TODAY: Holiday Swap has arrived, Capella Hotel Group plants second flag in China and Can I stop OTAs from displaying wholesale rates?.

Holiday Swap has arrived
Friday, 13th April 2018

By matching up with like-minded travelers, anyone can make connections to travel now or have a place to stay in the future, using the asset you have, your house or even your room, and you don't even have to own the space you're swapping >>

Capella Hotel Group plants second flag in China
13 Apr 2018 : Capella Hotel Group together with leading Chinese developer China Gezhouba Group Real Estate, announce the opening of Capella Sanya in the last quarter of 2018 >>

Europe’s third NYX Hotel opens in Madrid
13 Apr 2018 : After an intensive period of reconstruction and renovation, Leonardo Hotels is opening its third lifestyle hotel in Europe, Urban 70s look in a prime location with cool design and local art give the hotel an individual touch >>

African tourism administrations undersign the Declaration of Kinshasa
13 Apr 2018 : African tourism administrations undersign the Declaration of Kinshasa on fostering tourism as a driver of biodiversity and environmental protection >>

HIGHLIGHT ARTICLE

Can I stop OTAs from displaying wholesale rates?
Friday, 13th April 2018

It looks like Expedia could be formalizing their practice of displaying third-party rates alongside directly-contracted rates from hotels.
When we first covered this back in December 2017, it seemed as though Expedia may have been exploring a metasearch-type model, with one hotel group telling us they'd been approached by the OTA about testing direct links to the hotel website.

Unfortunately the situation no longer looks as positive as first thought >>

How Video Tools and Screen Sharing Can Help Today’s Hotel Salespeople Stand Out
In the 2010’s we have witnessed a transition in group bookings to electronic conversations, as an increasing percentage of meetings, conferences and events are being booked without there being even one voice call between buyer and seller.

While there is still human engagement needed to finalize contracts and details, sales is increasingly a depersonalized, transactional process done via direct email or via correspondence that takes place in online portals. >>