Marriott’s GDPR fine – Lessons to be learned, China’s domestic tourism revenue continues to grow, brand have been forming unlikely partnerships and Google becomes a dominant player in online travel.

Marriott’s GDPR fine – Lessons to be learned
Tuesday, 20th August 2019

On August 5, 2019, Marriott International announced that it had taken a $126 million charge in the second quarter, primarily as a result of the data breach it announced in 2018.

Marriott is just one of the many hotel companies that have been subject to data breaches. Virtually every major hotel company, and many minor ones, have announced data breaches in the past few years, and there are likely many more that either chose not to announce a breach, or that were unaware that they were hacked.

Until now, the impact of a breach has been limited. While the cost of discovering, announcing and remediating the breach is high, the GDPR has only begun issuing fines this year >>

China’s domestic tourism revenue continues to grow in H1
20 Aug 2019 : According to a report released by China Tourism Academy, domestic visitor arrivals is expected to grow by close to 9% to reach 3 billion in the first half of 2019 >>

MICE Show Asia at ITB Asia 2019
20 Aug 2019 : The inaugural MICE Show Asia, taking place alongside ITB Asia 2019 in Singapore between 16 - 18 October, will have as its theme ‘Winning the Hearts of MICE Buyers >>

HIGHLIGHT ARTICLE

Brand Have Been Forming Unlikely Partnerships
Tuesday, 20th August 2019

Recently, brands have been forming unlikely partnerships for marketing campaigns with brands outside of their industry. T-Mobile and Taco Bell debuted a T-MoBell concept pop-up in major cities across America which featured live DJs, daily giveaways, co-branded merchandise, tacos, and special menu items >>

Google Becomes a Dominant Player In Online Travel
Google is spreading its grip on the web — both on a global scale and across the vast majority of industries, I mentioned it here on this blog back in 2013 when I explained how Google planned to dominate the travel sphere and six years later, we seem to be having the same questions, doubts and fears! >>

To Become a Great Hotel Manager, You Need Creativity and Vision
In the whole history of professional hospitality – and that’s a reasonably long history – I don’t think there has ever been a more exciting time to be a hotelier >>

Customer Service May Not Be Your First Priority, and That’s Okay
Tony Hsieh is the CEO of the online shoe and clothing company, Zappos and the company’s reputation for amazing customer service is almost a cliché in the customer service world, Zappos stories have become customer service legends >>

Break Down Silos, Build up Performance
Break-down silos and foster close collaboration between marketing, sales, and revenue management teams >>

In case you have missed it: Global news from August 19, 2019
Driving the industry with innovation in Australia and New Zealand, IHG to end use of bathroom miniatures, boutique hotel tech: smaller, faster, smarter and meta isn’t gone yets >>