ELITE TRAVEL TRENDS THE
ELITE TRAVEL TRENDS THE FUTURE OF DIRECT REVENUE AND THE ROLE OF SMART TECHNOLOGY IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY Globally, hotels are searching for solutions to improve sales through their direct channels along with guest experience. Kristian Valk - CEO, Hotelchamp will be expanding on this theme at the EHMA conference. We asked him to tell us a little more. Kristian Valk CEO, Hotelchamp With a majority of people booking hotels online, technology has become the ultimate disruptor where hoteliers need to align their strategy to compete fairly. Through this conference, I will share my experience and expertise on the landscape and future of direct revenue and guest engagement by using smart technology. What do you see as the main changes in this industry in the years to come, and what should hoteliers be doing to better prepare for the future? I believe the next big step in the industry relies on using smart technology to personalize online guest experiences. What we see with leading companies in other industries such as KLM, Netflix and Spotify is that personalization makes the online user experience unique, relevant and adjusted to every customer’s needs. The hospitality industry should be at the forefront of these innovations to rebuild guest relation online. Smart technology should be used to help hoteliers in creating outstanding customer experiences, building guest relations and engaging from the very beginning of the booking process. WITH A MAJORITY OF PEOPLE BOOKING HOTELS ONLINE, TECHNOLOGY HAS BECOME THE ULTIMATE DISRUPTOR EHMA is responding to the latest trends and challenges in the modern world. By gathering disruptive world leaders, it allows hoteliers to be at the forefront of the industry!
TOURISM IN EUROPE Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport SPECIAL ISSUE #08 March 2017 21 MIXED FORTUNES FOR EU TOURISM DESTINATIONS IN 2016 European destinations certainly felt the wind of change during 2016 with fluctuating fortunes. International arrivals to Europe grew by 1.6% between January and September 2016, according to the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. This was significantly lower than the good growth of 4.6% seen in 2015 as a whole. There was a diverse picture over the first nine months of 2016 in terms of sub-regions and individual destinations. Northern Europe (+6.4%) and Central and Eastern Europe (+5.3%) both performed well, with double-digit increases in countries such as Hungary and Ireland, according to UNWTO figures. In contrast, results were weaker in Western Europe (-1.3%) and Southern Mediterranean Europe (+0.4%).
