Travel Market Life: Recent Episodes

Travel Market Life - Ryan Haynes

We are joined by specialists in their field of the different sections of the travel and hospitality market to address digitalisation, technologies and systems, consumer trends, marketing and communications. Check out the range of programmes including Travel Tech Clinic, Hotel Tech Clinic, Hoteliers' Voice and Photographs & Memories, as well our insights on how to build direction and gain momentum. Made by Haynes MarComs

In this episode, we look at where there is potential to drive more revenue in hospitality and accommodation businesses when the ADR has been maximised, other than occupancy - how can hotels increase spend per guest? Speaking to Scot Turner, Director at Auden Hospitality,we look at F&B, exploring where profit margins have seeped to an all-time low - and how businesses can improve opportunities. Scott explains the importance of looking at authenticity and sustainability, the role of technology and the evolving demand for healthy eating.

Hotelier key considerations included:

Skills management among team leadership and management
Challenges in data utilisation for identifying lost opportunities in F&B
Outsourcing F&B or embracing food delivery services (like JustEat/Deliveroo)
Need for hotels to adapt offerings to changing consumer behaviours
How to leverage revenue from EV Charging, Parking and Security/Deposit Lockers

Thanks to our facilitators; Catt Mcleod (Elegant Hotel Collection), David Ohandjanian(UPhotel Agency), Jon Siberry (Sarova Hotels).

Travel Market Life is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.

What's really in store for the hospitality sector in 2025?

In this live episode of Travel Market Life, recorded at the Rembrandt Hotel, we tackle the industry's biggest challenges and forecast what's next. Joined by industry experts Jane Pendlebury from HOSPA, Catt McLeod from the Elegant Hotel Collection, and JonnySiberry from Sarova Hotels, we dig into the forces shaping hotel performance right now.

From the impact of weather patterns to the power of data-driven decisions, we explore how the industry is adapting to an ever-evolving landscape.

Travel Market Life is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.

What’s driving the surge in luxury travel post-pandemic?

In this episode of Travel Market Life, we sit down with Robin Lawther, Vice President of Expedia TAAP, to uncover the fascinating shifts shaping the future of luxury travel. With nearly 2,900 high-end agencies under his belt, Robin gives us an insider’s perspective on how affluent travellers are redefining luxury in a post-COVID world.

From the rise of "revenge travel" to the growing desire for personalised, once-in-a-lifetime experiences, we explore why high-net-worth individuals are more eager than ever to invest in extraordinary journeys. Robin explains how luxury travellers are turning away from cookie-cutter packages in favour of bespoke itineraries that reflect their unique preferences, making the role of travel agents more critical than ever.

We also explore how luxury hotels are stepping up their game—offering everything from exclusive dining experiences to tailored resort credits that go beyond the typical five-star treatment. Robin shares how these partnerships between agents and hoteliers create seamless, unforgettable trips for clients who demand nothing less than perfection.

Travel Market Life is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.

What makes the Independent Hotel Show 2024 a must-attend event for hoteliers and industry leaders? In this special episode, I dive into the key themes, trends, and sessions set to shape this year’s show, happening on October 15th and 16th at the Olympia in London.

I’m joined by industry leaders Jane Pendlebury, CEO of HOSPA; James Clarke, the newly appointed Chairman of MasterInn Holders; and Glenn Wallace, Event Manager at Montgomery Group for HIS. Together, we explore the show’s central theme, "Beyond the Hustle and Bustle," which emphasises not just guest experience but also the well-being of hotel staff and operators in today’s challenging landscape.

Travel Market Life is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.

I sit down with Ivana Tagliamonte, the visionary owner of the enchanting Bellport Inn, as we explore how Ivana transformed this historic Long Island property into a modern, tech-savvy retreat that seamlessly combines old-world charm with cutting-edge guest experience technology.

Ivana, driven by a passion for hospitality, shares how, together with her husband, she designed an exceptional guest experience without traditional training. Ivana tells me how the strategic use of technology allows them to manage the inn remotely, ensuring every guest enjoys a seamless stay—from smartphone self-check-ins to a digital guest book complete with local recommendations.

The thoughtful amenities, including a cosy wood-burning hot tub and a self-service snack pantry filled with homemade treats, are only part of the puzzle. Ivana’s commitment to blending technology with a personal touch is what truly shines through.

Travel Market Life is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.

Can affiliate marketing revolutionise your business strategy?

Patrick Redder, Senior Key Account Partnership Manager at Awin, joins me in exploring affiliate marketing and its remarkable impact on cost reduction and bookings for H-Hotels. Patrick provides an in-depth look at how businesses can partner with various publishers to effectively promote their services, especially within the travel and hospitality sector. He underscores the critical role of selecting the right partners to reach specific audiences, transforming traditional marketing approaches.

Christoph Peppers, Director of E-Commerce at H-Hotels, complements Patrick’s insights by sharing how affiliate marketing has become a cornerstone of their e-commerce strategy, steering away from conventional channels like Google Ads. Christoph shares actionable advice for hoteliers and other industries eager to venture into affiliate marketing, emphasising the practicality of experimentation and proactive engagement to discover what works best.

Travel Market Life is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.

How do we genuinely support the mental health and well-being of hospitality employees in a challenging, post-pandemic world?

Sean Wheeler, People and Culture Consultant at Sean Wheeler Consulting Limited believes a holistic approach, flexible working patterns, and the importance of understanding employees' personal lives all create a more enjoyable workplace. He stresses the critical role of internal and external support systems in maintaining mental health and overall well-being.

Jeremy Gibson, Marketing Director at Hospitality Action, shares the specific mental health challenges hospitality workers face today and the vital role of their Employee Assistance Programme.

Craig Prentice, Patron of HA, shares how their Walk for Wellbeing event is a unique initiative to raise awareness and promote inclusivity within hospitality.

Travel Market Life is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.

As group travel evolves and solo female travel surges, Judikaela Auffredou, VP of strategy at Cossette, and I explore some of the latest research that reveals how consumer attitudes, preferences, and behaviours regarding travel and tourism are changing and what this means to the industry.

We explore the empowerment and self-discovery driving solo female travellers and examine the rise of slow travel, characterised by longer stays and deeper immersion as an antidote to rushed checklist-style tourism.

For the full research from Cosette on Travel’s Great Divide – download now.

Travel Market Life is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.

Mary Sue helped pioneer Santa Monica's local and sustainable food scene, popularising the city's farmer's markets. Starting her career peeling garlic and winning a James Beard and Julia Child award, Mary Sue is widely celebrated for her achievements in California and beyond.

Mary Sue created The Women Chefs & Restaurateurs in 1993, a resource for female food professionals that offers scholarships, mentoring and networking opportunities. She also co-founded Regarding Her, a non-profit organisation devoted to the advancement of female food and beverage entrepreneurs in Los Angeles and beyond.

In this episode, we will learn more about her perspective to get more women and leadership in hospitality.

Travel Market Life is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.

Speaking with Sam Weston, Marketing Director – 80 Days – full service creative and digital marketing agency for hotels and travel, we look into how hotels and travel can tap into the latest consumer trends driving creative marketing.

We explore:

Consumer behaviour informing marketing and creative strategies
Three trends influencing travel and hospitality marketing: Authenticity, Vibing and F&B
How to resonate with guests

Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe for the latest news at http://travelmarket.life/

Follow us on LinkedIn for more thought-provoking content: https://www.linkedin.com/company/travel-market-life/

Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

In this episode, we speak with Pelumi Nubi, travel content creator and solo traveller about the world of solo travel. We look at;

Why is solo travel so appealing
Pelumi's travel from London to Lagos - the first black woman to drive this journey
The challenges as a solo traveller
How the industry can better cater for solo (women) travellers

Connect with Pelumi

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pelumi.nubi
Twitter: https://x.com/peluminubi_
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pelumi.nubi
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pelumi-nubi
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@peluminubi_

Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe for the latest news at http://travelmarket.life/

Follow us on LinkedIn for more thought-provoking content: https://www.linkedin.com/company/travel-market-life/

Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

In this episode of Hoteliers’ Voice Season 4, we speak with Henrique Tiago de Castro, former General Manager, EVOLUTION Cascais-Estoril Hotel in Cascais/Lisbon about the importance of cultural awareness as a hospitality professional, and developing leadership skills in the industry

Following his presentation at IHTF 2024, we discuss

Why it's important to understand cultural settings
Being a professional in hospitality
Growing and developing hospitality careers
Making hospitality more appealing
The difference in lifestyle hotels

At IHTF 2024, Henrique spoke on Localisation vs globalisation: Blending global branding and cultural identity

• Establishing a worldwide presence while connecting with local audiences

• Crafting memorable consumer experiences and showcasing a unique service

• Customising brand messages and experiences and maintaining brand relevance in a changing landscape

Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe for the latest news at http://travelmarket.life/

Follow us on LinkedIn for more thought-provoking content: https://www.linkedin.com/company/travel-market-life/

Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

In this episode we’re looking at Solo travel. First we’ll tackle the news then dive into solo travel with a look at the trends and numbers followed by interviews with

Kerry Gallagher, MD, Silver Travel
Pelumi Nubi, content creator

And - we cannot end the show without our Quick Quiz.

Booking.com faces new probe into claims it misled customers

The consumer watchdog Consumentenbond said Booking.com left out tourist taxes and supplements from its advertised prices and falsely claimed that hotel rooms were almost sold out.

Expedia lets influencers cash in

Expedia Group has introduced Travel Shops, a way for influencers and other content creators to earn commissions when travelers book their recommended hotels.

Travel Trends 2024: Breaking Boundaries

Passengers traveling: An all-time high of about 15.9 million Americans traveled internationally in Q1 2024 while Japan welcomed over 3 million passenger arrivals in March 2024
Consumer spending: As of March 2024, nine out of the last 10 record-setting spending days in the global cruise and airline industry were in 2024
Leisure for longer: Tourists spend more time on vacation, by about one extra day relative to pre-COVID trends, particularly for lower-cost destinations
Traveling for events: Memorable events are driving travel trends, whether it is for concerts or sporting events - look out for a rush of travelers to Munich for the opening game of the European Championship
Top gainers: Japan, Ireland and Romania experienced the strongest growth in share of spending from tourists relative to last year

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole region considers local visitor charge

Under the current proposals, a charge of £2.40 would be added to a guest bill per room, per night, equating to roughly £10 over four nights.

Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe for the latest news at http://travelmarket.life/

Follow us on LinkedIn for more thought-provoking content: https://www.linkedin.com/company/travel-market-life/

Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

We are joined by Sofia Muntaner, Senior Brand Manager Melia Hotel International for Zel and Innside brands with approx 45 properties, as we delve into the world of hotel marketing and the complexities involved today.

With 10 years at Melia, Sofia reflects on the changes and evolution in marketing and some of the key drivers to success as we discuss:

How marketing changed as a result of consumer trends and behaviour
marketing channels key to success with consumers today
How social media channels differ in performance, audience and engagement
The role of content
Use of guest technology and marketing systems

This episode is part of our Media Partnership with IHTF in which Sofia is presenting on the topic: Attracting the new wave of guests

Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe for the latest news at http://travelmarket.life/

Follow us on LinkedIn for more thought-provoking content: https://www.linkedin.com/company/travel-market-life/

Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

Hospitality Monthly Review Show - June 2024 edition - with our panel Jonny Siberry, Group Revenue Manager, Sarova Hotel Group and Thibault Catala, CEO, Catala Consulting,

In this episode we look at

European Commissions decision on hotel rate parity and booking.com
Airbnb ditching experiences
Interview - Richard Collie, Managing Associate for TLT LLP a consumer law expert at award-winning law firm with particular specialism in the leisure industry,: What is Drip-pricing?
Interview - Sam Weston, Marketing Director, 80 Days, Marketing trends: Authenticity, Vibing, F&B
Then the Quick Quiz.

EC designates Booking.com as a “gatekeeper
https://www.hospitalitynet.org/viewpoint/125000219.html?utm_source=HNtoday&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=2024-05-24

AIRBNB IS REMOVING 5,000 EXPERIENCES, CANCELLING FUTURE RESERVATIONS
https://www.phocuswire.com/airbnb-removing-dozens-experiences-canceling-future-reservations

Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe for the latest news at http://travelmarket.life/

Follow us on LinkedIn for more thought-provoking content: https://www.linkedin.com/company/travel-market-life/

Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

We explore the trends and insights of the cruise sector from 2023 with Andy Harmer, Managing Director CLIA UK & Ireland following release of the latest research.

Upshot – there’s a lot of ships with cabins to fill! And cruising numbers for 2023 are up

In the latest research from The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), travelers from the UK and Ireland embarked on 2.3 million cruise vacations, exceeding the previous record:

The total number of cruises taken rose from 1.7 million in 2022.
The Mediterranean remained the top choice for UK and Ireland cruise-goers, with 35% traveling there, followed by 29% to Northern Europe and 12% to the Caribbean among the top three destinations in 2023.
Exploration destinations saw a significant 53% increase in passenger numbers.
The average age of cruisers from the UK and Ireland dropped to 55.1 years in 2023, down from 56.1 in 2022.
The average cruise duration extended to 10.1 days, up from 9.8 days the previous year.
28% of cruisers were part of larger multigenerational groups, spanning three or more age categories.
Before setting sail, 65% of passengers enjoyed a pre-cruise stay at their departure location, while 52% extended their stay after their cruise.

For more details on the research visit one of the following resources.

https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/cruise-lines-international-association-industry-surges-as-uk-and-ireland-hit-new-high-with-2-3-million-voyages/?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=travel-and-tour-world&utm_content=

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ports-destinations/clia-mmgy-travelzoo-present-research-uk-ireland-cruising

https://cruising.org/en-gb/news-and-research/press-room/2024/april/latest-data-shows-uk-and-ireland-cruise-industry-continues-to-engage-entice-and-innovate

Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe for the latest news at http://travelmarket.life/

Follow us on LinkedIn for more thought-provoking content: https://www.linkedin.com/company/travel-market-life/

Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

Welcome to the post-IHTF podcast with a succession of quick fire interviews where we will hear from
Host - Ted Horner
Steve Johnson - Ruckus Networks
Asam Nawaz - BeCause
Sal Capizzi - Book4Time
Jory Garcia - Flexkeeping

and Chris Bowling from Best Western Hotels dives into multichannel marketing

Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe for the latest news at http://travelmarket.life/

Follow us on LinkedIn for more thought-provoking content: https://www.linkedin.com/company/travel-market-life/

Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

Simone Pourto, consultant, writer, and hotel tech futurist joins us to give his insights for the market.

In the episode we discuss

His love for Joy Division and Ian Curtis - and how Travel Market Life gave him an unexpected life opportunity
New s - Rebyu using the power of AI
Top 3 technologies on the horizon for the hospitality sector
His frustrations with the hospitality technology market
Where hotels need to double down their efforts

Plus, insight to his latest book that has just been published on Amazon

Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe for the latest news at http://travelmarket.life/

Follow us on LinkedIn for more thought-provoking content: https://www.linkedin.com/company/travel-market-life/

Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

In this episode we deep-diving into the Cruise sector

Latest insights and trends from Andy Harmer, Managing Director, CLIA UK & Ireland
Opportunities and challenges in the sector
Travel Agent’s perspective with Ellie Fowler, Director, The Travel Business

With our expert panel -
Claire Steiner, UK Director, Global Travel and Tourism Partnership
Will Plummer, CEO, Trust My Group
James Clarke, General Manager, TravelZoo UK

Plus guest panelist: Cressida Sergeant, CCO, traveltek

In the news – we discuss the gender pay gap

Gender pay gap ‘eliminated’ for most travel industry roles

FEATURE TOPIC UK - Cruise:

Latest research from The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) shows, travellers from the UK and Ireland embarked on 2.3 million cruise vacations, exceeding the previous record. According to data released on April 17, 2024:

· The total number of cruises taken rose from 1.7 million in 2022.

· The Mediterranean remained the top choice for UK and Ireland cruise-goers, with 35% traveling there, followed by 29% to Northern Europe and 12% to the Caribbean among the top three destinations in 2023.

· Exploration destinations saw a significant 53% increase in passenger numbers.

· The average age of cruisers from the UK and Ireland dropped to 55.1 years in 2023, down from 56.1 in 2022.

· The average cruise duration extended to 10.1 days, up from 9.8 days the previous year.

· 28% of cruisers were part of larger multigenerational groups, spanning three or more age categories.

· Before setting sail, 65% of passengers enjoyed a pre-cruise stay at their departure location, while 52% extended their stay after their cruise.

· Regarding attitudes and plans, a survey of 4,500 global holidaymakers showed:

o 82% of cruise passengers expressed their intent to take another sea vacation, marking a 3% increase from 2019.

o 71% of individuals who had never cruised before stated they would consider it in the future.

Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe for the latest news at http://travelmarket.life/

Follow us on LinkedIn for more thought-provoking content: https://www.linkedin.com/company/travel-market-life/

Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

In this episode of Hoteliers' Voice we are joined by the Director of Technology & Digital at CitizenM, Bojan Pavicic who has worked across different industry sectors for 20 years and explains his approach to the tech stack and what they are trying to achieve for the portfolio.

With 34 properties worldwide, we discuss:

• AI and automation deployment at CitizenM

• How they approach new tech to be an innovative hospitality brand

• The future of in-room tech and ensuring efficient hotel operations?

• The hotel tech stack and role of headless systems

• Industry frustrations and selecting a new tech partner

• Bringing experience to hospitality industry

This episode is part of the Media Partnership with IHTF, in which Bojan presents on: Charting new territories: A fresh look at future hotel innovation and advancements.

Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe for the latest news at http://travelmarket.life/

Follow us on LinkedIn for more thought-provoking content: https://www.linkedin.com/company/travel-market-life/

Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

In this episode we look into hotel technology and an IHTF review following the event in April, we look at

F&B profitability
Premier Inn Ad ban
AI in hospitality
RPA technology
Approaching the tech stack
Future of hospitality technology

We’re joined by our regular panellist Jon Sibery, Group Revenue Manager, Sarova as he shares the challenges of F&B profitability and his time at IHTF.

Tess Matisson, President and CEO of Zaplox shares er advice on approaching the tech stack and selecting the right systems

Simone Puorto, industry futurist, author and consultant gives us the future of technology for hotels.

How to make hotel F&B profitable

HotStats data shows that while room revenue per available room are up by 17 percent in Europe compared to January 2020, F&B is at just 5 percent. UK hotels saw a 2.8 percentage point drop in gross operating profit margin between 2019 and 2023, and of that, 3.1 percentage points came directly from food and beverage profitability as margins fell from 30 percent to 22 percent.

Premier Inn ad banned for promoting rooms 'from only £35 a night' by advertising authority

The Advertising Standards Authority said it was misleading to promote £35 rooms when only a small percentage of nights had such a low rate available. In the future, a higher percentage of rooms must be available at the advertised rate.

Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe for the latest news at http://travelmarket.life/

Follow us on LinkedIn for more thought-provoking content: https://www.linkedin.com/company/travel-market-life/

Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

Travel Market Life hosted live discussions featuring insights from hoteliers and technology experts on innovative approaches to hotel management, revenue optimisation, and the significance of digitalisation and direct bookings:

Henrique Tiago de Castro, GM at Evolution Hospitality's Cascais-Estoril Hotel, shares pre-opening challenges for Lisbon's only lifestyle hotel.

James Lemon from Stripe dives into decision-making nuances between global brands and smaller groups in tech investments.

Charlotte Newton teases IHTF Singapore's arrival, targeting APAC markets and potential expansion to the Middle East.

Alberto Plaza of IDeaS Revenue Solutions emphasises the power of data-driven decision-making in hotel revenue management.

Raimund Notz of Preferred Hotels & Resorts highlights tech adoption's role in enhancing guest experiences and revenue optimisation.

Carsten Wernet, CEO at SIHOT Group, discusses cloud and SaaS systems' pivotal role in modern hospitality.

Markus Mueller of GauVendi explores leveraging emotions and dynamic pricing in the booking process.

Piergiorgio Schirru from Blastness stresses revenue management and direct bookings' importance.

Gérald Lampaert of VERTU Hotels shares project management insights for tech adoption and expansion goals.

Christoph Peppers from H-Hotels.com delves into the significance of affiliate marketing in driving direct bookings.

Jon Siberry, Group Revenue Manager at Sarova, unveils AI's rising prominence and the concept of 'digital workers' in hotels.

Matthew Prosser of Agilysys discusses the value of IHTF for suppliers in understanding industry challenges.

Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe for the latest news at http://travelmarket.life/

Follow us on LinkedIn for more thought-provoking content: https://www.linkedin.com/company/travel-market-life/

Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

In this episode, we deep dive into drip-pricing the practice when a headline price is initially shown to travellers when they are browsing online, where additional elements of the price being added or ‘dripped’ as they move through the checkout process.

Richard Collie, Managing Associate for TLT LLP a consumer law expert at award-winning law firm with particular specialism in the leisure industry, including advising on consumer regulatory matters looking at investigations brought by the Competition and Markets Authority.

We look at

What is drip-pricing
Examples of how it is used in travel and hospitality industry
Why drip-pricing is an issue for consumers and businesses
What the UK government is planning to do
The risks for businesses if this policy comes in

For further reading check out:
The UK government has made it clear that it wants to stamp out the most harmful forms of ‘drip pricing’. On 24 January 2024 it announced that it would bring forward new legislation banning hidden fees. The policy justification behind the new rules are as follows:

Drip pricing undermines price transparency and make it difficult for consumers to make informed purchasing decisions based on the price of a product or service and
It also limits price competition because businesses often compete on misleading headline prices rather than the price which consumers must pay in practice.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68075851

https://news.sky.com/story/drip-pricing-three-psychological-reasons-we-fall-for-the-technique-and-how-to-resist-the-it-12959042

https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/25491349/hotel-costs-drip-pricing-extra-fees-charges-holiday/#:~:text=HOTELS%20have%20been%20accused%20of,the%20overall%20price%20actually%20is.

https://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Article/2024/01/25/Hospitality-sector-welcomes-legislation-to-ban-drip-pricing

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/air/government-confirms-plans-to-tackle-drip-pricing

Note that DBT also commissioned a detailed report estimating the prevalence and impact of online drip pricing in certain sectors – including hospitality and travel.

Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe for the latest news at http://travelmarket.life/

Follow us on LinkedIn for more thought-provoking content: https://www.linkedin.com/company/travel-market-life/

Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

For the Travel Monthly Review Show - April 2024 edition - with our expert panel featuring Will Plummer (CEO, Trust My Group), Claire Steiner (UK Director, Global Travel and Tourism Partnership), and James Clarke (General Manager, Travelzoo UK),

In this episode we’ll tackle:

Latest industry developments: Spain’s traveller numbers, Dynamic pricing and loyalty schemes
A look into Travel Payments and how this is adapting for consumers and businesses, we have a special mini-panel with
- Maggie Bazemore, Knowledge Management Director | Mr & Mrs Smith
- James Lemon, GTM | Global Industry Lead - Travel & Leisure - Stripe
- Peter Gerstle, Business Solutions Director, Head of Travel Loyalty, Collinson

REFERENCES
Spain to tackle decrease in UK visitor durationsDynamic (Surge/Demand) Pricing Is Coming for Everything in TravelAVIS BUDGET GROUP REVAMPS ITS LOYALTY INITIATIVEExpedia Group launches single loyalty programme but Hotels.com customers will earn less

Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe for the latest news at http://travelmarket.life/

Follow us on LinkedIn for more thought-provoking content: https://www.linkedin.com/company/travel-market-life/

Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

In this episode of Hoteliers' Voice season 4, we speak with Mustafa Gokcen, Head of Information Technology, Cheval Collection - an award-winning hospitality group with 13 luxury all-apartment locations in London, Edinburgh and Dubai.

Mustafa has worked in the hospitality industry since 2012 following a move from the IT industry where he had spent the first 10 years of his career. He has worked with brands including Hilton, Starwood, and Marriott before joining Cheval Collection in 2023.

In this episode, he explains the moment he realised that hospitality is more than rooms and services and the impact this has had on his perception of the role of technology and strategic development. He shares his progression from IT to hospitality IT and how he approach leadership and recruitment.

Through our conversation we learn;

What is misunderstood about technology in the accommodation market
How the mindset and culture in hospitality needs to change/adapt
His area of focus and investment in tech
Managing to improve IT resources and find the best talent
What makes a good tech vendor partner

Mustafa will be speaking at the IHTF 2024 which Travel Market Life is a media partner

Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe for the latest news at http://travelmarket.life/

Follow us on LinkedIn for more thought-provoking content: https://www.linkedin.com/company/travel-market-life/

Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

In this episode of Hoteliers' Voice, we are honoured to be joined by Marriott International's Director of Employer Branding - Central Europe to discuss the initiatives that are engaging and attracting staff.

Florian Hepp started his career at Marriott before developing his career at Westin Hotels, and Sofitel Luxury Hotels & Resorts, back at Marriott he utilised his sales and marketing training in HR and employer branding.

Florian will speak about Attracting talent, managing staff shortages and the role of technology at 21st IHTF in Barcelona, but here we look at the operational aspect:

Roles most challenging to recruit for
Sharing best practice between teams
What people expect from work and employers today
Why showcasing company culture and values is important
What sort of stories really resonate with people?

For the survey Florian refers to - please see this resource
https://www.presseportal.de/pm/56177/5429436

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In our April edition of the Hospitality Monthly Review Show with our expert panel:

Jonny Siberry, Group Revenue Manager, Sarova Hotel Group
Daniel Simmons, CCO, HotelREZ Hotels & Resorts
Thibault Catala, CEO, Catala Consulting,

We look at pressing issues in the industry, as well as the landscape in front of us - getting insider knowledge from our expert panel and guest interviewees. This is a pretty packed episode full of additional contributors, we’ll be tackling

Latest developments and news of the sector
Changes in Service and delivery of guest expectations, with Harpreet Singh Saluja, AG Hotels
IHTF, of which Travel Market Life are media partners where we’ll hear from some of the sponsors including Carlos Calvo of Proposales, Carsten Wernet of SIHOT and Philip von Ditfurth from Apaleo

We end with the quick quiz - who will win?

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In this episode of Hoteliers' Voice Season 4 we explore the hostel market with Diogo Vaz Ferreira, head of commercial at Clink Hostels.

Diogo has worked with Clink since 2021, he previously worked for Accor and Hilton having worked in guest experiences, revenue, and general manager positions. He is also part of the management board chairing the accommodation panel at the WYSE Travel Confederation (WYSE Travel Confederation is a global not-for-profit membership organisation dedicated to promoting and developing opportunities for the youth, student and educational travel industry.).

In our discussion, we look at

How the market is evolving and Clink is devleoping its brand
Trends in the hostel market
Diogo's career – how has it changed and adapted over the years
Commercial performance – how to align revenue management with business goals
Use of technology to transform the business

Diogo will be speaking at the IHTF 2024 on the topic - Technology, tactics and profit optimisation: Boosting revenue management strategies

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Welcome to the Travel Monthly Review Show - March 2024 edition. In this episode we tackle:

Some industry news including Late’s pricing, Agent debt and industry associations
Spring Budget UK - The UK Government announced a range of measures to keep Britain financially fluid…we’ll analyse what they mean to the industry
In our monthly feature - we’re joined by Joss Croft, CEO of UKInbound, to look at trends of the international traveller market to the UK
Plus - we cannot end the show without our Quick Quiz

Featuring Will Plummer (CEO, Trust My Group), Claire Steiner (UK Director, Global Travel and Tourism Partnership), and James Clarke (General Manager, Travelzoo UK),

REFERENCES:

Trade predicts strong lates market but warns keen pricing ‘will be crucial’

Nearly half of Advantage agents still paying off Covid debts

NEW GLOBAL TRAVEL TECH ASSOCIATION LAUNCHES

FEATURE TOPIC UK - Spring budget - election year

Budget 2024: key points for hospitality at a glance

Chancellor cuts NI by a further 2p as part of Spring Budget

TOURISM ALLIANCE SPRING BUDGET 2024 REACTION

'MISSED OPPORTUNITY': TRAVEL LUKEWARM ON CHANCELLOR'S SPRING BUDGET

Air- passenger Duty: Air passenger duty on business-class travel is set to rise
Holiday lets: Completely getting rid of the Furnished Holiday Let scheme from April 2025,. This now means that mortgage interest will NOT be deductible
Abolishing Multiple Dwelling Relief from June
Freezing alcohol duty: The freeze on alcohol duty, which had been due to end in August, will continue until February 2025.

Employee and general business

2% cut in National Insurance This means employees were paying 12% in December, 10% January to March and 8% from April.
The self-employed will pay 6% from April.
Increasing the VAT threshold from £85,000 to £90,000 from April
Increasing the threshold that Child Benefit

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In this episode of Season 4 Hoteliers' Voice, we speak with Karen Weisheit, Hotel Manager at the Grove of Narberth in Wales, with 25 bedrooms. Spotted as one of Boutique Hotelier's women in hospitality 2023 Karen shares her career ladder so far and what makes her tick.

We look at the challenges in recruitment and retention as she shares some of the initiatives they employ at the property as we discuss cross-departmental training and a four-day week in hospitality.

Karen also shares:

2024 Market outlook
Challenges for this year
Changes in booking patterns and event business
How the industry can be a more attractive place to work

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Welcome to the March edition of Hospitality Monthly Review Show with our panel

Thibault Catala, CEO, Catala Consulting,
Jonny Sibery, Group Revenue Manager, Sarova
Daniel Simmons, CCO, HotelREZ
Plus an interview with Jeremy Daudin, Head of Sales and Marketing at Zetter Hotels looking at their corporate business.

We look at pressing issues in the industry, as well as the landscape in front of us tackling

Latest developments and news of the sector
Discuss business and corporate guests
Travel trends with the Swiftie Tour Tourism effect
then i’ll put my panellists through their paces as we dive into the Quick Quiz.

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In this extended interview we speak to Clive Wratten, Chief Executive of Business Travel Association, which also featured in our Travel Monthly Review Show February. He guides us through

Trends and market behaviours in Business Travel
Key challenges in Business Travel for Corporates and Suppliers
Why late payments is a key campaign
Partnership with the Tourism Alliance
Role of technology in business travel
Upcoming events

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In February episode we look at:

Industry news of the last month and consumer spending change
What’s RyanAir’s change of strategy?
Our feature discussion is on Business Travel and we’ll hear from Clive Wratten, Chief Exec of Business Travel Association
Industry developments and consumer trends talking about shoulder seasons and the best snaps
Finishing with the quick quiz. Will won last month, has he brought his A-Game this month?

Featuring Will Plummer (CEO, Trust My Group), Claire Steiner (UK Director, Global Travel and Tourism Partnership), and James Clarke (General Manager, Travelzoo UK),

Industry News

Holidays the ‘exception’ as consumers cut leisure spend

Deloitte Consumer Tracker - consumers intend to spend less across nine out of 11 leisure categories in Q1 2024, with an exception being the long and short holiday categories.
The majority of consumers (57%) intending to travel abroad on a holiday are likely to book all-inclusive trips,
60% of consumers are expecting to take a domestic holiday in 2024.

HOLIDAY EXTRAS LAUNCHES NEW AI TOOL AFTER IT REVEALS 55% OF TRAVELLERS DON'T READ INSURANCE DOCUMENTATION PROPERLY

AI technology that allows customers and travel agents to easily read through the terms and conditions of their insurance documents.
Over half (55%) said they did not read it properly, with a quarter (24%) admitting to only skimming them, while 28% only refer to a brief online summary and 3% not reading it whatsoever.
Despite the increase in extreme weather and events caused by climate change last summer, three quarters (74%) assumed their insurance would automatically cover impact on their travel caused by natural disasters, while 68% assumed it covered disruption from strike activity.

Millennial men in the U.K. are helping drive a trend of falling working hours, and it might be starting to hurt the country’s economy

Typical hours men worked dropped from 36.3 hours in 2019 to 32.5 hours in 2020. Working hours for 2022 were 35.3 hours, the most recent year available, the Office for National Statistics said
Millennial men working shorter work hours have contributed to labour shortages equivalent to 310,000 fewer people in employment, official figures show.
This was reflected among women in the same age group, who saw a 0.02 hours per week rise.

RYANAIR NEWS

RYANAIR AGREE NEW

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Hospitality Monthly Review Show - February 2024 edition with our two panelists Thibault Catala, CEO, Catala Consulting and Jonny Sibery, Group Revenue Manager, Sarova

In our review shows, we look at pressing issues in the industry, as well as the landscape in front of us - getting insider knowledge from our expert panel.

In this episode, I’ll take a moment to introduce our panellists and what makes them tick, as we tackle What lies ahead in 2024, yes - we’ll be looking at

2024 on the books, what’s the data telling us
Industry challenges
Consumer travel trends
And finally, i’ll put my panellists through their paces as we dive into the Quick Quiz. Head to Head - Who will be the true industry expert in this months’ edition?

DISCLAIMER - All opinions are their own.

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Speaking to Gill Haigh (Managing Director, Cumbria Tourism) we get a first-hand look at regional tourism in one of the UK’s most visited regions exploring the challenges ahead in 2024 and where the local tourism market needs to focus to deliver for domestic and inbound market.

We explore the difficulties of staff shortage, the commercial impact and the solutions businesses are coming up with to solve this dilemma from collaborative working to creating attractive working environments and packages including apprenticeships.

This interview featured in part in the Travel Monthly Review show January edition.

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Entering 2024 - what have we learnt and what do we see in front of us. Join the January edition of our regular format to review industry developments in the UK and beyond.

Featuring Will Plummer (CEO, Trust My Group), Claire Steiner (UK Director, Global Travel and Tourism Partnership), and James Clarke (General Manager, Travelzoo UK), the first episode addresses the trends that defined 2023, and predictions for the year ahead.

A quick review of the latest consumer travel behaviour reports, Gill Haigh (Managing Director, Cumbria Tourism), joins the conversation to provide a first-hand look at regional tourism in one of the UK’s most visited regions, before the panel discusses the impact of domestic and inbound tourism around the UK, concluding with the monthly quick-fire quiz.

Look out for our Hospitality Monthly Review edition as we specifically look at the accommodation sector.

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Looking back on our third Season of Hoteliers' Voice, find out which episode was the most popular in 2023 and some of our favourite episodes in the series.

Hoteliers' Voice S3 covered everything from data, to sustainability, augmenting luxury experience to performance campaigns and utilising AI, with a mix of portfolio groups, independent hotels, franchise and global brands.

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Discover the rundown of the new series Hotel Partner and snippets from the conversations in 2023 that covered everything from sustainability, eco credentials, staffing shortages, spa and wellness and robotic process automation.

We give some insights to the podcast Travel Market Life and the most popular Hotel Partner episode of the year.

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Here's a summary of some of the technology chats of 2023 as we look at;

Data and its implications
Cybersecurity in digitalisation
AI and ethics
10 rules for IT investment
Challenges of tech buying

Some quick snippets and outtakes from our guests for this year.

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Veryan Palmer, Director, of family-owned Headland Hotel Cornwall joins us to talk about adapting technology and utilising AI and automation in the business and how to overcome the challenge.

Following the Independent Hotel Show 2023, where Veryan joined Ryan on a panel to discuss practical deployment of AI, this podcast follows on the Headland Hotel's very specific experience and journey from discovery to utilisation.

In this discussion, learn;

How AI alleviates staff pressures
Gaining confidence in AI
Looking to new technology and working with your team
Future changes to hospitality

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We deep dive into hotel sustainability with Angeliki Krania, Senior Sustainability Manager at Lamington Group to understand what it takes to be a truly sustainable hotel brand and commit to the policy authentically.

As part of our Hoteliers' Voice Season 3, Angeliki explains;

How the industry can incorporate sustainable approaches to design and development
How Lamington Group implements a sustainable culture
The wider business case for sustainability
Engaging guests in the programm
Working in collaboration and the supply chain
The role of AI

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In this episode we speak with Chris Kinlock a Performance Specialist, and Billy Mohan- Senior Performance Analyst, from Journey Hospitality about the changes in performance marketing and how the industry can get a better grasp over the opportunities for digital channels and what actually works.

The pair give a frank insight to how to assess true performance and why fixed budgets needs to be abandoned in favour for performance-based. We talk through;

How and where Google is delivering for hotels
Considering investment and budget in digital marketing
The essential data and tracking for effective measurement of ROI
And the role of brand campaigns

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We’re joined by David Ohandjanian, CEO & Founder, Up Hotel Agency to look into hotel marketing and how to optimise direct bookings through the direct channel.

In conversation we look at

Changes in approach to direct bookings
Key to direct booking and marketing for the guest journey
Evolving roles of agencies and consultants
And how the website function has adapted to consumer expectation.

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Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

In our hospitality industry trade media mini series, we speak with Hamish Kilburn, editorial of Hotel Designs to discover the thinking of the publication and the news and content that engages its audience.

Learn more about Hotel Designs

How the publication is made up and its key audience
The subjects and topics that captures readers attention
How to get featured editorially and advertorially
The developments in the sector
And its unique awards ceremony

For more visit Hotel Designs

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Guests expect a unique experience when staying at a boutique or independent hotel - and the properties require the same from their technology providers.

In this special Travel Market Life podcast, recorded live at the Independent Hotel Show London, an expert panel discuss a range of topics to help hoteliers shape their tech stack and ensure its fit for purpose today, tomorrow and beyond, including:

How suppliers need to support boutique hotels after installation
What hoteliers want from their technology providers
The value automation can bring to independent hotels

Host Ryan Haynes is joined by:

Vibhu Gaind, CIO - RBH Hospitality Management
Nick Pilbeam, Commercial Director - Point A
Nadine Böttcher, Head of Product Innovation - OTA Insight
Liutauras Vaitkevicius (LV), Managing Director - Zetter Hotels
Harry Fielder, CEO - Umi Digital

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Hospitality can be a tough place to work, but it’s also one of the most enjoyable. From fostering an inclusive team environment to helping staff feel valued, this special episode of Travel Market Life looks at how hotels can improve the way they recruit, reward and retain their staff.

Recorded live at the Independent Hotel Show London on 17 October 2023, Travel Market Life’s host Ryan Haynes is joined by:

Tej Walia, Managing Director - Foxhills Club & Resort
Rita Varga, CEO - RaizUp
Phil Street, Director - Momentum Recruitment

In an industry that offers a multitude of career opportunities, the panel discusses how to diversify the workforce, recruit digitally savvy talent, improve transparency, and make staff feel valued - and it’s not just financial incentives that work!

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How can hotels drive their revenue in an ever-challenging marketplace? Are OTAs a necessary evil or a blessing in disguise? And what role does the often overlooked GDS play in hitting a hotel’s commercial targets?

This special episode of Travel Market Life was recorded live at the Social Business Space at the Independent Hotel Show London.

Joining host Ryan Haynes to discuss all things revenue and ecommerce are panellists:

Teresa Kingston, Commercial Director - Rockliffe Hall
Susanne Williams, Commercial Director (consultancy) - Journey Hospitality
David Ohandjanian, Founder - Uphotel
Daniel Simmons, CCO - HotelREZ
Ally Northfield, MD - Revenue by Design

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In our hospitality industry trade media mini series, we speak with Brooke Tremain, editorial assistant of The Hotel Magazine to discover the thinking of the publication and the news and content that engages its audience.

Learn more about The Hotel Magazine

How the publication is made up and its key audience
The subjects and topics that captures readers attention
How to get featured editorially and advertorially
The developments in the sector

For more visit The Hotel Magazine

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Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

Today's Hoteliers' Voice takes on our guests specialist topic, as we explore the world of distribution. Joining us is Vineeth Purushothaman, Regional Director, Commercial Planning & Distribution EMEA, at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.

We will be discussing the key trends to watch in distribution in 2023 following his article published on LinkedIn, see below. In this episode we cover:

The Bleisure market
Regulatory challenges
Cybersecurity
Fintech

Read Vineeth's article - 18 Trends to Watch in Hotel Distribution https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/18-trends-watch-hotel-distribution-2023-beyond-vineeth-purushothaman/?trackingId=

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In partnership with ACE Hotel Tech Summit, we spoke with Kurt Macher, General Manager, Shangri-La The Shard, London and Innovation & Luxury Customer Experience Lead - Middle East, Europe, India & Americas for the Shangri-la Group about the challenges and frustrations with technology.

We cover the complexities in technology at hotels including;

the journey to implementation and adoption
struggles to maximise the investment
security risks to consider
staff usability

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In our hospitality industry trade media mini series, we speak with Zoe Monk, editor of Boutique Hotelier to discover the thinking of the publication and the news and content that engages its audience.

Learn more about Boutique Hotelier

How the publication is made up and its key audience
The subjects and topics that captures readers attention
How to get featured editorially and advertorially
The industry awards
The developments in the sector

For more visit Boutique Hotelier

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Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

Get the preview for London's Independent Hotel Show 2023 with Glenn Wallace, Event Manager of Independent Hotel Show and moderator Sarah Duncan, ESG Consultant, Sleeping Lion.

The Independent Hotel Show, in partnership with James Hallam, welcomes hoteliers back to Olympia London on 16-17 October for two days of networking, learning and product sourcing. Each year the show brings together a carefully curated selection of suppliers to the independent hotel sector, providing the ultimate opportunity for hoteliers to refine their business and elevate their guest experience.

The Innovation Stage at this year’s show is a must-attend for hoteliers looking to hear about the latest innovations in design, guest experience, technology and much more. The Hotel Business Stage at this year’s event will be a hub of practical advice and actionable insights for visitors to the show.

Monday, 3pm - Ryan Haynes moderates: Real world AI: how to use the tech to improve your hotel

On the Monday evening, The Independent Hotel Show Awards, in partnership with Preferred Hotels & Resorts, now in their 11th year, celebrate pioneering hospitality businesses and hotel professionals in the UK & Ireland.

Tuesday:, Travel Market Life hosts the Social Business Space with three discursive sessions; *Each session will kick off with a 15-minute discussion (live podcast recording) with expert guests to explore the key issues related to the topic. It will then open to the floor to allow attendees to delve deeper into subject matter with facilitated networking, between Ryan, podcast guests and audience, all mingling and enjoying refreshments, continuing the podcast topic of discussion.

For more https://www.independenthotelshow.co.uk/*

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This is a live recording of a roundtable from the ACE Hotel Tech Summit 2023 to discuss the future of the PMS, the importance of cloud and creating efficiencies. Panelists highlighted the importance of systems integration, the need for standardisation and hotels looking for a single solution. Featured Felix Pops, Muaaz Rizvi, Gerald Lampaert, Harry Fielder, Catt Mcleod, Vidar Thomassen, Raj Laugh, Alexander Vicens.

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This is a live recording of a roundtable from the ACE Hotel Tech Summit 2023 to discuss metaverse and investment hospitality needs to be considering. We discussed the potential for hospitality sector today largely agreeing that on the whole technology wasn’t ready just yet but it’s important for the sector to keep an eye on it - and the best deployment of metaverse is in #virtualreality tours of properties or #augmentedreality experiences. With Angelika Krania, Robert Richardson, Harpreet Singh Saluja, Catt Mcleod, Vidar Thomassen, and Harry Fielder

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Jeroen Van Gils, Development director – Europe from, BWH Hotels talks to us about Operational Excellence in hotels and how technology is playing an increasing role to improve processes for staff as well as for guests. In this episode, as part of our Media Partnership with ACE Hotel Tech Summit 2023, we dive into the key aspects for hoteliers to consider.

During our conversation we cover:

The role of technology in operations
How to get the most out of staff and retain talent
Why certain systems are mandated
Quick wins for the team and for guests
Longer term tech investments

BWH Hotels is a leading, global hospitality enterprise comprised of three hotel companies, including WorldHotels™, Best Western® Hotels & Resorts and SureStay® Hotels with around 4,300 hotels territories worldwide and 19 brands across every chain segment, from economy to luxury. https://www.bwh.com/

Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe for the latest news at http://travelmarket.life/

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Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

The Chairman of Hotel Marketing Association (HMA), Harry Fielder (also CEO Umi Digital), talks hotel digital marketing, direct strategies and introduces us to the HMA.

As one of the presenters at ACE Hotel Tech Summit, September 2023, he will be covering Clever ways to encourage more direct bookings. In our conversation we look at:
1. What is the HMA? Why hotels should be a member

Trends in direct bookings
The basic hotels should be doing for direct bookings and marketing today
Capitalising on direct bookings
Approaching social media and reviews

Harry will join Travel Market Life at The Independent Hotel Show Tuesday 17th October, 3 - 4pm at the Social Business Space for the discussion: Tech stack for the future - Make the most of your tech investment by discovering the right systems to help your hotel. This session will look at how to build a business case for senior management, getting staff buy-in, and breaking down silos to help the tech you choose work for your business - today and tomorrow

The Hotel Marketing Association (HMA) is the only dedicated body for hotel marketers in the UK. Providing support and inspiration for hotel marketers and the wider industry seeking guidance and insight for business and career development.

Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe for the latest news at http://travelmarket.life/

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Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

Diving into the 10 rules for approaching IT projects in hospitality with Frank Wagner, Director International Sales – Hospitality Group at Advanced Computer Technology (ACT) to give you the guide to effective investment.

Avoid resource loss and losing time, save thousands in Hospitality IT Projects by following 10 simple Rules - hear the reasoning behind in this episode:

Appoint a project manager: What are the key criteria, experience and skills to consider?
Define the full scope of the project in painstaking detail: What are the key aspects that really need to be expanded on?
Compare offers: How many suppliers should you engage and compare?
Consider separating between hardware/software and services: Why is this so important today?
Agree on a fixed price order: What does this mean?
Involve vendors of interfaced systems in time: Why this is so important?
Request a detailed work schedule: What it should contain?
Check what your team can do: How to manage expectations and deliverables of internal members?
Be present: How to be the best leader
Adjust your staff schedules: Why this is important?

And finally, the benefits of treating your consultants well.

Frank Wagner is presenting at the ACE Hotel Tech Summit 2023 of which Ryan Haynes is host and Travel Market Life a media partner

Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe for the latest news at http://travelmarket.life/

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Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

In our hospitality industry trade media mini series, we speak with Eloise Hanson editor of Boutique Hotel News to discover the thinking of the publication and the news and content that engages its audience.

Learn more about Boutique Hotel News

How the publication is made up and its key audience
The subjects and topics that captures readers attention
How to get featured editorially and advertorially
The developments in the sector

For more visit Boutique Hotel News

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Hospitality Action is one of the leading industry charities supporting hospitality workers through crisis. In this episode we learn more about the organisation and the good work it does from CEO, Mark Lewis - and we're joined by one of its patrons and the founder of Walk For Well-being, Craig Prentice

How Hospitality Action helpsSince 1837 Hospitality Action has supported people in roles across the hospitality industry and was one of the first UK charities to mount an emergency response to the Covid- 19 pandemic in 2020. Hospitality Action's grant-giving, advisory services and EAP provision continue to evolve to meet the ever-changing demands of the industry in the face of the cost-of-living crisis.
Since the start of 2020, it has spent over £3,000,000 and awarded more than 10,000 grants to hospitality households across the UK.
For more information about Hospitality Action visit https://www.hospitalityaction.org.uk/

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Miguel Velez, CEO & Founder, Unlock Boutique Hotels is joining the ACE Hotel Tech Summit where he will address the challenges of independent hotels and how investors can be confident of market success.

Unlock Boutique Hotels represents a curated selection of 19 Small Independent Boutique Hotels across Portugal in 11 locations. In our conversation we address the topic: David vs Goliath, Independent or integrated in a chain - how to be competitive.

Challenges of being a true independently run hotel today
How investors and owners optimise bookings and revenue
Why management and operations is important for the guest experience
Role of technology for independent hotels and how to define the right tech stack
Gaining greater purchasing power

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In this episode we look at Social Media as a promotional tool for the hotel industry with Jamel Ben Amor, President and Managing director of Iris Hotels where we learn about the importance of social media to drive brand and bookings, the Saudi Arabian hospitality market and why leadership is so important to drive cultural change.

IRIS Hotels open its first properties in November 2020, it now has a portfolio of 5 boutique properties in Saudi Arabia with 2 4* hotels due in 2023, and 3 further properties in the pipeline

In our discussion on Social media in hospitality, we cover

How to approach social media and the effective channels
Impact on bookings and deploying successful campaigns
Role of leadership in cultural change

This episode is in Media Partnership with ACE Hotel Technology Summit 2023

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Nick Pilbeam, Commercial Director for Queensway Hotels and Hospitality operating Point A Hotels joins us in Hoteliers' Voice to look at the influence of airline retail model in the hospitality sector.

Queensway is a family business founded in 1973 creating meaningful and memorable hospitality experiences. Its portfolio includes hotels, coffee houses, restaurants, residential property and a private member’s club. Point A Hotels offers cosy, comfortable, budget friendly rooms in the heart of the big city.

With seven hotels in London, one in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dublin, Point A focuses on providing collaborative, fun and exciting places to work.

In conversation, we look at:

Tech for leading edge hoteliers
Learnings from airlines sales models
PMS for smart operations
Automation and data
Pricing for profitability

PMS - Guestline, RMS - IDeaS, Distribution - HotelRez

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Tej Walia, Managing Director, The Foxhills Collection joins us for Hoteliers' Voice season 3 to give us a run down of the investments the hotel has made over the last through year and how it defines needs from infrastructure, to guest services to digital development.

The Foxhills Collection is an independently-owned collection of golf clubs and resorts in Surrey delivered by a talented team of 300 led by the Hayton family. It’s 400-acre Surrey estate - Foxhills is award winning hotel and country club with three golf courses, spa, family friendly facilities, five swimming pools and three restaurants, while Farleigh is a golf club with a 27-hole courses.

In conversation with Tej we look at;

Assess and identify where you need to make the investments
Role of digital solutions
Recruitment and retention
PR to build business

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Christoph Peppers, Director E‑Commerce for H‑Hotels GmbH joins us on Hoteliers' Voice Season 3 to look at the changes in revenue and distribution as ecommerce takes hold.

The H-Hotels Group operates 61 properties in Germany, Austria, Hungary and Switzerland. The family-run group has over 3,000 employees and includes a number of accommodation brands.

In conversation, we cover:

Changing roles in marketing and ecommerce
Building an ecommerce culture
Hotel ecommerce tech
Identifying and selecting the right systems

Key systems and partners include; GoogleAds, Criteo, Affiliates, vouchers, chatbot, metasearch, retargeting

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James Wilson, Director of Business Intelligence and Analytics Services from Outrigger Hospitality Group gives insight for Hoteliers' Voice Season 3 on how to get data buy in and create a data culture across the organisation

Outrigger property blends seamlessly with its unique locale, offering a compelling guest experience with distinctive sense of place. With 38 properties and over 7,000 rooms in operation and/or development, Outrigger is a multi-branded portfolio while also managing properties part of top international hotel brands.

In conversation with James, we discuss:

Importance of a data culture
Impact on the bottom line
Systems for data
Culture change and get buyin
Identify the right partners

Outrigger uses a number of different solutions including Silverware, Opera PMS, RMS, Datavision, Amadeus Demand360, Duetto, Revinate, ForwardKeys, PowerBI

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In another of our Hotel Partner series, we look at how The iNUA Collection uses guest data to improve operations, enjoy efficiencies and develop guest experiences for commercial growth. We are joined by Dylan Cole, Managing Director EMEA, Revinate and Emer Hallahan, Group Head of Marketing & Ecommerce, Cliste Hospitality and The iNUA Collection.

Revinate is a Guest Data Platform and guest communication solutions used by over 12,000 hotels worldwide. Cliste Hospitality is one of the largest operators and managers of hospitality venues in Ireland with 13 hotels and 1,200 rooms with a range of bars, restaurants, spas, and meeting and convention spaces. The iNUA Collection is a select group of 4 & 5 Star hotels each uniquely inspired by its team of passionate people, rich culture, and stunning surrounding landscapes.

In this discussion we cover;

Delivering better experiences and assisting hotel operations
Systems for hoteliers to harness guest data
The commercial impact
Staff engagement
What’s next for guest data

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In this episode the second of a mini-series on revenue management and pricing strategies, we speak with Radisson, Preferred Hotels and IDeaS RMS about the hotel performance metrics and how they are changing.

In a recent survey between IDeaS RMS and The Caterer, responses show that independent and regional hoteliers look at hotel revenue and commercial metrics differently. Key insights include:

Despite over 7 in 10 (70.9%) claiming they have an integrated revenue strategy - also known as Total Revenue which incorporates all hotel departments - RevPAR (30.6%), Occupancy (22.2%) and ADR (17.6%) remain the dominant metrics for measuring business success.
Profit, a better reflection of a hotel’s overall business performance, is used by 16.7% of respondents, with TRevPAR used by just 4.6%.
For branded hotels, RevPAR is preferred by 42.4% of hoteliers while occupancy (28.3% in rural, coastal and beach hotels) is the prominent metric for independent regional hotels.

We are joined by Michael McCartan, IDeaS, Area VP EMEA, Raimund Notz, Director, Hotel Revenue Optimization - Central & Eastern Europe, Preferred Hotels and Dario Artiola, Senior Director Revenue Performance, Radisson Hotels Group to discuss:

What is an integrated revenue management strategy
Role of F&B and ancillaries in profit optimisation
How to have the right strategy
Focusing the team on the right approach
Using technology

For the full survey insights visit:

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As part of Hoteliers' Voice season 3, we speak with Andreas Stöckli, General Manager at Hotel Schweizerhof in Zurich about evolving and augmenting the tech stack to provide more digital services to guests while digitalising operations and energy management to improve efficiencies.

Standing at over 140 years old, Hotel Schweizerhof has 98 rooms and suites with modern conveniences and stylish luxurious amenities, where guests are treated to the feel of Old World elegance with the added convenience of modern accommodations and courteous, friendly and attentive service. Hotel Schweizerhof lives and breathes hospitality ensuring that the needs of guests are always in the forefront of their thinking.

In conversation with Andreas we cover

Hotel tech stack for a contemporary luxury hotel
In-room entertainment and digital technologies
Website UX and why it is so important
Operations management and streamlining processes
Costs and energy efficiencies

Key systems covered include; Innspire, Seamans, HotelKit, MFiles

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This Hotel Partner episode explores how The Berkeley addresses recruitment and staffing on hospitality's frontline. We are joined by Steven Driscoll, Restaurant Operations Manager, The Berkeley and Florent Malbranche, CEO,brigad.co

Brigad raised €35M to help industries tackle the staffing crisis and in 2022 supported 200,000 missions by more than 15,000 qualified self-employed professionals in 10,000 user establishments. Working in partnership, The Berkeley, located in Knightsbridge, is a leading 5* hotel in London, the epitome of modern British luxury with Michelin-starred dining, award-winning cocktails, a rooftop pool, secret garden and luxury Spa. The team won ‘best themed afternoon tea’ 2023 in UK from Afternoon Tea Awards. Steven oversees 200 staff across hospitality food beverage.

In this conversation we cover:

Addressing challenges in hotel staff recruitment
Being flexible around staffing and skills requirements
Meeting demand and guest expectations
How recruitment is changing
The 3 things that makes hospitality attractive to work in
Making a more attractive hospitality in which to work

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We speak to Richard Bodin, Director of Travel Services for MATCH Hospitality as part of our Staffing mini series, looking at the challenges in the industry, putting on large scale events and managing such a large time.

MATCH operate hospitality events all over the world. While they have a core group of experts, they source people to bring hosts, wait staff, caterers and managers as required for each event.

In this discussion we explore staffing the FIFA World Cup, as well as:

Assessing the human resources required to create a staffing strategy
Where is hospitality struggling to recruit staff
Role of technology
Recruitment and onboarding processes
Benefits, payment and training

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As the first part of a mini-series looking at staffing and recruitment in hospitality, in this episode we find out how to recruit the right leaders and managers in senior positions and technology development. We are joined by Eric Rogers, Director of Eric Rogers Global Ltd a Hospitality & Technology Recruitment & Consultancy with over 20 years experience.

We explore

Where are hotels struggling to recruit staff
How is recruitment changing?
The recruitment channels the industry needs to lean on
The type of benefits, payment or support are employees looking for

Discover why poaching talent is better than advertising

https://www.ericrogersglobal.com/

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In this episode the first of a mini-series on revenue management and pricing strategies, we speak with an independent hotel property, an independent regional hotel group and a revenue management specialist about the opportunities to optimise hotel rates.

In a recent survey between IDeaS RMS and The Caterer, responses show that independent and regional hoteliers are working smarter than harder to bring the right revenue. Key insights include:

Regional hotels are falling behind city centre properties in how they measure success, with an emphasis on occupancy (28.3% in rural, coastal and beach hotels) highlighting their priority of ‘heads in beds’ - a strategy which increases both operational and marketing costs.
City hotels remain focused on maximising revenue per room, with 45.5% using RevPAR as their dominant performance metric.
There is a gulf in the use of technology to enable commercial success, with less than half (45.3%) of regional hotels using a revenue management system (RMS) compared to over three quarters (77.2%) of city hotels.
Properties using an RMS were reported to have 14.15% ADR increase in 2022/23, compared to just 11.69% ADR increase for those without.

We are joined by Michael McCartan, IDeaS, VP EMEA, GEZA Bocsak, Head of Revenue Management and Sales, Harbour Hotels and INNA Nekrassova, Head of Revenue, The Lanesborough to discuss:

Why independent hotels need to rethink revenue management and strategy models
How to use team skills and technology effectively
Where to invest to maximise return
Ai/ automation

For the full survey insights visit:

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We speak to Monica Coppetta, General Manager of Columbia Beach Resort in Cyprus as part of Hoteliers' Voice about how they focus on the luxury guest experience and digital technologies.

Overlooking the secluded Pissouri Bay on the southern coast of Cyprus, Columbia Beach Resort is a five-star resort offering 169 luxurious suites with distinct Cypriot architecture, an award-winning spa and two pools, and gourmet restaurants, in a stunning location – providing a unique experience.

In our conversation, Monica explains how Columbia Beach Resort provides a unique experience with technology, we explore:

Why is guest facing tech and digital systems are so important
The technologies being deployed
The impact on hotel performance
Engaging staff
Identifying the right partners

Systems Columbia Beach Resort uses includes Innspire, Hotel Mobile and Oracle's Micros Fidelio,

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In this edition of Hotel Partner, we hear from Patricia Plesner, CEO, Eco Hotels and Gabriella Kingelin, Sales Manager, Guldsmeden Hotels about How to demonstrate hotel sustainability credentials.
We learn:

what defines an eco hotel
the value of having sustainability credentials
changing traveller behaviours and expectations of eco-sensitive travellers
how to commit to sustainability
implementing the strategy engaging staff
starting off with sustainability

Learn more about Guldsmeden Hotels sustainability programme

Discover eco hotels

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Chris Bowling , Head of digital marketing and ecommerce at Best Western UK joins us as our guest for Hoteliers' Voice to share how they built a direct campaign using guest profiling.

In this episode we learn the approach taken to identify the right audience, the type of marketing strategy to harness this opportunity and the data that fed the campaign creative and channels to market.

We hear how Chris and the Best Western team looked for the opportunity to fight back for the brand. We discuss

- Why education is important

- The role of brand marketing

- Identifying channels to reach the guest profile

- Using guest data to determine the approach

- The systems that underpin the campaign

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In this episode, we’re joined by author and wellness consultant Sonal Uberoi and Journey Hospitality’s commercial director – Elli Regan to discuss how hotels can expand its offering into wellness.

Drawing from Sonal’s book – The Wellness Assett – we explore the wellness market, the value for hotels and hear from the guests experience of working with hotels worldwide. In this Hotel Partner episode we get a framework for commercialising wellness and the technology that underpins the delivery.

We cover:

Value of spa and wellness to the leisure and hospitality market
What it takes to be a spa or wellness hotel
Sonal’s ESSENCE model
Role of technology
Advice to engaging staff

Here is the link to get the book: https://www.spa-balance.com/the-wellness-asset-book/

Discover how to incorporate spa and wellness into your booking funnel. Visit onejourney.

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In this episode we’re joined by Jason Doebrich, VP IT at Virgin hotels and Martin Chevalley, CEO and cofounder of Innspire to discuss the impact of in-room technology on the guest experience, hotel operations and the bottom line.

Achieving up to $25,000 per month from in-room F&B in its Las Vegas property, Virgin Hotels has invested in in-room tech across its portfolio. In this Hotel Partner episode, we hear about the problem and solution developed by Innspire and the impact it’s had on Virgin Hotels.

We cover:

· Advancements of in-room smart tech

· Better guest experiences and hotel operations

· The ROI from In-room tech

· Engaging staff with in-room tech

Get the insights on how to consider your smart tech plans and the advice to make is a successful reality.

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In this episode we speak with Simon Schwitallik, Director of Commercial Strategy and Analytics at Design Hotels to discuss the trends in defined hotel collections and the importance of a tech stack to deliver digital experiences that match the hotel ethos and style.

With an abundance of hotel collections, curated by those passionate by a certain theme whether it’s luxury, independent, eco, spa and wellness or design - properties need to ensure they represent the soft umbrella brands that deliver them bookings and business.

We discuss

The trends in hotel collections
The development of the design hotel category
The importance of tech
And digitalising experiences.

Design Hotels represents and markets a curated selection of 300+ independent hotels in over 60 countries worldwide. Since 1993, Every single hotel carefully selected based on a range of criteria to guarantee guests a unique hotel experience. More than a collection of hotels, the company is a collection of stories.

designhotels.com

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In this episode we speak with Alex Medovoi, CEO at Altexsoft about the importance of hotel analytics and the four key areas that it enables efficiencies, cost-cutting and revenue generation.

We look at the value of analytics, the approach dependent on accommodation or category type and the impact on revenue. In our discussion, learn

What is hotel analytics and the value it is providing hotels?
Why it is critical today
How independent and small hotel properties approach analytics compared to large hotel resorts and hotel groups
How hotel analytic solutions improve the efficiency of the revenue management function

Altexsoft is an travel and hospitality technology consulting company working with travel agencies, travel management solutions, and hospitality businesses

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AI in travel and hospitality and the ethics behind it. We speak with Emma Taylor, Thematic Analyst, and Nick Wyatt, Head of Research, from GlobalData as we delve into the impact of artificial intelligence, how to be prepared and the dangers of implementing it without the right considerations.

How AI is being deployed effectively in travel and hospitality
The quick wins for companies exploring AI and the benefits delivered
ChatGPT and the use cases for generative AI in the industry
ethical frameworks and sustainable data practices

Emma and Nick spoke at the International Hotel Technology Forum in March 2023 in Vienna.

A letter co-signed by Elon Musk and thousands of others demanding a pause in artificial intelligence research has created a firestorm - calling for a six-month hiatus on the development of systems. The focus is on the deployment of large language models. These models, which can predict the next word in a sequence given the preceding words, are the backbone of many conversational AI systems. However, the experts argue that these models are more powerful than ever before, and they simply don't understand how they work. This has led to concerns that the models are creating their own internal goals and behaviour patterns, which (they) are unable to understand or control and may exceed human capabilities

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We speak to Kristoffe Biglete Sales & Marketing Manager, Club La Santa about the challenge of staff shortages in the hospitality industry. He explains how the hotel builds its brand to stand out from the crowd on the small island of Tenerife. From sports instructors to waiters and housekeeping - Kristoffe explains the power of brand marketing and how they turned to TikTok to keep the recruitment drive strong.

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Ahead of IHTF 2023, we speak to the presenters, panelists and sponsors to get the insight on the content that will be shared and the key trends hot on hospitality lips. In this episode we speak to Dhiraj Singh from Canary Technologies and discuss how security is embedded within the guest journey but the challenges hoteliers face in realising the benefits.

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Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

Ahead of IHTF 2023, we speak to the presenters, panelists and sponsors to get the insight on the content that will be shared and the key trends hot on hospitality lips. In this episode we speak to Tess Mattison from Zaplox and William Lee from Onda about technology procurement and the key factors for hoteliers to consider.

Listen to all our episodes and subscribe to our content and newsletter http://travelmarket.life/

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Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

In this episode we're joined by Nils Ziehn, limehome’s Vice President of Product & Business Intelligence and Antonis Chalkiopoulos, CEO of Triparound who are two of the sponsors of IHTF 2023. We cover the value of IHTF and where hotels need to focus on tech to deliver a digital guest experience.

Listen to all our episodes and subscribe to our content and newsletter http://travelmarket.life/

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Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

We are joined by Roger Tabbal,VP Global Guest Technology & Innovation – Tech for Hotels from Accor to discuss the hotel brand's approach to the customer journey. At IHTF 2023 he will be presenting **The evolution of digital check-ins and key cards: What exactly do our guests want?

In our conversation we tackle**

The approach to the guest journey
Developing the criteria
Key criteria when identifying the system and functionality
The value from IHTF
What we will learn from Roger at the event

Listen to all our episodes and subscribe to our content and newsletter http://travelmarket.life/

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Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

Joined by Chris Bowling, Head of Digital Marketing & Ecommerce at Best Western Hotels who at IHTF will deliver the presentation "Working with not against: What can we learn from OTA's to convert direct bookings? "In this conversation, we look at

Tactics Best Western introduced to its direct strategy?
Efforts to drive direct bookings
Building a new strategy - and getting buy-in from the board
Working with teams to break down the silos

Listen to all our episodes and subscribe to our content and newsletter http://travelmarket.life/

Follow us on LinkedIn for the latest updates https://www.linkedin.com/company/travel-market-life/

Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

Joined by Alexandre Pereira from Real Hotels Group we explore how the portfolio approached the guest journey and developing a strategy, ahead of his IHTF 2023 presentation "Maximising revenue at all stages of the customer journey" which will go into specific detail for improving revenue performance.

In this conversation, we discuss

Maximising revenue across the customer journey - why is it so important today
Understanding revenue and revenue performance - the technologies in the hotel tech stack to help address the customer journey
Tech to integrate to maximise revenue
Selecting revenue technologies

We are also joined by Calum McIndoe, Director of Sales UK & Ireland for Infor Hospitality Solutions - discussing the value of IHTF and key criteria to consider as part of tech buying.

Company Profile Real Hotels Group is the result of the merger, in 2020, of two national hotel groups, the holders of the REAL brand and NEWPALM, IHG’s Holiday Inn Express operator, becoming the biggest merger of the Portuguese hotel industry in the last decade, with 16 hotels, 2,100 rooms, spread over Lisbon, Porto and Algarve.

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Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

The Global Meetings Incentives Conferences Events Industry is Expected to Reach $1,337.4 Billion by 2028 according to Allied Market Research. From the Latest London Convention Bureau data, London has seen 52 new hotels openings (7,632 additional rooms) in the past 2 years. In addition, there are wider considerations making an impact: According to the ICE Annual Benchmarking Report,77% of respondents said sustainability had become their key challenge.

We speak to Joost Doevendans, Head of Sales, Proposales to learn how RFPs are evolving and how much of the MICE market has returned:

What are the key trends in MICE business?
How can hotels be adapting their offering or utilise their space better?
How do you digitalise the RFP process?
How must hoteliers adapt their thinking and processes?

Listen to all our episodes on http://travelmarket.life/

Listen to all our episodes and subscribe to our content and newsletter http://travelmarket.life/

Follow us on LinkedIn for the latest updates https://www.linkedin.com/company/travel-market-life/

Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

We explore Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and how this is being applied to hotel tech environments to ease the administrative burden on staff, connect system data and ensure better quality use of information.

We're joined by Stephen Burke, CEO & Founder, RobosizeME and Mehdi Soua, CIO, Louvre Hotels Group. Where we explore

What is RPA and what value does it deliver
How is Louvre using and exploring the use of RPA?
The wider significance for hoteliers and hospitality sector
The opportunity for immediate and effective deployment
The impact on the business

RobosizeME is a process automation specialist for the hospitality industry, helping companies automate operational processes. Its virtual robots help hospitality businesses automate processes and optimize human effort in all areas of hotel operations, including reservations, front of house, back office, revenue management etc

Louvre Hotels Group has a portfolio that includes more than 1,600 hotels in 54 countries. With historic brands (Royal Tulip, Golden Tulip, Campanile, and Première Classe),

Discover more and see more of our content at Travel Market Life

Listen to all our episodes and subscribe to our content and newsletter http://travelmarket.life/

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Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

We learn more about the new virtual revenue event for hotels specifically designed for commercial leaders. Joining us is Ally Northfield of Revenue by Design, hosting Catalyst for Conversion in London, Damiano Zennaro of Hotel Revenue Forum in Milan and AnneMarie Gubanski in Stockholm for Revenue Forum as we discuss the Global Revenue Forum Live online webcast and the content and keynotes to expect.

31 January 2023. Book now

Three events | One community. Where commercial leaders, digital marketing and revenue management specialists come together

Sponsored by IDeaS RMS and Oaky.

For more https://www.globalrevenueforum.com/

Listen to all our episodes and subscribe to our content and newsletter http://travelmarket.life/

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Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

Joined by Mark Ross-Smith, CEO of Status Match, with 20 years’ experience leading loyalty programs in telecoms and travel, and previously Malaysian Airlines. The Editor of industry news site “Travel Data Daily” https://www.traveldatadaily.com/ shared with us his experiences as a frequent flyer and what he is expecting from loyalty programmes and why value is at the centre.

During the discussion we look at

The status quo for loyalty programmes - and what's wrong with this approach
How companies should follow their customers and collect data to drive new revenue opportunities
Leveraging data to improve loyalty experiences
Role of revenue management and loyalty - How they work together
The technology enabling leading businesses to do this

For more visit travelmarket.life

Listen to all our episodes and subscribe to our content and newsletter http://travelmarket.life/

Follow us on LinkedIn for the latest updates https://www.linkedin.com/company/travel-market-life/

Do you have a story to share about technology, digitalisation or culture changes within the hospitality and travel industry? We'd love to hear what your company is doing and the impact it is having. Please contact us through http://travelmarket.life/

Saar Sharon, Head of Hotel Capital Markets for Colliers International shares his insight and experience working internationally across real estate and hospitality to address the challenges the industry is experiencing.

We explore why hotels need real empathy today especially for recruitment, retention and delivering authentic experiences, what those experiences are and how to be considerate of inclusion and what constitutes equality. We cover:

Market trends and why this is a unique time
Factors that may make or break hotels
Why the hotel's identity is so important
How hotels can take the right approach to authenticity

Colliers (NASDAQ, TSX: CIGI) is a leading diversified professional services and investment management company. With operations in 63 countries, our 17,000 enterprising professionals work collaboratively to provide expert real estate and investment advice to clients. http://colliers.com/

For the rest of the episodes and additional content http://travelmarket.life/

Dimitris Manikis, President EMEA of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, and Paul Harnedy, Exec VP, Cedar Court Capital talk about their business, their priorities over the coming year and the role of technology.

These interviews were recorded at The Annual Hotel Conference 2022 alongside Cristina Blaj, founder and CEO of Open Revenue Consulting https://www.openrevenueconsulting.com/

A media collaboration as part of 2022 Hospitality Marketplace 4 episodes:

15 November : #REVENUE MAXIMIZATION, 5PM: https://lnkd.in/drmmamh8

16 November: #DISTRIBUTION, 5PM: https://lnkd.in/d5u5AYZN

22 November: #DIRECT BOOKINGS, 5PM: https://lnkd.in/dTjkwXe7

23 November: #OPERATIONS AND SUSTAINABILITY : https://lnkd.in/drwbMdQJ

For more episodes, visit https://www.haynesmarcoms.agency/travel-market-life

Neil Kirk, Chief Operating Officer, London & Regional Hotels and Arjun Menon, VP Development, Meininger Hotels, talk about their business, their priorities over the coming year and the role of technology.

These interviews were recorded at The Annual Hotel Conference 2022 alongside Cristina Blaj, founder and CEO of Open Revenue Consulting https://www.openrevenueconsulting.com/

A media collaboration as part of 2022 Hospitality Marketplace 4 episodes:

15 November : #REVENUE MAXIMIZATION, 5PM: https://lnkd.in/drmmamh8

16 November: #DISTRIBUTION, 5PM: https://lnkd.in/d5u5AYZN

22 November: #DIRECT BOOKINGS, 5PM: https://lnkd.in/dTjkwXe7

23 November: #OPERATIONS AND SUSTAINABILITY : https://lnkd.in/drwbMdQJ

For more episodes, visit https://www.haynesmarcoms.agency/travel-market-life

With an ambition to become a philosophy teacher, our next Memory Maker entered hospitality at 19 and didn’t look back. Simone Puorto carved out a career from being at front desk to general manager of a chain of boutique hotels now one of the foreleaders on metaverse, ai and automation.

Bringing an edge of science fiction to his consultancy, Simone’s photographs and memories most certainly depict his character. A self-confessed music freak, he shares his love for Joy Division as a failed punk musician and his pilgrimage to visit the iconic spots of the band. Simone explains his disappointment at how advertising can override poignant issues in society.

Simone also delves into his passion for robots on the trip of a lifetime to Japan where his two worlds of technology and buddhism collide. “We were visiting toy shops and buddhist temples. It was a bizarre experience, especially meeting a cyborg monk - imagine an android pope?!’ Here, Simone learnt firsthand the importance of the role of robots in society and the opportunities for hospitality.

We travel to Barcelona for Simone’s souvenir - listen in to find out the significance of his hotel experience and the TV series LOST. In his Fawlty Towers moment, Simone explains how a photoshoot went up in flames the day before opening ‘We wanted more fire….[in the end]...everything was black, [we had to] black-spray paint everything’.Simone is a journalist, keynote speaker, published author, lecturer and consultant specialising in travel technology. During his 25-year career he has been a general manager at a boutique hotel and VP of global accounts for WHIP, a French-American web agency. In 2017 he founded Travel Singularity consultancy firm where he has advised many hotel groups and travel start-ups. He describes himself as a Metaverse Ambassador and Crypto Evangelist. He lives and works between Rome and Paris.

Each episode we invite an industry professional to share 2 photographs and a treasured souvenir from their travels representing moments particularly important to them. Join us as we go on a journey through time to explore the significance of each.A Travel Market Life series, a Haynes MarComs production. Hosted and sponsored by Atomize.

For more episodes and details of the series Photographs & Memories, visit https://www.haynesmarcoms.agency/travel-market-life

Michael Jones, Director of Revenue tells us how Effective Hospitality Management emerged from the pandemic by building a business model for today's hospitality management.

In this episode we get to understand

How management business models and service deliveries has changed to meet today's needs
The changing behaviours of guests
Managing staff, changing processes and engaging in technology
Changing the distribution strategy
Assessing new tech providers.

With 150 years of senior management experience leading prestigious hospitality operations over the last 25 years, EHM introduces strong sales and revenue processes to ensure that the hotel business is well positioned in the market. www.effectivehospitality.co.uk

Exploring trends in the Spanish travel and hospitality market with Editor & Founder SmartTravel News. Juanda Núñez gives insights to the developments of technology and digitalisation and the initiatives businesses are investing in.

Through the eyes of a Spanish trade media editor he shares what he has learnt are the
key challenges for hoteliers and wider travel industry, how media and industry engagement is changing - and why is more important than ever to think about the reader.

Discover more at https://www.smarttravel.news/

How has the London hotel market adapted in 2022 and what have been the positive signs for growth? What are the distribution strategies and the value of direct booking? Are their signs of corporate travel returning or is it still murky waters?

Ryan Haynes, host of Travel Market Life, is joined by Joe Pettigrew, CCO of Hospitality Assets Management at Starwood Capital Group, Christopher Cooper, CCO of Cooper Consult, and Cristina Blaj CEO of Open Revenue Consulting.

Travel Market Life by Haynes MarComs is proud to be a media partner of Hospitality Marketplace 2022 - #justpitchit. Save the dates of the event that will take place for 4 days:

#revenuemaximisation - 15th November - https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/...

distribution - 16th November - https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/...

directbooking - 22nd November - https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/...

operations & #sustainability - 23rd November - https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/...

How to approach your tech stack buying decisions and get the most out of vendors. We're joined by Cristina Blaj, Founder and CEO of Open Revenue Consulting, a strategic tech consulting firm that empowers hotels with the most innovative technology and specialised consulting services connecting sustainable asset management with guest experience integrating revenue & marketing.

In this episode we learn about the best way to explore new technologies and the hotel tech stack, as Cristina talks us through:

What to consider when procuring tech
The importance of digitalisation strategy
The key components to identify tech partners and solutions
How to have confidence in vendors
The disruptive technologies changing tech

Discover more about Open Revenue Consulting.

Travel Market Life by Haynes MarComs is proud to be a media partner of Hospitality Marketplace 2022 - #justpitchit. Save the dates of the event that will take place for 4 days:

#revenuemaximisation - 15th November - https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:6970661926787776512/

#distribution - 16th November - https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:6970661010684690432/

#directbooking - 22nd November - https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:6970662288978554880

#operations & #sustainability - 23rd November - https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:6970662712288645121/

A man whose passions are quite clearly his family and hospitality, our next memory maker ditched a future in Computer Science for a life in hospitality and has never looked back. Fernando Vives spent his childhood obsessed with building computers, however a summer before heading to the States to study, he had a change of heart.

With hotels very much in his blood, Fernando’s mother was a defining influence on his decision to head to university to study tourism and hospitality. “I knew I would never die of hunger if I worked in hospitality”. But he has continued to connect back to technology and science in his role.

Fernando reflects on the learnings he received from his mother, and the importance of making travel time for his kids and wife: “If you get the kids used to different souvenirs, you’ll face a nightmare - it’s not like traveling for business and having time to shop for gifts. “ He explains the significance of a white hard hat.

And, in Fernando’s Fawlty Towers moment he explains a moment where he almost fell hook line and sinker for a very expensive hoax involving the entire 9th floor, £100,000 and a Louis Vuitton bag. “We were so excited to have such spend at the hotel, all this revenue. Everything seemed perfect.”Now CCO, Fernando joined NH Hotel Group in 2014 as Senior Vice President Commercial Strategy & Pricing after occupying various positions at the Le Meridien, The Ritz, Hesperia, and Meliá Hotels International. An expert on revenue management, commercial practices and distribution with experience both in the urban and resort arena, in 2018 he was recognised as one of Europe’s Top 20 Extraordinary Minds and Commercial & Revenue Optimisation Leaders.

Being a passionate hotelier, Fernando established the Master's Degree “Expert on Revenue Management “ at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, the most prestigious RM Official education in the Spanish language. He is also an associate professor at IE Business School on their MBA programs. He also co-founded the revenue management & distribution firm Xotels and is co-founder of The Cool Food Company, a successful F&B operator

Fernando lives in Madrid, Spain with his wife and 2 kids.

Each episode we invite an industry professional to share 2 photographs and a treasured souvenir from their travels representing moments particularly important to them. Join us as we go on a journey through time to explore the significance of each.A Travel Market Life series, a Haynes MarComs production. Hosted and sponsored by Atomize. For more episodes and details of the series Photographs & Memories, visit https://www.haynesmarcoms.agency/travel-market-life

Joined by Roope Kekalainen (CEO) and Jari-Jussi Viinikkala (CFO, the co-founders of Lygg present their vision for the future of regional aviation and plane travel.

We discuss the changes that are happening in transport and logistics and why businesses need to be looking at alternative and emerging options to reduce waste. In this episode we explore:
1. The challenges for business travellers
2. Alternative transport options post-pandemic
3. Regional travel
4. And achieving sustainability in aviation

To learn more www.lygg.com

For more visit Travel Market Life

When war broke out in Lebanon in 1990 our next memory maker had to abandon her course in banking and moved to Abu Dhabi where she entered a hotel management programme. Mona Faraj recounts the time she took her team on an incentive trip to the desert in the middle of summer and unexpectedly got hit by floods - explaining why you should never curse her.

As Mona prepares to fly with her dog Milo, she reflects on the changes in the industry and what got her to where she is today, “I’m one of the most privileged executives that ever worked in the ME region…the time invested in me was phenomenal.” She also shares the best memory of her life walking the desert as part of Women’s Heritage and the inspiration from people encouraging her.

We hear the love she has of the Middle East and the business culture where nothing is impossible - “If you set your mind to something, you are able to achieve it.’

Mona tells of her love of food, her father’s influence, and the two souvenirs she always returns home with. In Mona’s hilarious Fawlty Tower moment, the camel is causing chaos as the GM tries to outdo himself. “Camels don’t go up staircases, and cannot walk on marble”
Mona is a true business activist; with a far-reaching industry network. Her entrepreneurial journey started in 2007 with the launch of her consultancy - Insight Out - following a successful hotel career with Hilton and Rotana.

Mona actively develops the industry in her role of Managing Director of HSMAI for the Middle East Region and is co-founder of ExploreTECH the first digital marketplace in the Middle East and Africa. Among her many accolades, Mona is a Market Analyst & Manager for Phocuswright.

Each episode we invite an industry professional to share 2 photographs and a treasured souvenir from their travels representing moments particularly important to them. Join us as we go on a journey through time to explore the significance of each.A Travel Market Life series, a Haynes MarComs production. Hosted and sponsored by Atomize.

For more episodes and details of the series Photographs & Memories, visit https://www.haynesmarcoms.agency/travel-market-life

Josh Henegar the Corporate Revenue Director at 1859 Historic Hotels explains why word of mouth marketing is more important to revenues than it has ever been. With 10 hotels in three states, 1859 Historic Hotels is anchored in the history and traditions of its locations, celebrating and honoring the culture and community that makes each one unique.

From its home office in Galveston, Texas, 1859 Historic Hotels provides a central foundation for hospitality and culinary teams spread across three states, as well as an important resource for preserving the history and traditions of each hotel.

In this episode we explore how the group understands the guest experience and the way it uses guest feedback to maintain satisfaction, the importance of sentiment analysis and the tools that allow them to it effectively to continue delivering great guests experiences.

Josh explains

Why understanding the guest experience is so important
The revenue factors involved
How they use data and insights
The tools they use
The key complaints from guests today

For more of Season 2 Hoteliers Voice visit https://www.haynesmarcoms.agency/hoteliers-voice-series

Thanks to SHR for putting us in contact with Josh to learn about how Maverick CRM uses guest feedback and reviews through ReviewPro.

This is an independent episode not sponsored.

In this episode we look at the important factors of hospitality today; the aspects that generate excitement and the role of digital services in delivering the ultimate experience.

We’re joined by Don Bunnell, founder of the Swank Guide - a new travel curation/review platform across social media channels. They curate unusual, independent, and sustainable boutique hotel experiences. Don has spent half his life overseas and has traveled to over 60 countries, He’s lived in Europe, China, and Australia – and is always looking for that perfect hotel. He’s also taken start-ups through both Y Combinator and TechStars, the world’s two most selective start-up accelerators.

We cover:

The key factors of hospitality
The aspects of a property that really excite
The importance of digital services

For more visit Travel Market Life

Our next memory maker dreamed of being in hospitality, persuading her father to send her to hotel school. Christine Tan takes us on her journey from an Island in West Malaysia to Switzerland, London, Los Angeles and Singapore joining UTELL fresh out of college to coordinate the switch of hotels to GDS. Her souvenir is a press cutting from this time, and she reflects on how things have changed since 1989.

Christine always knew travel was important to her “I wanted to climb the highest mountain and swim the deepest sea before having kids.” She recounts her 4,000 metre ascent of Mount Kinabalu, a brutal climb passing over rough terrain, tackling steep elevations with no conversation as air became thinner, eventually arriving at a breathtaking sunrise. “If you ask me to do it again, I’d take the helicopter”. From here she tells about an oceanic Island and her joy to swim with sharks in the Philippines as she witnessed the transformation of this small town.

Christine shares her Fawlty Towers story about a guest suffering severe jet lag.

Born in Malaysia Christine left home at 17 to study in Switzerland and London and ended up living all over Europe and the USA; eventually returning to Asia 20 years later. She juggles her career with motherhood, having had her daughter late in life. She is passionate about the arts, and the hospitality industry.

A big foodie Christine will travel long distances to experience different cuisines. Her family loves the ocean and snow so they spend most of their vacations diving off remote islands or skiing in Japan and USA.

Until recently, Christine served as Managing Director for Asia Pacific at D-EDGE. She has over 30 years of leadership experience including Trust International, ANA Hotels, Pegasus Solutions, and her own consulting company.

Each episode we invite an industry professional to share 2 photographs and a treasured souvenir from their travels representing moments particularly important to them. Join us as we go on a journey through time to explore the significance of each.A Travel Market Life series, a Haynes MarComs production. Hosted and sponsored by Atomize.

For more episodes and details of the series Photographs & Memories, visit https://www.haynesmarcoms.agency/travel-market-life

Amanda Du, Head of eCommerce from Penta Hotels joins us to explain how they reimagined the customer journey to get the digital experience right. Since 1971 Penta has combined style, substance and comfort with over 20 hotels across Europe and Asia.

Amanda applied her learnings and digitalisation frameworks to develop the digital infrastructure and utilisation of the CRM. With over a decade of international hotel experience across china, Singapore, Malaysia and now in Germany, she explains how she lead the digital transformation project. We cover;

1. Developing the strategy and the essential building blocks to achieving success with her ABCD framework

2. Assessing and understanding the guest digital experiences to develop the new digital journey

3. Addressing the customer journey internally and working with partners

4. Providing an omnichannel experience, and why this is necessary?

5. How to understand user experiences and guest sentiment

6. Selecting your tech partners

Discover the rest of the Hoteliers' Voice series through the Travel Market Life podcast on all the major podcast channels and hear the other 10 episodes. Alternatively, visit https://www.haynesmarcoms.agency/travel-market-life-podcast/episode/78325e8f/hoteliers-voice-s2e8-nh-hotel-group-revising-the-distribution-culture-ihtf-2022-special

Social distancing, contactless technologies, new guest expectations and digitalisation - how much is it influencing the use of space in hospitality? Todd Lundgren, Principal at CRTKL talks about hotel design, the evolution of hospitality environments and the role of technology

Todd shares with us the key developments worldwide to explain what we can expect from hotel buildings over the next few years;

1. The projects being undertaken

2. The trends in new developments influencing design

3. Changing use of space

4. Generating greater ROI and attracting new audiences

5. Role of technology in design

6. Innovations occurring in the market

Discover more from CRTKL perspectives on hospitality living environments in its latest publication Forecast 2022.

Discover all our series, including Photographs and Memories, and Hoteliers' Voice

John Hubbs-Hurrell, Head of The Advantage Global Network joins us to talk about how accommodation supply is massively adapting to new demands with Travel Agents and TMCs at the front of this trend. Growth in demand of booking with travel agents is changing the dynamics of travel retail – what does this shift mean for the industry and packaging hotel product? In particular we look at the wider consideration of accommodation from just hotels and why ROI is essential for corporate travel today. We also discuss the importance of protected travel bookings, the new packaging requirements and how this provides the opportunity for TMCs to truly rebrand.

We discuss
1. The trends in demand and client sentiment

2. Customer value and total trip management, and the importance of hotel ancillaries

3. Giving the right traveller experience

4. Move from static rate codes to dynamic rates

The Advantage Global Network connects corporate clients to travel management experts around the world. Its network of TMCs employs over 30,000 people in over 80 countries.

Born in Holland, our memory maker soon saw that the world was a great opportunity, offering the flexibility to come and go while learning about new cultures and places. Travel, early on, was part of her DNA. Kristie Goshow recalls her time on Zandvoort Beach collecting bottles where she met her lifelong friend, connecting across languages.

See her photos in episode artwork, or click here:

Kristie reflects on how travel gives a thirst for knowledge and curiosity; “If one can be exposed to new places, or see people go and come back - it takes away any fear of leaving your safety zone.” From graduating as a mature student in 1997, to spending 9 years living and working in Dubai, Kristie was keen to make the most of it “Life’s too short, you got to make sure you have fun in everything you do.”

She looks at the travel that gave her the key landmarks in her life, and fondly remembers the importance of her filofax, red mini cooper and her piece of the Berlin wall. In Kristie’s Fawlty Towers moment, find out why the bathroom curtain’s came to her aid in a roadside truck drivers’ B&B.

Kristie lives in Orange County, California, with her husband and two children. She started her career working with Scandinavian Airlines and Virgin Atlantic before moving into hospitality. She has worked for hotel brands including Le Meridien, Jumeirah and Viceroy Hotel Group and Preferred Hotels & Resorts. During her 9-year stint in the Middle East she exercised her entrepreneurial passions in launching Table4Me

Kristie is recognized by HSMAI as one of the top 25 extraordinary minds, and is currently the Chief Commercial Officer with KSL Resorts. Kristie serves as a member of the HTNG Executive Leadership Group, and AHLA’s ForWard Advisory Committee, where it is her mission to advance women in hospitality.

Each episode we invite an industry professional to share 2 photographs and a treasured souvenir from their travels representing moments particularly important to them. Join us as we go on a journey through time to explore the significance of each. A Travel Market Life series, a Haynes MarComs production. Hosted and sponsored by Atomize.

For more episodes and details of the series Photographs & Memories, visit https://www.haynesmarcoms.agency/travel-market-life

In this episode we’re joining by Eric Hallerberg, VP EMEA Sales, Oracle Hospitality who presented at IHTF looking at ways to develop a full tech stack and framework in a modern hotel. He talks about the hospitality value chain the the importance of focusing on the common customer.

During this chat we cover

Approach to thinking of the guest experience and journey
The important factors to developing the tech framework
How the tech stack for hotels changed
Oracle's approach to distribution specifically adapting and evolving in the coming few years

Check out other episodes from IHTF 2022 through podcast channels Google, Deezer, Apple and Spotify, or visit our page for more info https://www.haynesmarcoms.agency/travel-market-life

Looking at AI in hospitality, a hot topic as tech leaders look to optimise performance of systems and get an understanding of the value that AI provides to the tech stack. Joined by Mike Webster, CEO and founder of Arvoia, hospitalities leading AI platform, he talks us through where AI is being deployed and how far we are yet to push it to gain real value.

We’ve seen AI deployed in pricing and forecasting, AI has been applied to identify recognition systems and within guest communication, but what about in retail of hotels and hospitality? With Mike we cover:

What AI is and what it is not
How AI elevates marketing, sales and operations
Where AI is currently being deployed well in hospitality
How AI can take hotel ecommerce to the next level
Mitigating the lack of staff, talent and skills to utilise AI

Discover more of Arvoia https://www.arvoia.com/
Check out our other episodes https://www.haynesmarcoms.agency/travel-market-life-podcast

Exploring the world of coach travel and the luxury offering. We speak with VP Marketing and PR, Florencia Cirigliano of Red Coach about how to identify a new opportunity in the travel sector and the technology adapting the experience.

Argentina's coach sector inspired Florencia to apply the model to the USA, going one step further she established a high-end, affordable express motorcoach service in 2010. She talks us through how the transport sector is diversifying and the benefits of entering the market with a defined and unique proposition. Florencia explains the importance of knowing your audience and making the entire experience seamless.

We cover
- Rising costs and inflation,
- The makeup of the US coach market,
- Challenges with an outdated sector tech stack,
- Integrating technology and making it more friendly for the customers,
- Evolving the booking engine

...and why they look to the airline industry for inspiration.

About RedCoach

Founded in 2010, RedCoach is a high-end, affordable express motorcoach that has been servicing Florida for more than a decade. Today, RedCoach is one of the most trusted luxury transportation offerings for business and leisure travelers alike, with daily routes throughout Florida and Texas. Equipped with the latest technology, RedCoach provides travelers with a truly unique motorcoach experience with its fleet of luxury vehicles that offer the utmost safety for its passengers. Fitted with 26, 38 and 56 seats, RedCoach offers spacious seating that reclines up to 140 degrees. Since its inception, RedCoach has transported more than a million passengers, and it continues to add new routes to fulfill its mission of providing an affordable, luxurious and safe travel experience for its customers. RedCoach is committed to offering travelers a level of quality and service that is the new standard in the industry.

Na’ím Anís Paymán, Chief Revolutionary of the Paymán Club explains the trends its seeing in hotels and holiday rentals and the differences he has learnt in managing the two accommodation types,

Payman Club is a provider of hotels and short-term accommodation with 9 hotels and over 100 short term properties. Paymán has developed Zeevou a powerful PMS and Channel Manager for serviced apartment providers and hotels that enables everyone to grow direct bookings. An automation hub for hospitality providers.

In this episode we discuss

The opportunities and challenges of opening hotels during/after Covid
Trends around bookings in the UK (holiday rental vs hotels)
Similarities between hotels and holiday rental management today
Digital and remote guest services
Tech stack to manage your hotels vs holiday rentals
Staffing at hotels
Developing a product roadmap

Zeevou has won the Most Innovative New Hospitality Technology award at the Innovation & Excellence Awards 2020, the Best Channel Manager award at Shortyz 2020, The Best Hospitality Management Automation Platform 2020, and even picked up VRMB’s Keystone Awards 2021 as Best Small- to Mid-Sized RPMS.

Digitalisation of the guest experience and building the guest journey was a common theme, covering guest communication, guest services and payment processing.

In this episode we here from Dado Ljumanovic, Group Director, Digital Media & CRM, SIRCLE COLLECTION - who presented on the future of CRM and talks about how he leads an inhouse team to capitalise on guest insights and the importance of sharing stories with other hoteliers.

Tim Butterworth, Crave, explains how hoteliers have removed paper from rooms and why QR codes are not necessarily the answer for providing guest services and driving additional revenue. We also cover why hardware is making a return.

And Juan Jose Llorente from Adyen – an integrated payment solutions – makes his debut visit to IHTF and tells me why forgetting the payment is the best experience.

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Listen to interviews with NH Hotels Accor, Melia, Falkensteiner Resorts and The Set Collection in the IHTF Outtakes and the Hoteliers’ Voice series to hear other hoteliers talking about their strategies.

Transformation is about what the company wants to be, in this episode we look at how to bring change. We’ll be looking at the hotel metaverse and how 3D tours are proving real digital connection with bookers through digital twins of hotel properties and conference centres But first.

Tess Mattisson, Former Head Of Ecommerce & Digital Customer Development, Scandic Hotels and now CEO of Zaplox addresses consumer strategies, I asked her, what advice would she give to bringing new strategies to a hotel group and getting buy-in from senior management and investors.

Listen to interviews with NH Hotels Accor, Melia, Falkensteiner Hotels & Resorts, Sircle Collection and The Set Collection in the IHTF Outtakes and the Hoteliers’ Voice series to hear other hoteliers talking about their strategies.

From multi to omnichannel, the industry has had to look at how it can really provide an experience for every guest.

Sabrina Regner, Director of Guest Engagement & Reservations Management, Falkensteiner Hotels & Resorts, addresses guest communication, artificial intelligence and robotic process automation, helping demystify and simply the approach for hotels.

And Carsten Wernet, Chief Executive at SIHOT, presented with Worldline talking about the role of omnichannel payments for guest and explains how the expectation has massively shifted over the past couple of years.

Listen to interviews with NH Hotels Accor, Melia, Sircle Collection and The Set Collection in the IHTF Outtakes and the Hoteliers’ Voice series to hear other hoteliers talking about their strategies.

During IHTF Marketing and Distribution programme stream, I hosted a fireside with Janneke Messiaen, VP Commercial Systems & B2B Digital for NH Hotel Group to discuss the new model of distribution and distribution processing. She explains why they moved to a concentrated distribution model and how she worked with her team to address challenges to devise the strategies that support growth.

We look at

Building the team’s commercial culture around today’s market demands
Encouraging your team to stay on top of the game
Moving to a concentrated distribution model
Addressing the challenges with Group bookings
The new age of B2B (direct) customers

In this episode , I speak to the panelists l addressing the role of OTAs, Robin Stangroom- VP of Revenue, Reservations & Distribution of The Set Collection, and Jon Siberry – Group Revenue Manager at Sarova. We also hear from Marcel Stiller, Dir of business dev at Cendyn about some of the learnings from the conference floor.

Among the tools used by Strangroom and Siberry include Cendyn, P3, Synxis, Fornova, Optimand and OTA Insight

Listen to interviews with NH Hotels Accor, Melia, Falkensteiner Resorts and Sircle Collection in the IHTF Outtakes and the Hoteliers’ Voice series to hear other hoteliers talking about their strategies.

Tomeu Fiol, Global Hotels Technologies Director, Melia Hotels International speaks to us about the value of IHTF and the focus of tech strategies at the group and how they are deploying AI.

This year’s IHTF is an opportunity for the industry to come together in person, following two years of challenges and ongoing economic and social impacts across the world – the industry is now hampering down on new strategies that consider sustainability, productivity and performance, automation, guest experience and digitalisation.

Among the speakers lined up across the two day – two steam programme include Head of eCommerce from Scandic Hotels, Global Senior Director of Industry Partnerships at BWH Hotel Group, Pestana Hotel Groups CIO, Director of Future Business from Nordic Choice, and VP Commericial of NH Hotel.

There’s a large number of sponsors also attending including the likes of Assa abloy, fornova, HRS, SIHOT, Oracle Hospitality, Duetto, Ideas, Sabre and Oaky.

Two programme streams guide the event one looking at Tech and operations, exploring subjects including guest technologies, payments, security, sustainability, and contactless. The Distribution and marketing stream will look at the customer journey, future of retailing, OTAs, revenue strategies, the cRM, and guest experience.

Welcome to the pre-event chat for IHTF 2022 where we with Accor's Global Procurement director Guest technology, energy, CAPEX and IHTF sponsor, CEO of Dan Magi, Daniel Lister about the focus of technology buying.

April's hosted 121 buyer event in Madrid will explore hotel retailing, digital experiences, tech application and tech evolution. Watch out for upcoming episodes recorded at the event, where Haynes MarComs is Media Partner and I will be chairing the Marketing & Distribution stream. Hosting the Technology and Operations stream is Ted Horner, owner of eHorner & Associates.

A growing hotel brand, family-run, expanding globally - a portfolio going through changes. Over the past two years, The Red Carnation Hotel Collection has reviewed its operations, centralised its team and addressed its digital strategy. Suzie Thompson, VP Commercial explains how they brought sweeping changes to have a unified market approach.

This multi-award winning hotel brand launched a whole set of new websites, opened new properties and reworked its sales framework. Suzie talks about creating a commercial team, digitalising global teams, working with partners, enhancing brand delivery, and optimising the guest experience.

Key Points

- Restructuring the brand with a centralised strategy

- Unifying the brand approach in sales and marketing

- Evolving the guest experience and digital guest journey

- Selecting technology partners

The Red Carnation Hotel Collection received Travolution Award for ‘Best For Staying” 2021 as a result of the new website design and functionality, Travel Website of the Year from The Good Web Guide 2021, and named by Travel & Leisure World’s Best Awards 2021 as ‘number 3 best hotel brand in the world’.

It works with partners including Matter of Form, Synxis, Salesforce, and Selfbook.

How do you run two hospitality brands 100% remotely? Tyan MarCink Hammond explains how she has adopted complete digital management of her two brands Branson Family Retreats and Missouri Haus. We learn the tools that she uses to manage 55 rooms across 13 sites - what hotels can learn from vacation rental.

Tyann has hosted over 20,000 guests since 2007 with the growing portfolio of award-winning properties. The tech stack is at the forefront of the guest experience and communications with a digital guidebook, a 14 point pre-arrival communication workflow, and remote property management tools.

Key points include

1. How to target and manage your most valuable guest demographic

2. Making a memorable experience - the importance of the digital guest journey

3. How remote IoT technology can manage properties?

4. What makes a holiday rental property

Tyann is also host of the podcast The Guest Cast, and the Queen of Guest Experience with TouchStay.

Airbnb profile
Missouri Haus and Branson Family Retreats direct sites
My podcast The Guest Cast

How do you staff a seasonal hotel and make it run as efficiently as possible? Georg Gaag, Manager of myNext Hotels Hostels Apartments gives us some ideas for how we can truey digitalise aspects of operations, training and recruitment to reduce pressures and costs.

Key points include:

Challenges of running a seasonal hotel
Digitally managing staffing, training and onboarding
Improving processes with automation
Selling more with automation

The tech stack includes Application Tracking System, Video training, Virtual training environments, Mews, Bookboost, PACE RMS, HOTAs, Project Space Time

We speak to fellow podcaster Kristian Lupinski - the host of The Hoteliers podcast - and event lead of I Meet Hotel, to discuss the role of events in sales and procurement in hospitality technology.

I Meet Hotel is a global industry event connecting hoteliers to the future of hospitality providing audiences with the keys to higher revenue and a customer loyalty approach through insightful conferences.

In this episode we discuss

The value and expectation of inperson events today for buyers and sellers
The role of collaboration in B2B sales
Why education is so important now
And measuring impact and engagement across all marketing, event and sales initiatives.

Kristian also runs Hospitality Partnerships @ Bidroom

How do you maintain the human-touch in high-end luxury hospitality with digital tools? Sotiris Kopatsaris, CEO & founder Future Hotels and MD, Carpe Diem Santorini explains how technology helps staff to create the magic and authenticity to provide individual experiences to every hotel client protecting experiences that are not disrupted but augmented by technology.

Key points include:

Evaluating the digital performance of a hotel
Developing a digitalisation benchmark
Tools in the tech stack for a high-end luxury hotel
Identifying core tech partners
Undertaking a sustainability journey

The tech stack includes MEWS, Siteminder, Atomize, Oaky, The Hotels Network, Juyo Hotel Analytics

With a full renovation taking the place the the need to look at guest experiences and staff resourcing differently, the CIO of RBH Management, Vibhu Gaind decided to take the opportunity to rework the techstack in one London hotel. With drastic change in hotel product and guest expectation, he was keen to Make the contact with the guest more meaningful and less transaction based. Vibhu explains where he took inspiration and the decisions on the solutions that said goodbye to the traditional lobby to make way for a more vibrant entrance hub.

Key points include:

Identifying key operational changes necessary
Poignant factors within digitalising the guest journey
Implementing cultural change, staff resourcing and employee perspective
Selecting the right tech partners

The tech stack includes Microsoft, Azure, 365 environments, Hotstats

In this episode we explore the commercialisation of wellness and sustainability and why it is now a hot commodity for hotels. Speaking to Celine Vadam, CEO of Wei think, we look at the impact of wellness, the environment and delivering innovation.

Guiding us through the principals of wellness, Celine explains how to translate ideas into unique viable projects, bridging the gap between commercial concepts and design vision. During the next 24 minutes understand:

Why wellness a hot commodity for hotels. What they are doing right and wrong
The factors a wellness hotel should be considering today
When a hotel is successful at implementing wellness
Measuring wellness and its impact
The technologies or systems provide support in delivering wellness campaigns

Scrapping an existing tech infrastructure is no easy feat, but Liutauras Vaitkevicius (LV), Managing Director, Zetter Hotels, explains how he overhauled the tech stack and is using data intelligence, working with his team, to optimise performance. LV tells us how they crafted the new experiences at its 3 centrally-located properties in London.

Key points include:

How to approach overhauling the hotel tech stack
Identifying the core objectives and technology partner
The ingredients that make up the Zetter stack
Using data to optimise value from guests
Engaging the team
Changing trends in revenue management

The techstack includes: Apaleo, LightSpeed Commerce, HotelREZ Hotels & Resorts, Siteminder, Up Hotel Agency, GuestRevu, Foresight, Flexkeeping, Xero, PACE, OTA Insight and STR Report.

In this episode we speak with Vicente Castillo, Project Manager at Zeus to talk about smart visual data. We explore a recent visual dashboard installed at hotel resort, Vivood and what that has enabled the luxury resort to achieve for its guests and its staff.

Vicente talks through the importance of focusing on people before implementing data strategies to understand how it can help them make better decisions and be more agile and productive.

We discuss how to best utilise data, the human psychology of data and the importance of recognising the laws of data.

For more details on the partnership with Zeus, Vivood and SIHOT check out this article on HostelTur

This is a story of data and business intelligence, and how and where hotels can gather data to underpin the revenue strategy. Paolo Dona, CIO of StayCity Group explains the importance of data and business intelligence within its tech stack to gain essential insights to establish the revenue strategy and identify the most valuable guests.

Key points include:

Adapting to changes in booking behaviour as the market shifts from business to leisure.
Reinventing the booking strategy by moving away from aggregators
Developing the guest experience and how StayCity Group is implementing hyper-personalisation and optimising upselling
Building a data strategy and culture and the role of the Customer Data Platform
Key criteria in the procurement process, and the importance of connectivity

StayCity Group uses Oracle Opera and works with HotelRes.

Ryan speaks to Zana Devine, a specialist in delivery high quality training in hospitality servicing, guest concierge and team management. In this episode we confront the challenges in hospitality servicing of guests amid gaping shortages of talent and workforce.

With over 25 years of expertise in the hospitality industry Zana has worked with leading brands including Hilton, Intercontinental Hotels & Resorts, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Fig & Olive, to name a few. We look at the challenges managers face, the role of being a leader in a challenging market, the role of technology and delivering quality hospitality experience.

Žana Devine Hospitality is a premium global training and coaching provider specialising in serving the hospitality industry. Dedicated to equipping, inspiring and assembling excellent hospitality teams with a focus on ensuring your team, services and process are exceptionally healthy and ready to give guests the superior experience they deserve!

In this episode Ryan Haynes and Flavio Amiel discuss the core metrics to review within SEO.

What and why a Competitor Audit - review how competitors are positioned and identify keywords and opportunities.
What is On-page optimisation and how to improve the website
What is Off-site optimisation and how to improve the referrals and backlinks
And how to build your SEO Strategy - considering the long term and quick wins.

Discover more about Haynes MarComs marketing support https://www.haynesmarcoms.agency/

Manage damage control in a crisis. How to prepare for the worst and respond to situations.
Sam and Ryan talk through how to respond to a consumer and a corporate crisis, from accidents to natural events, security threats, fraud and corporate buyouts. The tips to help you prepare and be in control.
We cover topics including accidents, floods, terrorism, fraud, product failure, change in corporate control.

Our quick tips:

Assess the situation
Find the facts
Set up a press office to communicate up-to-date information to the media
Set up a customer call centre for concerned customers and/or friends/relatives
Manage social media
Have a ready prepared Crisis Management protocol in place, a document that can be accessed by all relevant staff, with contact details and guidance on what to do and who is responsible for each area

Keeping on top of accreditations; sustainability, accessibility, risk, safety and Covid-19. How hotels can keep on top of their obligations. We speak to David Atkins from Sanderson Phillips about preparing for audits, looking at what goes into a safety audit and how can a business achieve C-19 Accreditation.

We also explore accessibility and the core challenges experienced by the travel sector, Sustainability and how to manage your supply chain to ensure they commit to your core sustainability values and promises.

Our next guest was mesmerised by the hotel sector while working as a public affairs political consultant in Hawaii. He soon became immersed in the travel and hospitality sector – setting up his own specialist PR agency 20 years ago. In this episode, our memory maker speaks fondly of family road trips as a kid, his first international travel, and his love for the familiar.

Michael Frenkel has worked for and supported diverse travel and hospitality enterprises such as Howard Johnson International, Days Inn, Preferred Hotels & Resorts, and Thayer Ventures, and is currently Entrepreneur in Residence at the Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship at the Cornell Hotel School. He shares his memories of pre-travel planning before the internet, his first visit to Asia where he discovered the huge cultural differences. He speaks openly about the pull and tug between travel disruption and rootedness; “You need to remove preconceptions, see the world fresh, have an open mind in a very board way and experience things that change your perspective and keep it constantly changing.”

Listen in as he tells us of the time that he sat in Winston Churchill’s war time chair.

Our Memory Makers choose three photographs and a treasured souvenir of places or people from their travels. The four represent moments of particular importance to them, whether personally or professionally. They take us on a journey, reflecting on the significance of a specific moment in time, the sentiment of the period, and what was going on in the world around us.

Produced by Travel Market Life, a Haynes MarComs series. Hosted and sponsored by Atomize.

For more episodes and details of the series Photographs & Memories, visit https://www.haynesmarcoms.agency/travel-market-life-podcast

Ryan is joined by Andy Headington from Adido to delve into Customer Acquisition Cost. They cover what to do about it and how you can implement changes to your business that will make justifying and getting more budget easier to do now and in the future

They discuss this because the days of digital marketing being the cheap alternative have near-vanished; channels have been tried, tested and optimised - with well-rehearsed formulas that can boost the prospects of companies.

Today, digital marketing needs to be considered and thought through to ensure each channel contributes to the core commercial goals. More than ever, companies need to be monitoring their Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), breaking this down throughout the sales funnel and tracking the customer journey to understand the value each interaction contributes to your sales process.

In our talkng heads Industry Rundown, Sam Marsh and Ryan Haynes look at how you can engage with seasonality when struggling to market your business, giving you the tips of when to prepare your campaigns to hit key dates and festive seasons. And, we also discuss budget season and how to prepare your marketing budgets. Listen in.

Our next guest was inspired as a kid by his relatives in Switzerland working in hospitality, where on becoming an adult chose to go to hotel school - and readily admits “hospitality is a really hard business”. This episode, our memory maker saw the maiden voyage and final flight of Concord in NYC and London, as he hovered between two continents having been born in the US by European parents.

Peter Gerstle has worked in travel with IHG, EasyJet, Pegasus and Coillinsons. He shares his memories of being a transatlantic child passing through Iceland regularly and the lessons he’s learnt from travelling “It all tends to work out.” He swears by his approach to travel - “May all your wishes come true bar one, to always have something to strive for and look forward to. On everyone's bucket list you should never see everything.”

Listen to Peter Gerstle’s stories and how a cake came to end up at Everest base camp and why for him it’s important to take your travels back home through a souvenir to extend the memory. .

Our Memory Makers choose three photographs and a treasured souvenir of places or people from their travels. The four represent moments of particular importance to them, whether personally or professionally. They take us on a journey, reflecting on the significance of a specific moment in time, the sentiment of the period, and what was going on in the world around us.

Produced by Travel Market Life, a Haynes MarComs series. Hosted and sponsored by Atomize. https://atomize.com/blog/

For more episodes and details of the series Photographs & Memories, visit https://www.haynesmarcoms.agency/photographs-and-memories

In this episode Ryan Haynes discusses with Flavio Amiel SEO Audits and what to look for when addressing your SEO and content strategy. As part of a mini-SEO series, the pair will look at search optimisation and visibility, in part one we look at Haynes MarComs 57-point checklist and the aspects of search, web and content that this looks at. We discuss why an SEO Audit is important and how to go about doing it, and the outcomes to expect. Plus we run through some of the core KPIs for SEO:

Search visibility - position
Keyword attribution
Traffic generation
Domain Authority
External links/referrals
Internal customer journey
Glance competitor’s strategies

To request an Expre-SEO, or to enquire further for an audit, get in touch https://www.haynesmarcoms.agency/

A graduate of the Glion Institute of Switzerland, he holds the Glion spirit with pride. Our next memory maker started life, following a two-year stint with Accor, as a young entrepreneur forming Forte Holding before co-founding the Utopian Hotel Collection. He grew up in Beirut, studied in Switzerland and lives in London.

Listen to Ronald Homsy’s hilarious experience of staying with an Airbnb landlord who disappeared for 48 hours and the moments that he has had a profound reflection on his life.

Our Memory Makers choose three photographs and a treasured souvenir of places or people from their travels. The four represent moments of particular importance to them, whether personally or professionally. They take us on a journey, reflecting on the significance of a specific moment in time, the sentiment of the period, and what was going on in the world around us.Produced by Travel Market Life, a Haynes MarComs series. Hosted and sponsored by Atomize.

For more episodes and details of the series Photographs & Memories, visit https://www.haynesmarcoms.agency/photographs-and-memories

Membership programmes are getting an overhaul, and for our next guest he sees the opportunity in subscription loyalty-programmes for the hospitality. In this episode @Ryan Beachum talks about

How timeshare changed
The opportunity of hospitality membership clubs
How will the commerce experience change
And, the role of blockchain in payments

Before a career in hotels, our next memory maker started out in engineering on a North Sea oil rig, when the 1998 oil crisis took him on a trip to Australia before landing on the banks of Loch Tay working for a Scottish hotel resort. Having travelled the world for long periods at a time - the Covid pandemic challenged his work-life balance.

Steve Dow takes us on a journey through his adult life, meeting Orangutans in Borneo, climbing Mount Everest and meeting Mike Tyson in Las Vegas - all while holding down a young family. Listen in as he shares his regrets and why he now has a new perspective on life.

Our Memory Makers choose three photographs and a treasured souvenir of places or people from their travels. The four represent moments of particular importance to them, whether personally or professionally. They take us on a journey, reflecting on the significance of a specific moment in time, the sentiment of the period, and what was going on in the world around us.Produced by Travel Market Life, a Haynes MarComs series. Hosted and sponsored by Atomize.

For more episodes and details of the series Photographs & Memories, visit https://www.haynesmarcoms.agency/photographs-and-memories

Talking heads Sam and Ryan return for Industry rundown - patiently waiting for this episode which includes: Reopening of travel and the restrictions, Travel hesitancy, Staff shortages, Hospitality supply chain disrupted, Priming marketing campaigns, and Getting back out on the road again.

Listen in - give us your feedback, and if you want to be a guest - let us know - we love to talk to people.

Son of a hotel inspector, our next Memory Maker was dragged around presidential suites, chauffeured by limousine as a child before joining Cape Town Hotel School founded by his father. Born in Zambia, raised in South Africa and now living in the UK, Duncan Bramwell, is an independent hotel consultant.

Find out the reason why he was carrying four baby rhino bottles, why Madagascar is on his bucket list and what came from a conversation with an old man in Egypt.

Our Memory Makers choose three photographs and a treasured souvenir of places or people from their travels. The four represent moments of particular importance to them, whether personally or professionally. They take us on a journey, reflecting on the significance of a specific moment in time, the sentiment of the period, and what was going on in the world around us.Produced by Travel Market Life, a Haynes MarComs series. Hosted and sponsored by Atomize. For more episodes and details of the series Photographs & Memories, visit https://www.travelmarket.life/photos-and-memories

This week we look at the Hotel Tech Stack - Benjamin Verot of Hotel Minder talks through the core considerations when planning to new solutions and software. In this 24 minute podcast, listen as we discuss the three step approach:
1/ Defining vision, objectives and priorities
2/ A hotel is a living organism: why taking an holistic approach that is simple and staged helps
3/ Expect the unexpected: Setting up processes

Listen in to our chat and discover more about hotel tech procurement

An outdoor enthusiast with a penchant for giving extreme sports a go, our next Memory Maker landed in travel and hospitality to lead the strategic brand development of Atomize following a career working in ecommerce and building SaaS companies. Alexandra Fjallman, Chief Marketing Officer at Atomize, loves a challenge, putting herself in a context which is totally new to her.

For images, see the blog post https://www.travelmarket.life/photos-and-memories

A keen padel player and golfer, Alexandra enjoys seeing new places just to experience new things, who will always turn to the locals first for recommendations. She tells us about her rebirth in the rapids, her love for animals and desire to swim with dolphins, and why doing things with friends makes life all the more exhilarating - “If you think an obstacle is too challenging, together with a team, you can motivate and conquer obstacles along the way.” A perfect motto for life.

Our Memory Makers choose three photographs and a treasured souvenir of places or people from their travels. The four represent moments of particular importance to them, whether personally or professionally. They take us on a journey, reflecting on the significance of a specific moment in time, the sentiment of the period, and what was going on in the world around us.

Produced by Travel Market Life, a Haynes MarComs series. Hosted and sponsored by Atomize.

For more episodes and details of the series Photographs & Memories, visit https://www.travelmarket.life/photos-and-memories

A guide to travel advisor's success - we speak to Geraldine Ree about the role of the independent travel agent and how they can create a sustainable and rewarding business, even from the pandemic.

Geraldine’s knowledge covers all aspects of the travel industry, including over a decade as an experienced SVP with Expedia Cruises. With this experience and passion we find out what's changing for travel advisors and agents, how can they keep on top of the changes and shifts in the market and how to build a strong business model and marketing programme.

We discuss her book Flying Color's launched to help travel advisors.

Flying Colors: The Travel Advisor's Guide to Breakthrough

A geek at heart with a penchant for technologies, our next Memory Maker entered the travel sector by fluke and has since made a career relocating around the world with his family for job opportunities. From India to Dubai, the UK, France and now Japan, Vishal Arora tells his tales of moving with his family.

Vishal is currently head of technology at WeWork Japan, having had an illustrious career in hospitality distribution and digital transformation. He tells us his perspectives of moving and integrating into new cultures, and the secrets for how to get by.

He feels blessed to have had so many unique opportunities and sums it up as *“Luck - it’s about the right time and right place. It’s opportunity multiplied by preparation.”

Our Memory Makers choose three photographs and a treasured souvenir of places or people from their travels. The four represent moments of particular importance to them, whether personally or professionally. They take us on a journey, reflecting on the significance of a specific moment in time, the sentiment of the period, and what was going on in the world around us.*Produced by Travel Market Life, a Haynes MarComs series. Hosted and sponsored by Atomize.

For more episodes and details of the series Photographs & Memories, visit https://www.travelmarket.life/photos-and-memories

Entering the travel sector through the trades entrance, our next Memory Maker was born in the Ukraine, grew up in Russia and moved to the UK to grow one of the largest and most formidable global consultancy groups.

Hear Dmitry Bagrov, the Managing Director of DataArt UK share his travel tales, as our memory maker reflects on his career in the technology, travel and hospitality sector and the memories he’s made on his journeys. From working as an email translator in an internet cafe to delivering digital transformation across multiple industries, Dmitry reminisces on ‘catching’ office WiFi hanging out of his apartment window and experiencing real London fog.

In this episode, Dmitry talks about his love for British culture and mannerisms, and why, when it comes to travel - *“There is no right time, the right time is now.”

Our Memory Makers choose three photographs and a treasured souvenir of places or people from their travels. The four represent moments of particular importance to them, whether personally or professionally. They take us on a journey, reflecting on the significance of a specific moment in time, the sentiment of the period, and what was going on in the world around us.*Produced by Travel Market Life, a Haynes MarComs series. Hosted and sponsored by Atomize.

For more episodes and details of the series Photographs & Memories, visit https://www.travelmarket.life/photos-and-memories

Reviewing the changes in the distribution landscape for independent hotels, and the adaptations occurring in the market. Daniel Simmons, CCO of HotelRez provides his insights on the global booking challenges, and changing expectations of hoteliers. We look at how the market can support one another and how the hospitality will need to adapt for a much longer than anticipated period.
www.hotelrez.com
www.worldrainbowhotels.com
www.bestloved.com

Having left Lebanon at a young age before the civil war broke out, our third Memory Maker grew up in Saudi Arabia before moving to Paris, France to earn her MA. With her masters in her pocket, all she knew was that she wanted a job that would open the door to the world.

Listen to the travel tales from Mona Maamari, as our memory maker reflects on her career in the travel and hospitality sector and the memories she’s made on the road. From a market planning and pricing job at Disneyland Resort Paris, to Thomas Cook and then to major hotel groups Radisson and NH Hotels Mona forged a career in revenue. In 2019, she and her young family departed on a world tour, taking a step back from her career to work in schools, farms and kitchens around the globe.

In this episode, hear the joys Mona discovered on her travels and what she learnt along the way; *“We need to make an effort to always challenge ourselves.”

Our Memory Makers choose three photographs and a treasured souvenir of places or people from their travels. The four represent moments of particular importance to them, whether personally or professionally. They take us on a journey, reflecting on the significance of a specific moment in time, the sentiment of the period, and what was going on in the world around us.*Produced by Travel Market Life, a Haynes MarComs series. Hosted and sponsored by Atomize.

For more episodes and details of the series Photographs & Memories, visit https://www.travelmarket.life/photos-and-memories

Jason Perno from Traveling Troubadour joins us to talk about life on the road as a traveling musician, he shares his experiences gigging across Europe and how he made his life work. We discuss the challenges of European travel, experiences of musicians of late and the tips he has from his book on how to gig Europe. Jason also shares some stories of his guests

Joining us in this podcaster series is Chris from the Nomadic Foodist as he talks to us about the flavours of travels and the journeys through worldwide cuisines denoting the key theme to his podcast. Find out what gave him the podcast bug, and how he tackles travel as a subject.

What do Burger King and the dot.com revolution have in common? Iconic hospitality figure David Chestler shares his journey from marketing one of the world’s fast-food giants to fusing publishing and technology in the dot.com boom of the late-1990s.

Prompted by three photographs and a souvenir of his lifetime of travel, our Memory Maker shares amusing anecdotes involving talcum powder, wrestling and royalty - both of the hospitality industry and crowned princes.

David’s passion for hotel technology helped him forge a career spanning more than 30 years in the industry. Currently Partner and Senior Managing Director at PROVision Partners, he has held senior positions at Kognitiv, SiteMinder, Sceptre Hospitality Resources (SHR), RateGain, Pegasus Solutions and Birch Street Systems and most recently serving as an Allied Board Member at Hedna.org and with HTNG on the Software Resource Team.

Our Memory Makers choose three photographs and a treasured souvenir of places or people from their travels. The four items represent moments of particular importance to them, whether personally or professionally. They take us on a journey, reflecting on the significance of a specific moment in time, the sentiment of the period, and what was going on in the world around us.

Produced by Travel Market Life, a Haynes MarComs series. Hosted and sponsored by Atomize.

For more episodes and details of the series Photographs & Memories

In our new podcaster series we speak to podcasters that talk about travel. In the first we are joined by Chris Christensen who hosts The Amateur Traveler Travel podcast, which was launched over 15 years ago. We learn how he built an audience, how he develops content and ideas, and the purpose of his podcasts, as well as insights to recent travel podcast listening behaviour.

Sam and Ryan discuss developments in the industry, and discuss the value and costs of PR, giving the insights of what it takes to set up a PR Media campaign. We cover the platforms you need to engage the media, the planning to develop a strong campaign, and how to look at measuring the impact. For more read our blog.

From sports journalist to corporate maverick, Gene Quinn reveals his extraordinary life through three photographs and a souvenir. Our first Memory Maker in the new Photographs & Memories series, Gene recalls his exploits on Patagonia’s Penguin Island, exploring glaciers and trekking trails to the tip of the Americas in multiple journeys spread over more than a decade.

Best known as the co-founder of Tnooz (now PhocusWire), Gene’s illustrious career has included roles at the Chicago Tribune, Viacom, Phocuswright and Confluence Partners. In this intimate look at his life, he pays homage to friend and travel industry mentor Philip Wolf, shares tales of trout fishing, building a school in Malawi and how he lost three toenails.

His admiration of astronauts and nautical explorers is befitting for a man who believes when it comes to travel, “Don’t pick one favourite place. Pick one you don’t know and go learn.”

Our Memory Makers choose three photographs and a treasured souvenir of places or people from their travels. The four represent moments of particular importance to them, whether personally or professionally. They take us on a journey, reflecting on the significance of a specific moment in time, the sentiment of the period, and what was going on in the world around us.

Produced by Travel Market Life, a Haynes MarComs series. Hosted and sponsored by Atomize.

For more episodes and details of the series Photographs & Memories, visit https://www.travelmarket.life/photos-and-memories

Talking about professional development and building communities, we're joined by the CEO of Raizup - Rita Varga. In this episode we discuss the value of self-learning and community engagement and the opportunities it offers to expand your network and business and professional opportunities. Rita also shares her experiences of building a community and the challenges both professionally and personally she has had on the journey.

Travel agents have had a rough ride the last year, and over the last 20 years they have had their business hit by online travel agents, direct sales and wider diversification of experiences in travel. Yet is that all about change as travellers seek reassurance in their travel bookings?

Ryan speaks to Gaurav Bhatnagar, MD and co-founder of TBO Holidays about agents changing role, the wider accessibility of technologies, and why soon travel agents will be able to provide a full personalised end-to-end experience to the traveler

Samantha Marsh and Ryan Haynes take a look at two trending subjects in rundown #5; reopening experiences, the great push for travel extras in revenue upselling to drive commercial opportunities while improving the customer experience, and what Covid conditions mean for travel pricing - making it more challenging for the average traveller.

We share some of our ideas for the road to recovery reopening plans and messages, and preparing travel and hospitality businesses for driving revenue generation.

In this episode we talk about the challenges of putting a product launch on hold and what that has meant for a startup. Speaking to co-founder and CPO of Smart Nomad, Amlan Nanda, we find out how they managed to continue developing their product while they wait for the travel market to reopen again.

We look at the digital changes afoot for travellers particularly how their experience in planning stages can be optimised to customised to their own preferences, while making trips more fulfilling with digital itineraries - uncovering the tech innovations delivering new experiences.

Samantha Marsh and Ryan Haynes take a look at two trending subjects in rundown #4; why playing the guessing game is helping noone out, especially your customers - and what to do instead. And, what does it mean to stay-cate? Exploring staycations in the second year of a pandemic.

We share some of our ideas for the road to recovery reopening plans and messages, and preparing travel and hospitality businesses for driving revenue generation.

We take to the railway tracks and take a closer look at what the sector has to offer. Speaking to Udi Sharir, founder and CEO of SaveaTrain, he talks about the change in perception of train travel in recent years, and how the pandemic is helping change its fortunes.

We look at the investment that is being made worldwide and the opportunities of digital technology for accessing travel. What can make train travel more accessible, affordable and sustainable?

Samantha Marsh and Ryan Haynes look at the reopening timeline announcement by the UK government on 22 February 2021. Now the dust has settled and we've got our heads around the dates we explore what these are and who can do what.

We share some of our ideas for reopening plans and messages, and preparing travel and hospitality businesses for driving revenue generation after a year without.

We explore the key changes in working practice and how 2021 will require a new approach to the working week, workspaces and how we define people management. We will never return to pre-pandemic operations, so what should hospitality businesses be considering first? Speaking to Tom Finn, revenue management recruitment specialist of Edwards & Finn, who gives his insights to framing the new reality.

Through the episode we look at the evolution of roles within the sales and marketing and revenue management functions and what a commercial division looks like. We also discuss how to manage staff during the reopening , the skills to focus on in 2021 and why it's important to Be more pirate.

Ryan Haynes and Samantha Marsh explore the numbers of the great staycation booking surge and what this means for travel, and a look at the impacts of going dark on social.

As the governments continue to warn travellers and travel companies over the need to be cautious in the approach to reopening, we look at what the booking numbers represent and how to be part of dialogue now for success when reopening.

We look at the techniques to keep your business alive while you remain shut. Read the source stories and a summary on our blog

Ryan Haynes and Samantha Marsh look at current trends, the rise of hyper-localisation and what businesses can do to ensure they remain afloat.

The start of 2021 has been an interesting time for the travel industry. While some companies, such as big international tour operators, are reporting losses, down turns and a struggle to drive new bookings for 2021; UK hotels, self-catering companies and holiday parks are experiencing the opposite - in that business for them is booming!

We look at the data coming from Google and Airbnb and what these means for the industry for 2021. Read the source stories and a summary on our blog

In this episode we speak with Nadine Boettcher, Senior Product Manager at OTA Insight as we discuss the data points for price decision making at a time when historical data points don't give the insight needed to optimise market position and competitiveness.

We look at the data sources to be considering, and how to bring the team together to react to market changes, and what this means to the revenue management role in hotels. Check out our webinar #hoteltechclinic The value of data in unprecedented times, where Nadine gives her views with 4 other data specialists.

Learn how data is helping hotels identify opportunities and risks during these unprecedented times. Bounce-back from Covid-19 with the right level of insight and business intelligence to improve performance and commercial opportunities in the market

In this live Q&A understand how you can utilise existing data and ensure you are responding to growth signals in the market to improve bookings, conversions and revenue.

Why are hotels that use data outperforming the market
What insights can create a competitive advantage
How to prepare your hotel for business intelligence
What data will enable you to improve performance

Speakers:
Michael McCartan, Director, Prym Solutions - sponsor and organiser
Mario Bellinzona, CCO, bd4travel
Nadine Bottcher, Senior Product Manager, OTA Insight
Michael Grove, MD, HotStats
Apo Demirtas, CEO, Intelligent Hospitality
Stephen Burke, SVP Travel, Sciant

Check out the other #HotelTechClinic series and Hotelier's Voice on www.travelmarket.life

Joe Setchell the Group Marketing Manager at A Curious Group of Hotels talks about new tech being implemented at the four properties in the portfolio: Canal House (Amsterdam), L’Hotel (Paris), Portobello Hotel (London), Cowley Manor (Cotswolds).

We discuss the use of a guest app and how they have used it to digitalise services whilst also integrating Benbria Loop within the app, which enables guests to request a wide range of services with a click including F&B, housekeeping, luggage assistance, hotel transfer etc.

For A Curious Group of Hotels, they recognised the need to digitalise the customer, from ordering to check-ins. As part of the tech change, Joe turned to Criton – however his key concern was “how do we achieve what we want to while preserving our boutique feel…Everyone has a smart phone, so it gave importance of developing the app. By digitalising everything we have the power of using a central system to update a lot of information for guests and add additional services”

Read the full article: https://www.travelmarket.life/post/hotelier-s-voice-joe-setchell-a-curious-group-of-hotels-digitalise-hotel-services-and-operations

In this episode we speak with Michael Reynolds, a revenue and hotel tech consultant with Maximise Revenue who has worked with chains including Village hotels, easy hotels PLC as well as independent properties.

For Michael it’s about moving away from legacy systems to maximise revenue, optimise system performance and processes and enable hotels to be more savvy. As part of his Procurement research, Michael said “following experience and having to research new systems in the past, I knew the main players but wanted to look at up and coming providers to see the opportunities. It was a tick box exercise, with one main criteria being an Open API, to continue linking more and more to it. We quickly discarded a few PMS for this reason. Then a quick demo, to see how easy it is to use and how quick to onboard. It was done during lockdown, so was a very lastminute idea and we knew we had to turn it around asap. In 6 weeks of lockdown we did this all remotely and completed the installation.”

Read the full article: https://www.travelmarket.life/post/hoteliers-voice-michael-reynolds-maximise-revenue-changing-pms-in-7-days

In this episode we speak with Director of Sales & Marketing, Jayson Heron-Smith, at Cordis Hotels Auckland New Zealand part of Langham Hospitality which has had a big technology focus this year. Jayson talks us through the focus they’ve had on the tech stack and why they’ve made such grand investments for the future of the property.

Included in the list is Data Protection, upgrades and system changes to F&B reservations systems, a new unified guest platform including marketing databases, an online gifting platform plus a new sales & catering (Delphi) platform, as well as new data tools from the likes of Travelclick, STR & OTA insight to access additional insights.

Jayson looks after the 400-room Cordis which is in the process of expanding to 640 rooms with additional function space, and is the biggest hotel in New Zealand. A high priority in the global environment, Cordis is taking guest data and privacy seriously, especially since it is a luxury hotel chain and with the expectation on them that they will protect people’s information.

Read the full article: https://www.travelmarket.life/post/hotelier-s-voice-jayson-heron-smith-cordis-hotel-nz-and-a-unified-guest-platform

In this episode we speak with Thibault Catala of Catala Consulting, a revenue manager by trade with a background at IHG and Four Seasons, he talks us through his approach to developing the revenue management strategy starting with the tech stack.

We talk about his choice of systems, and what he did at The Eccleston Square Hotel London , London. “Tech is one of the key elements in the hotel structure and if it’s done correctly they can improve productivity, gain stronger revenue and develop market share,” says Thibault.

Thibault first begins with an audit and review of the existing tech stack to ensure they are fully optimised. There are three key pillars for the hotel, according to Thibault. Property Management System (PMS) which he uses Apaelo and Mews, Revenue Management System (RMS) for which he uses Atomize, Pace, Duetto, or IDEAs, and channel manager.

We discuss how they come to procurement decisions; “No one solution fits all, it all depends on needs and requirements. It depends on the hotel type, they don’t have same budget, requirements and needs, however it’s a main shift for hotels to leave legacy, and chance to try different approaches with cloud-based systems.”

Read full article: https://www.travelmarket.life/post/hotelier-s-voice-thibault-catala-the-revenue-management-tech-stack

Speaking to Managing Director Iain Jurgensen of Portavadie which received £35m investment to become an inclusive resort, it hosts 400 staying guests across its campsite, marina, hotel and serviced apartments.

We learn how tech is an incredibly important part of the resorts wider strategy, inspired by Disney as they roll out contactless payment and high quality internet throughout, paying close attention to integrations and interfaces, and why they need to look at the overall guest experience before putting time into development.

Read the full article: https://www.travelmarket.life/post/hoteliers-voice-ian-jurgensen-at-portavadie-and-the-guest-experience-inspired-by-disney-1

In this episode we speak to the chief commercial officer for Turtle Bay Resort, Robert Marusi, previously of Hamilton Beach Resort a Fairmount Hotel Bermuda, 5star Pelican Hill Resort – he now looks after the 400 room Turtle Bay Resort on 1300 acres of land with a organic sustainable farm, spa, golf courses, and beaches.

Robert has taken Turtle Bay Report and like the previous resorts taking it on a fast-paced journey to digitalisation moving its PMS to Opera Cloud, replacing the sales and catering platform, while implementing Amadeus Advanced, Salesforce Cloud. For Robert it’s all about customer acquisition and the need to look at metric differently.

Read the full article: https://www.travelmarket.life/post/hotelier-s-voice-robert-marusi-turtle-bay-resort-improving-fortunes-with-business-intelligence

In this episode we speak with Apo Demirtas, founder of Intelligent Hospitality to explore the world of business intelligence and how this is changing with more readily available data and the importance of accessing real-time information to respond to live market changes.

With the markets going through stormy weather, hoteliers need a navigator to help them through - therefore business intelligence will enable them to make more insightful decisions that reflect their business goals.

Travel PR and B&B owner Sam Marsh, with Ryan Haynes - travel marketing specialist review the trends news and stories from across the sector.

In the first episode of this magazine edition, we look at;

The impact on the car rental sector with news from Your Car and Hertz,
What's happening in the student travel space with Trek America and STA
New products launching in covid time with the 70-day bus trip to India

We're also join by special guest Antony Price (min 09:00) from the airline industry who has worked with Air New Zealand, British Airways and Royal Brunei Airlines. In our chat we discuss

The Etihad wellness programme
Flight Refunds/ Change fees
Air-bridges, and which airlines are fragile
Wizz Air launching new routes
What the future of air travel looks like
OMIO's potential disruption of transport

Antony tells us about his career to-date (min 29:00), before we look at important tech with Michael McCartan (min 36:40) and the prominence of business intelligence and data for real recovery.

Our final section, Sam and Ryan look at a marketing trend (min 43:00), and why and how you can implement this for your business, here we look at news-led marketing

The pandemic has highlighted major issues in the way in which travel companies handle consumer booking money, and how this is managed - where some companies have struggled to pay back customers when holidays have been cancelled because they have not protected these funds. We're joined by Jacqui Cleaver from Protected Trust Services as she explains the importance of ring-fencing consumer money and why more than ever we need transparent financial practices.

We look into Package Travel Regulation compliance, the future of ATOL, and the pickle travel companies will find themselves in if they don't put new financial procedures in place to prevent consumer money being used as cashflow.

In this episode we discuss the move to conversational marketing and how the industry can adapt to new consumer engagement trends by utilising messaging and social media apps as part of the booking journey. Rodrigo Texeira, CEO of AskSuite, gives us the insight of the role of an intelligent reservation agent chatbot to secure and process bookings and capture every interest. In this conversation we talk about the initial customer journey and why automation is so important today, and understand and expected from travellers.

We speak data, what is the role of customer and visitor data in traveller marketing. From the perspective of hotels, we look at the role of the CRM in the hotel tech ecosystem, how you use the CRM and why it i important.

In conversation with Tanya Stallard, New business director of UK&I at SHR, we look at how the traveller buyer journey is changing, what data is needed to make a good start. What is the impact of GDPR, particularly around Covid-19 and when to outsource.

In this episode we go beyond the risk of Covid-19 to remind you of all of the other risks you need to be maintaining and preparing for. We speak about quality assurances in maintaining covid-19 hygiene standards, a look at areas of risk that can be overlooked at this time, supporting teams and bringing cultural change, getting assistance and advice with hygiene standards and safety, and the common findings from health and safety inspectors
Here we speak with Nina Fairweather, chartered safety and health practitioner, Fairweather Health and Safety Consulting.

As the adoption of contactless technologies continue at great strides and given a huge boost by covid-19, we talk to Girish Prabhu founder of Instio about contactless operations in a hotel environment. We explore the role of mobile technologies and outdated management processes and how hoteliers can prepare their team for greater efficiencies.

Check out more episodes on travelmarket.life

We thank Danosongs for the music

We speak to Brendan May the founder behind HotelResBot's HERA as he explains how robotic process automation and machine learning is bringing greater efficiencies while relinquishing staff of the burden of repetitive manual data processes.

Discover how machine learning is already having an impact and why it's important to look at those repetitive laborious processes first.

Looking into the underlaying tech of the hotel, we discuss changing the property management system, PMS - effectively the heart of the hotel - and the opportunities and challenges of moving from legacy systems to the cloud.

Speaking with Alan O'Riordan of apaleo we explore the journey to change and why it's essential for hotels looking for greater agility and efficiency in operation.

Check out more episodes on travelmarket.life

We thank Danosongs for the music

Following the #hoteltechclinic, we speak to Stephen Burke, SVP Travel and Hospitality and co-founder for Sciant which sponsored the event. In this episode we look at the role of integrations in the hotel tech ecosystem and why open APIs is more than just a fad but an implicit part of the industry.

We explore the different types of integrations and interfaces and how this makes data that much more valuable if done right.

Check out more episodes on travelmarket.life

We thank Danosongs for the music

Exploring new revenue streams for hotels and how to connect with guests on a deeper level in the guest journey from booking to in-stay. We speak with co-founder of Oaky, Erik Tengen on the important role upselling has in providing additional product and services while improving revenue per guest in hotels.

Check out more episodes on travelmarket.life

We thank Danosongs for the music

We speak to co-founder and CEO of Maidbot, Micah Estis Green about the role of robots working alongside housekeeping and cleaners in hotels to meet new cleaning standards while bringing greater efficiencies.

In this episode we discuss the opportunity of using robots and their role in monitoring building performance though intelligent sensors and detectors in IoT devices.

Check out more episodes on travelmarket.life

We thank Danosongs for the music

We discuss the must-have cost-effective tech solutions to drive post crisis recovery for hotels, Interactive session with Q&A.

Inspired by a HospitalityNet article looking at the technologies hoteliers should focus their attention to drive the recovery in a much leaner, efficient and productive way. The 5 key areas we cover:
• Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
• Guest Messaging & Staff Collaboration Tools
• Contactless Payment and Access Control Apps
• Robots
• Cloud Infrastructure

Sponsored by Sciant

Featuring:
• Alan O’Riordan (Apaleo)
• Erik Tengen (Oaky)
• Michael O’Connell (Clear Chain Travel)
• Micah Estis Green (Maidbot)
• Girish Prabhu (Instio)

Event organiser: Michael McCartan

We speak to founder and CEO of Clear Chain Travel, Michael O'Connell about the emerging need of blockchain to handle payments across the travel sector, and the role of robotic process automation to drive efficiencies and cost-cutting initiatives.

Find out how blockchain and smart contracts can be applied to the travel industry and how travel providers can work together to create robust payment processes. We also look at bringing paper pushing to end with RPA

Check out more episodes on travelmarket.life

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In a recent HospitalityNet article several hotel tech experts gave their opinions on where hoteliers should focus their attention to drive the recovery post crisis, enabling hotels to perform in a much leaner, efficient and productive way.

Broadly speaking, hoteliers are being told to focus on the following areas:

· Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

· Guest Messaging & Staff Collaboration Tools

· Contactless Payment and Access Control Apps

· Robots

· Cloud Infrastructure

Whilst these experts’ advice is solid, hotels are still struggling to navigate the maze of solutions on offer and define a clear path to success. Practical advice and guidance is needed - so we have cherry picked some of the best solutions on the market from each of the identified categories and invited senior leaders from these companies to respond to your questions in an interactive online forum. This is an interactive Q&A Webinar on June 11 hosted by HaynesMarcoms

Speakers:

Alan O’Riodan (Apaleo)
Erik Tengen (Oaky)
Michael O’Connell (Clear Chain Travel)
Micah Estis Green (Maidbot)
Girish Prabhu (Instio)

For more details of the event, head to eventbrite and search for hoteltechclinic

In this episode we speak to Rosie Radwell, managing director of Marsham Court Hotel in Bournemouth an Edwardian, full-service beach-front hotel and wedding and corporate events venue with 95 bed rooms and 9 function rooms about how she is preparing for a summer of staycation's and social distancing management.

We are also joined by Andy Lennox Managing director for Zim Braai offering African dining experience, who also founded Wonky Table, a collective of over 200 restaurants in the Bournemouth area.

We talk about the importance of community networks and working with associations, and how they are preparing their business, the sector, and staff for reopening - and the changes to expect in service delivery.

We speak to Jason Adams, managing director of the Rockcliffe Hall Hotel, a five star luxury golf resort in Darlington. We discuss decision making in the midst of lack of clarity, uncertainty and heightened anxieties and how he led his team to reopen on the first available day and the measures they've taken.

We're joined by Sophia Melas from Fly Now Pay Later where we look at the implications of refunds, cancellations and covid-19 on terms and conditions and future policies. We explore ways in which the sector should manage payments, cashflow and protecting consumer money in the future.

We are joined by Jill Starley-Grainger a freelance writer, content strategist and media commentator who has previous roles as editor of Which? Travel magazine, Commissioning editor for Sunday Times Travel Magazine, and currently writer for jetsetjourneys.com

We talk about the impact of Covid-19 on travel stories and content, and when the media are expected to change narrative. We look at the type of content and approach to marketing that travel companies should be taking and opportunities to build brand at this time.

We speak with Rich Hull, Creative Director at GiftPro. Find out about the #supporthospitality initiative to help hotels through C-19 with option to pivot with take away and delivery offerings, and voucher purchases for future hotel visits. Rich explains the ways hotels have productised their offerings and created ecommerce stores on top of reservation bookings to be more part of people's lives.

Joined by Julie Grieve, founder and CEO of Criton, a guest engagement platform for the
hospitality sector we talk about the necessity to address savings and bring efficiencies in guest service delivery and the role of technology. We take a look at how hotels can build trust with guests through hygiene and distancing polices, and how some businesses in the travel chain will have to diversify.

Prior to starting her own business Julie was the CEO of Lateral City, a luxury serviced apartment operator and she also owns a “compact and bijou” gift and homeware shop which booms during the height of the tourist season.

In this episode we speak to Danny Waine who is director of Institute of Travel and Tourism (ITT) and the Commercial Director at Hotelplan Group’s Holiday Home Division ‘HHD’. We discuss cancelled holiday refunds, the importance of building networks, lock-down exit strategies and what we might expect from the market reboot.

Our guest for this episode is Angelene Bungay, Development Manager at Profitroom a hotel technology company providing digital tools for marketing, distribution and bookings. We talk about what hotels can be doing now and how they can prepare themselves for the rebound, the importance of not furloughing all your staff and considerations as the markets open up.

Joining us on this episode Laura Castellar from QualitySearch and Partners to talks about managing employees remotely, ensuring employee satisfaction, the change in the recruitment process due to social distancing, and what to consider when applying for jobs. In this changing world, digital applications will be at the forefront of hiring over the next few months.
Resource - helpful guide to supporting employees https://joshbersin.com/2020/04/remote...

To contact Laura Laura.castellar@qualitysearch.es

In this episode we speak with Rob Russell, CEO of AC Group, a Destination Management Company, b2b wholesale tour operator working in FIT, MICE and group travel. AC Group recently won the prestigious UK Queen's Enterprise Award, here he talks about the steps he is taking with the business and how he is working with suppliers including hotels, activities and experiences, and with travel sales partners around the world.

Get insight on what to consider when working with private independent businesses and the recovery plan. We touch on contracted rates and dynamic pricing and the importance of relationships

We speak to Soraia Letra Chief Business Development Officer at Yield Planet to talk about changes needed to online distribution and sales as we come out of the recovery of C-19. Taking a look at the role of dynamic pricing and contracted rates in the new world.

Travel Market Life:
Travel Market Life - your new companion to understand what's happening in the Travel industry and wider economy at this time.

During each episode we will explore the questions that we all have over the coming weeks and months to try to get us back to where we were. In each programme we will be joined by specialists in their field of the different sections of the travel market to understand what we should be looking at and considering as we rebuild post-covid19.

Whether you're working in the b2b trade or consumer side we're going to share the best practices and personal experiences to help one another throughout this journey. It’s time to collaborate and work together, so each part of the market is ready to play its part when it is needed to restart.

We're going to share resources, address the challenges and plans, team morale and efficiencies, sales programmes, market strategies and campaigns, looking at the different markets across Europe.
We will share with you trade news, developments and changes in the market, examples of how different organisations are planning market development, and the products and services being offered to help in this current climate.

We are joined by Flavio Amiel, the founder of viabam.com in this episode. We have a chat about impact of COVID-19 and challenges in tour & activities marketplace and what businesses can be doing with digital marketing. Flavio gives some useful tips about the industry.

Travel Market Life:
Travel Market Life - your new companion to understand what's happening in the Travel industry and wider economy at this time.

During each episode we will explore the questions that we all have over the coming weeks and months to try to get us back to where we were. In each programme we will be joined by specialists in their field of the different sections of the travel market to understand what we should be looking at and considering as we rebuild post-covid19.

Whether you're working in the b2b trade or consumer side we're going to share the best practices and personal experiences to help one another throughout this journey. It’s time to collaborate and work together, so each part of the market is ready to play its part when it is needed to restart.

We're going to share resources, address the challenges and plans, team morale and efficiencies, sales programmes, market strategies and campaigns, looking at the different markets across Europe.
We will share with you trade news, developments and changes in the market, examples of how different organisations are planning market development, and the products and services being offered to help in this current climate.

In this episode we speak to Daan de Bruijn the founder of guest messaging platform Bookboost as we talk about guest expectations in the tomorrow and how to embrace digital transformation with multichannel app messaging.

Travel Market Life - your new companion to understand what's happening in the Travel industry and wider economy at this time.

During each episode of webcast and podcast, we will explore the questions that we all have over the coming weeks and months to try to get us back to where we were. In each programme we will be joined by specialists in their field of the different sections of the travel market to understand what we should be looking at and considering as we rebuild post-COVID-19.

Whether you're working in the B2B trade or consumer side we're going to share the best practices and personal experiences to help one another throughout this journey. It’s time to collaborate and work together, so each part of the market is ready to play its part when it is needed to restart.

We're going to share resources, address the challenges and plans, team morale and efficiencies, sales programmes, market strategies and campaigns, looking at the different markets across Europe.

We will share with you trade news, developments and changes in the market, examples of how different organisations are planning market development, and the products and services being offered to help in this current climate.

Neville Isaac, former hotel GM and NH Hotels Group Revenue Manager and now Chief Customer Officer at RMS Beonprice is a highly qualified revenue management, distribution and pricing Specialist. He talks us about the current situation in Spain, how hotels have taken actions due to the pandemic and how hotels can embrace digital transformation.

Guest for this episode is Michael McCartan, hotel technology and business specialist, who gives us some things to think about with our teams and how we approach the market. Michael has worked for Pegasus, eRevMax (RateTiger), Duetto and RateGain leading remote teams and bringing new systems to the market.