With travel demand coming back to pre-pandemic levels in most geographies, there has been a major shift in guest booking behaviour and hotel online distribution trends.
In a recent chat with Mr. Andrew Morsi, Founder President, eRevMax – RateTiger, we discussed about the key trends RateTiger witnessed as a hotel technology provider during these last couple of years, acceleration in technology adoption, the role of intermediaries and the way forward for hotels in the post pandemic world.
1. What are the key trends you see as far as travel demand revival is concerned?
Covid 19 pandemic has been a black-swan event for the global hospitality industry. While the recovery varies from region to region, there is surge in travel demand. While the recovery in North America began earlier, Europe is also showing strong rebound given the summer season. International travel is looking up and is starting to get closer to pre-pandemic level in some regions.
The pandemic and long period of lock down / restrictions have had a profound impact on the guest behaviour and their priorities have shifted. The recovery is driven by the pent-up demand for travel, but health and safety remain a concern for travellers. Guests have new expectations and preferences. There is a distinct change in the spending pattern. Local and domestic travel are on rise. Understanding and reimagining the customer experience would be crucial for recovery of the hospitality industry.
2. The pandemic had a grave impact across industries. How did it reflect on the travel tech service providers like RateTiger?
2020 was a year of rude awakening and a lot of learning. It shook the entire industry and a lot of businesses closed, some temporarily and others permanently. Truth be told, the initial months were one of the most difficult times for us.
Companies like us that depend solely on the hospitality businesses were very hard hit when everything was shut down and hotel reservations went to around 5%. We provide…
