Recap: A New Era of Hotel Distribution

In our regular Shiji Buzz conversations, we explore various hot topics in hospitality technology with a panel of diverse experts from across the industry. In our most recent Buzz chat, we traveled to Asia-Pacific, joined by Shiji’s own Matthew Clark, APAC Sales Manager, and Patricia Brennan, VP, Strategic Accounts, Shiji Distribution Solutions, as well as Nicholas van Brenda, Director, Global Sales Distribution for Shangri-La International Hotel Management Limited, Gavin Maloney, Director of Sales & Marketing/ Distribution and Leisure, Shangri-La Group, and Duncan Waterman, Country Manager, Australia & New Zealand for D-Edge Hospitality Solutions.

With this veritable expert panel, we dove right into today’s most relevant topics in hospitality tech, from growing markets to watch to modern advertising best practices, and industry trends across.

And if you missed our last Shiji Buzz webinar recap featuring Roomdex and a conversation about the golden age of hotel tech, be sure to click here to read.

Now, let’s dive in.

Is China Still Leading Travel in APAC?

Pre-pandemic, China was arguably the leader in APAC regional tourism, but are they still?

As Shiji Distribution Solutions’ VP of Strategic Accounts, Patricia Brennan has plenty of knowledge to answer this question. She observed, “Although we do have a lot of international travel, what we’re seeing is that the number of bookings within China has almost doubled what was booked in 2019. So that’s all now domestic. I think that as soon as borders reopen, Chinese travel will come back.”

Fortunately, signs point to Chinese travel bounding back as soon as travel restrictions loosen. What’s more, we don’t need to put all our eggs in one basket, so to speak, either.

Other Markets to Watch

China isn’t the only player expected to heat up in post-pandemic travel in APAC. As Duncan Waterman, D-Edge Hospitality Solutions’ Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand, noted, “Some of the emerging channels that are springing up in Indonesia, we’ve taken note of. Hotels will maximize their exposure through large OTAs [there] that will produce a billboard effect [in terms of exposure].” At the same time, ad spend remains concentrated in places like Google, so budgeting accordingly is recommended for hotels. “Google is really the place where bookings are won and lost,” says Waterman. “And so that’s what we’re seeing that a lot of [advertising] spend going to. So that’s really what hotels can maximize on right now.”

Travel Restrictions Continue?

While we’re not out of the woods yet in terms of safe post-pandemic travel, the consensus both in APAC and globally is starting to form around what countries will need to require to allow foreign guests entry. Patricia Brennan noted, “People need to feel confident that when they go to a country, there have been vaccinations. But also, in order to enter a country, there will need to be proof that you have been vaccinated, and therefore, the only way to do that is to have some sort of a vaccine passport.” A double-sided approach to ensuring safe entry and safe environments for tourists will be crucial to encouraging visits post-pandemic.

Changes in Booking Patterns and Behavior

Patricia Brennan continued by sharing interesting findings regarding booking trends. “[Lately], there’s an increase in direct bookings. The booking via web direct statistic is 41% compared to 27%, in 2019… OTAs have also dropped their advertising [spending]. So there’s less pressure on advertising around brand name display ads. Hotels are saving money. There is an opportunity for hotels to capitalize on that.”

However, brand name display ads aren’t the only place hotels could find a win. “Also, some of the traditional global booking channels like Expedia and booking.com, have dropped a little bit. And there’s more production from some of the regional channels. In Australia and New Zealand, we’re seeing a little bit more booking from [regional booking engine] Flight Center, for instance. And in some of the Asian countries, there are more bookings coming through from Mr. And Mrs. Smith and some regional Indonesian booking sites.”

Channels and Methods for Reaching Audiences

Nicholas Van Brenda from Shangri-La Group shared advice on how hotel marketing strategy is mostly staying the same, with a notable exception: “The only way that I can really think that it would change is that perhaps there’ll be more use of AI and chatbots, etc, to engage more with the customer. Most people, when they’re booking leisure travel, will investigate for a couple of weeks before they actually make bookings, trawling the different OTA sites.”

His advice for hotel distribution in today’s environment? It’s important to, “Have really good images and to make sure that your hotel is being represented correctly on all of those sites. That’s where solutions like IcePortal can assist because it automatically distributes those images out to each of the OTAs that you want to be shown on and represented on. So I think, as always, it’s a matter of making sure that you’re present and in the forefront of people’s minds, either by direct communication or by ensuring that you’re in the places that they’re going to search when they’re looking for something to do.”

Post-Pandemic Messaging

So, you have your channels selected and are ready to reach your future guests. But how do you speak to them? Gavin Maloney of Shangri-La Group shared some nuggets of evergreen advice on this topic: “Messaging is all about that dreaming stage, aspiration. Some people don’t want to be sold to at this time– it’s all about what that experience is going to be. [The important thing will be] getting that messaging right about coming together in a safe environment where you can enjoy life.

Managing Rates, Inventory, and Other Best Practices

That naturally brings us to managing rates, inventory, and other best practices these days. Duncan Waterman observed, “We see lots of big hotel groups investing in getting better and better at CRM. Conversely, some smaller independent hotels are investing heavily in social media and getting huge numbers of followers, so they don’t perhaps see the value in CRM and the spend needed, but are investing in their own staff. For them, that is the CRM for their audience. And so there are two contrasting hotel types that are doing well.”

And what about chatbots mentioned earlier? Are those worth considering for the average hotel or group? “We see a number of chatbot tools doing really well and hotels adopting them quite quickly. And then some conversion tools as well. There’s a lot of data that comes with all of these tools,” continued Waterman.

Eine universelle Content-Management-Lösung

Die Gruppe wandte sich dann dem zu, was manche als den heiligen Gral des Content-Managements im Gastgewerbe betrachten: Eine universelle Content-Management-Lösung, die die einzige Quelle für alle Inhalte auf allen Plattformen wäre, die ein bestimmtes Hotel nutzt. Wie würde dies aussehen, welche Hindernisse gibt es, und was ist derzeit verfügbar?

Natalie Kimball: Wir [Shiji] müssen als Technologieanbieter berichten, welche Datenpunkte es gibt. Durch HTMG, wurden so viele Datenpunkte gesammelt. Wir haben bereits die Daten. Wir brauchen jemanden, der die Verantwortung übernimmt und sagt: “So wird es funktionieren”. Und dazu brauchen wir die Hilfe von GDS und von allen Beteiligten. Vielleicht müssen Wyndham, Hilton und Marriott irgendwann sagen: “Wir müssen aufhören, in dieses Hamsterrad stecken zu bleiben.”

Warum sollten die Anbieter aufstehen und sagen: “Okay, ja, wir machen das”, wenn es keinen Anreiz von kommerzieller Seite gibt? Vielleicht muss der Anstoß von einem großen Anbieter kommen, der über genügend finanzieller Mittel verfügt, um anfangs in die Sache zu investieren. Und wenn sie ein kommerzielles Modell entwickeln, das Einnahmen generiert, wird man anfangen, die Kosten zu decken. Aber es kann sein, dass es anfangs einen Verlust geben wird, damit wir es für die Branche anpassen können.

Gianna Rivera: Viele unserer Unternehmen denken über die verschiedenen Inhaltskanäle auf individuelle Weise nach. Ich glaube nicht, dass das nur für das eine oder andere Unternehmen gilt. Wir müssen dazu beitragen, dass diese Gespräche zu einem einheitlichen Denkprozess führen und dass sie verstehen, dass es im eigentlichen Sinne um Inhalte geht.

Hochwertige visuelle Inhalte

Zum Abschluss des Gesprächs diskutierte die Gruppe darüber, dass nicht alle Inhalte gleich sind, und tauschte einige Ideen darüber aus, wie hochwertige Inhalte tatsächlich aussehen.

Sarah Fults: Eine der größten Herausforderungen ist, dass man sein Hotel für das Fotoshooting vorbereiten muss. Für diejenigen von uns, die eine hohe Auslastung haben, kann es sehr schwierig sein, einen Termin für ein Fotoshooting für ein Hotel zu finden. Das ist die größte Herausforderung: Die Zeit zu finden, den Raum einzurichten und sicherzustellen, dass man überhaupt das Wissen dazu hat. Welche Blickwinkel? Von was sollte man das Bild machen? Wie kann man das im Rahmen des Budgets machen? Wie viele Jahre dauert es, bis man das nächste Fotoshooting machen muss?

Natalie Kimball: Es ist eine aufwendige aber wichtige Investition. Und jeder Geschäftsführer wird sich fragen: “Was ist mein Return on Investment?” Selbst wenn die Auslastung um 2 % steigt, ist das nicht genug.

Inhalte sind ein Verkaufsförderungsinstrument, und die OTAs haben uns das bewiesen. Es gibt einen Grund, warum jeder von ihnen Badezimmerfotos verlangt.

Ich glaube, es geht darum, dass ein Hotel nicht mehr darüber nachdenken muss, welches Foto wichtig ist und wie man es bekommt. Es geht um die Automatisierung. Und haben wir dann das Recht, das Foto auf jedem Kanal zu verwenden, der Zugang zu dieser Hosting-Plattform hat?

Has COVID Accelerated Hotel Distribution Tech or Put it on Hold?

Waterman continued, capping off the conversation, by addressing the question of the age right now, across industries: Whether the COVID-19 pandemic has aided in the evolution of certain industries, technologies, or consumer habits, or whether it’s hindered them.

He illustrated his point with an example: “We connect Airbnb through our channel manager. They’ve had a rough time, like all aggregators, but we’re seeing a spike in bookings on Airbnb now. Publicly, people think Airbnb at the moment is very bullish about remote working, which is really helping their business model. Historically, their third-quarter results are always the best. And right now they’re seeing a big spike in stays of 28 days or longer. That’s the fastest-growing stay category in Airbnb. In Australia, where it doesn’t feel like we’re going to be able to go overseas for a while and companies are used to having their staff working at home, you would think that would play to Airbnb, in terms of people moving around the country and then working for a period of time.”

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Ultimately, it’s a bit of both, of course, but no doubt that the pandemic has created a window for innovation to spring forward, as we can see in the conversation above. If you’d like to watch the whole thing for yourself, you can access it here.