Distribution Strategy Studio is the first of a series of events organized by RateGain during 2018, exploring news and trends in travel distribution and Revenue Management. The first leg of this exciting itinerant journey  (which will include cities and Countries all over the globe as Dubai, Milan, Colombia, Delhi, Mexico, Berlin and many more), will be in Madrid on the 16th of January, just the day before the opening of FITUR. Latest trends in Online Distribution and Revenue Management will be the event fil-rouge, with panelists from companies like Xotels, HotelsCombined, WanUp, MM-One, Simone Puorto Consulting and (of course) RateGain giving their point of views on what’s hot in the Industry.

Common Revenue Management mistakes to avoid

The event will start at 3:00 p.m., in the suggestive location of the TRYP Madrid Atocha Hotel. After the registration, Alejandro Gómez Losada, Director of Sales at RateGain, will open the day with an intriguing speech titled Common Hotel Revenue leakages and how to tap them. During his presentation, he will explain how the travel marketplace is constantly reshaping itself and will provide precious insights and suggestions on how to increase your property revenue. If you want to find out what is the effect of rate disparity on direct bookings, how to individuate your indirect comp set, how to track and leverage events and holidays in your pricing strategy and learn about the best way to analyze market supply and average rate, then you will definitely enjoy his presentation.

Brand consistency is the new SEO

After Alejandro, it will be my turn to give tips on how to stay competitive in our ever-changing industry. My speech will focus on the importance of brand consistency and will introduce concepts such as vertical search, micro-moments and multiple touchpoints, analyzing how the booking journey has evolved over the years and providing concrete pieces of advice and best practices to hoteliers. Are you tired of OTAs, metasearch engines and video platforms brandjacking you? If the answer is yes, I have some interesting things to tell you.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Robot

“Smart data allows for intelligent decisions and better results” said Yann Fruchart, VP Global Business Development Xotels and it’s one of the best quotes I have ever read about distribution. The scientific approach to revenue management and online distribution is the title of his presentation and he will be discussing the impact of Artificial Intelligence on revenue management, with a revolutionary 4-step system approach (price grid, algorithms, human intervention and machine learning). Yann will guide you through the whole decision process in order to create a successful and consistent rate strategy, analyzing property capacity, demand level and comp set.

This is metasearch’s world

Metasearch traffic has tripled since 2014: excellent acquisitions, IPOs and technological advances ensured metasearch advertising a privileged place in every hotel marketing strategy. But the scenario is changing rapidly and being listed with just rates may not be enough anymore. Irene Herrera, market manager of HotelsCombined.com, will talk about personalization and how the current online customer is getting savvier on metasearch. Either you are already using these platforms to advertise your property or you are considering it, this speech will give you precious insights.

There’s nothing cheap about loyalty

Loyalty programs seem to be a hot topic in 2018. Just last week I wrote an extensive article about how the mattress-run-model is basically dead and loyalty needs to rethink itself. Rosa Montero, CCO  at Wanup, will update you on what is new in the loyalty landscape and the importance of having a loyalty strategy for independent hotels as well. Reducing your distribution costs, increase direct bookings and recurring stays are just a few of the pros of having a solid loyalty program. What do frequent travelers want when they stay in a hotel? Why do they select a certain property over another? What makes them stay at the same hotel over and over? If you are curious to find out, do not miss her speech.

Yo, Johnny! I see you in the next life!

MM-One has a surprise for you: to keep the adrenaline high you will not know the name of the speaker until the day he/she delivers the presentation. I had the pleasure to read it in advance and I loved the comparison they make between online travelers and surfers. A few years ago I wrote a short free e-book titled “Point Break”, as an homage to one of my favourite 90’s movies ever and I used the same parallelism, so this struck a personal cord with me. Why “surfers” travel? Do they already know where they want to go or not? Who is the average surfer? How can hotels improve the surf experience for their guests? I am sure you will enjoy this speech as much as I did because, as Bodhi used to say, it’s “100% pure adrenaline!”

So basically you have no excuse: a free event, six cool panelists and (most importantly) free coffee.  See you in Madrid!  Registrations are open for the event. Click here to register.

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