaged one. Both new talent and top executives are more likely to be loyal if they are offered opportunities to grow and have an active involvement in company achievements.

How important is it to provide avenues for professional development? In this briefing leaders in the hospitality industry discuss their experience of motivating and encouraging staff. With comment from:

  • Christine Hodder, General Manager at The Stafford London by Kempinski on motivating staff and developing team players.

  • Bob Loewen, COO of Wyndham Hotel Group on people being a core philosophy.

  • William Heinecke, Chairman & CEO of Minor Group on getting staff loyalty through empowerment

  • Amine Moukarzel, President of Golden Tulip Hotels on retaining top staff through motivation


    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: Risk vs. Reward on the African continent

Posted on by pmalone

Africa has been an inherently risky market for the hospitality industry. The diversity of countries means that understanding one particular area in which to invest can be time-consuming and difficult. However, countries like Kenya and the Ivory Coast are making it much easier to open the door for international investors.

There is still a long way to go, but with compelling figures of ‘a billion middle-class citizens by 2050’ it is no wonder hotel companies are looking to secure assets for the long-term now. Videos in this briefing include clips from:

  • Chief Edem Duke, Minister for Tourism for Nigeria on investment becoming easier
  • Alex Kyriakidis, President – Middle East & Africa for Marriott International on one billion middle-class citizens
  • Roger Kacou, Minister for Tourism for Cote d’Ivoire on balancing the risk and reward of investment
  • Bani Haddad, Regional VP – Middle East & Africa, Wyndham Hotel Group, on the new rules for the African market
 


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

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

Briefing: an appetite for investment in the Middle East

Posted on by pmalone

With the world’s eye currently focused on specific parts of the Middle East, it is important to also focus on the huge opportunity open to hospitality and other industries throughout areas of the Middle East. This broader market is one of huge growth and potential for all sorts of hotel product and the pipeline for new developments is massive.

Understanding where the opportunities lie is important, and whether demand is continuing to outstrip supply in some of the most prolific hospitality markets including Saudi Arabia and Dubai is discussed by our leading experts in this briefing. Including video clips from:

  • Elizabeth Winkle, Managing Director of STR Global on the incredible pipeline in the Middle East
  • Bob Loewen, COO of Wyndham Hotel Group on bringing their brands to the Middle East
  • Christopher Knable, COO of Katara Hospitality on the opportunity the World Cup brings for hospitality
  • And Darroch Crawford, Managing Director of Premier Inn Hotels LLC on the market demands in Dubai
 


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

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

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