Digital - Last session

E-reputation Session 4

E-reputation Session 2

In this video, I learn about :

OTAs: consolidation & growth

• Expedia merger with Orbitz approved; now world's largest online travel services company by bookings, including Hotels.com, Travelocity, Trivago and Wotif
• Priceline Group includes Booking.com, Agoda, Kayak, OpenTable and BookingSuite
• Priceline stock price up 20% this year; Expedia up 50%
• Priceline account for approx 94% of OTA market in the U.S. (PhoCusWright, 2014)
• OTAs account for about 1/3 of online travel market and 16% of total gross bookings in U.S. (PhoCusWright)
• OTAs dominate paid search results, drive up costs of acquisition

Also, I learnd differents kinds of strategies such as : 

Strategies to stay on top of trends 

• Diversify distribution, experiment with new booking channels 

• Calculate costs of acquisition and profits on each channel 

• Don't offer lower rates on OTAs than direct channels 

• Give travelers reasons to book direct 

• Focus on guest service 

• Collect, analyze and use data on guest behavior and preferences to personalize marketing activities and the guest experience 

• Offer a mobile friendly site, guest services and communications by mobile 

• Invest in the necessary tools, technology and training 

Concerning direct booking thanks to this webinar :

• Goals: keep the traveller from leaving our site to shop, and in turn converting them to book directly

• Focus: to build a level of trust/confidence that they are going to receive the best rate by going direct

• Strategies & Tools: 

   -  Triptease : a software that displays through a widget on your website the rates of various OTA's that the traveller is searching

   -  Guestfolio : email campaigns to target OTA guests with a 10% discount to return and book direct 

To finish we saw tips for connecting with travelers like :

• Keep it easy and simple; i.e., no download of apps involved 

• Listen to how your guests want to communicate 

• Make sure it's not overtly sales focused 

• Offer value to the guest for using any software 

• Don't overload the guest with communications 

• Treat everyone like a VIP! 

Digital Marketing Session 3

Augmented Reality - Virtual Reality  define the difference

Augmented reality is the blending of virtual reality and real life, as developers can create images within applications that blend in with contents in the real world. With Augmented Reality, users are able to interact with virtual contents in the real world, and are able to distinguish between the two.
Virtual reality is all about the creation of a virtual world that users can interact with. This virtual world should be designed in such a way that users would find it difficult to tell the difference from what is real and what is not. Furthermore, Virtual Reality is usually achieved by the wearing of a Virtual Reality helmet or goggles similar to the Oculus Rift.

With Augmented Reality, users continue to be in touch with the real world while interacting with virtual objects around them. With Virtual Reality, the user is isolated from the real world while immersed in a world that is completely fabricated. 


Are guests ready for A/R? Is it a gimmick or a destination strategy?

Guests are becoming perceptive to the technology use and during the hotel booking procedure their expectations are growing.

Guest are actually the start of the Augmented Reality development and hoteliers are trying to fulfill their demands by implementing these new technologies. 

For example, by having a virtual tour of the hotel, guests can: 

- Select by themselves the room they prefer because they saw the view, the bathroom, the amenities, the layout, the size of the bedroom..

- Book a dinner in one of the restaurant because the decoration and dishes seems good... 

- They are also more confident during their research because they know what to expect when they will arrive at the hotel. 

Through this virtual tour, the hotelier can include local and nearby attractions to appeal even more guests. This online service enhance the online research and hotel booking process.

Hoteliers use this Augmented Reality as a destination strategy to attract guests in their hotels but at the beginning it could have been considered as a gimmick strategy. Nowadays, guests are expecting these new technologies within the hotel website to be sure to book in the good one.