Empower your Hospitality business with b2b sales automation for hospitality

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in this video we're going to talk about  hotel business to business sales the   challenges of the industry but also how  we got to where we are today [Music]   hello and welcome to another hotel techie video  B2B sales encompasses any hotel sales where the   hotel is not directly selling the rooms to The  Traveler or the consumer but where an intermediary   takes that role this traditionally includes travel  agents tour operators and wholesalers but the   lines are getting very blurry traditionally you  could differentiate between the merchant and the   agent model wherein one the guests would pay  directly to the hotel and in the other to the   intermediary this is changing with the rise  of online reservations and with the complete   online transparency as well as ota's moving  away from their traditional marketing place   and connector role as well as wholesaler moving  into a more Dynamic models the lines are getting   very unclear to shed some light on this topic and  to discuss some approaches on how hotels can get   closer and work more closely with travel agents  without adding layers and layers of intermediaries   I've got some help from Enzo I'm Ann swayita I'm  vice president Supply International for hypergus   and from Melanie I'm Melanie sensical and I'm the  managing director of a company called Avenue six   travel thank you very much for joining me to start  off let's quickly talk about how we got to the   point where we are today Enzo actually this part  of the industry this part of the distribution was   that since even before internet GDs for example  wholesale internet it became a very important   actor in our industry and and then suddenly a  right company like Expedia book and so on so   there someone had to compete with those big  giants and somehow they they have to reinvent   themselves and and as they had the power of the  products because they were initially Contracting   hotels and locked them in a very very very uh  sophisticated Contracting uh model and at the   same time they had the nice to go online somehow  no they became at some point as they have a huge   amount of products a point of reference not only  for the final traveler they start to have opened   the door also to the OTA so they had this power  of of having those very strong and locked contract   with hotels giving them the possibility to easily  manipulate the the markup and the price the final   price in order to be more competitive they have  you know created a lot of cows and a lot of a   lot of complexity in the distribution the rise  of the internet the larger OTAs and completely   transparent and new Direct Travel booking options  led to some of the players in the market abusing   their very restrictive contracts from the past  which led to hotels losing complete control over   their cells and inventory why did the same Trend  not lead to the end of travel agents if I can book   fast easy transparent online why still work with  a travel agent travel agents are definitely still   relevant and I would suggest that the pandemic has  made them even more relevant it is a question of   trust it's a question of time and I think it's a  question of confidence and I think over the last   few years people's confidence has been damaged  and the travel agent with their knowledge and   their expertise can provide that confidence and  there are some territories some some countries   were culturally people rely on travel agents  and tour operators much more heavily than in   others they want to put forward their wish list  hand it to somebody else their time poor they're   busy people and they want somebody else to take  the hard work out of it for them let's jump back   to the hotel's perspective What specifically are  the issues when it comes to the current approach   to B2B sales for hotels increasingly hotels do  not want to give an allocation to a travel agent   or a tour operator it's fixed price it doesn't  take account of any changes in the marketplace   and they want to be able to dynamically price they  want to manage their yield effectively margin is   the first problem hotel is paying uh for this  customer acquisition costs are very high high   value and the travel agent is sending a little  money imagine many intermediaries in the middle   of this booking path at each of them they have to  get the revenue right let's say between 20 and 30   commission the travel agent is making the booking  is earning five percent it's very hard to sustain   this uh business financial model the other big  problem is the great leakages as there there are   a lot of middlemen in the in the middle of this  booking part each of them they try to mark up   you know they try to modify the rates manipulate  the rates and at the end so I'm an Hotel I gave   these rates to this wholesaler this wholesaler  is giving my rates and inventory across B2B and   B to C I'm a tour operator I'm a travel agent  or I'm an RTA I go to the hotel and that's my   condition you have to work with me you have to  give me this commission you have to give me this   allotment you have to give me uh those release and  those restrictions no restriction so at the end of   the day I'm the product I'm an Australia I am the  product uh placement here so and I have to agree   on your condition so reduce profitability wrong  rates incorrect data online clearly the B2B space   has some challenges for the hotels but how does  the other side look like are travel agents happy   with the status quo what we've done is we've sat  down effectively with our trade partners and what   they told us was that they felt very proud of the  personal service that they provide the ability to   provide tailored and bespoke packages but it was  very time consuming and very costly they would   be searching the internet for an accommodation  provider that meets the customer's needs they may   not have a contact so they will be searching the  internet they will be using other intermediaries   to source that product then they will either be  booking it through that other intermediary but   they will be paying very high commissions  and that eats into their profit margin   seller which is the accommodation provider the  Italian Barcelona and the Bookers the travel agent   the one that actually is getting this producing  this booking they have to go through this long   layer of the intermediatives there are different  technology pieces different intermediaries and   each of them they have to eat on the on the  on the revenue so clearly for travel agents   the system is not working perfectly either and  they could clearly benefit from a more direct   connection with hotels so what are the specific  Solutions you're offering to bring that demand   and Supply closer in our industry what we do  is we help travel agents and tour operators   to source and book products that they couldn't  necessarily find in the general Marketplace   and we do it through a system that automates as  much as possible the process and helps them to   do it quickly and effectively for their customers  products on our trade Extranet are curated they're   curated in response to what our tour operators  and travel agents tell us they are looking for   and what they are confident that their customers  are looking for so that they can be confident they   can sell it so we interact with our trade Partners  on a very very regular basis but we also support   suppliers such as hoteliers by introducing them  to our network of tour operators and travel agents   and essentially we're trying to help them work  together profitably by being the intermediary   and providing them with tools and Facilities that  enable them to work together harmoniously we are   focusing on the fit fully independent travel and  small groups what we do is we say here are some   fantastic properties and you can access real-time  availability real-time pricing and you don't have   to wait for a response you can be sure that it's  available because we connect directly through   their channel manager and into their product  property management systems they can be sure that   they are able to manage their yield dynamically  through US Avenue 6 a curated digital platform   facilitating the connection between hotels and  travel agents for specific routes and destinations   cool and Enzo how is hyper guest approaching  this how are you changing the industry what is   the difference first we are not an intermediarist  as I said we are a piece of technology and we are   working more like an extension of connectivity so  with this unique connectivity with hypergus hotel   is able to potentially distribute to hundreds  and hundreds different type of Point of Sales   in the world which are categorized by travel  agent DMC closed User Group tour operator and   so on so the way they can distribute is divided  into way they can have let's say the marketplace   approach so they don't need a free Contracting  so if they have room to sell they send us for   it's an inventory and we make this real-time  available to any travel demand connected with us   you don't have any commitment the hotel can  decide at which condition they want to sell   differentiate also the the commission if they  want I want to give you 10 percent I want to   give it to these two operator 20 percent they can  have a specific condition or a better commission   to hold the travel agent base I don't know in  northern Europe in Norway or for example in   France they can also have a different type of uh  relationship which we call it e-contracting maybe   the tube operator is happy to have this direct  relationship the hotel is happy to have this   kind of bookings from these two operators in case  a problem they can immediately go the day after or   five minutes after to our in our Marketplace  select this demand partner and switch it off   without opening a ticket without asking permission  without they just got their sweep that off   done hyper gets the modern technology solution  focusing on transparency and control for the hotel   on his sales to facilitate and to connect supply  and demand more easily in a digital way thank you   Melanie and Enzo for sharing the hotel B2B space  is quite complex and I think it's easy to lose   control but I really encourage every hotelier out  there to think more closely about this potential   segment for your property and and make sure that  you don't miss out on a great opportunity just   because of the complexity today obviously I also  encourage you to reach out to Enzo or Melanie if   you're interested and you want to check out  their solution for your hotel that's it for   this video thank you for watching I appreciate  you and I'll see you in the next one [Music]