Briefing: The battle for bookings pivots on tech

According to Hipmunk, an online travel company, one-half of millennials say they’re “travel hackers”, meaning they know the best way to get a good travel deal. Research from Google states that only 23% of leisure travellers are confident they can find all of the same hotel and flight information on their smartphone that they can on their desktop. In the battle for bookings consumer behaviour is being swayed by on-going technological changes, opportunities for efficiency and value, and curiosity about new products.

In these videos experts discuss booking technology:

While the booking portals that travellers are using are changing, booking a holiday is still generally considered a big ticket purchase and requires a lot of consideration, planning and saving. Infact research from WordPay found that in the US, 72% of people still use instalment-based payments for vacation packages.

This also means that travel researchers are using multiple devices to ensure they have the best deal. A report from Google shows 94% of leisure travellers switch between devices as they plan or book a trip, and two thirds of leisure travellers double-check prices on a desktop after shopping.

More and more websites and opportunities for ‘travel hacking’ continue to appear. A website called Dream Cheaper is now even offering to help find travellers a better deal after they have booked.

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

Briefing: Global business in the face of uncertainty

According to a report from Markit and CIPS, the UK services economy rebounded in August with The Business Activity Index up to 52.9 in August, from 47.4 in July. But we live in a global world and work in an international industry so global forecasts and upsets are always in mind. Markit and CIPS also state that Eurozone economic growth is at a 20-month low in September. FocusEconomics panelists see GDP in China rising 6.6% this year with a slow down to 6.3% next year. This is still positive but reflects a change from recent years.

This week our hospitality experts discuss market uncertainty and global business:

The month-on-month gain in the UK business activity index, at 5.5 points, was the largest observed over the 20-year survey history, following a record drop of 4.9 points in July. This goes to show how changeable today’s economy is.

Markit’s Eurozone PMI® Composite Output Index suggests that the economy is losing, rather than gaining, momentum  as the average index reading over the third quarter (52.9) is below that of quarter two (53.1).

According to FocusEconomics there is suggestion that things are looking in Russia up as GDP fell just 0.6% annually in Q2, the smallest decrease since Q1 2015.

As our experts discuss above long term confidence is difficult with so many factors possibly affecting business. But all business that embrace the international perspective are more expectant of these changes and better equipped to perform in all weathers.

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

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

Briefing: Understanding your digital skill level

According to the L2 Digital IQ Index, Marriott has the highest digital IQ of all luxury hotel brands, at 162. This is a considerable margin above the second ranked hotel group, which has been given a Digital IQ of 137. An understanding of how to engage online is vital to the success of a hospitality business today, but given that traditional hotel brands’ strongest skill is in service, they will always be at a disadvantage to specialised tech companies in the digital arena, as our hospitality experts discuss:

The Index assesses the digital competence of 55 Luxury Hotel brands by looking at the ‘effectiveness of brand site and E-commerce investments’, ‘Search, display and email marketing efforts’, ‘Social Media presence, community size, content and engagement,’ and ‘Mobile compatibility, optimization and marketing on smartphones & tablets’.

One reasons for Marriott’s high score is its online visibility. The study shows that in a Google search made from the US, Marriot is the most visible brand when looking for hotels in The Americas and Asia, and top three in Europe and Asia.

The study found that 81% of online travel booking is abandoned before completion. The study highlights frustrations during the booking process as key factor in and says that nearly 40% of sites surveyed required four or more clicks from search result to reservation.

Another barrier in the booking journey is the device used. According to the study, 46% of travellers who performed research via a mobile device did not execute their booking on that same channel.

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

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

Briefing: A surge in hotel investment

2015 has been a great year for hotel investment so far. There has been renewed positivity in the market and a rise in portfolio transactions. According to JLL, the UK has led transactions in the EMEA, with deals up 172% in the first half of 2015 compared to 2014. Overall in the EMEA region half year transaction volumes are up 85%. The US has also seen a rise in investment with transaction volume nearly doubling in the first half of 2015.

In this briefing industry insiders discuss the state of hotel investment, and who is investing in what:

JLL have reported that significant amounts of investments into the EMEA region has come from China and North America. Chinese investment has amounted to $1.9 billion so far this year.  Investment from North American private equity funds, which has reached $1.1 billion, has accounted for 57% of regional UK portfolio deals.

International investment into America amounted to $6.6 billion in the first half of 2015 representing nearly 30% of deal volume and showing a marked increase on 2014.

Some portfolio moves this year have included Accor’s restructuring of HotelInvest’s assets, which has involved the sale of 29 hotels in Germany and the Netherlands under a €234 million sales & Franchise back agreement in April, and the sale of seven hotels in the UK and Ireland for €38 million in May.

In June, Ashford Trust announced its intention to sell a 23 select-service hotel portfolio. And last month Pinnacle Hotel Management (PHM) sold a 15-hotel, select-service portfolio comprised of Marriott- and Hilton-branded hotels for $203 million to the Blackstone Group.

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

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

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