Hoteliers and technology companies meet to discuss what the future holds
The new HotelTech Summit Mallorca brings together five leading travel tech companies to explain to Mallorcan hoteliers the key issues to watch out for in the coming years.
The event organised by GuestPro returned to Palma after a year that could be described as exciting. After a successful season for the hotel sector in which it seems that the homework has been done, it is time to slow down a little and analyse both what has been achieved and what we have to do in the future.
GuestPro, HotelsDot, Hotelverse, Eisi Soft and Revo Systems were the companies that participated in the HotelTech Summit Mallorca. The recently inaugurated HM Palma Blanc was the hotel chosen for this occasion and was attended by around 40 professionals from the tourism and technology sector.
HTS, three years celebrating events
HotelTech Summit is the event organised by GuestPro since 2019 with the aim of weaving a network of trust between nationally consolidated technology companies and the hotel sector. Last year it was present in the Balearic Islands with three events, Levante (in Valencia and Benidorm) and the Basque Country in a visit with hoteliers from Bilbao. Now, after the high season break, it is resuming its tour. In September the first event was held in Menorca, and after the visit to Mallorca it is already preparing the next one for 27 October in Ibiza(registration open).
The definitive take-off
This was the name given to the presentations at the event, precisely to put the focus on the trends that are coming with the aim of making the sector take off definitively.
Xavier Pallicer, CEO & Founder of GuestPro and organiser of the meeting, was in charge of breaking the ice and took the opportunity to present one of the company's new products for the new season. GuestPro' s Webdesk is a guest interaction platform designed to improve the user experience by 100%. Check-in and Check-out, booking modifications, upselling, collections, invoicing, marketing tools; a tool designed so that the client can carry out all operations from their mobile phone and a request that many forward-looking hoteliers are asking for.
Next, it was time to talk about revenue management, another aspect that is on everyone's lips but which is not always worked correctly. Sònia Molina, the new CEO of HotelsDot, shed light on this subject by giving an in-depth review of this technique, the aim of which is something as simple as "optimising revenue in the most profitable way possible". Molina highlighted the five variables to be taken into account in any good revenue management strategy: capacity, client, anticipation, booking conditions and price. In his experience, a revenue manager's "ability to anticipate proactively and not change his or her mind" should be valued .
Fermín Carmona, CEO & Co-Founder of the successful Hotelverse, presented the vision of his disruptive company that is revolutionising the hotel booking process. According to Carmona, the hotel has become just another channel for the consumer, without added value and with price as the only driver:"We have come to break the trend from the consumer's point of view". To do so, they are already using retail sales practices in which technology offers a hyper-realistic experience. The customer now has the power of choice, personalising the booking process into a unique experience. A 3D generated hotel provides the unique opportunity to see exactly what the room you are going to book will look like.
After a short break, Xavier López Llull, CEO of the Mallorcan company EISI SOFT , analysed the current situation of the digitalisation of hotel operations and compared it to a year ago. Sustainability, investment in technology and training to attract and retain talent are three basic aspects to be taken into account in the hotel business. According to López Llull, it will be essential to know how to save costs in technology, "is all the technology we have efficient?", to save in HR, as it is difficult to find staff, and to take into account the importance of data, that it is reliable data and that it helps us to improve our business.
Ignasi Olivé, CEO & Founder of REVO Systems, closed the presentations to talk about his technological solution that "integrates with everything that is left", a perfect POS for the management of points of sale within a hotel. REVO's philosophy is based on simplicity, "if it's too complicated, we don't do it; we can't complicate a process just for the sake of making it digital". For Olivé, the sector is changing very fast, orders are placed from the phone, a robot serves the tables ... "we must adapt to what the customer demands".
At the end of the talks, the speakers spent a few minutes discussing with the attendees about their businesses, the season and how they are managing the changes in their hotels. The complicity was transferred to the hotel's terrace where, in a lively networking, there was time for relaxation and a good atmosphere.
