AI virtual agent for central reservations, China business 101: what foreign companies should know, hotel sustainability assessments and the hotel power couple.

Red Lion Hotels launches AI virtual agent for central reservations
Wednesday, 19th June 2019

RLH Corporation announced that they have successfully deployed an Artificial Intelligence Virtual Agent for Central Reservations to support all 1,400 system hotels.

The first-of-its-kind in the hospitality space, the AI virtual agent offers a more seamless experience for travelers and an opportunity to generate greater revenue for hotel owners >>

STB and Tiger Beer team up to tell great Singapore stories
19 Jun 2019 : The Singapore Tourism Board and globally renowned, born-in-Singapore beer brand Tiger Beer inked a two-year partnership today to promote Singapore through joint marketing activities, both brands will commit more than $3 million to the partnership >>

IATA and Star Alliance extend cooperation
19 Jun 2019 : The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Star Alliance have renewed their collaboration on traveller document verification to improve the passenger experience >>

Airbnb introduces additional resources to help hosts on income tax across Europe
19 Jun 2019 : Airbnb is announcing it will email hosts in major markets across Europe over the coming months to share new resources to help hosts understand their tax obligations and to remind hosts about the importance of paying tax >>

HIGHLIGHT ARTICLE

China Business 101: Do and Don't Do in the Middle Kingdom
Wednesday, 19th June 2019

What Foreign Companies Should Know: Doing business in China is challenging for foreign companies, however, the fact that the number of foreign businesses is growing shows that these challenges seem manageable.

Here are some interesting statistics that appear to support this notion and a few basic recommendations that can make your life easier in the Middle Kingdom’s competitive markets >>

Hotel Sustainability Assessments: Are They Worth the Money?
we need to recognise and accept that environmental standards and societal norms are changing, and for many properties, it will become less and less about making headlines, and more about ensuring that they meet not only their guest needs, but their environmental expectations >>

Trip.com’s Lynn Qu on Going Global and Building a Super Travel App
A year into her role as vice president, product and marketing for Trip, and Lynn Qu is taking her experience working for brands such as Microsoft, Expedia and HomeAway (now Vrbo) to take the Ctrip group brand global and using the Chinese edge in native app development to build a super travel app >>

Is The Hotel Industry Sleepwalking Into a Regulatory Crisis?
On September 14th 2019, radical new regulation will shake up online card transactions, yet hotels are not prepared for the fundamental changes in store - and less than 5% of merchants are even aware that the legislation exists >>

The Hotel Power Couple
We’ve teamed up with hospitality experts to examine the challenges and methods of making revenue management and marketing teams powerful partners in profitability >>

Global Newsletter from yesterday: June 18, 2019
Market report: New Zealand, Best Western goes boutique, the dark sides of entrepreneurship, what top priorities are driving the boutique sector and where should you focus your reviews? >>