HOTEL 2013

Puneet Chhatwal, Steigenberger’s new CEO,shares his thoughts on the challenges in the year ahead

Dorchester Collection CEO Chris Cowdray on leadership

How will 2013 shape up for the key hotel markets worldwide ?30 exclusive country reports from Horwath HTL

Special section : “Spa 2020” Leading experts explore the next decade in the spa industry

How is your company visualizing its future business landscape ?Woody Wade on scenario planning in the hotel industry

S c e n a r i o s f o r t h e y e a r a h e a d

11ChangeS.Com

WADE & COMPANY

Wade & Company is a Lausanne-based consultancy that helps senior managers in the hospitality industry

better understand how their future “business landscape” could change, affecting their competitiveness

and creating new opportunities and challenges. Its scenario planning workshops give management teams

a creative yet structured approach for envisaging alternative ways their future operating environment

could realistically unfold over the next few years, depending on how current uncertainties develop. With

these eye-opening insights, Wade & Company’s clients can maximize the flexibility of their strategic plans

and be better prepared for whatever future dies arise. More info is at www.11changes.com.

HOrWAtH HtL

Horwath Hotel, Tourism and Leisure consulting are the world’s number one hospitality consulting

organisation, operating since 1915. Horwath HTL are the industry choice ; a global network offering

complete solutions in markets both local and international. Through involvement in thousands of projects

over many years, Horwath HTL have amassed extensive, in-depth knowledge and understanding of the

needs of hotel & real estate companies and financial institutions.

Horwath HTL are the world’s largest consulting organisation specialised in the hospitality industry, with 50

offices in 39 countries. They are recognised as the pre-eminent specialist in Hotels, Tourism and Leisure,

providing solutions through a combination of international experience and expert local knowledge.

HsYNDiCAtE

With an exclusive focus on global hospitality and tourism, Hsyndicate.org (the Hospitality Syndicate)

provides electronic news publication, syndication and distribution on behalf of some 750 organizations

in the hospitality vertical. Hsyndicate helps its members to reach highly targeted audience-segments

in the exploding new-media landscape within hospitality. With the central idea ‘ONE Industry, ONE

Network’, Hsyndicate merges historically fragmented industry intelligence into a single online information

and knowledge resource serving the information-needs of targeted audience-groups throughout the

hospitality, travel & tourism industries… serving professionals relying on Hsyndicate’s specific and

context-relevant intelligence delivered to them when they need it and how they need it.

This excerpt from the Hotel Yearbook 2013 is brought to you by :

Hotel, Tourism and Leisure

TM

“Look, sweetie,they have the 17th available!”For many hotelS, weddingS are an impotant SourCe oF revenue. yet the way they market weddingS

to the proSpeCtive bride and groom haS not alwayS Caught up with the way young people Shop in 2013 :

on the web (where elSe ?) Ciara Crossan, an entrepreneur From Cork, ireland, aSked hereSelF,

“how Could hotelS reaCh out to thiS new breed oF tranSaCtional web uSerS – and impaCt their wedding

revenueS ?” the reSult : her Start-up Company Weddingdates, a harbinger oF other web-baSed ServiCeS

and appS being deSigned For the hotel induStry in 2013.

m a r k e t i n g o n t h e w e b

HOTELyearbook2013

Benjamin Franklin once famously said, “In this world nothing

can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” But unless

you are a tax accountant or a funeral director, how do you grow

your business in challenging economic times ?

Weddings are what I like to think of as a recession-proof life

event. Even in times of economic struggle, people continue

to tie the knot, albeit perhaps in a smaller, less lavish way.

Idealistic young couples still want to show the world that they

are in love and, with the increase in divorce rates, second time

(even third time) weddings are increasing year on year. Civil

partnerships are now firmly on the map and the rise of the “pink

pound” when it comes to weddings has been well documented.

A drop in corporate bookings due to the current economic

circumstances has led hoteliers to look to weddings to

supplement their C&B business. But in an increasingly

competitive marketplace, how are hoteliers reaching out to

newly engaged couples ? And, more importantly, how are they

converting these couples into wedding revenue on the books ?

User behavior online is changing as the web has moved

from simply an information resource to a place where we

transact daily. We purchase flights, book hotel bedroom

accommodation, shop and pay bills online every day. According

to the UK Internet Advertising Bureau, the hospitality & travel

industry is a leading adopter of digital marketing, accounting for

10 % of the entire digital advertising spend in the UK during the

first six months of 2012.

In the realm of weddings, a recent survey we conducted

suggests that 90 % of couples will go online and Google

wedding-related terms before they ever set foot in the door of

a hotel. Yes, they are researching online, but how about going

further ? We also know that over 60 % of couples set a wedding

date before they decide on a venue. How can hotels better

leverage their digital marketing experience in bedroom bookings

to grow their business in the niche – and sometimes more

complex – wedding vertical ?

WeddingDates is an Irish-based software company that has

“married” the transactional nature of the web with the demands

of the 21st century couple. We provide hotels with software that

allows couples to check availability for their chosen wedding

date online. This cleverly designed application makes it easier

for couples to “transact” on hotel websites and to submit

enquiries more easily via an interactive calendar tool. The

enquiries that come via the calendar are for dates that the hotel

has available to sell and thus are more qualified, more targeted,

and more valuable leads.

Our hotel customers are reaping the benefits. Conversion rates

of 10 % are not uncommon, and we give hotels the ability to

track and measure the impact of the software very quickly

and see the additional revenues hit the bottom line. For one

5-star hotel, our software generated 276 leads which led to

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30 converted wedding bookings and revenue of €900,000 in a

single calendar year.

While hotel websites have been thoroughly optimized for

bedroom booking conversion, when a user goes to a weddings

or events page on a hotel website, that’s usually where the

interactivity stops. Some photos, marketing text and maybe a

download brochure link is what faces a bride (or groom !) when

planning the happiest day of their life – not exactly an inspiring

start ! Online enquiry forms have a tendency to be way too

lengthy and generic. Many use the same form for meetings and

conferences as they do weddings and events. (I don’t know

about you, but I have never been a “delegate” at a wedding !)

Hotels need to realize that wedding bookers want to be

communicated to in a different way than corporate bookers,

and tailor their websites accordingly. With increased choice in

the marketplace, an alternative venue is only a click away. While

you may have a stunning wedding property, we consistently

hear back from brides who say the major influencer in their

decision was the ease of communication with the venue, or the

staff member that gave them the show around.

For hotels where weddings are a key part of the revenue mix,

even a slight uplift in the number of weddings per year can

make a big difference. WeddingDates customers report a

20 % increase in enquiries and an improvement in enquiry

quality, when they install our software on their websites. And in

economically-challenging times, a 20 % uplift in revenues can

have a major impact on keeping the wolf from the door.

“Look, sweetie,they have the 17th available!” cont.

m a r k e t i n g o n t h e w e b

Badrutt’s palace hotel, via serlas 27, 7500 st. Moritz, switzerland, telephone: +41 (0)81 837 1000, fax: +41 (0)81 837 2999reservations: +41 (0)81 837 1100, reservations@badruttspalace.com, www.badruttspalace.com

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your tradition.our spirit.

s i n c e 1 8 9 6

Ms. rita hayworth & Mr. hans Badrutt (hotel archive)

Majestic and elegant, in the centre o f st. Mo ri t z , at t h e h e a rt o f t h e sw i ss a l p s .

this is where you find the Badrutt’s palace hotel. legendary, unique and distinctive!

s i n c e 1 8 9 6 g u e s t w i s h e s h av e B e e n a n t i c i pat e d a n d f u l f i l l e d , h o w e v e r g r e at

t h e y M a y h av e s e e M e d . w i t h u s y o u a r e t h e g u e s t a n d wa r M ly w e l c o M e d .

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