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Find out the latest news in the Irish and worldwide Hospitality Industry. Visit the Hotel Reviews Ireland blog for more articles on the tourism industry in Ireland. |
| TOURISM IRELAND EVENT | |
| Location: | Dublin, The Westbury Hotel, Grafton Street |
| Date: | Tuesday 21st September |
| Time: | 9:30 – 14:00 |
Tourism Ireland invites you to join us in Dublin on Tuesday 21st September for Know Asian Markets – Grow Asian Markets, an opportunity to learn more about growing your business from India, China, the Middle East (GCC) and Japan in the years ahead.The World Tourism Organisation forecasts that the Asian-Pacific region is set to become one of the fastest growing outbound markets for tourism over the next ten years, with up to one third of total world tourism coming from this region by 2020.
Visitors from these markets to the island of Ireland stay twice as long as the average holidaymaker, have the highest spend per visit at €782/£524, enjoy a higher propensity to travel throughout the island, and make a significant economic contribution to numerous tourism sectors. At the Know Asian Markets – Grow Asian Markets event, industry experts who are already working in these markets will provide insights on what the Asian consumer is looking for, and how you can adapt your product to attract this business. They will also provide advice on how to work more effectively with the Asian travel trade.
- Attendance is free.
- Maximum of 2 attendees from each company.
Leisure travel average daily rate has shown positive growth for the first time globally since the recession hit, increasing just over +1%, according to July’s The Pegasus View from Pegasus Solutions.
The monthly report, issued on the first anniversary of the inaugural The Pegasus View, draws data from billions of transactions processed by Pegasus, the world’s largest single processor of electronic hotel transactions for nearly 100,000 hotel customers worldwide.
Citing pent-up demand, July 2010’s The Pegasus View also indicates leisure bookings – those made online/through alternative distribution systems (ADS) – entered double-digit growth territory with an increase of more than +10% over last year. Together, the increase in booking volume and ADR helped revenue realize double-digit growth of nearly +12% over 2009.
“We were pleased to see the look-to-book ratio in the ADS slow its growth during July from the +50% we saw in May and June to +35%,” said Mike Kistner, chief executive officer of Pegasus Solutions.
AUGUST 10
Good news for people looking for a bargain at an Irish hotel these days - rates are now lower than they were a decade ago! There is fierce competition among hoteliers with some offering rates below those of 1998.
The average room rate fell by 20% between 2007 and 2009, and was down a further 10% in the first six months of this year. While this is certainly depresing news for the industry, with a worrying acceleration in the number of hotels going into receivership and liquidation, it means a summer bonanza for the hard-pressed consumer.
JULY 17
Why a Sound Web 2.0 & Social Media Strategy Is Critical to Your Hotel Business
Numerous articles have been published that discuss the magnitude of participation on social media channels. Nothing exemplifies this more than the fact that recently, Facebook traffic surpassed that of Google’s.
By encouraging interaction on your hotel website and on social media channels, joining in on the conversation, and making changes to your business based on feedback, you are showing your current and potential guests that you are listening to them. This is invaluable for building brand loyalty and encouraging positive reviews.
As stated in the Social Media Revolution video on YouTube, “We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media; the question is how well we do it.” If you are not interacting with your guests via your hotel website and on the social media channels, your competitors surely are (more than 700,000 local businesses have active pages on Facebook).
JULY 7
In the past week, rumors have swirled around the possibility of a new Google-developed Facebook-killer. But given the company’s long (and sometimes rocky) relationship with social networking, the development of such a site is likely to be anything but straightforward.
Social networking is Google’s white whale. The search giant’s otherwise nearly impeccable track record of launching properties has long been marred by its inability to make headway in the space largely dominated by Facebook and MySpace. The company’s failure isn’t for a lack of trying, of course. Google has made a number of attempts to corner the market, with limited success at best. Get the full story at PC Magazine and CNN
JUNE
IRISH HOTELIERS are threatening to withhold €27 million in local authority rates in a row over how their businesses are valued by councils.The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) yesterday said its cash-strapped members would now only pay what they could afford after the Valuation Office and local authorities refused to enter dialogue on the rates issue.
The IHF claims their plea for a 30 per cent waiver on the €90 million which hotels pay annually in rates has been ignored. The hoteliers are threatening to hold back 30 per cent of the rates they owe on the basis that they cannot afford to pay them. The IHF claims that nine years after the Valuation Act 2001 was introduced, with the aim of making the rates system more equitable, revisions have only taken place in two of the 88 rateable areas – Fingal and South Dublin councils. “Our members pay 6 per cent of the rates in this country but only account for 1.5 per cent of GDP,” said John Power, IHF chief executive. “There’s clearly an imbalance there that needs to be corrected. Our members can’t afford this.” He said the revisions in Fingal and South Dublin reduced rates by about 30 per cent and hoteliers want this to apply across the country. The IHF said 900 hotels pay about €1,500 per bedroom in rates to local authorities annually. “The money is simply not there to pay rates at the levels currently levied,” Mr Power added. Asked if his members are prepared to break the law by not paying their full rates, Mr Power said: “Hopefully it won’t come to that . . . hopefully sense will prevail. We’re just looking for a mechanism whereby we can enter into dialogue on the issue,” he said.
JUNE
A new Amadeus white paper argues that changes in the last decade are creating a new environment in which hotels need to do more with less if they are to secure growth and competitive differentiation in 2010 and beyond. The report suggests that 2010 is a critical year of transformation for the hospitality industry if it is to meet the challenges of the next decade. The report highlights four key areas that will be vital drivers of growth for hotels in the future. These include the guest experience, globalisation, brand value and performance agility and speed-to-market. The report, commissioned by Amadeus Hospitality Solutions, was developed by John Burns, President of Hospitality Technology Consulting, the leading strategic consultancy to the sector. The objective of the report was to provide insights into the major changes taking place in the sector and to better understand the hallmarks of success for global hotel groups in the new economy.
Jérôme Destors, Director of Hotel IT at Amadeus said: “We commissioned this report to further understand the strategic business issues facing our customers. It is clear that 2010 must be a year of transformation for hotels. We also believe it must be a year of transformation in hospitality technology. Whilst ensuring that technology is the handmaiden of business strategy, we are focused on providing hotels with the tools they need to leverage brand value across global business operations, to support them as they expand globally and transform the guest experience.”
MAY
It appears that hotels are finally waking up to the importance of monitoring and responding to online reviews. TripAdvisor reports a 203% increase in hotel responses to negative reviews last year. Unfortunately, this equates to a mere 4% response rate. As reviews become ubiquitous, playing an increasingly critical role in travel decisions, hoteliers can no longer afford to let complaints go unanswered.
Some hotel managers write like it’s the Victorian era and they’re running Buckingham Palace. In social media you can be more informal and to the point, though always professional. Address the guest directly, but bear in mind you’re speaking to an entire community. As difficult as it may be at times, try not to take negative feedback personally. And don’t be dramatic, as in “I’m shocked and devastated by your comments”—it’s a guest complaint, not a death in the family. Avoid humor and especially sarcasm, and never be defensive, petty or condescending. You might think you’re concealing your true feelings, but travelers can read between the lines.
MARCH
Tourism Ireland held two seminars this month in Dublin and in Belfast entitled "Know North America - Grow North America". Belfast takes place on 30th March, with Dublin taking place on 31st March. Attendance is free, but places must be pre-booked. Contacat Tourism Ireland directly for further details.
March 2010
Irish hotel prices drop 21% year-on-year- steepest faller in Western Europe
23% fall in Dublin hotel prices year-on-year
Global hotel prices drop 14% to 2004 levels
The average price of a hotel room in Ireland dropped 21% year-on-year, according to the latest Hotels.com Hotel Price Index (HPI).
The average price paid for a hotel room in Ireland in the 12 months from January to December 2009 was €80, compared with €101 paid in the previous 12 months in 2008. This price drop of 21% in Ireland is the steepest fall in hotel prices experienced by any Western European country for this period.
Ireland is followed by Norway as the next biggest faller in Western Europe with a drop of 20% year-on-year to €113. Overall, European prices were down 13% on average with every European country experiencing a drop in hotel room prices.
The average price of €80 paid for a hotel room in Ireland makes us the least expensive Western European nation and the fourth cheapest in Europe. The three Eastern European countries of the Czech Republic (€68 per night on average), Hungary (€70) and Poland (€70) recorded the lowest hotel room prices in 2009. Switzerland was Europe’s most expensive country with an average hotel room price of €135 in 2009.
February 2010
Some good news for the hotel industry in Ireland. Recent research shows that the "Staycation" trend which began last year looks like continuing for 2010 with more and more Irish people planning to holiday at home. Overall, 61% of Irish adults say they plan to holiday at home in 2010.
28th November 2009
The Central Statistics Office have just released figures showing that the first signs of the slump in tourism that led to the closure of dozens of hotels, tour operators and other travel-related businesses appeared in 2008. Tourism Trends 2008 shows there wee 173,000 fewer overseas visits to the Republic last year compared with a year earllier. The figure fell from just over 8 million in 2007 to 7.8 million in 2008. Earnings from visitors to Ireland also slipped by €120 million, to €4.8 billion. The slide of the past twelve months has wiped out the benefits of previous years of growth in the industry.
October 2009
In an effort to reverse the depressing trends in tourism - see earlier post - Tourism Ireland have announced that they are now to target business travellers in a new drive to boost tourism. The news came at the launch of Tourism Ireland's 2010 campaign at the World Travel market in London. Looking to attract increased spending from the business and conference sector in the coming years, they also plan to lure more leisure travellers from Britain. Some of the attractions they hope will entice more visitors to Ireland include the Lansdowne Road's Aviva Stadium, Dublin Airport's second terminal, the Giant's Causeway Visitor Centre and Belfast's Titanic Quarter.
October 2009
Figures produced from Tourism Ireland recently have totally overshaddowed the optimism shown in the earlier report, detailed below. Visit Hotel Reviews Ireland blog for most recent report on the 2009 visitor figures.