OTAS Love Your Guests' Data

September 5, 2019

Smarter Data Journeys: The Tricks OTAs Are Already Using

By Triptease Team brought to you by 4hoteliers.com

Acquisition vs Conversion: Since the dawn of the internet, these two crucial elements of the eCommerce journey have been competing for the budgets of digital marketers across industries and we witness the same situation time and time again - acquisition and conversion are still being treated as two entirely separate strategies.

However, is this approach causing hotels to lose sight of the bigger picture, and costing them direct bookings?

As online businesses have become more skilled in their use of data, the online purchasing journey has evolved from a three-stage funnel into a complex, interconnected web. Every data point from the off-site acquisition path influences the on-site conversion experience, and vice versa. Major OTAs and eCommerce giants rely on this approach to succeed, and hotels need to learn how to make acquisition and conversion work smarter together if they want to remain competitive in an evolving market.

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Required Use of Paid Vacation Instead of Unpaid Time Off Generally OK

My employee asked for a few days off for a vacation with her family, but wants to take it unpaid rather than using the vacation time she has accrued. Can I require her to use her paid vacation time before taking unpaid time, or does she have the right to save her vacation time to use in the future?

An employer may require an employee who is taking a vacation to use accrued paid vacation time rather than taking unpaid time off. Vacation pay is not required by law, although when it is offered, certain accrual and vesting rules do apply in California.

However, no law specifies that employees have an absolute right to determine when they want to use their paid vacation. Therefore, you may require your employee to use her paid vacation in this instance rather than going unpaid and saving the paid vacation time for a later date.

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Hotels are for sleeping, eating and working

Hoteliers have the “sleep” and “eat” parts down. It’s working you need to work on.

By Stephanie Ricca brought to you by www.hotelnewsnow.com

Last week I tried to book a 10-person, two-hour private meeting off-site for my team. My criteria: It had to be near our office in suburban Cleveland. It had to have a fun, creatively charged vibe to it. And it had to not be a restaurant.

I had zero luck. The closest I got were Cleveland’s two hip co-working spaces, but they ended up being either booked or geographically undesirable. Hotels? Forget it. No information online, and I didn’t have the time to leave messages for salespeople and wait for a callback just to book a small, short meeting.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about co-working trends, and this failed meeting planning attempt just added fuel to that line of thinking in my mind. I’ve written about it before, too, but not much has changed.

In my last blog, I wrote about hotels diversifying into non-traditional spaces. I got a lot of feedback, and a lot of you are interested in talking about this, whether it’s real ways you’re doing it, or fun speculations on how the hotel industry will change in the future.

So let’s do more.

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Vail Ross, Senior Vice President of Global Business Development & Marketing for STR, Smith Travel Research will be the Lodging Expo keynote speaker

Ms. Ross’s presentation, "Hotel Industry Performance: That Was Then, This Is Now, What About Tomorrow?" will be the highlight of the popular trade show.

What Else Can Attendees Expect?

Certification Workshops:

Human Trafficking Awareness and Education certification presented by Leavitt Pacific Insurance, satisfies the California legal requirement.
Has Governor Newsom Changed the Game?: A Legislative and Employment Law Review presented by John Mavros of Fisher Phillips
Workplace Sexual Harassment Training for Managers presented by Andrew Sommer of Conn Maciel Carey, meets the sexual harassment training requirements in California
Are You Ready for 2020? Panel discussion with four industry experts who will share their insights on preparing for the future. Moderator: Neal Patel, AAHOA Secretary.