Hotel News in Brief

Aug 06, 09 | 1:45 am

Industry first: A pioneering tourism ‘matchmaking' service which brings ‘suitor' destinations, hotels and attractions together with potential traveller ‘mates' based on more than 300 behavioural, attitudinal and demographic traits has been launched, supported by a one million-strong email, post and text-able database of active UK travellers. www.travelxray.com Creators, travel market research specialists Consumerdata* and Arkenford*, estimate that around 20% of the typical leisure operator's tourism marketing budget is ‘wasted' annually on poorly-targeted communications to unresponsive consumers. Explains Travel X-Ray managing director Adrian Lawes, ‘Based on insights gathered from 9 million UK households, Travel X-Ray effectively acts as a tourism ‘dating agency' by identifying the most suitable and lucrative buyer segments for a supplier to target, locating such individuals, and facilitating relationships with them. Experience suggests that around 20% of the typical operator's leisure marketing approach is wasted on conveying unconvincing messages to unresponsive people. ‘Plus, in taking the ‘diy' approach to market profiling, opportunities for growth are frequently restricted. This is because marketing based on operator-gathered data usually results in a strategy focusing only on market areas in which an operator is already active, severely limiting opportunities to acquire strength in potentially more lucrative ones. Travel X-Ray profiling highlights the profitable business you already have, but more importantly what you could, and should, have. ‘For known compatible segments we can effect introductions between, say a heritage destination, and thousands of individuals who have confirmed heritage as a travel interest. Just a few of the 300+ variables are fishing, walking, spas, shopping, wildlife, theatre, watersports, caravanning and bowls, plus Travel X-Ray intelligence related to media outlets covers 200 titles. Also listed are more than 20 types of charity interest, over a dozen internet usage categories, and 25 kinds of outdoor activity. The ‘mass marketing' approach is wasteful for most and personalisation can improve response rates by up to 80%. For operators wanting to target a non-listed characteristic, Travel X-Ray can undertake bespoke research. ‘Travel X-Ray's sizeable database, combined with in-depth knowledge of holiday and travel habits, provides for the first time a one-stop strategic and tactical solution both to build existing market share and gain new niche positioning. Consumer traveller ‘courtship' has long been a hit and miss affair for marketers but now it is possible to reduce rejections by ensuring that every prospective partner is made to feel like ‘the one'!' www.travelxray.com.


SINGAPORE has been awarded Top International Meeting City in the Union of International Associations (UIA) 2008 Global Rankings for the second consecutive year. The city state also moved ahead of the US to hold third position in UIA's Top International Meeting Countries ranking.The results were released by UIA in June this year and unveiled during the 30th anniversary celebration of Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers (SACEOS) Friday evening at The Conrad Centennial Singapore. Singapore hosted 637 meetings in 2008, representing a 36 per cent increase over 2007. It also accounted for 26.5 per cent of meetings held in Asia in 2008, up from 22.5 per cent in 2007. Singapore Tourism Board chief executive Aw Kah Peng said the new rankings "underscore Singapore's reputation as an exchange capital of the world where people, ideas and technology converge to generate business success." Recent efforts to enhance Singapore's appeal as a business events destination include an enhanced BE in Singapore incentive scheme and the launch of the 2009 Reasons to Meet in Singapore campaign.


CSI Media are helping the travel industry to fight the credit crunch by introducing a new initiative on its travel technology products. This will allow companies to purchase travel products via manageable monthly payments. The monthly payments initiative will apply to CSI Media's Travelmodule websites which are content managed systems used to generate travel enquiries online, and Travelberry systems which are online bookable dynamic packaging websites. It is also available on Travelberry Tour Op, a complete solution for all travel businesses which allows them to package their own stock with third party products online. Travelberry Tour Op also has a detailed financial reporting facility and an integrated call centre solution. The new initiative will allow companies to buy a Travelmodule website from just £6 per day, a Travelberry system from £13 per day and a full Travelberry Tour Op solution from £40 per day. If you are interested in any of CSI Media's travel technology systems and would like more information about the new initiative visit the CSI Media website or contact Richard Nash, Business Manager, on richard@csimedia.net or Craig Stone, Marketing Director, on craig@csimedia.net.


Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Silver Companies and MMI Hotel Group has announced the opening of Hyatt Place Germantown, conveniently located on Winchester at Forest Hill Irene Road, a short distance from FedEx World Headquarters/World Technology Centre.  "We believe the Hyatt Place guest experience will continue to set the standard for today's multitasking travellers," said Jerry Roach, general manager.  "Hyatt Place offers free Wi-Fi access, freshly prepared food available 24/7, state-of-the-art in-room media options and a staff specially trained to handle any task gracefully. When creating Hyatt Place, we extensively researched the evolving needs of contemporary travellers to identify the right combination of style, service and amenities," said Alison Kal, vice president, marketing, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts.  "We're thrilled to enhance Hyatt's presence in the greater Memphis area and bring the Hyatt Place experience to Germantown."  www.hyatt.com.


StarCite, Inc., the leading provider of Web-based solutions to strategically manage corporate meetings and events, is pleased to congratulate Kevin Iwamoto, StarCite's Vice President, Enterprise Strategy, for receiving the National Business Travel Association's Industry Icon Award - the association's highest honor.  The award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the managed travel industry, will be presented to Mr. Iwamoto at the 2009 NBTA International Convention & Exposition, held next month in San Diego. "We couldn't be more thrilled that one of our own has been awarded this prestigious honor," said Greg Dukat, StarCite's chief executive officer.  "Kevin has been a great asset not only to StarCite, but to the entire travel and meetings industry as an advocate for strategic meetings management.  Thanks to Kevin's tireless efforts, managing meetings has increasingly become a practice that companies view as absolutely strategic to their business.  Throughout his career, he has helped create guidelines and best practices that continue to shape the discipline of strategic meetings management to the benefit of anyone who travels for meetings or is involved in the industry."


CHINA will lead Australia's inbound tourism market growth over the next 10 years while Japan's contribution is expected to dwindle, according to two reports published by Australia's tourism industry. China is expected to contribute 19.7 per cent of market growth between 2008 and 2018, while at the other end of the scale, Japan is expected to contribute a bare 0.1 per cent, reported Tourism Forecasting Committee (TFC) in its Forecast 2009 Issue 1 report. Overall, Australia is expected to realise four per cent annual growth in tourist arrivals over the 10-year period. While Japan contributed more than 457,000 visitors in 2008, the number is a far cry from the 800,000 annual Japanese visitors in the mid-90s, according to Tourism Research Australia's report on the patterns of Japanese travel to Australia. Meanwhile, TFC expects overall visitor arrivals to Australia to decrease by four per cent this year to 5.4 million arrivals, the biggest decline since 1989. The value of international visitors to Australia is projected to fall 2.1 per cent to A$24.2 billion (US$20.4 billion). Over three quarters of this expected decline will come from Japan (down 26 per cent) and South Korea (down 25 per cent). However, strong increases are expected from Malaysia (up 17 per cent), China (up 6.4 per cent), Hong Kong (up 7.2 per cent), India (up 8.7 per cent) and the Middle East (up 9.7 per cent). Outbound tourism has been performing well, with TFC forecasting just one percentage drop in Australian departures this year. Spending of Australian travellers however is down due to low international airfares and travel packages, and a switch to more shorthaul and short stay trips, among others. TFC predicts that Australia's inbound tourism industry has yet to see the worst, with the rebound in the Australian dollar, recent increases in fuel prices and increasing unemployment to blame. International business travel, in particular, is expected to decrease 14 per cent in 2009 and holiday travel by 5.2 per cent.


With the peak summer travel period now underway new research from First Rate Exchange Services has revealed some interesting variations in the UK's international travel trends. Savvy travellers in the East Midlands are most likely to seek out the better value offered by destinations in Eastern Europe this summer, with 22 per cent of travellers in the region stating they intend to travel to countries such as Croatia and Hungary. Interestingly, only eight per cent of their West Midlands' neighbours said this would be their chosen holiday destination. People in London proved to be the most adventurous, 47 per cent of Londoners like to visit destinations outside Western Europe, this compared to just 30 per cent of people the South West who said they'd travel to less traditional resorts. As well as being the most adventurous with their holiday destinations Londoners are also the most likely to take a risk when buying their holiday cash - 40 per cent said they would purchase currency at the airport or overseas - a move which could prove costly due to high commission fees and poor exchange rates at airport bureaux. Canny Scots are the most likely to ensure they make their travel cash go further, only 13 per cent said they buy travel cash at the airport or when they arrive at their holiday destination. They are also the most likely to opt for the extra security of travellers cheques - 14 per cent stated they take this form of currency abroad.


Worldhotels added 32 new affiliates to its growing global portfolio in the first half of 2009. New additions include the renowned Bel Air Hotel The Hague in the Netherlands, as well as the City Inn group in the UK. Worldhotels also saw growing demand of independent hotels requesting affiliation. Hotels that are seeking affiliation with the group are subject to a rigorous selection process and must meet a variety of quality standards and other criteria. Robert Hornman, Vice President EMEA & Worldwide Sales, Marketing and Distribution at Worldhotels, commented: "The support of a global organization is crucial for independent hotels and regional hotel chains, especially in economically challenging times. What sets Worldhotels apart from other hotel groups is our ability to offer our guests a high-quality portfolio consisting of independent and unique hotels, whilst also providing owners with a wide selection of business-building services that are on par with franchise companies."