This week, we’re looking at a hodgepodge of the most interesting articles in hospitality. First and foremost, we’ve found a taster for ITB Berlin, an event we ourselves will be attending next week, March 9th-13th (come say hi!).
Next, with the recent slew of changes to Google Ads, we thought we’d take a look at what affects another part of your appearance on Google: your review score. This brief, insightful piece from ReviewPro looks at which factors affect your hotel’s review ranking on Google -and which don’t.
Lastly, in a decade when Interned behavior is changing radically around the globe, we’re looking at the importance of data. Not the kind that’s an endless string of meaningless numbers, though. Instead, it’s important to have fast, smart data to make sure your hotel has the information and the leverage to build your direct bookings and stay ahead of the game.
Leading Experts and Humanoid Robots at ITB Berlin
Here’s a look at what we can expect next week at ITB Berlin, the biggest, most well-known travel trade show on Earth.
Big names will be attending the world’s largest tourism convention. From 9 to 11 March 2016 around 400 leading experts and international entrepreneurs will be gathering at the ITB Berlin Convention to examine new trends and highlight best practices. For the first time in Europe a humanoid robot made by Toshiba will show a wider audience what the future of service in tourism could be like. For trade visitors at ITB Berlin admission to the international travel industry’s leading think tank is free.
What Really Drives Hotel Rankings on Google?
What matters when you’re looking at your hotel’s rank on Google? It’s a few different things. Here’s a short, but information-packed piece from ReviewPro explaining exactly which factors matter in your hotel’s ranking, and how you can influence it.
Relevance, distance and prominence are the key drivers to improve a hotel’s ranking on Google.
How Internet Behavior is Changing Around the World [Infographic]
Which devices are folks using to search the internet around the world? What do social sharing behaviors look like by device? What are some notable global social media trends?
To help us understand how internet behavior has been shifting on a global scale in the past year, the folks at AddThis looked at more than one trillion global pageviews from more than two billion internet users around the world. They used that data to create the infographic below. Check it out.
Why Airbnb Has a Data Scientist on Every Leadership Team
With 10 years of service in the U.S. Coast Guard, Riley Newman isn’t the first person you might think of as a data geek. But for the head of data science at Airbnb, whose background also includes a Master’s in economics and a stint at the United Nations, taking an unconventional career path has proved to be an invaluable asset.
They sat down with Newman to ask how he built a world-class multidisciplinary team–and why he thinks tomorrow’s executives won’t succeed without number-crunching skills.
How to Choose Big Data Analytics Tools for a Hotel
Many hoteliers, general managers, and revenue managers wish they could get a better handle on the data available to improve guest experience, revenues, and gather valuable business intelligence. Yet Excel can sometimes feel frustratingly limited. We feel your pain. And hey, at this point, with all the data we as hoteliers collect nowadays, a more robust, sustainable, and useful solution is just plain necessary. But what solutions are out there? And how do we go about choosing the right big (and small) data analytics tool for your hotel?
