After a month in Avvio’s US office, I’m back in Europe and my autumn will kick off on 4 September with an exciting roundtable discussion at the HSMAI Annual Day in Oslo, followed closely by a session at the Frankfurt conference, HSMAI Region Europe Leadership Day on 7 September. I’ll be leading a session on The Emotive Booking Path: Leveraging emotion to grow direct.
Digitalisation has brought choice to consumers. But how can you ensure that your guests have an emotional connection to your hotel, even before they stay with you? You can start by creating a seamless and consistent experience, which can often be a challenge in itself. Through compelling storytelling and creating a personalised experience and by using bold new technology, you’re making more of a connection with your potential guests.
Since bringing the Avvio brand to the USA last year and expanding our presence in the European markets, I’m constantly on the move. I understand the life of a traveller. I appreciate how guests’ minds work when booking a place to stay. It’s all about emotional incentive and so at the HSMAI Annual Day in Oslo and the HSMAI Europe Region Leadership Day in Frankfurt, I’ll discuss innovative ways you can play to your guests’ (and potential guests’) emotions so that they’re more likely to book direct.
Essentially, you need to think like your website visitor and give them an online experience that’s seamless, intuitive and personal to them. Travellers will make that final decision to book if they feel an incentive to do so if they feel a desire to stay in that room, to swim in your pool, to unwind in your spa. It’s then your job to encourage your website visitors to feel those emotions so that they book direct with you. For a few teaser tips, see the blog post I shared earlier in the summer.
I’m really excited to discuss this with you at these events, which are jam-packed with educational sessions, presentations and networking.
Hosted at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Norway, the HSMAI Annual Day 2017 will run from 08:00 to 18:00 with a programme that the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) have claimed is “perhaps the best programme we have ever had on the HSMAI Day”.
HSMAI’s Ingunn Hofseth explains, “With expert speakers and highly relevant and informative discussions, the events we’re hosting across Europe this autumn will be truly invaluable to hospitality professionals. We’re delighted to have Rich leading a roundtable on emotional bookings. Consumers increasingly expect personal and relevant experiences online. As an industry that prides itself on customer service, it’s time to reflect our hospitality in the digital space and Rich has some valuable insights on just how to do this.”
The event includes talks from Google’s Stephen Van Bellegham and former Business Speaker of the Year, Larry Hochman, along with fully interactive roundtable discussions and debates, one of which I’m proud to be leading. For the full programme and tickets, visit the HSMAI site and don’t forget to highlight my session at 14:00!
The HSMAI Region Europe Leadership Day in Frankfurt will be similar to the Annual Day, with my roundtable session starting at 15:45.
I’ll be available to meet throughout the events and would love to talk about how Avvio can help you grow your direct booking revenue and enhance your digital strategy. To set up a time to meet me, email me at rich@avvio.com
More about me
I’m Rich Tuckwell, the Global VP of Sales and Marketing at Avvio and I’m on a mission to revolutionise direct bookings in the hotel sector.
My work has been particularly focused on the UK, Europe and North America.I was also recognised as one of the Top Extraordinary Minds in 2016 by HSMAI Europe.
