- On the 1st of July we had the opportunity to participate in the Destination Spain monograph of I Meet Hotel, an online meeting organised to examine the hospitality sector after the declaration of the pandemic and whether it has altered the course of the business.
- “Covid has shown that historical data is not enough. The more information we have, the better prepared we will be to react, and the quicker we will be able to deal with change”.
Analysing the impact of Covid 19 and whether the changes brought about by the pandemic are here to stay in the hotel sector was the focus of the I Meet Hotel conference organised by Bidroom, in which Dingus participated with the rest of the invited experts to talk about the future. The panel of speakers moderated by Jaime Chicheri (founder of Hotel Marketing School and Revenueknowmads.com) presented their views on how hoteliers can re-engage global travellers, implement new technologies and discover alternative channels of distribution and revenue generation.
The intervention of the head of business development at Dingus analysed the trends that we have observed in both sales and bookings since the beginning of the pandemic crisis, and which of them respond to a change of model that will last once this period is over. With regard to hotel distribution, she highlighted three main trends. Firstly, Paula Servera referred to the need for acceleration in digital transformation processes (as a goal) and digitalisation as part of the way to achieve it. This injection of speed is a reaction to the reality that the situation has shown that “the most digitised companies have had an advantage, while those that do not have their processes automated and are technologically more backward have lost competitiveness and efficiency. Digital transformation is a great challenge for all companies, but it is essential to continue growing and to face the current context”.
Secondly, we have detected an increase in Open Innovation strategies, as it is imperative that tools work “in a coordinated and interconnected way, and companies have an open mind to share and receive information. The emergence of new players in distribution is transforming commercialisation into an increasingly complicated environment, and technologies at the service of tourism provide the capacity to facilitate management and revenue generation, while reducing costs. However, when using different types of applications, they need to be seamlessly integrated”.
The third practice highlighted by Dingus is Data orientation: data-driven strategies “have taken decision making to the next level. Technology has enabled access to aggregated information, which, when well analysed and managed, empowers managers to make better decisions. Moreover, Covid has shown that historical data is not enough, and given the changing world, this will most likely not be the last uncertainty we will experience. The more information we have, the better prepared we will be to react, and the faster we will be able to deal with change” concluded Servera.
At the 1st Meet Hotel we had the opportunity to share the panel of speakers with Isabelle Massagé (CEO HotelSpeaker), Marcin Wesołowski (Operations Director Bidroom), Daniela Hupfeld (Commercial Director Spain Pierre & Vacances), Cristina Subirana Catà (CEO and General Manager Hotel Desitges) and Pablo Torres, TSA Solutions Consultant.
Cristina Torres. Corporate communication and media relations
cristina.torres@hittgroup.es
