April 28, 2023
Siegel Sez
We received some great feedback from our last Siegel Sez when Doug Rice opened our eyes to how hotel rooms are now and will be sold in the future. If you aren’t on board with attribute-based selling (ABS) then you should read Doug’s part two this week in the Definitely Doug column that follows. I started my career in hotel operations and every time I read something like ABS I think back and ask, why didn’t I think of that? I loved Doug’s comment about getting started. As a hotelier do you really know everything that is in every room in your hotel? Fuel for thought and we thank Doug for enlightening us!
Here we are at the end of April which means we are about 7 weeks away from the dueling trade shows. I would say 95 percent have already made their plans and decided which event they are attending. Yes, I am talking about The Hospitality Show in Las Vegas and HITEC in Toronto the week of June 26. Hospitality Upgrade and Hotel Online will be at both events, as will quite a few unhappy vendors who would rather have been totally at both than have to split their people and resources. I am connected to so many in the industry and for months now this conversation keeps coming up, including at our recent Executive Vendor Summit last month. I sense that both shows will do fine.
The Hospitality Show will have some quality attendance but not big numbers, but then again it is a first-time event. I am basing this on what I have heard, nothing official. On the other side of the fence, HITEC seems to be busting at the seams. I know if you are planning to attend and haven’t booked a hotel room, consider doing that immediately. The attendance numbers this year are amazing. HITEC had to contract for more group rooms from other hotels and from what HFTP has shared this could be its biggest HITEC ever. I remember when it was last in Toronto that there seemed to be an extraordinary number of international attendees, which I always love. Like many, I wish I could attend both events, but I will be in Toronto at HITEC. The number one reason I will be there is the same reason I have attended HITEC for way longer than I want to admit. If your world is hotel technology, HITEC is the one place you can network nonstop. The people you reconnect with is great, but the people you meet for the first time is what I love. It doesn’t matter if you are sitting in an educational session, waiting in line for a coffee or doing something silly at one of the many evening cocktail parties, it is great meeting people who are living in the same world as you. Again unofficially, I keep being told that the conflict on dates for both events is a one-time thing and that AHLA will announce dates for the 2024 Hospitality Show very soon. I look forward to attending both. I like when the industry comes together!
On a personal note, I have been overwhelmed by the many that have reached out about my knee replacement surgery. I would say since I am in week four it is going well, but I definitely wasn’t prepared for the long recovery time. Patience has never been one of my greatest traits. Hopefully, the recovery continues and by the end of June, there will be no stopping me. One can hope, right?
We thank Doug Rice for his great column this week along with the highlights of the latest technology happenings in the industry. I will see you at the end with this week’s attempt at you know what. Don’t forget the Kentucky Derby is a week from Saturday, and I haven’t picked a winner in 10 years so I’m not going to suggest anybody this year. Hopefully, you will pick correctly! 😊
Rich
rich@hospitalityupgrade.com
Definitely Doug
Now Playing Near You: Attribute-Based Selling (Part Two)
In my last installment, I covered the basics of Attribute-Based Selling (ABS) and how it could generate incremental revenue for hotels, even including (up to a point) for bookings made through Online Travel Agents (OTAs). This week will continue that theme and outline reasons why hotels might want to consider using ABS, as well as some of the operational considerations and thoughts on yield managing attributes.
Before getting into that, I want to reiterate one key point from Part One, which is that attributes are not the same as ancillaries. ABS and attributes have become marketing buzzwords that many products claim to offer, but many of them can only sell ancillaries, not attributes. Ancillaries are important, and for many hotels they will be the dominant generator of incremental revenues. But they are distinct from attributes, which offer incremental revenue to hotels independent of what ancillaries provide. A relatively small number of vendors can market attributes in a systematic, scalable way. These include the ones I mentioned in Part One and also Hotelverse, which came to my attention more recently. While there may be ones I have not found, I would view claims of ABS support from other companies with caution.
Why Sell Attributes?
Feedback from hotels and vendors who are experimenting with ABS provides a lot of insight into the benefits. It’s still the early days, and we don’t have enough industry-level data to make solid, quantitative conclusions. But we do have some strong signals.
First, ABS converts the traditional “request,” such as for a high floor, to a product for which the hotel can charge a premium – and guarantee delivery. While the most frequently requested attributes might be combined to create room types (such as a king-bed ocean view at a resort), most attributes at most hotels can only be requested in comments – and their delivery is not guaranteed.
Guests have all sorts of preferences, many of which they may be willing to pay for: high floor vs. low floor, view in a particular direction, near/far from elevator, kitchenette, balcony, fireplace, the list goes on. A few of these might get baked into the hotel’s standard room types, but you can only do that for a the most important ones, or you quickly end up with hundreds of room types. One vendor had data suggesting that 39% of guests would be willing to spend more than €5 per night to choose a specific room based on the attributes they cared about. Even if that 39% spend just €5 (and not more), that translates to €2 (about $2.18) on ADR – not trivial.
Click here to read more of Doug’s column Now Playing Near You: Attribute-Based Selling (Part Two)
Douglas Rice
Email: douglas.rice@hosptech.net
Twitter: @dougrice
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ricedouglas
Now Playing Near You: Attribute-Based Selling (Part Two)
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
- Cendyn Announces Senior Leadership Team Expansion
- M3's Scott Watson Joins LendingCon's Advisory Board to Help Hotel Owners Increase Profits
- SALTO Systems Adds Area Leaders for West, Southeast, and Northeast North America
- VENZA Security and Customer Success Teams Continue Staff Development, Promote Four
- PPDS Appoints Experienced AV Professional Megan Lipinczyk as New Channel Marketing Manager to Support Hospitality Growth
- VENZA Expands Product-Marketing Team, Adds Justin Fortuna as PHP Developer
- Juli Barter Named Global Executive Vice President of Sales at VENZA
- CyberTek Adds Ryan Hodge as Help Desk Manager
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For more information on People on The Move for 4/28/2023
GUEST MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
- Hilton Rolling Out Technology Platform to Help Reduce the Friction of Travel for Hotel Guests, Team Members Worldwide
A new cloud-based hotel Property Engagement Platform (“PEP”), co-developed by Hilton and HotelKey, is now powering more than 1,000 properties within the Hilton portfolio. The platform’s ability to speed computer-based transactions at the front desk and throughout the hotel is helping reduce guest waits and increase the amount of time hotel team members can dedicate to providing personalized service.
hotelkeyapp.com
RESERVATIONS & DISTRIBUTION
- Hoteliers Are Leveraging 3D Maps from UrVenue to Advance Hospitality Commerce
UrVenue, pioneer of hospitality’s first property experience management system (PXMS),has developed a 3D mapping feature to enable discriminating guests to visualize unique experiences before they book.
urvenue.com
REVENUE MANAGEMENT AND ANALYTICS
- Grand America Hotels and Resorts Runs Lean Using IDeaS' Optix for G3 RMS, Built on AWS
After adopting Optix, Grand America was able to do more with less-streamlining its central revenue management operations, developing smarter strategies, and optimizing revenue across its entire hotel portfolio.
ideas.com
GUEST FACING TECHNOLOGY
- Jonas Chorum Partners with Aavgo to Continue Delivering Amazing Contactless Guest Experiences
Jonas Chorum is excited to announce our partnership with Aavgo, a provider of transformative hotel technology products. Aavgo’s Smart Reception is a lobby kiosk that provides full front desk service. Guests can check-in, receive their key, and even speak with a remote agent on the digital screen at any point during their stay.
jonaschorum.com
- HCN Showcases NEW Navigator 2.0 Tablets at BITAC Operations Conference in San Diego
This week hoteliers representing prominent hotels, resorts and management groups across the nation converged at the Rancho Bernardo Inn in San Diego to attend BITAC Operations. To help operators better engage with guests, address labor concerns, and drive revenues, Hotel Communication Network was there to introduce its NEW Navigator 2.0 in-room tablet.
www.hcn-inc.com
- Virdee Wins Annual Tech Pitch Competition at 2023 AAHOA Convention & Trade Show
A panel of five judges with expertise in technology and hospitality
chose Virdee’s guest experience technology platform from a field of eight finalists. Virdee Virtual Reception Software is aimed at helping properties become more efficient. Whether it’s to help front-of-house staffing, provide guests with their keys, or help them pay for their stay, their goal is to free up staff in a way that allows them to deliver a true guest experience.
www.virdee.co
MARKETING
- Clairvoyix and Vizergy Digital Marketing: Partnering to Drive Incremental Revenue for Hospitality Clients Is Showing a Strong Uplift in Bookings
- How Oracle’s Nor1 Machine Learning Helps Barceló Hotel Group Extend Their Revenue Strategy and Maintain Their Human Connection
- Coast Hotels Selects Shiji's Online Reputation Management Solution to Drive Guest Satisfaction Across North America
- dailypoint Partners with Opentable to Help Make Guest Experiences More Personal
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For more information on Marketing for 4/28/2023
SALES & CATERING, GROUPS & MEETINGS
- Knowland Releases Sales Leader Training Guide to Help Hotel Owners and Asset Managers Protect and Grow Investments
- Groups360 and Choice Hotels International Announce Direct Booking Solution for Group Room Blocks
- Hospitality Industry’s Most Trusted Proposal Tool ProposalPath Celebrates 18 Years of Helping Hoteliers Boost Productivity and Revenue
- Amadeus Partners with UpMail Solutions to Expand Hospitality Technology Ecosystem
- MeetingPackage and Amadeus Expand Partnership to Help Hoteliers Maximize Group Business Opportunities
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For more information on Sales & Catering, Groups & Meetings for 4/28/2023
BACK OFFICE
- MDO Celebrates Earth Day by Helping Hotels Reduce Environmental Footprint
MDO, the world’s fastest-growing hotel performance management platform, continues to shine the spotlight on hotel owners and operators dedicated to reducing their environmental footprint. This Earth Day, MDO celebrates the 15 operators comprising more than 1,500 hotels who have qualified for MDO Sustainability Certification by verifying a paperless night audit process to save substantial natural resources.
www.mdo.io
COMMUNICATIONS & INFRASTRUCTURE
- Hotel Internet Services Experiences Surge in Business and Market Growth as More Hotels & Multifamily Properties Prioritize Seamless Connectivity-Based Guest Experiences
Leading innovator of WiFi network, content streaming and IoT technologies for hospitality & multifamily properties continues to expand the number of technicians and support personnel to address increasing industry demand.
www.hotelwifi.com
- Nomadix Approved for Choice Hotels Qualified Vendor Program
Nomadix Inc​., bringing connected experiences to life, today announced it was named a Qualified Vendor for Choice Hotels International, one of the largest lodging franchisors in the world with nearly 7,500 hotels across 46 countries and territories. Nomadix already enables connectivity for hundreds of Choice Hotels with its internet gateway technology.
nomadix.com
HOSPITALITY EVENTS AND ASSOCIATION NEWS
- AHLA, HSMAI Americas Announce Partnership to Advance Hospitality Industry
- AHLA Announces Technology Acceleration Award
- Maestro PMS Deems ‘IACC Americas Knowledge Exchange 2023’ a Big Success
- The Hospitality Show Announces Speakers, Sponsors, and Programming
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For more information on Hospitality Events and Association News for 4/28/2023
PIQUED OUR INTEREST
- Hospitality Financial Leadership – Why Technology Has the Hotel Business Bootstrapped
- ChatGPT: A Chatty Dozen of Travel Tools and Services
- No Pilot, No Problem? Here’s How Soon Self-Flying Planes Will Take Off
- I Asked ChatGPT to Help Me Plan a Vacation. Here’s What Happened Next
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For more information on Piqued Our Interest for 4/28/2023
And now for the You-Know-What...
A linguistics professor says during a lecture that, “In English, a double negative forms a positive. But in some languages, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative. However, in no language in the world can a double positive form a negative.”
But then a voice from the back of the room piped up, “Yeah, right.”