The second annual WIT Hospitality Think Tank took place last March in Hong Kong. Powered by Expedia and TravelClick, this year’s edition drew its attention to “The Future of Hotel Distribution in Asia: The Opportunities”.
Its purpose was to build on last year’s Think Tank, wherein it was concluded that hoteliers must embrace digital distribution more readily and to create and drive differentiation.
To achieve this, the Think Tank identified and focused on four key opportunities:
- Understanding the complexity of distribution
- Leveraging the true power of partnerships
- Getting owners onboard with the new digital world
- Preparing talent for the new economy
To kickstart ideas, Lorraine Sileo, Senior VP of Research at Phocuswright set the scene with an overview of how hospitality trends in Asia fared in a global context. She noted the fast-paced and relentless growth of mobile and online bookings within the region, citing China, Indonesia, Japan and India as key drivers.
Coupled with this, Sileo also highlighted the exponential rise of OTAs, commanding 70% of online bookings in Asia compared to direct. She then went on to explain how the online space is still primed for further growth and hoteliers would be wise to adopt new strategies to earn a bigger slice of the pie.
Lorraine Sileo (Phocuswright) brought participants through key statistics about online growth in APAC
Puneet Mahindroo (Senior Director of Hotel Marketing and Revenue Management APAC, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts) then led the charge by saying that hoteliers need to rethink how they approach measuring distribution costs.
He proposed moving beyond focusing on commission and transaction fees and measuring the true cost of acquiring customers through calculating NetRevPAR instead of RevPAR. Other Think Tank attendees then went on to identify additional strategies that would complement a new approach to tackling distribution costs.
TravelClick’s Regional VP of South-east Asia, Maria Taylor emphasised how partnerships are now absolutely critical as hotel companies evolve to become more tech-ready.
She stressed that hoteliers cannot continue to perceive technology companies as rivals but as an opportunity for companies to develop their strengths beyond their traditional fields of expertise. Forging strong partnerships is all a matter of building trust and transparency between parties, identifying and delivering on respective strengths and building towards a common goal.
Colman Ho (VP Marketing, Century City Holdings) tackled the third opportunity of how to get owners onboard with the perpetually evolving digital landscape. It was unanimously agreed that effecting change is virtually impossible without owners having a strong belief in the value of making technological investments.
Ho identified reasons why hotel owners are often hesitant to devote financial resources to technology companies and implementing high-tech solutions – i.e. short cycle of IT products, complexity of the tech landscape, difficulties of determining which products are better, and training costs associated with introducing new technologies to staff.
To step over these challenges, it was suggested that capacity change rests within the ethos of the company itself. Companies that instil a mentality of constantly driving transformation from within, led by leaders with the foresight of value in incorporating technology into the business will fare better.
Finally, Jennifer Cronin (President, Marco Polo Hotels & Resorts) made the case for how the hospitality industry must find new ways to attract and prepare talent for the new economy.
Participants generally agreed that expectations of the workplace have changed drastically from a labour-intensive to knowledge-based economy. As the hospitality becomes more technologically-oriented, leaders need to revive and refresh perceptions of the industry as a creative and empowering place to work. It must also actively consider what new skills will be required for future talent, in contrast to current ones e.g. emotional intelligence coupled with data skills.