Articles tagged “hotel distribution”

We like to say there's always a way to create your own white space. HotelRunner is a startup looking at the crowded hospitality sector in fresh ways. Think the budget model of EasyJet or AirAsia, but for a hotel tech stack.

The hotel room bedbank Hotelbeds confirmed on Thursday that it had received a loan of about $435 million (€400 million), boosting its cash cushion. But will cautious travelers be as interested in the company's typically non-refundable rates and otherwise typically restricted offers during months of uncertainty about possible travel restrictions?

Oracle Hospitality's Alex Alt sees two gaps in his company's suite: distribution services and customer relationship management tools. Yet the opportunities with both are dynamic, not static, because of fast shifts in hotel company priorities and traveler behaviors. That will require Alt to be one very adaptable executive.

To call a company the best-capitalized hotel tech startup might seem like pointing out the tallest leprechaun. But while SiteMinder serves only about 36,000 hotels out of a million worldwide, new funding from cash-rich investor BlackRock could fuel the hotel connectivity startup's growth substantially.

IHG represents a broader industry trend in that it's getting tougher with online travel agencies and wholesalers in the West while becoming more experimental with online travel sellers in Asia, where it needs help to grow its sales. Its use of new technologies to try to keep its strategy coordinated and to boost revenue are eye-catching.

The collapse last week of Amoma suggests that an industrywide crackdown on online travel agencies that violate hotel contracts is getting serious. For example, many hoteliers have wanted Hotelbeds to crack down on bad behavior by some agencies. The distributor of wholesale rates has responded by taking action.

Hotels are no longer just “merchants of sleep.” With the help of smarter merchandising strategies, hoteliers can tap into the insights and retailing know-how to sell guests not just a bed, but an entire hotel experience delivered to serve each traveler’s unique needs.

A new whitepaper examining distribution trends in Europe’s online hotel sector suggests that flexibility is a critical success factor for the region’s hospitality operators. Hotel executives must constantly review and optimize their channel mix if they hope to succeed and thrive in this highly competitive environment.

Hotel chains and airlines have formed alliances, why not bedbanks? The first bedbank alliance by four Asian players may be the first of its kind, but what’s more important is whether it can work. After all, if it looks so logical and easy, why didn’t anyone do it sooner?

Today’s hotel distribution landscape is a complex one –– but artificial intelligence is expected to help solve the issues plaguing the current system. While the technology is still maturing, it’s not as far off as some might think.