A LOOK UNDER THE SHEETS AT THE EVER-EVOLVING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HOTELS AND OTAs.
Of the two great innovations that technology has enabled in the hotel business in the past 15 years, only one has been truly disruptive: the rise of Online Travel Agents.
What makes the disruptive innovation of OTAs so fascinating is that they are simultaneously the hotels’ biggest competitor, and potentially their largest online sales channel (for all but the largest chains). The OTAs and the hotels clearly need each other.
Accepting this fact, how can hospitality brands make the most of their online friends-cum-enemies? Read the rest of this entry »
The QUOcast, a podcast about hospitality
Something we’ve started experimenting with recently, a podcast about hospitality. Discussion includes “the death of the brand”, and an interview with Minor International’s Dilip Rajakarier.
Checking into a hotel, the staff on the desk informed me that the minibar was “pressure-sensitive,” so if you took something out and then put it back, you’d still be charged. I couldn’t help but wonder why the minibar was smart enough to know when I had taken a beer, but not clever enough to forgive me after my moment of weakness.. I nodded in acknowledgment, thanked him politely and then shuffled off to my room, pondering the changes in technology and human behaviour, and how they affect the bottom line. Read the rest of this entry »
Fullscreen images have really come into focus in the past year or so. This is because the public in general now have faster internet connections. This, combined with more easily accessible Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) makes serving large images easier. Read the rest of this entry »
During a recent trip to the US, I had the pleasure to stay in several excellent hotels. Two of them were LEED certified. What surprised me were that they were the only hotels of their kind (in the 2 major markets they were in).
“Eco” has been a buzzword for a while nowwith every hotel thrusting its eco credentials forward, even if it is only a sign in the bathroom asking you to reuse towels (incidentally the most self-serving of all eco-friendly options, something I find quite cynical on the part of the hotels). Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve been working on mobile sites for some clients just recently, and this has been informative, if slightly depressing! In a previous post i talked about how little distinction there is between hotel sub-brands. If you look at the mobile space, there’s very little distinction between the main brands themselves. Follow me while i take a look. Read the rest of this entry »
Recently I stayed in a hotel that was part of the Marriott empire – not a Marriott itself, but one of its sub-brands. The experience was a constant surprise – some of the things I expected were missing, but other things I didn’t expect were there. I clearly didn’t understand what the brand was offering. So what was happening?
The more I thought about it, the more it came down to two things. Read the rest of this entry »
Last week i had the privilege of being on a panel at Serviced Apartments Asia in Singapore, discussing Social Media, and the opportunities it presented for the industry. A review of this is available in a post i wrote on the Keen site.
Anthony Green – September 2010
Since the iPad came out, it’s become a must-have for hoteliers. Seduced by the wow-factor, they saw instantly how they could use it as a marquee item in their properties.
Sales teams and managers also saw how they could be used as tool for presentations: have you been to a conference recently and not seen lots of people armed with iPads? Thought not.
Read the rest of this entry »
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