Weekly Roundup #9: Travel, Tech and Social Media
Hello once again and happy Friday to all of you!
Welcome back to this week’s roundup, our overall report of the latest news and relevant posts targeting the hospitality industry. As usual, we have for you a mix of fresh announcements, trends and technology news. If a particular headline catches your attention, don’t be shy, go ahead and read the full story.
Have a great weekend and don’t forget to come back for next week’s roundup! Same time, same place.
Industry News
ASKA Hotel Group sees 9% increase in sales, after using a guest feedback platform
And can you guess which platform that is? That’s right, yours truly. TrustYou’s partnership with ASKA Hotel Group started in 2014 and according to the brand’s representatives, the overall score increased by 9% in only 2 years from 85 (2013) to 92 (2015); the response rate increased from 30% (2014) to 89% (June 2016); and in 2015, 96% of all guest reviews were positive.
Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts opens first serviced apartment concept:
The 1st of March marked the opening of Mövenpick’s newest opening, in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok and the inauguration of a new concept for the group: serviced apartments. The newly built property features 158 serviced apartments and offers long-stay guests a choice of fully furnished studios, 1- and 2-bedroom apartments.
Airbnb faces troubles in Spain
In the last few years, the home-sharing service had a considerable expansion in Spain, especially in Barcelona and Madrid. It evens seems that the total number of guests using Airbnb to visit Spain grew 82% in 2016 to more than 5.4 million. However, Airbnb’s future in Spain doesn’t appear to be as promising, since local governments up their efforts to control the company’s impact on local housing markets.
It has been recently reported that, in 2016, 35 million international tourists have visited Mexico, which represents a growth of 9% compared to 2015. This growth is more than twice the global industry average, most recently reported at 3.9 percent by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in January 2017.
USA counts its losses after Trump’s travel ban:
The travel restriction and the uncertainties surrounding the subject have already impacted the USA travel sector. According to recent statements, 185 million dollars were lost in revenue, in just one month since the ban was introduced. “Multiply that by 12 months – we are talking about a quarter of a billion (dollars) each month, which is tremendous.”
Trends and Insights
The future of accessible tourism: standards for travelling with disabilities
The first step for developing an International Standard on Accessible Tourism for All was taken in Madrid on 13-14 February. Since there are many cases in which persons with disabilities cannot exercise their rights to leisure and the enjoyment of culture and tourism, it was imperative to come up with a new standard that set clear guidelines for tourism planning and destination management.
Cruise bookings show solid growth in 2017
Usually, leisure travelers chose a standard vacation, in a hotel, hostel, inn or other type of establishment, but it seems that this year, cruises are making it big. According to Travel Leaders Group’s 2017 Travel Trends Survey, nearly 87% of travel agent experts who book cruise vacations stated that their 2017 cruise bookings are equal to or higher than the previous year, and more than 84% of those surveyed said their Mediterranean cruise bookings have increased or on are par, year-over-year.
Corporate travel management companies focus on providing better digital tools to their customers
Travel management companies are finally looking to approach corporate travel from a more traveler-centric perspective, in order to properly understand personalization. The pressure is on to shift to a more progressive approach to travel technology, iterating based on what travelers actually want.
Technology
HRS’s new app helps hotel check-in process
Online hotel specialist HRS uses beacons with its newest mobile application, to create smarthotel technology and make the guest experience more enjoyable. With about a third of bookings coming via mobile apps, the company says the thinking behind the service is to make hotel check-in as easy as getting an Uber.
Are chatbots the key to guest satisfaction?
Yesterday, we published a new blog post, regarding the impact of technology (more specifically, chatbots) over the travel sector and the importance of balance and personalization. If the subject sparks your curiosity and if you didn’t get the chance to check out the post, make sure to take a look!
Tech initiatives hotels should be considering:
Since we were just on the subject of chatbots, you can also find a mention of them in this Tnooz post, which describes the best and most relevant features that hotels should adopt, in order to stay on top of the competition.
