The 12 Things US Revenue Managers Are Talking About Right Now

We’ve just concluded our research to prepare for TDS North America, and these are the top discussions we’ve been having with our huge network of revenue managers. Do you agree, or have we overlooked anything?

1. Getting your ancillary strategy spot on. Anyone who thinks this topic doesn’t belong (in part) to revenue managers is wrong. Revenue managers across the world are working hard to use the data available to them in house to truly revenue manage ancillary services, and are preparing to use that data to forecast future ancillary spend.

2. On the flipside- how to increase revenue by rate alone. Competition never decreases, so 2012 is the year to balance competitive advantage and real profit increase, without damaging the consumer conception of your brand.

3. A rocky economy. How do you forecast for an uncertain year, particularly in Europe?

4. Hotels! Group pricing and meeting space optimisation. It’s not there yet (I know, I’m an events organiser). We’ll be watching closely what happens in Vegas over the next 12 months for tips and tricks on this at our next revenue management conference.

5. Better segmentation. Why, oh why, is this woeful subject back in our minds? Revenue managers are telling me their segmentation strategy hasn’t been looked at or redeveloped in months/years. So which segments have the greatest demand and potential now (not two years ago?)

6. No Budging on the Budget. budget restrictions and cutbacks mean working out a better way to revenue manage. Options for this and why they might or might not work for you (including clustering).

7. The changing role of the revenue manager. a nostalgic look back, and a prospective foot forward to what the role really means, and how you need to react to keep moving upwards.

8. All the single ladies. Revenue managing an individual property- either within a chain or as an independent. Revenue managing with a distressed budget and dealing with a non RM focused CEO.

9. How do customer reviews impact price? Data scoring your reviews against your room or package rate.

10. All that glitters isn’t gold. Marketers, show us the true value of social media, mobile and website re-design- how can they actually make money, and what’s the honest ROI?

11. Mobile & money. Is it acceptable to have different pricing tiers depending on the platform the customer is using (ie, desktop, ipad or mobile) and is this even legal?

12. Distressed inventory- how are models like HotelTonight going to change the pricing model we have with third parties?

Have a different opinion? Tweet to me at @rosieakenhead or find me on linkedin and drop me a message, I’d love to hear your feedback.

Rosie Akenhead
Director of Events and Industry Analysis
EyeforTravel, London, UK
Direct Line: 0044 207 375 7229 (UK)
US Toll Free: 800 814 3459 ext. 7229

Pinterest – Your Chance to Reach the Chief Vacation Planning Officer

I have to say that when I first heard of Pinterest I was very sceptical (but then again I am about most new social sites and often I’m proved wrong!).   There had been so much hype around the site that I didn’t just want to jump onto the next social media bandwagon. 

I had questions - surely, in the long term the site would reach saturation with millions and millions of pictures overwhelming users?  Why is it worthy of Techcrunch's best new start-up title?  Why would the site be useful to travel brands?

Having since experimented with the site and listened to some insightful presentations at EyeforTravel’s Social Media Strategies for Travel conference in San Francisco last week, I’m a convert!

What sets Pinterest apart from other social media channels?

•          It has the potential to skip the search stage – yes, you read that correctly – users can potentially start the search process on Pinterest and skip the search giant Google!
•          According to Mashable.com users spend more time on the site (15.8 mins) than Facebook and Twitter (and roughly the same amount of time as on YouTube)
•         Referral traffic from Pinterest is significant (3.6% versus 0.2% from Google+ and Linkedin)
•          There are no boring status updates that no one cares about
•         The site’s dominant demographic is female (68.2%) with a high average annual income ($100,000)
•          The site reveals unique insights into users aspirations – whereas most social media sites reveal where a user has been or has booked to go, Pinterest helps reveal a consumer’s aspiration

What does this mean for your travel brand?

Philip Grote, Director, Client Service - Marketing Solutions, comScore made a great point at the conference last week – Pinterest is your chance to reach the Chief Vacation Planning Officer ie. aspirational, affluent, females.  

Like it or not, in most households it the female who wears the trousers when it comes to holiday planning and decision-making!   The fact that 68.2% of Pinterest’s audience is female and a high proportion of them have high incomes, is a very attractive proposition for many travel brands.

The opportunity to target travellers according to their aspirations is also quite unique.  Regular keyword searches don’t reveal customers’ ideals and aspirations.   Pinterest provides the opportunity for travel brands to tap the ‘dreaming stage’ of the holiday planning process and turn dreams into a reality for the consumer.

Pinterest also reveals a customer’s interests – art, design, food, favourite destinations – as social data becomes more and more important, this information will be invaluable to travel brands.

Top tips to get started

•          Request an invite to join Pinterest – they will usually get back to you fairly swiftly following your request·         
• Depending on what your company does and your target audience, create titled Pinboards and pin images and videos of your travel brands destinations, your hotel’s design features, the food available at the destination etc.
•          Follow those within your brand’s spheres of interest eg. If you are a hotel that exudes design prowess follow those interested in design and start to re-pin their images and comment on them
•          Ensure your website is ‘pin’ friendly – can users visiting your site easily pin images from it?  The great thing about working in travel is that you will no doubt have some great images to share
•          Experiment and have fun!

Lastly, I’ve used Pinterest to collect together a few social media infographics from across the web that you might be interested in.  You can follow me (search ‘Gina Baillie’ under people – there’s only 1 of me!).  

Happy Pinning!

Announcing the Winners of EyeforTravel’s Mobile Innovation in Travel Awards

After a tense 2.5 month nomination and voting process, the day finally arrived for the final of EyeforTravel’s Mobile Innovation in Travel Awards which was held in San Francisco last Monday.  

The day kicked off with a true Californian wake-up call in the form of an earthquake before the start of EyeforTravel’s Social Media & Mobile Strategies for Travel conference at which the awards were hosted.

After a morning of insightful social media and mobile presentations, followed by a hearty lunch, the following 10 finalists, spanning 3 categories took to the stage –

Best Mobile App

Best Western 2 Go

TripAdvisor

Orbitz Worldwide

Worldmate

Best Mobile Website

Best Western 2 Go

Marina Bay Sands

Hotwire

Best Mobile Strategy

CarTrawler

InterContinental Hotel Group

TripAdvisor

In an animated 1.5 hour session, each presented a 5 minute pitch to our esteemed panel of judges. 

The winners were then announced at the evening networking drinks party as: -

·         Best Mobile Travel App – WorldMate

·         Best Mobile Website – Hotwire

·         Best Mobile Strategy - InterContinental Hotel Group

Congratulations to the winners!  All in all it was a very interesting process, highlighting the great work that many travel brands are carrying out in the mobile space.  Stay tuned for more interviews with the winners on www.eyefortravel.com

You can read more about each of them here -

http://www.eyefortravel.com/mobile-and-technology/ihg-worldmate-and-hotwire-bag-top-honours

Finalists of Mobile Innovation in Travel Awards Announced

The online voting period for EyeforTravel's Mobile Innovation in Travel Awards has now closed and the finalists have been decided by the industry.
I'm excited to announce the 10 lucky finalists who will be presenting their pitches at the awards on March 5th.

Best Mobile App

• Best Western 2 Go
• TripAdvisor
• Orbitz Worldwide
• Worldmate

Best Mobile Website

• Best Western 2 Go
• Marina Bay Sands
• Hotwire

Best Mobile Strategy

• CarTrawler
• InterContinental Hotel Group
• TripAdvisor

They will have the chance to present their pitch to the following judges 

• Michael Becker, North America, Managing Director, Mobile Marketing Association
• Tim Gunstone, MD, EyeforTravel Ltd
• Ricky Heath,Travel & Transportation, AT&T      
• Glenn Gruber, AVP, Market Development, Travel Technologies, Ness Technologies

The awards will take place as part of EyeforTravel's Mobile Strategies for Travel conference, March 5-6, Hotel Nikko, San Francisco.

The program line-up can be found here - http://events.eyefortravel.com/mobile/conference-agenda.php

There are limited places still available at the event.  Email gina@eyefortravel.com for more details.

Nothing says "I Love You" more than a 2 for 1 Groupon Deal

By Dr Rosie "Roses are Red" Akenhead

Today I read an article on www.nooga.com which makes a mildly bland statement: “non-traditional marketing campaigns engage consumers.” It then goes on to show a marketing campaign on one of the most traditional marketing days of the calendar year: Valentine’s Day. Call me a cynic- but I find it increasingly hard, especially in the travel industry, to see innovation in marketing around this time of year. For me, Valentine’s marketing is predictable across most retail and online industries- an awful lot of red, even more love hearts and a whole lot of 241 Pizza Expresses. Joy.

The travel industry always hits a mini peak around February 14^th. Weekends away, spas, theatre, dinner, flights to city destinations: all these travel picks are winners in the Valentine money spinning roulette. Lastminute.com’s second highest search term this week is for “valentine’s hotel”. Despite the population’s obliviousness to correct grammar, it would seem that it is not so much the destination, nor the price, but it is “the valentine” aspect which is the most essential part of the search. This is interesting because it gives travel marketers a new opportunity to exploit the changing market. Historically, Valentine’s marketing was all about upselling luxury: champagne, the Eiffel tower, and definitely Ladurée macaroons. In 2012, we see the deal phenomenon stand proud with Groupon offering up a “valentine’s shop”, this year with deals you couldn’t even shake a stick at, they’re that cheap. Deals which are fantastic, but not that romantic (definitely not if you know it was bought on Groupon, right?) Similarly, Hotels.com is straight on the bandwagon for Valentine’s marketing and the key theme all-round is DEALS. Cheap, save 50%, get XYZ free…

So, to conclude: the Valentine market is changing rapidly: it is about absolutely everything. It’s about deals, it’s about luxury, it’s about swagger, it’s about timeless classics, it’s about, “take your Mum instead,” or, “a weekend away with the girls.” However, most importantly, it’s about making sure you do something, anything, right or wrong, cheap or expensive, for Valentine’s Day, because it’s Valentine’s.

As a test, we’ve decided to run our own Valentine’s competition, where, if you register on Feb 14^th for TDS Europe 2012, 1 person in every 10 registrations we receive will get their pass COMPLETELY FREE!

It’s nothing to do with hearts, you will not see any red coloured twinkling birds on our website, and we promise no pictures of couples canoodling in a Jacuzzi in Dubai. What you will get, is 90 speakers, 36 conference sessions, and a couple of fab networking parties, and possibly your pass for free!

Buy your pass here https://secure.firstconf.com/travel/travel-distribution-summit-europe-2012/register.asp and if you tweet, use both hashtags #tdseurope #b2bvalentines

Mobile Innovation in Travel Awards Judges Announced!

Investing valuable time and resources in mobile is a big decision and a much discussed theme in the industry right now.  At a travel industry conference in London this week, a Google representative revealed that eBay makes over $2 billion a year in mobile revenues – not bad! 

Travel lends itself to mobile easily and yet as an industry we’ve been fairly slow to adopt it.  Many of the travel brands who have taken the mobile leap are now reaping the rewards. 

The pitfalls however can be huge.  Mobile investment is not cheap and it can fail.  It’s important to ensure that the mobile strategy you take is right for your consumer base – and your brand.

EyeforTravel’s Mobile Innovation in Travel awards seeks to award the trailblazers in the mobile in travel space and will take place in San Francisco, March 5^th .

We’re pleased to announce the judges for the awards to be

• Michael Becker, North American, Managing Director, Mobile Marketing Association
• Ricky Heath, Travel & Transportation, AT & T
• Glenn Gruber, AVP, Market Development, Travel Technologies, Ness Technologies
• Tim Gunstone, MD, EyeforTravel Ltd

The awards will be chaired by John T. Peters, VP/GM Digital Strategy, Rand McNally.


Voting is currently taking place online to decide who the lucky 9 finalists who will present at the event to the panel of judges will be.  Don’t forget to cast your vote for your favorite mobile initiative here. 

For more information about the awards (held as part of EyeforTravel’s Mobile Strategies for Travel conference, March 5-6) visit - http://events.eyefortravel.com/mobile/

How Mobile and Social Media Are Influencing New Business Models in the Travel Space

For some time now, we’ve been documenting how travel industry players have been using social media and more recently mobile, to communicate with their customers.

With technological change comes in innovation and in recent weeks, we've been exploring the new business models that are arising in the travel and hospitality space which have been facilitated by new mediums of communication. 

In partnership with Josiah MacKenzie, ReviewPro, we have produced a case study detailing how New York’s Roger Smith Hotel is using social media and mobile technology to monetize their hotel space to up-sell, cross-sell and draw in the wider community.

Known for their innovative approach to social media, the hotel pioneered the concept of social hospitality which extends beyond just the visitors that stay in your hotel and into the wider community.  This concept has enabled them to turn their property into a hub of creativity.

With this in mind they are now taking advantage of key developments in mobile to evolve their business model to focus on retail and e-commerce.  

Find out more in the full case study which is free to download here.