Hoteliers' Voice Series

We deep dive into hotel sustainability with Angeliki Krania, Senior Sustainability Manager at Lamington Group to understand what it takes to be a truly sustainable hotel brand and commit to the policy authentically.

As part of our Hoteliers' Voice Season 3, Angeliki explains;

How the industry can incorporate sustainable approaches to design and development
How Lamington Group implements a sustainable culture, the wider business case for sustainability, engaging guests in the programme, working in collaboration and the supply chain and the role of AI

Today's Hoteliers' Voice takes on our guests specialist topic, as we explore the world of distribution. Joining us is Vineeth Purushothaman, Regional Director, Commercial Planning & Distribution EMEA, at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.

We will be discussing the key trends to watch in distribution in 2023 following his article published on LinkedIn, see below. In this episode we cover: The Bleisure market, Regulatory challenges, Cybersecurity and Fintech

Nick Pilbeam​, Commercial Director for Queensway Hotels and Hospitality operating Point A Hotels joins us in Hoteliers' Voice to look at the influence of airline retail model in the hospitality sector.

Queensway is a family business founded in 1973 creating meaningful and memorable hospitality experiences. Its portfolio includes hotels, coffee houses, restaurants, residential property and a private member’s club. Point A Hotels offers cosy, comfortable, budget friendly rooms in the heart of the big city.

With seven hotels in London, one in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dublin, Point A focuses on providing collaborative, fun and exciting places to work.

Tej Walia, Managing Director, The Foxhills Collection joins us for Hoteliers' Voice season 3 to give us a run down of the investments the hotel has made over the last through year and how it defines needs from infrastructure, to guest services to digital development.

The Foxhills Collection is an independently-owned collection of golf clubs and resorts in Surrey delivered by a talented team of 300 led by the Hayton family. It’s 400-acre Surrey estate - Foxhills is award winning hotel and country club with three golf courses, spa, family friendly facilities, five swimming pools and three restaurants, while Farleigh is a golf club with a 27-hole courses. 

Christoph Peppers, Director E‑Commerce for H‑Hotels GmbH joins us on Hoteliers' Voice Season 3 to look at the changes in revenue and distribution as e-commerce takes hold.

The H-Hotels Group operates 61 properties in Germany, Austria, Hungary and Switzerland. The family-run group has over 3,000 employees and includes a number of accommodation brands.

In conversation, we cover changing roles in marketing and e-commerce, building an e-commerce culture, hotel e-commerce tech and identifying and selecting the right systems. Key systems and partners include; GoogleAds, Criteo, Affiliates, vouchers, chatbot, metasearch, retargeting

James Wilson, Director of Business Intelligence and Analytics Services from Outrigger Hospitality Group gives insight for Hoteliers' Voice Season 3 on how to get data buy-in and create a data culture across the organisation. Outrigger property blends seamlessly with its unique locale, offering a compelling guest experience with distinctive sense of place. With 38 properties and over 7,000 rooms in operation and/or development, Outrigger is a multi-branded portfolio.

We discuss the importance of a data culture, impact on the bottom line, systems for data, culture change and getting buy-in and identify the right partners

Outrigger uses a number of different solutions including Silverware, Opera PMS, RMS, Datavision, Amadeus Demand360, Duetto, Revinate, ForwardKeys, PowerBI

We speak with Andreas Stöckli about evolving and augmenting the tech stack to provide more digital services to guests while digitalising operations and energy management to improve efficiencies.

Standing at over 140 years old, Hotel Schweizerhof has 98 rooms and suites with modern conveniences and stylish luxurious amenities, where guests are treated to the feel of Old World elegance with the added convenience of modern accommodations and courteous, friendly and attentive service. We cover: Hotel tech stack for a contemporary luxury hotel. in-room entertainment and digital technologies, website UX and why it is so important, operations management and streamlining processes and costs and energy efficiencies. Key systems covered include; Innspire, Seamans, HotelKit, MFiles

Overlooking the secluded Pissouri Bay on the southern coast of Cyprus, Columbia Beach Resort is a five-star resort offering 169 luxurious suites with distinct Cypriot architecture, an award-winning spa and two pools, and gourmet restaurants, in a stunning location – providing a unique experience.

In our conversation, Monica explains how Columbia Beach Resort provides a unique experience with technology, we explore: Why is guest facing tech and digital systems are so important, the technologies being deployed, the impact on hotel performance, engaging staff and identifying the right partners

Systems Columbia Beach Resort uses includes Innspire, Hotel Mobile and Oracle's Micros Fidelio.

Chris Bowling joins us as our guest for Hoteliers' Voice to share how they built a direct campaign using guest profiling.

We learn the approach taken to identify the right audience, the type of marketing strategy to harness this opportunity and the data that fed the campaign creative and channels to market.

We hear how Chris and the Best Western team looked for the opportunity to fight back for the brand. We discuss: Why education is important, the role of brand marketing, identifying channels to reach the guest profile, using guest data to determine the approach and the systems that underpin the campaign.

Josh Henegar, Corporate Revenue Director at 1859 Historic Hotels, which has 10 hotels in three US states, talks about how analysing guest feedback can improve services.

ReviewPro is a useful tool for analysing strengths and weaknesses by segment. Providing guests with “perceived value” is essential as it correlates with revenues.

But the operational side of “shaking hands and kissing babies” is also vital at ground level in building positive experiences.

The hotel integrates data analysis from ReviewPro with the CRM and links it with guest profiles. The information can be used for future marketing. Finally, he explains how word of mouth through review sites is fundamental.

Amanda Du, Head of eCommerce from Penta Hotels explains how the company implemented digital change using an ABCD strategy. The company has more than 20 hotels across Europe and Asia.

Amanda, who has over a decade of international hotel experience, says A stands for “analytics”. Penta has to analyse its customer data carefully. B is for “business”. The company aims to change business conditions to improve the customer experience.

Meanwhile, C stands for “customers”. They must be at the core of every decision and Penta has created a series of touch points to improve engagement. Finally, D stands for “digital”. Technology is used to enable transformation and capture relevant data.

Na’ím Anís Paymán, speaks about the similarities and differences in managing holiday rentals and hotels. Paymán Club has nine hotels and more than 100 short-term properties.

Na’ím describes the challenges and opportunities of opening hotels during the pandemic. And he outlines how the market has gradually changed following the pandemic.

Paymán wanted to manage his portfolio using more technology. But he couldn’t find a suitable software provider. So, the company developed Zeevou, an award-winning PMS and Channel Manager, for serviced apartment providers and hotels that enables everyone to grow direct bookings.

During IHTF, Marketing and Distribution programme stream, Janneke Messiaen, VP Commercial Systems & B2B Digital for NH Hotel Group spoke about the company’s new model of distribution and distribution processing. She explained why they moved to a concentrated distribution model and how they devised strategies to support growth.

Janneke talked about how to get staff to buy into the changes and understand the business case. Open communication about the reasons behind every move was critical.

She described how the company built the commercial culture around market demands. For example, there should be little human involvement in quoting for small groups. The company has also devised strategies to attract corporate clients by improving databases and launching loyalty schemes.

Suzie Thompson, VP Commercial of the Red Carnation Hotel Collection – which has 18 properties in UK, Ireland, Geneva and Africa - explains how they created a more centralised strategy, and unified sales and marketing teams.

Over the past two years, Red Carnation has launched 20 new websites, opened properties and reworked its sales framework. Suzie talks about creating a commercial team, digitalising global teams, working with partners, enhancing brand delivery, and optimising the guest experience.

The company won the Travolution Award for Best of Staying 2021 and also Travel Website of the Year from The Good Web Guide 2021. At Travel and Leisure World’s Best Awards 2021 it was named third best hotel brand in the world.

Tyann Marcink Hammond describes the remote digital management of the two brands she owns - Branson Family Retreats, which are purpose-built rentals for families, and Missouri Haus, a group of historical properties in Missouri wine country.

Proving that you don’t need to hold the hand of guests, nor be physically available 24/7, Tyann has 14 touch points ensuring warm communication with guests before arrival at any of the 55 properties.

She tells us guests can consult a digital guidebook showcasing brand, photos and logo. It contains instructional videos and explains what to expect when they arrive. Guests choose their own door codes and remote technology controls thermostats and monitors noise levels.

George Gaag, Manager of myNext – hostels, apartments, hotels – talks about technology to run seasonal properties. The myNext portfolio consists of student accommodation in Austria available during university breaks.

myNext has developed a techstack that is so intuitive and easy to use that staff receive only a day’s training, with an LMS to provide access to a demo environment of the PMS and a knowledge management system (KMS) which explains how to handle various challenges.

The accommodation company has employed an applicant tracking system that makes it easier for students to apply for jobs and be screened, then interviewed on the phone. When work is available, the approved applicants are emailed automatically.

Sotiris Kopatsaris, CEO and founder of Future Hotels and MD, Carpe Diem Santorini explains how technology helps staff to create the magic and authenticity that offers special experiences to every hotel client.

Technology is essential to make progress. But the personal touch is critical for Carpe Diem Santorini which provides luxury experiences to a lot of honeymooners.

The company uses a list of 600 innovations to benchmark hotel performance. Around 20% of the tech stack will provide 80% of the improvements in performance. The best solutions are recommended to Future Hotels. Such a rigorous approach is new in the independent hotel sector, he explains.