Data strategy for hotels will vary from other industries because of the way it is set up. In this TV show Brian Reeves discusses how Big Data can connect pricing and marketing.

Connected Big Data strategy

I think there are a lot of instances of data just not being connected and I think in part it is because a lot of the functions within hotels are not connected. We have a siloed function of distribution to digital marketing, to revenue management and the hospitality I guess is a little bit unique, it’s certainly different from retail in that pricing is a function of revenue management within the hotel organisation and not marketing. So marketing sales are responsible for the generation of demand but the conversion of demand lies largely around pricing. So when you have those two departments operating from a perspective in a disconnected fashion, it doesn’t help matters. So I think one of the opportunities around big data is to get those 2 things connected. So to look at everything being driven by a demand forecast, that makes sense and then making our pricing decisions, our spend decisions, whether that’s spending in terms of condition overrides on online travel agents or spend in terms of the paid search arena which is a big area for potential growth for hotels. But that will be one of the big stand out areas I think that – it’s an opportunity I guess.

The Hospitality Channel is very interested in discussions around data strategy and technology systems in hotels. Look out for the next 10 industry experts to be announced as part of Hospitality250

OTAs and hoteliers have a complex relationship. In this video Marco Saio dicusses Hotel Tonight's positioning.

New OTAs

I would say, I think we have to take a step back and examine how hotels are working with their existing channel partners and what value they’re getting from those relationships.  I think it’s always been quite a pendulous relationship, you know, sometimes the hotels have more power in terms of the terms and conditions that they're commanding.  Sometimes the OTA’s hold sway just because of their clout, their marketing size and power.  I think now is the time to really re-evaluate those relationships and if you're interested in working with Hotel Tonight I think the most important thing is to understand what sets us apart from the traditional OTA’s.  And that comes back to our flexibility; we don’t make any, we don’t dictate how partners should use us.  If you've got rooms on the day we want you to load them, we want to be your same day channel of choice, but we have absolutely no load or discount requirements which is, I think, a breath of fresh air for, certainly for the supply side.

Look out for the next 10 industry experts to be announced as part of Hospitality250. Watch more TV shows and briefings for more expert insight on OTAs

Industry development in Africa can be rewarding for hotel businesses. There is a high return on investment according to Mossadeck Bally. Further discussion in this TV show.

Industry development: Showcasing Africa’s successes

Talk about Africa. Say that Africa is not a risky continent. Africa is not one country, so you have many countries, you have many regions, some regions are doing very well, Eastern Africa is doing very well, Kenya is doing very well, Ethiopia is doing very well. We have some countries which are lacking behind like DRC, Somalia, central Africa, so talk about Africa. As entrepreneurs we should showcase our successes. I started my company with 20,000 euros, and today the shares – the capital share of my company is 40 million euros. So I started very small, one hotel, 77 rooms, today we have eight hotels, 800 rooms and we are employing directly 800 people and indirectly 2,000 people. So we should really showcase Africa as a success story because when you go to western countries, developed countries, all you see on CNN, BBC is civil wars, the attack on the mall here, the tourist attack on Kenya, what is going on in Somalia. We should talk more about successes and there are plenty of successes on the continent. So as entrepreneurs, that’s exactly what we should do. You can invest in Africa. The return on investment in Africa is much higher than any other continent, including Asia. So this is what we should showcase. ______________________________________________________________________________ The Hospitality TV Channel will continue to follow issues around return on investment  and the industry development of regional markets including Africa, Asia and Europe    

Rwanda is a difficult location to sell as a holiday destination because it is perceived as a dangerous place. In this video Dennis Karera discusses Rwandas future.

Changing Rwanda's image

Rwanda, you probably have heard lots about it, the past that is known about it are the horrible things of a couple of years ago.

But later as Rwanda shaped up to pick up in terms of society, the building, its economy, the shipping, the tourism aspect came out in a big way - in a big way.

And so we’re really excited to see this happening.  We have some of the most exciting tourism sites.

A couple of things to see in Rwanda, a couple of discoveries by lots of new people and besides over and above that to give people today the actual image of what Rwanda is.

Because other people out there have heard the bad things and they tend to link us and associate us with the bad things only.  But we’ve gone beyond that and there are several good things and so we are excited in events of this nature.

  If you found this video about Rwanda interesting why not watch more TV shows on The Hospitality TV Channel ?