TDS N. America 2016

October 2016, Las Vegas

Top 5: the top stories and tips you may have missed in August 2016

Why focusing on rates matters, is the driven car dead and do managed services mark the end of the sharing economy? Just some of the issues we explored this month…

As British summertime edges to a close, EyeforTravel recaps the stories that got us thinking through the silly season

1. OTAs vs hotels: why 'an old and tired story' keeps running

Cost per acquisition, how you qualify fences and ensure rate parity with the competitive set are some of the big issues facing US-based hoteliers which we explore in the run up to TDS North America (6-7 October 2016). Interviewed here are hoteliers Mark Molinari, Corporate VP RM, Las Vegas Sands, Dan Wacksman, Senior Vice President, Global Distribution, Outrigger Hotels and Resorts and Christen Garb, VP RM, Hyatt Hotels. Insights also come from sponsor Lori Weiman, CEO and co-founder, The Search Monitor, a data-driven firm that monitors rate parity and rate fluctuations daily.

2. Ground transportation & the connected travel fast lane

In conversation with Blacklane’s Jens Wohltorf, who co-founded this ‘professional driver service’ back in 2011, we tune into some of the shifts in gear in ground transportation, and his company’s rapid growth trajectory. Many of this month’s silly season stories have focused on the rise of driverless cars, which Wohltorf agrees will be one of “the most disruptive trends that our generation will probably ever see”.  But in his view there will always be those who want human hands on the wheel.

3. How Priceline is trouncing the pessimists

It may have been a dire summer for many in the disaster hit travel industry butthe world’s largest OTA seems to be trouncing the pessimists. It beat Q2 forecasts and its own guidance on all counts, writes Sally White in an analysis of the Priceline story. With agency and merchant businesses showing strong momentum, room nights booked accelerating and rental cars still showing strong growth, is the airline ticket weak point really anything to worry about? Read on to find out.

4. Airbnb 'growth accelerator' spurs rise in managed services

Business travel is rising - by 5.8% on average over the next five years according to the GBTA. And as the sharing economy and short-term rental market matures, so too are managed services from players like Hostmaker and now GuestReady, which officially launched in six countries this month with the strapline ‘Airbnb management services for short-term rentals’. Interviewees here include GuestReady CEO Alexander Limpert and Lex Bayer, Head of Global Payments and Business Travel at Airbnb.

5. IHG puts digital, direct bookings and loyalty first

With talk of a bid from China’s Anbang Insurance Group being dismissed, Sally White takes a look at what the future holds for InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). The chain, which recently reported a decent set of interim results, pointed to direct bookings and the loyalty programme as two important areas in IHG’s commercial strategy. Today digital is the group’s largest channel and is delivering over 20% or $4.2 billion of our gross room's revenue per year, up from just 12% in 2005.

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