Yogeesh Chandra, Executive Vice President of RateGain, joins us to talk about distribution channels and strategies in the travel industry.
(00:33) What do you think are the most important distribution channels online for hospitality brands at the moment?
(01:15) It is a widely held view that having channels through which customers can make direct bookings is very important for travel brands. However, the travel industry is highly competitive, with some very big players. How can hotel brands break through all that noise and make that all-important connection with the customer?
(02:37) Thinking of major travel websites as partners rather than competitors is a good approach. What can hotel brands do to build that relationship with these big websites? How can they make sure they get the most out of the partnership and get the most visibility on those online platforms?
(04:42) When hotel brands are working with multiple channels, with customers coming to them through many different means, what are the best ways to measure performance to be able to make ongoing decisions on where to invest the most time, money and effort?
(07:47) Smaller and independent hotels who don’t have large numbers of employees might struggle to find the time or resources to look into data. Does this put them at a disadvantage to larger hotel brands or are there ways that they can still utilise these technologies and gain insights?
(09:42) What are your top tips for hotels to think about in the coming year? What are the areas they should focus on to see the biggest returns and the biggest success?
