Speaker: Carol Tsai, Vice President, Revenue and Distribution, Onyx Hospitality Group

In this session, Mark Ryan & Nicolas Durand kick off our half-day event and will explore the importance of digital in today’s commercial toolbox for hoteliers, and how the rise of online media is irreversibly shifting consumer purchasing behaviour. They will table and tackle some challenging but pressing questions that are likely on the minds of every hotelier as we navigate the way forward in a complex but exciting period of change.

Show me the money.

Why is social selling important for hotels and how to get out of the box and use your fastest to market channels.

If you want your property to be visible to potential travellers, it is essential to set up a marketing strategy to generate leads and convert them into bookings. During the session, we will share what options hotels should consider for lead generation, the importance of data and how to optimize your relationship with travel buyers to effectively plan and decide your marketing strategy.

A greater number of hotels are investing in automation software to be able to operate with lower costs and increasing profit margins. If you can adjust your strategy faster than your competition, you can more efficiently capture revenue opportunities with the right rates and offers.

Sumi Soorian is a highly networked and experienced business development leader with extensive media and public relations experience. She has honed her market & business development skills across multiple industries including international education, hospitality, tourism and food & beverage. She is currently the Executive Director for Phuket Hotels Association.

Glen is a dynamic and strategic Asia Pacific executive, with 20+ years of experience in Sales & Marketing, Business Operations Management, General Management, and Commercial Media Production, with a specific focus on Loyalty marketing strategies that assist international luxury Hotel brands tap into new markets, engage & retain their value customers, and broadcast their brand story to a wider audience. He is currently the Managing Director for HSMAI SEA.

You’re a hotel operator in the asia pacific region recognising the benefits (environmental/financial) of increasing your investments in sustainability initiatives and you’re made aware of the evidence of the following facts;

• Over 10% of CO2 emissions come from the hospitality industry
• Approximately 40% to 80% of your hotel guests demanding some variation in sustainability initiatives.
• ESG ( (Environmental, Social and Governance) requirements from shareholders and hotel investors.
• Regulations from governance entities to tackle climate change (USALI Reporting)

But yet, there still seems to be a lower adoption of those sustainability practices in hotels in this region compared to other parts of the world including evidence that:

• Sustainable certifications are adhered to by only 44% of Asian operators.
• More often than not, sustainability practices are seen in hotel operations rather than efforts to engage hotel guests.

This leaves a massive opportunity for hotel operators to more effectively communicate their sustainability goals by implementation of proven psychological motivational techniques that drives behaviour change by emphasising drivers (which accelerate preference) or address sustainability barriers (which convince sceptics).

For sustainable hospitality to be successful, it is essential to use both verbal and non-verbal communication strategies using accurate, comparable, positive language as well as authentic signals such as certifications.

Hear about the ways you can communicate with your guests on-site and how to create great experiences for your guests.

In this session, Steven will spotlight the traditional challenges of the group travel organizer, and demonstrate how new technologies are rethinking the process to better connect organisers to hoteliers, and in turn individual delegates to hotels, for a quicker, more trusted research & booking method, and to generate ancillary revenues easier.

Interestingly, Accor, Hilton, IHG and Marriott invested US$50 million to speed the development and rollout of GroupSync, Groups360 main offering, and earlier this year Blackstone and two other private equity firms invested another US$35 million to fuel the company’s international growth. Discover why there is such immense interest in this innovative solution, and the traditional challenges it is solving, directly from Steven in Phuket.

Join us for cocktails and networking.  Canapes and wine, beer and juices will be served. We’d love to meet you after the event.  Bring your badge so we know you’re ‘one of us!