AVAILPRO

This the work we made about Availpro booking engine.

A MODERN HOTEL WEBSITE FOR 2010

PERSHING HALL

By Caroline Bonnel, Matthieu Laboye & Ignazio Sutera



Designed for the user with emphasis on supplying the information they need
Only half the screen is used, font is too small to ready easily


Information is missing in many sections: no price, no info about spa…
easy to navigate with no clutter
Interface very clear, no clutter at all but not easy to navigate because the toolbar in two parts
dynamic with continually updated content We can doubt the make frequent updates because they are celebrating St Valentin 2009 !!! cf. special offer


Links to Twitter and Facebook (or place Twitter stream directly on site)
No


A blog to supply useful content to users and help SEO efforts
No


Videos of hotel and city – videos should be authentic and not glitzy ads
No


Information should be organized by type of traveller and answer specific questions
No FAQ, no specific offer for specific travelers


Calls-to-action should lead user through the sales funnel
No


Offer an incentive for users to supply their e-mail (i.e. a downloadable city guide)
No


Give users a reason to re-visit your site (i.e. ski conditions if your hotel is in the mountains)
No attractive content, special offers are not highlighted


Maintain a database of your clients and learn their preferences. This allows for more targeted email campaigns, and a better guest experience at your hotel
No questionnaire to learn from clients


Request reviews from your guests and post them on your website
No review section

Hotel Direct Booking

View more presentations from MatLaboye.

Can TripAdvisor Hotel Reviews be Trusted?

This is an article presenting some of the upcoming challenges TripAdivisor will face.

TripAdvisor had a very positive role. Thanks to its review function, hoteliers had to make serious efforts on quality because guests are now able to exchange review almost instantaneously and worldwide. The community is now so huge that a single bad comment or bad picture can ruin the renown of a hotel.

But hoteliers could not let consumers do so. They took measures to manipulate such a powerful tool. This is not fair play at all. We even may think this is a bad strategic decision. Let me explain. Managers and hotel owners had at their disposal a very useful tool to improve their quality and measure the results of their efforts. Thank to the website they could measure and analyze the reaction of customers after they made some changes. Moreover it was free so that they have to pay counseling companies to get such information about what the client thing about the quality of the hotel.
But instead of considering TripAdvisor as a tool, they considered it like a threat and made all they could to influence and manipulate the reviews. In the article we can see the website created a brand new business. For me, managers and hotel owners should have refuse to corrupt this tool. Instated, they have chosen the easy way and pay to influence reviews.

As well, TripAdvisor users will more and more be aware of such methods. And their confidence in this section will decrease mechanically. This is very dangerous for the website because they have built their renown on this service.
We can consider TripAdvisor has reach a peak of audience and will now face a decrease in terms of frequentating.
But we can think the website managers are aware of this challenge. Indeed the already began to diversify the services by offering new services and applications (cf my previous post about Local Pics).

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/traveller-tips/can-tripadvisor-hotel-reviews-be-trusted-20100202-nafk.html

Dubai becoming a hub for cruise tourism

This is an article about another facet of tourism in Dubai: the welcoming of cruise ships.

I have chosen this article for two main reasons.
Firstly, it shows an unrecognized aspect of the tourism in Dubai. Usually, when talking about Dubai we think about its amazing hotels like the Burl Al Arab, its cutting edge architecture, its huge malls, its gigantic projects like the Palm with hotels and so many facilities for tourists. Even if Dubai is located on the seaside, we do not always think about its activities related to ports. But Dubai is becoming one the most important platform for cruise ships. This is another part of the conversion of the economy of the emirate imagined by Sheikh Mo. And this part is increasing year after year. We must not forget that ships brigs thousands of tourists each time they dock in Dubai. We can consider that each ocean liner is a short-lived hotel.
And even when a difficult economic situation, it seems that the demand will not collapse. On the contrary, if seaborne companies adjust their offer, the number of tourist will keep its growth.

Secondly, this article shows something unexpected about Dubai. It seems that the Dubai administration made some mistakes when building the port facilities. Usually they plan bigger and more than necessary. But according to Costa Cruises there are some quality issues with the services provides to the tourists.
But we can be confident in the reaction of the Dubai Tourism Administration because everywhere else the quality of service is one of the major selling points of Dubai facilities.

http://www.dubaitourism.ae/DubaiWeeklyNewsletterBlog/tabid/322/EntryId/136/Dubai-becoming-a-hub-for-cruise-tourism.aspx

Hotel firm offers human bed warmers

This is an article presenting a brand new service: the human bed warmers.

I have chosen this article for two main reasons.
Firstly, because I thought it was unexpected. This is the first time I heard about such a service. And I think this is a very fun service. As well, it is very useful for Holiday Inn because it will create a buzz in the media and will increase their renown.

Secondly, it’s cleverer that you may think if you take a moment to think about it.
This service is based on scientific analysis and recommendations. Studies show that sleep is more efficient and more restful when you bed is warm. Through this service, Holiday Inn uses a very strong argument nowadays: health.
We know that people are more and more careful about their health and take measures to keep in good shape. For example, the sushi food booming is the perfect illustration of this huge trend. People eat sushi because in their mind Japanese cuisine is healthier. Holiday Inn uses the same strategy. They want to become the reference. With this service they are at the cutting edge of what can be done to offer the best sleep possible. And we must keep in mind that sleep is the essence of the hotel industry. A good sleep means you are good at what is your main objective.

However, the service may be difficult to implement. You have to imagine the situation. Either you are in your room and then you call the bed warmer. He or she arrives. But what would you do while he/she is “working”? Then the hygiene question appears. What clothes the warmer will wear? Are they clean? Or you are not in your room and order the service. But you have to be on time when you come back because the heat will vanish from your bed very quickly.

http://www.independent.ie/and-finally/hotel-firm-offers-human-bed-warmers-2018405.html

Now is the Time to Invest in your People

This is an article that gives us some clues about how dealing with the economic downturn and the upcoming recovery. As well, it let us think that US companies would do better than French ones because they seem to have a better ability to anticipate this recovery.

Everybody knows we are in a period of strong economic crisis and it had huge consequences on the market and for professionals. As a consequence, they decided to take measures to maintain a certain level of occupancy and thus a certain level of employment. For example, most of chains and individual hotel owners reduce prices to keep attracting clients. So, they do not have to dismiss too many people. But these measures are short term ones and lowered significantly the financial results.

However, we must not forget that after every economic crisis there is a recovery. And many opportunities will appear with this recovery. But, as a professional, if you want your company to take the advantage of such opportunities, you have to be ready to this come back of the economic growth.
What do I mean by “ready”? If you want your company to benefit from these future opportunities, it is time for you to anticipate right now what would be the future needs and wills of customers and adapt your offer. So, professional have to make strategic decisions right now in order to be ready when the recovery would appear (forecasts say the situation would start to improve over the next 8-24 months).
I agree with the author and the Texas Hotel & Lodging Association. It now time for professional to invest in formation to improve workers knowledge and give them long term vision and objective. With such measure you will give them confidence in your company and in return they will do they best. Other consequences are that they would not quit your company and if they do their best to offer a quality service, customers will spend more money in your properties and you will win their loyalty.
Moreover, thank to this formation, you can give higher responsibility to the best employees and win their loyalty too. And we know that the stability in the teams is one key of success.

Finally, I notice that I did not hear of such institutional project in France to anticipate the recovery. This let me think that the recovery would be, as usual, quicker and better in the US than in France.


http://ehotelier.com/hospitality-news/item.php?id=A17731_0_11_0_M