Hoteliers’ Voice

We speak to Kristoffe Biglete Sales & Marketing Manager, Club La Santa about the challenge of staff shortages in the hospitality industry. He explains how the hotel builds its brand to stand out from the crowd on the small island of Tenerife. From sports instructors to waiters and housekeeping - Kristoffe explains the power of brand marketing and how they turned to TikTok to keep the recruitme...

Ahead of IHTF 2023, we speak to the presenters, panellists and sponsors to get the insight on the content that will be shared and the key trends hot on hospitality lips. In this episode we speak to Dhiraj Singh from Canary Technologies and discuss how security is embedded within the guest journey but the challenges hoteliers face in realising the benefits.  Listen to more episodes of the hospitali...

Ahead of IHTF 2023, we speak to the presenters, panelists and sponsors to get the insight on the content that will be shared and the key trends hot on hospitality lips. In this episode we speak to Tess Mattison from Zaplox and William Lee from Onda about technology procurement and the key factors for hoteliers to consider. Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market L...

In this episode we're joined by Nils Ziehn, limehome’s Vice President of Product & Business Intelligence and Antonis Chalkiopoulos, CEO of Triparound who are two of the sponsors of IHTF 2023. We cover the value of IHTF and where hotels need to focus on tech to deliver a digital guest experience.  Listen to more episodes of the hospitality industry podcast Travel Market Life and subscribe...

We are joined by Roger Tabbal, VP Global Guest Technology & Innovation – Tech for Hotels from Accor to discuss the hotel brand's approach to the customer journey. At IHTF 2023 he will be presenting The evolution of digital check-ins and key cards: What exactly do our guests want? In our conversation we tackle  The approach to the guest journey Developing the criteria Key criteria when ide...

Joined by Chris Bowling, Head of Digital Marketing & Ecommerce at Best Western Hotels who at IHTF will deliver the presentation " Working with not against: What can we learn from OTA's to convert direct bookings? " In this conversation, we look at  Tactics Best Western introduced to its direct strategy? Efforts to drive direct bookings Building a new strategy - and getting buy-i...

Joined by Alexandre Pereira from Real Hotels Group we explore how the portfolio approached the guest journey and developing a strategy, ahead of his IHTF 2023 presentation " Maximising revenue at all stages of the customer journey" which will go into specific detail for improving revenue performance.   In this conversation, we discuss Maximising revenue across the customer journey - why...

The Global Meetings Incentives Conferences Events Industry is Expected to Reach $1,337.4 Billion by 2028 according to Allied Market Research. From the Latest London Convention Bureau data, London has seen 52 new hotels openings (7,632 additional rooms) in the past 2 years.  In addition, there are wider considerations making an impact: According to the ICE Annual Benchmarking Report ,77% of respond...

We explore Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and how this is being applied to hotel tech environments to ease the administrative burden on staff, connect system data and ensure better quality use of information. We're joined by Stephen Burke, CEO & Founder, RobosizeME and Mehdi Soua, CIO, Louvre Hotels Group. Where we explore What is RPA and what value does it deliver How is Louvre using a...

We learn more about the new virtual revenue event for hotels specifically designed for commercial leaders.  Joining us is Ally Northfield of Revenue by Design, hosting Catalyst for Conversion in London, Damiano Zennaro of Hotel Revenue Forum in Milan and AnneMarie Gubanski in Stockholm for Revenue Forum as we discuss the Global Revenue Forum Live online webcast and the content and keynotes to expe...

Joined by Mark Ross-Smith, CEO of Status Match, with 20 years’ experience leading loyalty programs in telecoms and travel, and previously Malaysian Airlines. The Editor of industry news site “Travel Data Daily” https://www.traveldatadaily.com/ shared with us his experiences as a frequent flyer and what he is expecting from loyalty programmes and why value is at the centre.  During the discussion w...

Saar Sharon, Head of Hotel Capital Markets for Colliers International shares his insight and experience working internationally across real estate and hospitality to address the challenges the industry is experiencing.  We explore why hotels need real empathy today especially for recruitment, retention and delivering authentic experiences, what those experiences are and how to be considerate of in...

Dimitris Manikis, President EMEA of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts,  and Paul Harnedy, Exec VP,  Cedar Capital Partners talk about their business, their priorities over the coming year and the role of technology.   These interviews were recorded at The Annual Hotel Conference 2022 alongside Cristina Blaj, founder and CEO of Open Revenue Consulting https://www.openrevenueconsulting.com/ A media colla...

Neil Kirk, Chief Operating Officer, London & Regional Hotels and Arjun Menon, VP Development, Meininger Hotels, talk about their business, their priorities over the coming year and the role of technology.    These interviews were recorded at The Annual Hotel Conference 2022 alongside Cristina Blaj, founder and CEO of Open Revenue Consulting https://www.openrevenueconsulting.com/ A media collab...

With an ambition to become a philosophy teacher, our next Memory Maker entered hospitality at 19 and didn’t look back. Simone Puorto carved out a career from being at front desk to general manager of a chain of boutique hotels now one of the foreleaders on metaverse, ai and automation. Bringing an edge of science fiction to his consultancy, Simone’s photographs and memories most certainly depict h...

Peter Hales, Managing Director, Michels & Taylor and Lionel Benjamin, Co-founder of AGO Hotels talk about their business, their priorities over the coming year and the role of technology. These interviews were recorded at The Annual Hotel Conference 2022 alongside Cristina Blaj, founder and CEO of Open Revenue Consulting https://www.openrevenueconsulting.com/ A media collaboration as part of ...

Richard Metcalfe, CEO, Edgebaston Park Hotel and Stephen Harran, Operations Director, RBH Hospitality Management talk about their business, their priorities over the coming year and the role of technology. These interviews were recorded at The Annual Hotel Conference 2022 alongside Cristina Blaj, founder and CEO of Open Revenue Consulting https://www.openrevenueconsulting.com/ A media collaboratio...

Michael Jones, Director of Revenue tells us how  Effective Hospitality Management emerged from the pandemic by building a business model for today's hospitality management. In this episode we get to understand How management business models and service deliveries has changed to meet today's needs The changing behaviours of guests Managing staff, changing processes and engaging in technol...

Exploring trends in the Spanish travel and hospitality market with Editor & Founder SmartTravel News. Juanda Núñez gives insights to the developments of technology and digitalisation and the initiatives businesses are investing in.  Through the eyes of a Spanish trade media editor he shares what he has learnt are the key challenges for hoteliers and wider travel industry, how media and industr...

How has the London hotel market adapted in 2022 and what have been the positive signs for growth? What are the distribution strategies and the value of direct booking? Are their signs of corporate travel returning or is it still murky waters? Ryan Haynes, host of Travel Market Life, is joined by Joe Pettigrew, CCO of Hospitality Assets Management at Starwood Capital Group, Christopher Cooper, CCO...

How to approach your tech stack buying decisions and get the most out of vendors. We're joined by Cristina Blaj, Founder and CEO of Open Revenue Consulting, a strategic tech consulting firm that empowers hotels with the most innovative technology and specialised consulting services connecting sustainable asset management with guest experience integrating revenue & marketing. In this episo...

A man whose passions are quite clearly his family and hospitality, our next memory maker ditched a future in Computer Science for a life in hospitality and has never looked back. Fernando Vives spent his childhood obsessed with building computers, however a summer before heading to the States to study, he had a change of heart. With hotels very much in his blood, Fernando’s mother was a defining i...

Joined by Roope Kekalainen (CEO) and Jari-Jussi Viinikkala (CFO, the co-founders of Lygg present their vision for the future of regional aviation and plane travel. We discuss the changes that are happening in transport and logistics and why businesses need to be looking at alternative and emerging options to reduce waste. In this episode we explore: 1.    The challenges for business travellers 2. ...

When war broke out in Lebanon in 1990 our next memory maker had to abandon her course in banking and moved to Abu Dhabi where she entered a hotel management programme. Mona Faraj recounts the time she took her team on an incentive trip to the desert in the middle of summer and unexpectedly got hit by floods - explaining why you should never curse her. As Mona prepares to fly with her dog Milo, she...

Josh Henegar the Corporate Revenue Director at 1859 Historic Hotels explains why word of mouth marketing is more important to revenues than it has ever been. With 10 hotels in three states, 1859 Historic Hotels is anchored in the history and traditions of its locations, celebrating and honoring the culture and community that makes each one unique. From its home office in Galveston, Texas, 1859 His...