Direct Booking Summit: Europe #directisbest 27-28 June, Amsterdam www.directbookingsummit.com
07:45-08:30 Conference Day One: Wednesday, 27th June Morning Workshop: How to drive high online rankings and turn guest insight into action Michael Kessler, CRO, ReviewPro (*Note to the attendees: Please make sure to pre-register for this session) 08:00 Main Morning Registration and Welcome Coffee for All 08:40 Welcome speech Charlie Osmond, Chief Tease, Triptease Distribution in Focus 09:00 Brand of one: How can an independent hotel compete against large chains? Know your USP: Why do guests choose your hotel? Dissect your hotel DNA and develop an inside-out approach to sales and marketing How to communicate your message to the wider world What to do once the good reviews come rolling in Geoff Andrew, CEO, WorldHotels 09:20 Panel Discussion: Improving the relationship between Marketing, Digital and Revenue Removing silos and centralizing operations Putting direct bookings at the heart of your commercial strategy Moving from revenue management to measuring results across the business Creating a toolkit for driving incremental revenue Moderator: Oliver Geldner, Partner, Revenue & Distribution Expert, Taktikon AB Patty de Gruiter, VP Revenue & Distribution, Europe Hotels Private Collection (EHPC) Sebastian Arnshelm, Director of Revenue Management, Nobis 09:50 Unlock the potential of every acquisition channel - including the OTAs How to connect the dots and understand your direct guests better Identifying user propensity across all channels and how to maximise revenue from them Ways to identify user preferences and maximise your revenue How creating a culture of relentless testing means you can use the OTAs to your advantage Joe Pettigrew, Director of Revenue Maximisation, Europe Hotels at Starwood Capital Group 10:10 Panel Discussion: Metasearch in 2018 How traditional metas are responding to Google s growth (and what it means for hotels) How to make sure you come out on top of the OTAs How much is too much? Allocating your meta budget Moderator: Gopakumar Menon, VP of Revenue and Distribution, Highgate Hotels James Bishop, Vice President Sales, EMEA, SiteMinder 10:40 Coffee Break www.directbookingsummit.com 2
11:10 Panel Discussion: With friends like these, who needs enemies? The state of the hotel-ota relationship What s the ideal agreement between a hotel and an OTA? Three approaches to negotiations When to prioritize direct distribution The long road to transparency in distribution Moderator: Michael Simon, Senior Director Distribution, Europe, Marriott International Panellists: Marta Varela, Area Commercial Director Revenue Strategy, Barceló Hotels & Resorts Satyan Joshi, Hotel Ads Business Leader UK, Google 11:40 Convincing your boss Making the case for new technologies, new marketing initiatives and greater investments. These are the ways to get your budgets approved. Rob Paterson, CEO, Best Western Hotels & Resorts Great Britain Marketing in Focus 12:00 Conversion analytics 101 Let s get back to basics. Learn how to track the right conversion metrics for your hotel, and use them to identify the areas that need your attention. Your website (and your wallet) will thank you later 12:30 Don t let the groups get away: Why capturing group bookings is crucial to your direct booking strategy How to iron out the kinks and provide a seamless group booking experience Is your payment system up to the challenge? The WhatsApp experience: Turning group chats to your advantage Lunch Break 14:30 Case-Study: Think like an OTA to revitalise your business The distributions channels to keep you ahead of OTAs Think like an OTA: Launching a membership zone for eco certified hotels Using real-time reviews to trigger social engagement Claus Strawbridge, e-commerce Marketing Director, Guldsmeden Hotels www.directbookingsummit.com 3
14:50 Show me the money! How to allocate your advertising spend A short-term vs a long-term view What is value for money in advertising? Exploring models for allocating, tracking and analyzing advertising spend 15:10 Panel Discussion: The need-to-know of Customer Relationship Management How to build an effective CRM system 5 successful CRM campaigns (and how to implement them at your hotel) Segmented content vs. one-on-one guest engagement Investing into the right technology to improve customer engagement Merging physical guest experience with the online one Maarten Plesman, Chief Revenue Officer, Revinate Christoph Kempa, Cluster E-Commerce & Distribution Manager, Samuel Braun Hotels Berlin Kyle Borg, Operations Director, Luna Holiday Complex Alex Obertop, General Manager, SIDE Hotel Hamburg 15:30 Coffee Break Technology in Focus 16:00 Monitoring guest engagement with the use of AI Learning from the airlines: Use real-time, AI technology to identify customer sentiment Constant innovation: Using technology to detect and diagnose problems Using automation to leverage your personal service at scale 16:20 A hotelier s guide to blockchain distribution What is blockchain and how might it be used in travel? Could blockchain technology disrupt the Booking Holdings and Expedia duopoly? Can blockchain provide a solution to the wholesaler problem? Is blockchain a legitimate solution or just a wishful thinking? 16:40 Panel Discussion: Bot vs. Human: Which chat is right for my hotel? To automate or not to automate? The merits of bot vs. human How to use chat to super-power direct bookings Stephan Keschelis, Vice President E-Commerce & Digital Transformation, NH Hotel Group 17:00 Chairman Closing Remarks 17:10 End of Conference Day One 20:00 DBS Party!! www.directbookingsummit.com 4
10:00 Morning Registration and Welcome Coffee 10:20 Clinic A: Aligning your physical and digital customer journeys Mapping the physical journey and incorporating digital at every stage How to humanise digital interactions Which digital experiences do customers really value? Workshop Day Two: Thursday, 28 June Destination marketing and the Direct Booking Movement How can hotels work together to drive direct bookings not just for one property, but for an entire location? Darryl Walker, Head of ecommerce and Distribution, Saco The Serviced Apartment Company 11:20 Clinic A: Collecting and analysing guest feedback Managing priorities: how to push for high rankings and truly learn from feedback Finding and collecting guest feedback from every channel Use AI and machine-learning to understand customer sentiment Booking engines 2018 trends and updates What are the minimum standards for a booking engine in 2018? What key characteristics should hotels be looking for in a booking engine? Which features enhance the booking experience and which detract from it? 12:20 Lunch Break 13:20 Clinic A: Smart tricks to capitalise on Google AdWords Auctions: how to get what you want at the right price Measurement: metrics of success and how to track them AdWords or SEO? Using Google Analytics to optimize AdWords Satyan Joshi, Hotel Ads Business Leader UK, Google Buying groups: Can we create one a way to battle OTAs 14:20 Clinic: How do we innovate to elevate - how do you enhance every part of the customer journey? 15:20 End of day two *Please note: sessions, timings and speakers might change as the agenda develops. Triptease selects industry speakers and influencers based on their experience and contribution towards the direct booking movement. www.directbookingsummit.com 5