LUXURY HOSPITALITY CHRONICS

Ddih

2010-04-28T05:20:00.001-07:00

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Ddih

DDIH

2010-04-28T04:50:00.001-07:00

I will sum up what I have understood with the seminar of the Friday and Saturday of 23^rd and 24^th of April 2010 in Paris.

The conference is divided by 4 main points which are:

· Explication of the concept of luxury on the internet

· The link between Online Reviews and Revenue

· The concept o augmented reality

· The fastbooking application for Smartphone (APP)

During the course and during this seminar, I have learned many things about the social media which I would like to explain you.

Today the world become very closer, if you take the example of the revolution o the telephone and the internet speaking with someone in south of Africa is not impossible and incredible. In term of business, the relationship between companies and customers really evoluate and take a different aspect. Customers become very picky because they have more information about the product tested by other costumers. They are chatting together about the product and sharing their experience good or bad. Today, companies have to adapt their way of thinking and need to be in ad equation with what the costumers is thinking not what the hotel is thinking. The services are becoming very personalized and specific to each consumer today.

If we speak about the luxury sector we need to understand the real concept of luxe in people mind today. For all products, the concept is the same. Luxury concept is based on the emotional feeling of the people and values. To illustrate my affirmation, we can see the way of thinking of some hotels today change. In Whotels, the classic way to present the website with the room picture and the view on the piscine are changed and emotion takes place on the website. The main goal is to capture the attention of the clients. Many hotels, we have listened during the seminar make a new emotional concept like Chaumet which introduce the notion of bees by saying “save the bees”. RoughLuxeHotels introduce the concept of intellectual values in his hotel.

The way of consumptions changes with the development of the electronic technology. World become very closer, with the arrival of the cellular and the internet access directly by the cellular. Smartphone is becoming the new technologies which accelerate the movement, and today people want to be informed in time and no losing any kind of informations. Applications called APP are developed very quickly on Iphone, BlackBerry and other Smartphone. By developing the concept of Application, hotelier can send best offers, informations about actions they have done, chatting, exchanging informations with their clients, the relation between the customers and the hoteliers change.

Today, we can find a real problem in hoteliers’ adaptation with this “New World”. They think that this social media marketing is a best way to make profit but they cannot evaluate it exactly. The main work today is to keep updated social media used by hotelier like facebook, Twitter… so hotelier can react very quickly if a costumer doesn’t appreciate his experience in the hotel, the hotel can react by talking with the person and give him a compensation because he will share his bad experience in the hotel with people everywhere in the world, so they will lose many clients. It is really important because people are exchanging each other their experiences.

As a conclusion, the best thing to know is that tomorrow this kind of technology will be integrated by all hoteliers if they want to continue making profit. Most of hotels today don’t understand the huge change in the way of living of people. It is due to a very fast changement of the society way of living and consumptions.

2010-04-01T05:54:00.001-07:00

just for you ! lol

AVVIO BOOKING ENGINE

2010-02-17T07:32:00.001-08:00

AVVIO BOOKING ENGINE

Services

Connect

- Increase your Google PPC

- Generated revenue by 85 %

- Reducing spend by 57 %

Convert

- 25 % of increase in booking values for 5* clients

Booking Specialist

BOOKING ENGINE MODULE

New thinking for online booking engines with upselling, powerful dynamic packaging, group functionality, and rich media support for rooms and offers. The software makes insightful revenue and yield recommendations to you, while manipulating and packaging data online to suit your specific requirements - putting you in control. We are a certified Micros partner and support for 2 way interfaces to all other leading PMS platforms also available.

ONLINE VOUCHER MODULE

Online vouchers in flexi-value or fixed (package-type) pricing, support for customisable instant PDF vouchers as well as sales terminal for traditional posted vouchers.

CORPORATE MODULE

Corporate bookings with unlimited corporate accounts and rate combinations. Secure corporate access allows for credit accounts, corporate rewards/loyalty and extensive reporting.

CORPORATE REWARDS AND LOYALTY PROGRAM FUNCTIONALITY

Reward functionality allowing corporate and loyal guests to redeem vouchers against points earned per stay. Transparency exists allowing you to see at a glance what points each guest has accumulated and also a full history in relation to redemption of vouchers.

WEDDING AND CONFERENCE MODULE

Large group booking functionality for wedding guests and conference attendees, to book an agreed rate directly through your website, in a cost efficient and professional way. Full reporting transparency provided on all bookings made.

ADVANCED VOUCHER SALES AND REDEMPTION SYSTEM FOR LARGE GROUPS

Offering full management of the voucher sales for your entire group, including payment, supply and redemption.

RESERVATIONS CALL CENTRE

Customised booking application for central reservations, enabling hotel chains and independent call centre offices to manage all reservations from one system.

LOST BUSINESS ANALYSIS

Client Account Managers who do detailed analysis of lost business figures from your Daily Revenue Report to ensure that you are not closed out for sale online, based on missed opportunities reported

WEBSITE & REVENUE ANALYTICS

Facility to track lookers to bookers and revenue by source. Find out how many queries are made for special offers, for best available rate, fully tracking website visitors into confirmed bookings. With revenue analytics, see the specifics including most popular room and most popular offer. Available historically, you can identify business sources on a monthly basis to maximise revenue.

YIELD AND REVENUE MANAGEMENT

Client Account Managers who focus on yield and revenue management, covering everything from reviewing inventory ( room types/descriptions), Best Available Rate, clear rate increments, rates loaded for 365 days out and rate parity on all channels.

ESTRATEGY CONSULTING

With the experience and know-how to look at all areas of your online business, we focus on driving business directly to your website, developing the most effective strategy for you. In doing so, we cover distribution, rate strategy, online marketing and design, to name a few.

WEBSITE DESIGN SERVICES

With an experienced team of creative and technical talent, we take time to understand our client's identity and how best to represent it online. Using innovative ideas and the latest in web technologies, we bring unique and effective websites to the fore...... Read More >>

ON-GOING REFRESHER TRAINING

Converting is our science, but we are happy to share some of our secrets with you. How to manage your inventory, change your room types and room descriptions, set length of stays, set up special offers & vouchers, report on packages sold, room nights & bed nights sold, vouchers sold, adding contacts to your database - we go through it all. And then we do it again.

ONLINE MARKETING

Attracting more visitors to your website can be easy: attracting the visitors you want, can take some work. By identifying the right combination of online marketing techniques for your hotel website, on which to base your Internet strategy, including Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay Per Click advertising, Avvio can significantly enhance your hotel's online visibility, optimising your site across search engines, driving conversion rates and doing so on an easily demonstrated cost/benefit basis. ...Read More >>

AFFILIATE DISTRIBUTION SERVICES

Being tagged as the next big thing online and the future of direct distribution, you can showcase your packages and offer on any number of third party/partner websites who, in turn, drive customers to your website to book directly with you. With rewards made to partners on the sole basis of business delivered, connectivity options are unlimited.

GDS & IDS CONNECTIVITY

Manage all of your online channels from one location, saving time, effort and ensuring rate parity.

SOURCES: HTTP://WWW.AVVIO.COM/CONNECT.HTML

A MODERN HOTEL WEBSITE FOR 2010 - 0 Hotel Downtown Los Angeles-

2010-02-17T07:09:00.000-08:00

A MODERN HOTEL WEBSITE FOR 2010

• designed for the user with emphasis on supplying the information they need

--> informations are clearly defined and visible. only pictures animations.

• easy to navigate with no clutter

--> no clutter and well-structured of the website. Easy to access

• dynamic with continually updated content

--> updated content are visible by newletters sign up

• created on a content management system that allows hotel to edit content themselves

-->The hotel can edit website content by himself

• links to Twitter and Facebook (or place Twitter stream directly on site)

--> Hotel has Twitter, facebook,

• a blog to supply useful content to users and help SEO efforts

--> the hotel has no blog but has visible SEO efforts (in general the hotel has rank 1st and 2nd by brand name and localization)

• videos of hotel and city – videos should be authentic and not glitzy ads

--> no video on the hotel website but links lead to facebook with youtube

• information should be organized by type of traveler and answer specific questions

-->yes (ex : corporate, group, individuals...)

• calls-to-action should lead user through the sales funnel

-->yes

• offer an incentive for users to supply their e-mail (i.e. a downloadable city guide)

--> yes

• give users a reason to re-visit your site (i.e. ski conditions if your hotel is in the mountains)

-->yes, because website is interactive

• maintain a database of your clients and learn their preferences. This allows for more targeted email campaigns, and a better guest experience at your hotel

--> no

• communicate with your guest before, during, and after their stay through email or Twitter

--> yes

• request reviews from your guests and post them on your website

-->no

• make sure your website is optimized for the search engines

-->yes

• install analytics which will allow you to track user behaviour

-->no

comparaison between 2 non-chain hotels in paris

2010-02-15T00:38:00.000-08:00

Exercise - compare 2 hotel direct websites - Post due Monday 15/02 by 9 PM

1. Choose 2 non-chain hotels - search online, as if you were a guest looking to book

by brand name

Duquesne Eiffel 3* (http://www.duquesneeiffel-paris-hotel.com/)
Elysees Hotel 3* (http://www.elyseeshotel.com/)

by location and type of hotel

Elysees Opera (http://www.opera-elysees.com/)
Hotel Balmoral Paris (http://www.balmoral-paris-hotel.com/index.html)

2. What easy was it to find the hotel's own website? How did it rank in Google search results?

--> very difficult to find directly the hotel's own website

--> Duquesne Hotel has nearly 34 000 results in google but the webpage of the hotel appears on the first page

--> Elysees Hotel has nearly 2 630 000 results in google and the webpage of the hotel doesn't appears on the fisrt page

List the 3rd party sites that had more visible results, using the brand
List other 'competiting' hotels were ahead of your hotel in search results

Elysees Hotel :

Appolinaire

Duquesne Eiffel :

it is on the first page with the first name

3. How easy was the site to use

Assess - ease of access to 'decision' information :

Elysees Hotel :

like an old website

Duquesne Hotel :

very smart and attractive website

Guestroom details :

Elysees Hotel :

very clear and direct not give the impression to be in a comfort hotel

Duquesne Hotel :

very interesting, you have pictures and written informations with details : definitly more attractive

Ammenities - facilities :

Elysees Hotel :

very basic informations (few points), not a colorful webpage

Duquesne Hotel :

few informations of the main services we can have their, but samething again, more pictures and written informations so very attractive

Location :

Elysees Hotel :

like an old map

Duquesne Hotel :

more attractive done with google earth

Pricing :

Elysees Hotel :

basic

Duquesne Eiffel Hotel :

very clear with many grid of pricing, normal price, best price, advance booking price...well represented

4. Click through to the booking engine

Which booking engine (look at the URL)

Elysees Hotel :

synxis (https://gc.synxis.com/?Hotel=24399&Chain=5375&locale=fr)

Duquesne Eiffel Hotel :

secure hotel (https://www.secure-hotel-booking.com/Hotel-Duquesne-Eiffel/payment?sid=27c44d2f-7c22-4c4c-bed0-2db68bc39968)

Assess - appeal - 'sell' the hotel :

Elysees Hotel :

definitly not appeal the customers. I think the hotel has an american clients (because on list select your country, city...you have only american country !!!)

Duquesne Eiffel Hotel :

yes more attractive, more pictures, great pictures !, the hotel want to give the impression of waiting for your visit !! not the same feeling I had when I see the Elysees Hotel website

Pricing, product and conditions clear :

Elysees Hotel :

very very short !

Duquesne Eiffel Hotel :

details, well presented ! fine

5. Conclusion - Which hotel is doing a better direct sell effort? How do you know?

--> Definitly, Duquesne Eiffel Hotel is doing a better direct sell effort than Elysees Hotel. Because Duquesne Eiffel website is very clear, really attractive, many pictures to show you that you are just dreaming paris...

--> In terms of attractive tools, Duquesne Eiffel, gives you the possibility to contact the hotel via Skype, then you can join the hotel by using facebook, twitter, skype !!

Whereas, in Elysees Hotel you can join the Hotel only by phone and e-mail address...

5 Invisible Best Practices for Your New Website

2010-02-07T10:17:00.000-08:00

increase your website potential

This text will show you, how you can optimize your website with 5 points really important to know:

1- 404 Page Setup –

This pages appears when visitors made a malformed or non-existent web-page.

That's why you need to make sure that your 404 page is really well fit the characer of your website and permit to those visitors which are lost to go back into your working website.

2- 301 Redirects -

this error message, deals with the fact that when you create a new page the name of your page change

ie from www.yourdomain.com/oldpage.htm to www.yourdomain.com/newpage.php.

This kind of changes can make some error and result on lower rankings and lost visitors too.

So, you need to check if you have set up a 301 redirect for each of your old page to a new page on your website.

This little attention can permit more visitors to see your webpage.

Youcan also ask to your designer to show you te list of 301 redirects

3- Sitemaps –

It is really important to have a sitemaps on your page to make visitors know where you are exactly.

But the fact is, most of the time, the sitemaps is really complicated and visitors couldn't find easily where you are localized.

4- Analytics -

Don't forget to setup your Google Analytics. You can also use another tool but it is really important to have this analysis.

You have to install it in all of your page.

5- Google Webmaster Tools –

Google Webmaster can permit you to have an exterior eye to know how look likes your website. This Webmaster will alert you when you have any problems.

these 5 astuces which are yet important elements, and if you install them in your website it will protect your new website from losing visitors and give you best of breed analytics and reporting directly from Google.

tweet Deck

2010-02-04T06:21:00.000-08:00

http://www.screencast.com/t/ZGVmYmM2MTQ

google reader

2010-02-04T06:03:00.000-08:00

http://www.screencast.com/t/MzM2YjY5

Guests want to know hotels' rate rules, Cornell study

2010-01-24T16:36:00.000-08:00

http://www.hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/guests_want_to_know_hotels_rate_rules_says_cornell_study/

This document deals with the fact that hotel revenue manager adjust the price of the room depending if the hotel is full or not. That means customers cannot know the price of the room. But if guests don't know what those rate-changing rules are, they tend to think of them as being unfair.

the new center of hospitality research says that hotel guests are more likely to think a rate setting practice is fair when they know how the rules work.

Taylor, who is a marketing analyst for the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, conducted this study for his senior thesis at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, where Kimes is the Singapore Tourism Board Distinguished Professor in Asian Hospitality Management.

“We know that hotel customers accept the idea that hotel rates will change, but we don’t know when guests will think of those rate changes as being fair,” said Kimes. “We tested three factors that we thought would influence guests’ perceptions of fairness—type of trip, amount of information, and hotel brand class, in this case either five-star or three-star. Of those three factors, only familiarity with the rate rules had a strong effect on perceptions of fairness.”

As a result of this strong indication that guests want to know the rules, Taylor and Kimes suggested that hotel revenue managers focus their efforts on increasing guests’ familiarity with their pricing practices. While this does not necessarily mean publicizing all of a hotel’s rate fences, hotels could post the conditions for a particular rate class on its website, and indicate ways for guests to lock in a particular rate (typically, by booking far in advance). In the current environment, Taylor and Kimes suggest that reservation agents and front-desk clerks can explain differential rates and their associated conditions, thus shifting the guest’s focus away from simply asking for a discount.

Download the study, “How Hotel Guests Perceive the Fairness of Differential Room Pricing,” at Cornell University

On Twitter and in the Workplace, it's power to the connectors

2010-01-13T16:29:00.000-08:00

http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/kanter/2009/11/power-to-the-connectors.html

On Twitter, more informations give the giver and more people come to follow him. The process cannot be commanded or controlled. All things are on a quantitative result.
All things are organized by people directly.

Today, power is detained by the connectors.
the second factor of having a huge followers is the job which give you the opportunity to know a large numbers of people.

Aggregator travel site

2010-01-13T14:28:00.001-08:00

aggregator travel site

The great online travel revolution !

2010-01-10T09:09:00.000-08:00

http://www.hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/the_great_online_travel_revolution/

   This article deals with the fact that our way of travelling have changed totally with the discovering of the web.
   This means that people don't need to go to the travel agency to buy their plane ticket, they can easily and without wasting their time, find the destination, and the best price compared with many online agency.
   The fact that the swell of activity in the travel industry seemed so lucrative did that it was one of the cornerstones of the dotcom revolution.
   The main thing we can noticed on this moment is the fact that our way of travelling has completely changed and the web in totally based on the costumers heart now.

2010-01-10T08:32:00.001-08:00

Marriott updates RevPar outlook...

http://www.hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/marriott_updates_revpar_outlook/

This article deals with the prevision of the RevPar that announced Marriott last time with a decrease of 14 to 16 %.
In this article, Marriott said that without the result of the fourth semester of this year, Marriott notes a decline of 14 to 16 % of his RevPar. in the same time, Marriott says that the leisure tourism start to begin again and that is important to know because this is the very interresting market for Marriott.

Community Sites Final

2010-01-04T15:01:00.001-08:00

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Community Sites Final

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2009-12-06T10:43:00.001-08:00

Dynamic Pricing Reverse Auctions

You can find on the powerpoint some informations about the reverse auctions

Travel Agency Online analysis

2009-12-05T05:21:00.001-08:00

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Travel Agency Online analysis

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investor presentation 2009 : business overview

2009-12-05T05:12:00.001-08:00

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2009-12-05T02:52:00.000-08:00

what small Hotels can learn from big brand website

In this article we are going to know how a small hotel can learn from a massive hotel chain.

Here, Andy Hayes, who is the Manager Partner of Travel Online Partners (TOP), has taken an example of Marriott website which give some informations for small hotels. Let's see it Now !

this is the link of Marriott website, so you can see what M.Andy want to say : MARRIOTT

Then, he notes 3 points which can be used by small hotels :

1- Simple thing is really appreciated than complicated !

your website need to show who you are and what is the benefits for him (the visitor) which is going to attract him and create an opprotunity of future clients for the business owners.

--> write all important information about the business down (who, when, where, why, how)

2- Don't hide your sales funnels

If you see in Marriott website you can noticed that Marriott want to attract his clients in 5 keys which is clearly shown. It appears in the middle of the website with different colors and differents animations (gifts cards, meeting and events, packages, hotels deals, and QucikGroup SM)

--> you need to guide your visitors clearly on the way you want to attract them, Strategic Marketing

3- Just because you have a lot of content doesn't mean it can't be easy.

Marriott is everywhere, referenced in plenty of website, he gives a lot of informations. But the visitors needs clear informations, so Marriott applicates strategic marketing by making important informations for the visitors in centre of the website, with a good presentation and animations which attract the visitors. (cf. sales funnels)

More informations are in the same website but in a small place.

-->easy and organised

4- what could have been better ?

M. Andy proposes to organise the website in a best way, by giving more information about the sub-brands, and make a more simple website.

5- where's the search ?

Marriott deleted the search box. If you would like to search something you need to search under the My Account Option. M. Andy said : "it is a shame they have left it out", because so many web novices reach a website by startining to click away at the search box.

M. Andy gives some advise for your own futur business :

He says : "if you are looking at your own website, make sure that you are worried about great content and organised content, not about flash and glitz"

It will be a pleasure to know what do you think about it !

03/12 : in class exercise : OTA Characteristics

2009-12-03T01:01:00.000-08:00

1. customer reach :

- by the design

- the reputation of the OTA

- services ranges

- advertisement

- when the OTA website is easily accessible

2. customer communication methods :

- web link

- travel alert

- find answers

- top searches

- newsletters

- nearby a similar destination

- alternate date

- by video which show to the customer how looks the destination

3. Types of products sold

- last second deals

- flights

- accomodations

- restaurants

- car rental

- vacation packages

- incentive groups

- activities

- trains tickets

- gift ideas

- going out

- experiences

4. Special Promotion capabilities

- flight fare calendar

- reservation online system

- gas station locators

- flight timetable

- exchange rate

- languages

- international phone services

- VIP services in Las Vegas depends on the destinations

5. Online booking conditions + fees :

- type of fare

- discount

- making changes to your booking

- if you booked via the internet

- name changes

- cost for changes

- cancelation policy

- special offer

- children travelling alone

- conditions applying to seat reservations

- baggages

- passagers reduced mobility

- service on board

- pets

- delay

- changes

- performance of flight

FEES :

6. Affiliate program - yes/no

- yes : master card, american express card

members only deals

priority customers service number

points rewards

7. Affiliate program payment structure

- visa, paypal, master card, american express,

8. Info for hoteliers :

- new incremental business (

- unmatched exposure

- above the line marketing exposure

-access to different types of customers

- payment conditions

- contacts

- video presentation for a more comprehension of who are the OTA

Shangri-La expands Malaysian portfolio. ~ Thursday, 26th November 2009 from 4Hoteliers

2009-11-30T15:53:00.000-08:00

Shangri-La expands Malaysian portfolio. ~ Thursday, 26th November 2009 from 4Hoteliers

This topic attrack me because I think that Asian countries are the new market which have a lot of potential and this text explain it. there is an important market in Asia which is good to discover. In this summury we will see somme details of the hotel group which will be build in Malaysia.

The Pacific's luxury hotel group, made a new agreement with Themed Attractions and Resorts to open Traders Hotel.

This new agreement symbolise the fact that Shangri-La is the first international Hotel developed in this new area of Nusajaya, Malaysia. Shangri-la Hotel is the first one to be associated with Malaysia's first family indoor theme park which is soon to be built.

They program to open it in 2012, with 292 room. Traders Hotel will be localized in the heart of Nusajaya, which is one of the five flagship zones in Iskandar Malaysia. you will find there, an integrated complex with an indoor theme park, a family entertainment centre and a 100,000 square foot retail centre.

The hotel is really well situated because it is near the Senai International Airport, 3 hours drive from Kuala Lumpur and 15 minutes drive from the Malaysia-Singapore Second Link.

The hotel guestrooms mesures a minimum of 36 square metres with themed rooms.

A 620 square metre ballroom and a range of function rooms suited for small to wide events will be organized in Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) guests.

The future project of creating a large world class environment for business, living and leisure is also preparing in the west of Johor Bahru, Nusajaya.