I’m just a few weeks into my tenure here at Duetto and already I am buzzing about being involved in such an amazing and innovative industry. The hospitality tech space can and does have a huge impact on hotel efficiency and innovation, and is led by true pioneers, eager to break through barriers and push back boundaries.
The conversation at last week’s Opportunity 2020 Revenue Management Conference, which welcomed more than 300 delegates to the Emirates Stadium in London, was yet another prime example of the excitement surrounding this industry.
It was a fantastic event where the hot topic was ‘man vs machine’, or to be politically correct ‘person vs machine’. We heard about the Connected Customer and how digital is at the heart of customer experience. A whole host of keynote speakers, including Magnus Lindkvist, Trendspotter and Futurologist; Kate Nicholls, CEO of UKHospitality; and Gino Engels, Co Founder and CCO, OTA Insight, discussed how important it is to keep up to speed with the rapid pace of technological advancement across the industry. While machine learning and AI has been around for some time now, participants were certain it will play an even bigger part in the future.
Break out sessions explored in more detail how technology can be used to give the most amazing guest experiences and maximise revenue potential.
Technological Innovation
Duetto was selected as one of the Top 5 Most Innovative Companies at the forefront of the technological revolution in The Rev Factor. John Gallagher, Sales Director for Southern Europe for Duetto, delivered an inspiring session on how Duetto innovates in the market.
His message underlined the importance of man and machine working together, as he took the audience through how Duetto’s platform helps revenue teams to Manage By Exception.
John regaled the audience with an excellent example of how Duetto had helped The Flag in Zurich manage a huge spike in demand. The property saw rates jump by 10 times their average on what appeared to be an average Tuesday. It’s a great story and I urge you to check it out - Exceeding Expectations On A Tuesday.
Further Duetto participation came from Duetto’s Juan Ruano, our Director of Hospitality Solutions for EMEA, who became a last-minute panelist discussing ‘Revenue Management to Revenue Strategy’. Juan ably stepped into the discussion as flight delays created havoc for our Executive Chairman and co-founder, Patrick Bosworth. Unfazed, Juan pulled on his many years of experience working in hotels to talk about the influence of the revenue management function in increasing impact in multiple areas of the business. The panel provided great insight into how hotel teams can work together to develop a broader mindset to meet the requirements to develop expertise in other disciplines.
Jetting in at the last minute, the day was summed up with an expert panel including Patrick Bosworth, who shared his vision for the future and key take-outs from the day.
It was a fast-paced event providing lots of great talking points and key learnings. Opportunity is something I definitely see plenty of in 2020.