Seven trending news stories that will have an impact on your hotel Revenue Strategy.
1. The Chinese travel market is strong but evolving
While Chinese travellers have not given up their travel wanderlust and are in fact still growing in numbers, they have evolved in the way they travel. According to co-founder of China Luxury Advisor, Renee Hartmann, who was speaking at the Cross-Border Retail Growth Forum at Asia Society in New York City, among other changing trends, Chinese tourists are also spending less than before.
Full story at Jing Daily.
2. Banyan Tree expands its roots Down Under
Banyan Tree is growing its roots Down Under, announcing new management contracts for three resorts on Lindeman island.
The two brand new resorts and a residential complex are to be developed on Queensland’s Lindeman Island by the island’s owners White Horse Australia. It is understood Banyan Tree was picked above other global hotel industry brands that were also under consideration including Hilton, Marriott International, Four Seasons and Shangri-La.
Full story at Hotel Management.
3. Caravan and camping businesses get booking boost
The Caravan and camping or holiday parks sector of the accommodation business in Australia received a boost with news that it will get a dedicated booking platform.
Adventure planning company GoSeeAustralia has teamed up with RMS to deliver an industry-specific platform that will offer holiday park operators a customisable website and webstore and enable them to grow their own digital channels.
Full story at Accom News.
4. Australia’s local accommodation business suffering
While tourism numbers show a boom in Australian tourism, the number of accommodation insolvency cases is on the rise. According to the recent report of corporate insolvencies by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the number of business failures in the accommodation and food service business moved upwards from 11% to 14% of total businesses from the previous financial year.
It appears that while the large hotel brands are thriving with unprecedented hotel building scheduled across all the major cities, numerous smaller operators are suffering.
Full story at Accom News.
5. Memories Group opens new 72-key Myanmar hotel
Memories Group, a tourism company in Myanmar that touts itself as an “Integrated Tourism Platform” is opening its fifth hotel in Myanmar’s Mon State.
Located in the state’s capital of Mawlamyaing, the hotel is designed by US architect Daniel West, and will feature conference rooms, working spaces with hi-speed Wi-Fi, a fitness center, and a restaurant specialising in both Burmese and Western cuisines when it opens in December.
Full story at Hotel News Resource.
6. Agoda strengthens through deals with JTB and LINE Travel
Agoda has teamed up with Japan’s largest travel network JTB Corp. and LINE Travel, a one-stop travel booking service in Taiwan to grow its distribution network and increase its online sales in North Asia.
Leveraging JTB’s massive network, Agoda hopes to expands its Japanese accommodation inventory. Meanwhile, Agoda will offer its technology know-how to refresh JTB’s Rurubu Travel and JAPANiCAN travel sites.
Its deal with LINE Travel makes Agoda the sole travel accommodation supplier for LINE Travel’s userbase in Taiwan.
Full story at Web in Travel.
7. WebBeds buys Destinations of the World, still lags Hotelbeds
WebBeds, a division of Webjet in Australia, cemented its No. 2 position in the wholesale bedbank industry with its acquisition of Dubai-based Destinations of the World. With the purchase, WebBeds now has 28,500 contracts.
Top player Hotelbeds, with over 170,000 hotels, is still dominant with the majority of its contracts made directly with the hotels, meaning its margins are far higher than those that rely on third-party contracts.
According to reports, the majority of the new contracts from Destinations of the World is from Asia Pacific. Aside from South Korea, Destinations of the World also has strong distribution networks in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand.
Full story at Skift.
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