In this interview, Bob Offutt PhoCusWright Senior Technology Analyst, gives his perspective on the power of social media in the decision process for travelers. He also suggests what direction the evolution of social media should move towards.
Coming up on Tuesday March 2, 2010 Aaron Nissen
Last year while attending the PhoCusWright Travel Innovation Summit we met and spoke with many travel industry experts , that shared with us their views about the hot topic: Social Media.
It is with a lot of excitement that I announce the launching of a compilation of videos call the Social Media series . You are going to know what industry experts like: Bob Offutt from PhoCusWright Aaron Nissen from Travel Alberta, Mark Atkins from GOBY, Peter Vicich from Casa Andina Hotels, Susan Black from the Black and Wright Group, Kevin May from Tnooz among others have to say about Social Media.
Every week we will feature a different video, we hope this information helps you understand how social media works and its importance in the travel industry.
The videos will be schedule as follow:
Bob Offutt - PhoCusWright (video will be published on Friday February 26, 2010)
Aaron Nissen – Travel Alberta (video will be published on Tuesday March 2, 2010)
Richard Warther – Vnaguard IDS Systems (video will be published on Tuesday March 9, 2010)
Mark Watkins – GOBY (video will be published on Tuesday March 16, 2010)
Susan Black – The Black and Wright Group (video will be published on Tuesday March 23, 2010)
Sascha Hausmann – RateTiger (video will be published on Tuesday May 30, 2010)
Claude Walton – Language Weaver (video will be published on Tuesday April 6, 2010)
James Filsinger – Money Direct (video will be published on Tuesday April 13, 2010)
John Walsh – GOBY (video will be published on Tuesday April 20, 2010)
Norman Rose – PhoCusWright (video will be published on Tuesday April 27, 2010)
Peter Vicich – Casa Andina Hotels (video will be published on Tuesday May 4, 2010)
Alan Neves – Vanguard IDS Systems (video will be published on Tuesday May 11, 2010)
Kevin May – Tnooz (video will be published on Tuesday May 18, 2010)
Stay tuned because you are going to love what they have to say!
by Joao Trindade
Being at the forefront of innovation for the hospitality industry sometimes creates unplanned obstacles: how do you encapsulate in a “buzz word” a multitude of features in a way that people will understand: what it is and what it does? Let me tell you, it’s not easy. I think this is what happens when people hear about our portable booking engine. “Is this hotel booking engine really portable?”: Yes it is. “Ok, so what do you mean by portable?”: it’s actually a good thing you asked because this will allow me to explain how this works a bit better! I will give you 3 examples:
Best of all, we’re always talking about the same booking engine, same back-office/platform and the same security. This means that you can do all this with no extra work, extra software and probably the most important factor, no extra cost!
PS: If you think you have a better term for it, I would love to hear it
(View Pedro’s presentation at the PhoCusWright Innovation Summit ’09)
GuestCentric Systems (http://www.guestcentric.com), the premier Software-as-a Service provider for the independent hotel industry, announced a new pricing model for its web-based e-commerce management solution capped at $499. This new pricing model includes GuestCentric’s best-in-class hotel booking engine, hotel analytics, guest CRM and the just released social commerce tools.
“Despite GuestCentric’s consecutive months of increased sales records, in 2009 we noticed that some prospect properties from our main markets US, UK and Spain were not able to commit to the monthly fixed cost. That was when it was decided to share the risks with our customers and offer a revenue-share plan with a monthly threshold that will simplify our pricing and expand our potential customer’s base.” Said Miguel Gaia GuestCentric’s E-commerce director
With the new pricing plan, hoteliers are guarantee that they will only be charged for usage of the comprehensive e-commerce management platform when they make money. The default rate for hotels of up to 100 rooms is 6% capped at $499 for bookings that are processed with GuestCentric’s portable booking engine. This means that regardless the amount of reservations received per month, hoteliers will never pay more than $499. For properties larger than 100 rooms or portals with multiple properties, the pricing will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis.
The new pricing provides opportunities for independent hotels to have access to top-notch technology to sell their rooms online, manage rates and availability, and optimize their customer engagement process using social media outlets at affordable prices. This breakthrough pricing presents for the first time a real opportunity for small hotels to access such a high-end product.
About GuestCentric’s features:
Powerful e-commerce
Social customer engagement
Time saving tools
Additional pricing information and details on signing up for a 14 day free trial, available on http://www.guestcentric.com/pricing
About GuestCentric Systems
GuestCentric Systems develops and markets web services that revolutionize the way independent hotels work. GuestCentric has built a Software as a Service platform that allows independent hotels to develop long-standing relationships with guests, improve online revenues and lower expenses associated with online distribution. Through use of Web 2.0 technologies, GuestCentric provides easy-to-use tools at reasonable prices that up until now were only available for hotels with big budgets.
