TOP NEWS

🏡 Hyatt Hotels Corporation is expanding with over 20 new openings across the Americas by 2025. Since 2017, Hyatt doubled luxury rooms, tripled resort rooms, and quintupled lifestyle rooms globally. 88% of consumers showed intent to travel for leisure in 2024. New lifestyle brands and experiences will be added through the acquisition of Standard International. Notable openings include Grand Hyatt Indian Wells Resort & Villas (Sep 9, 2024), Hyatt Centric San José Escazú (Oct 2024), and Park Hyatt Los Cabos (Spring 2025).

🏨 A TrustYou study reveals travelers read 8.7 reviews before booking. Hotels maximize revenue through technology like meta-search and ad management platforms (Triptease, D-EDGE), revenue management systems (IdeaS, RoomPriceGenie, Atomize), and direct booking platforms (Hotelchamp, Triptease). Pre-stay phases engage guests with apps, SMS, and upselling tools (Oaky, UpsellGuru), while on-site experiences are enhanced by PMS solutions (Mews, Cloudbeds) and payment methods. Post-stay engagement uses surveys and loyalty programs to maintain guest relations.

📋 In this insightful episode, Andrea Stokes, hospitality practice lead at J.D. Power, discusses the 2024 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index. Higher rates after the pandemic led to increased expectations, causing a decline in satisfaction across the industry in 2023 compared to 2022, notably among economy and limited-service segments. Conversely, luxury and upper upscale segments met higher expectations, maintaining or even improving satisfaction. The episode also touches on the new J.D. Power third-party hotel management guest satisfaction benchmark, revealing that third-party managed hotels often outperform brand-managed or owner-managed ones. Key factors influencing guest experiences include service quality, property upkeep, personalization, and leveraging technology for improved guest interactions. Davidson Hospitality Group ranks the highest for the third consecutive year, excelling in guest room, food and beverage, hotel facility, and connectivity. The importance of food and beverage service has risen post-pandemic with increased consumer spending in hotel restaurants and food outlets.

🎵 Oasis' reunion in 2025 was marred by fans' outrage over dynamic pricing by official vendors and resale sites. The British government promised action. The travel industry, like airlines, uses dynamic pricing, especially during school holidays. This controversial method adjusts prices based on real-time demand, benefiting certain travelers while displeasing others. Legacy revenue management systems fail to accurately forecast since the pandemic. While dynamic pricing may lead to customer complaints, it's seen as a realistic way to ensure airlines and travel companies stay profitable and offer fair prices.

🏖️ The IFTM International & French Travel Market in Paris showcased 400 stands, attracting over 30,000 professionals. International tourism is predicted to surpass pre-pandemic levels by 2% by the end of 2024. Key themes included AI's impact on marketing and SEO, sustainability in travel, immersive experiences, and the growth of fintech and travel insurance. The Paris Olympics influenced air travel, and exhibitors included 170+ global destinations. The event is primarily French-market oriented, yet accessible for English speakers.

🏨 Hoteliers have been focusing on individual channel return on ad spend (ROAS), often showing high numbers, such as a 5:1 ROAS on Google Ads. However, this overlooks the multi-touch journey typical of modern consumer behavior, where a traveler might engage with multiple channels before booking. The article suggests moving towards multi-touch attribution models, valuing customer lifetime value (CLV), and investing in cross-channel data integration. It promotes a cultural shift to integrated marketing strategies, encouraging hotels to consider long-term customer relationships over immediate conversion rates. The solution is a holistic approach, transcending individual channel performance to foster brand loyalty and sustainable growth.

🌎 Minor Hotels Europe & Americas, with over a decade of sustainability efforts, partners with Deepki to reach net zero. Committed to a 46.2% reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 (from 2019 levels) and a 90% reduction company-wide by 2050, the targets are SBTi-approved. Utilizing Deepki’s platform, the Group tracks over 350 buildings in 30+ countries, aiming for 100% data coverage for energy and environmental KPIs, with automated data collection to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon footprint.

🏡 Minor Hotels Europe & Americas partners with Deepki for ESG efforts, targeting a 46.2% reduction in scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 from 2019 levels, and a 90% reduction in emissions by 2050 to achieve net zero company-wide. The goals are SBTi approved. Deepki's platform aids in tracking, monitoring, defining energy efficiency measures, and measuring impacts for over 350 buildings across 30+ countries. The aim is 100% data coverage for environmental performance and harmonization via technology and digitization.

📌 Peachtree Group acquired its sixth hotel of the year, the AC Hotel by Marriott in Park City, Utah, amidst a transaction slowdown due to high interest rates and economic challenges. The company has bought 789 rooms across six hotels, including brands like Hilton and Marriott, expanding its management portfolio to 93 hotels with 11,837 rooms across 27 brands in 26 states. Key acquisitions also include properties in Florida, New Jersey, Virginia, Georgia, and Colorado. Peachtree anticipates increased market activity into 2025 and capitalizes on opportunities due to the narrowing bid-ask gap.

🏨 In the competitive hotel industry, A/B testing on hotel websites can enhance user experience and increase direct bookings. Testing elements like the booking engine, CTAs, and landing pages can reveal insights into customer preferences and behavior. Personalization through A/B testing offers tailored content and can reduce bounce rates, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates. With today's technology, experiments are easy to initiate without coding knowledge, allowing hoteliers to swiftly optimize their websites for better performance on their direct channels.