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Throughout the week we post dozens of original stories, connecting the dots across the travel industry, and every weekend we sum it all up. This weekend roundup examines hospitality.
For all of our weekend roundups, go here.
Airbnb Signs 9-Year Sponsorship Deal With Olympics Ahead of Tokyo Games: That Airbnb chose the Olympic Games for its first-ever global sponsorship deal makes sense — the event both aligns with the brand’s ethos and will be a boon for its bottom line as it aims to go public in 2020.
Check In, Check Out Anytime You’d Like at These Hotels: The latest perk hotels are offering guests: flexible check-in and checkout. Some charge a fee. But some are granting it for free. It’s an interesting play to attract more loyal customers who will book directly with the hotels and not with online travel agencies.
Airbnb Tests Teaming With Google’s Vacation Rental Business in the U.S.: Airbnb has intensified its testing of Google’s vacation rentals business. Does this mean Airbnb will fall down a rabbit hole of Google dependence? Not necessarily. Romances can be so fleeting.
Is Singapore’s New Hotel Guest Authentication Just Creepy Surveillance? Self check-in by facial recognition at hotels is unlikely to be an industrywide reality anytime soon in Singapore — and that’s not exactly bad news.
Singapore’s New Hotel Automation Stokes Big Brother Image: A new system that enables the sharing of guest data between hotels and the authorities is meant to increase productivity at hotels. Really? Better communication is needed.
EDreams Adds Hotels to Prime Subscription Scheme: EDreams is certainly putting a lot of effort into its Prime subscription offering. The test will be how it goes down in other markets and how it performs over a number of years. Do the numbers stack up over the long term and will people keep renewing?
Luxury Brands Strive to Improve Messaging for Chinese Market: Luxury brands today are designing stories for global citizens, but telling those stories in different markets requires more than a different app — it’s about delivering a message that resonates with the core brand and the local culture that they’re speaking to.
Booking Startup Stayker Makes Room Blocks Less Risky for Planners: Event planners are putting their money on the line when signing a room block contract, and often the gamble is just not worth it. If Stayker catches on, the group booking rate may start to pick up again.
How to Make Reserving Room Blocks Less of a Gamble: It’s tough to provide event housing when the financial risks are so high. New platform Stayker aims to give planners a bit of security.
China’s Massive Social Media Landscape Presents Challenges to Luxury Marketers: The Chinese luxury market is huge but not monolithic. That’s why understanding the capabilities of the country’s myriad social media apps — and knowing how to nuance messages within them — is key to connecting with this lucrative market.
Tencent Bets Big on Ctrip-Backed LvYue Hotel Group: Travel Startup Funding This Week: Is there anything that Trip.com Group (formerly Ctrip) won’t do? LvYue Hotel Group is its upscale counterpart to Oyo, a set of hotel brands run in partnership with local operators in 10 Asian countries and run on cloud-based software.
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