Hello <<First Name>>,

The cost of "loyalty"

In the travel industry the word Loyalty has subconsciously been redefined as "a point scheme represented by a card to reward frequent travelers". But this definition doesn't represent reality. In a time where culture and values is almost as important as products themselves loyalty. When the majority of travelers aren't frequent customers, where choice has been made open to everyone, how should we be looking at loyalty? This articles covers the cost of loyalty schemes and they aren't cheap.

THE MARMITE OF MANAGED TRAVEL

Enthusiasm and devotion

At the Serviced Apartment Recharge event a few weeks ago I hosted an open debate on the topic of loyalty. We did an open session where the audience were the speakers it was great to see the opinions of real professionals, those actually doing the work. My takeaway from the event is that we need to get back to basics with Loyalty. The basics being the definition that could help set things straight. The Century Dictionary of 1897 defined loyalty as: "a strong feeling of support or allegiance. Allegiance is a matter of principle, and applies especially to conduct; the oath of allegiance covers conduct only. Loyalty is a matter of both principle and sentiment, conduct and feeling; it implies enthusiasm and devotion".  

Safe and Sorry with hotel tech

Playing it safe with hotel technology is leaving many many hoteliers sorry as well. Sorry that they can't grow their operational, marketing and management solutions without spending incredible amounts of money. But can we blame hoteliers for playing it safe? In the end hotels are there to take care of guests not to install new software solutions. Still an interesting, if controversial, article on the topic. Oh, and that reddit stream is incredible.

THE FOCUS SHOULD BE ON PLAYING IT SMART

A practical look at Blockchain, finally

It's a fact, we love buzzwords. Blockchain is on top of the list these days. Even if Bitcoin isn't doing so well. But we've lacked some concrete examples of how this will work in the travel industry. Sensational headlines that this will disrupt the OTAs etc mainly fall short of any real examples. I don't think many people know (or care about) the database system that OTAs are using. So a new incumbent no matter how incredible, will just not change the fact that OTAs spend more money on advertising than many companies are worth. So welcome to a "simple" explanation of what blockchain could mean for the hotel industry. 

At HEDNA Big Data was BS

A brilliant talk by Obama Campaign CTO at HEDNA is available in full on Tnooz. It's 1h long so you'll need to fetch the pop-corn and all but there are also great takeaways. The one I liked most was that is isn't about the size of the data, it's about what you do with it. Start putting your data to use.