What is Skål?

I have had a few conversations in the past few weeks with some people about 'who can join Skål?" and "how do they do it". So here is some background info for you all .

Who can join Skål?

The official line is :

"Membership of Skål is open to all qualified professional persons in the travel and tourism industry."

What is Skål?

Skål is a professional organisation of tourism leaders around the world, promoting global tourism and friendship. It is the only international group uniting all branches of the travel and tourism industry. 

Its members, the industry's managers and executives, meet at local, national, regional and international levels to discuss and pursue topics of common interest.

The first Club was founded in 1932 in Paris by travel managers, following an educational tour of Scandinavia. The idea of international goodwill and friendship grew and, in 1934, the “Association Internationale des Skål Clubs” was formed with Florimond Volckaert as its first President, who is considered the “Father of Skål”.

Skål International today has approximately 22,000 members in more than 500 Clubs throughout 90 nations. Most activities occur at local levels, moving up through National Committees, under the umbrella of Skål International, headquartered at the General Secretariat in Torremolinos, Spain.

Skål International is governed by an Executive Committee of seven members, elected by delegates to an annual General Assembly, held during the World Congress, hosted by a different country each year. This allows members first-hand observation of the travel and tourism potential around the world.

Five ways a booking engine will make your life easier

There's no question tourism businesses everywhere need to be online. Having a decent website is even more critical if your property is located on a beautiful remote island in the South Pacific.
A rapidly increasing 66%* of New Zealanders and 70%* of Australians book and research their holiday accommodation online. These two countries bring the most guests to the South Pacific, so it's important to be available online to capture their attention.

Even better still, you should allow these potential guests to check what rooms are available and when, and then enable them to book and pay for their room online, all while they are viewing your website.

It's very common for properties in remote areas to ask their potential customers to phone or email them to make a reservation versus being able to look and book online; this can be inconvenient for the customer and time consuming for you.

In some cases it's because the internet on the island or region may be weak or non existent; but this doesn't change the demands of potential guests who have great internet connection and really want to book and pay online.

Another common scenario is for properties to send potential guests away from their own website to a third party booking engine, like Booking.com, which is a supermarket of other properties in your area for guests to choose from instead of yours.

A recent study by Nomura Group revealed Booking.com and Expedia.com (Hotels.com) control more than 65%** of the European indirect online hotel sales. It’s surprising how many property owners accept paying sometimes 15% commission to online travel agents (OTAs), yet don't want to spend money on improving their own website for potential customers.

A smart website and integrated booking engine are the most effective way to truly engage your guests online, and when done well, it will increase your revenue and reduce your commission costs.

Booking engines make your life easier in 5 simple ways:

1. You are paid in advance - Generate bookings in real time and get the money deposited directly in your bank account
2. You don't need to wait by the phone - Enable clients to see rates and what rooms are available and when, without needing to call or email you
3. You can plan ahead - Direct bookings makes it easier for you to plan your property availability, and determine future income and costs
4. You will save time - Clients, just like you, may not have the time to send and receive multiple emails and want the ease of just booking immediately online
5. You can measure performance - Having an online booking engine can provide valuable information about when and where your bookings are coming from; including your most popular rooms and typical guest profile

Why do Governments Marginalise the Benefits of Tourism?

Global tourism represents over 9% of GDP (direct, indirect and induced impact). One in eleven jobs globally is in tourism. Tourism represents 6% of world exports and generates over US$1.3 Trillion dollars annually. (Source : UNWTO Tourism Highlights 2013)

Yet governments continue to raise taxes and damage this vital industry.

The UK’s Air Passenger Duty introduced in 2013 is the world’s highest aviation tax

The 2013 US budget cuts to air traffic management threaten safely standards and flight scheduling. 

These examples are just the tip of the iceberg and all are additional burdens on an industry that in many cases cannot take much more before seeing drastic reductions in revenue and the resulting detrimental flow on effect to many economies. Why do governments then continue to impede the industry with the introduction of more and more taxes and levies?

Skål International World President, Karine Coulanges, states:

“It is timely that governments calculate the real benefit and income streams gained from overseas visitors before imposing yet more taxes and levies to try and bolster their treasury funds.  Even a small increase in charges can see a far greater loss of revenue as a result of tourists voting with their wallets and travelling to other destinations”.

“As the world’s economies see the first shoots of growth and confidence after six years of turmoil it is timely to remember that tourism was one of the only sectors to see growth during that time and like all industries it will continue to need fostering and care to ensure this growth continues and not policies of additional taxation for short term gain.”

Tourist revenue in many countries is in the top five of their total GDP, yet many continue to hinder tourism through unnecessarily long visa application periods; the high cost of visa on arrival systems, as well as increasing airport taxes and border control levies. H

• How would these governments react if tourist numbers fell by 10 – 20% with the resulting downturn in revenue? 
• And what flow on effect would that have to their economy? 

An example can be seen in the decline in tourists visiting Thailand as a result of the unrest in Bangkok. While not related to this issue it does illustrate the effect a drop in tourism can have on a country’s economy. 

According to Thailand’s Minister of Tourism, arrivals in the country fell by 1 million visitors in January 2014 as compared to January 2013. The Tourism Council of Thailand estimated the revenue loss as 22.5 billion baht (approximately USD$690 million)

How many countries could absorb losses like that? 

Remember tourists vote and travel with their wallets and if they perceive the cost and time required gaining visas, plus the cost of additional charges and levies imposed by both central and local governments, are too high, they will reconsider where they travel to.

6 key travel trends for 2016 ~ TripAdvisor Insights

New Insights from the World’s Largest Traveller and Accommodation Survey



The results are in! 



More than 44,000 travellers and hoteliers shared their perspectives in our latest TripBarometer study. Don’t miss this opportunity to understand the trends that will affect your business in 2016.



Key insights include:

• The number one deal-breaker for travellers when choosing an accommodation

• Which services guests would pay extra for

• Whether global room rates will rise or fall in 2016 – and why



We asked more than 44,000 travellers and hoteliers about their plans. Here’s what we heard.

Why will people travel in 2016? How will these travellers decide what to do and where to stay? Will they spend more or less than they did in 2015? And what impact are their choices having on the travel industry as a whole?



Our latest TripBarometer study answers all of these questions and more. Conducted on behalf of TripAdvisor by independent research firm Ipsos, TripBarometer is the world’s largest traveller and accommodation survey, analysing more than 44,000 responses from travellers and hoteliers around the globe.



Download the full report from the menu at TripAdvisor, and carry on reading for a look at trends that will shape the travel landscape in 2016.



- See more at: https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/TripAdvisorInsights/n2670/6-key-travel-trends-2016?mcid=34045#sthash.7CrHXhw7.dpuf



6 key travel trends for 2016 | TripAdvisor Insights:



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Drones tipped as travel marketing essential – www.travelweekly.co.uk | CMOs InTravel

Suppliers, operators and agents in the luxury travel sector have been urged to update their visual offerings to clients by embracing drone technology.

Speaking at the Connections Luxury Asia event in Beijing, mobile and communications expert Ewan MacLeod said that hotel groups such as Waldorf Astoria and Conrad are leading the way with drone video footage replacing traditional photo galleries on their hotel’s websites.

Companies believe such videos give potential guests a true picture of the hotel, enabling them to envisage their holiday or plan an event with greater accuracy, MacLeod said.He added: “Make sure your hotel has the right video assets, not just the same old photos, some years old, in a media pack.

Drones tipped as travel marketing essential – www.travelweekly.co.uk | CMOs InTravel:



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'Your booking engine should be making your life easier; not harder', by Marc

The market for online booking engines is heavily saturated with solutions varying from a simple booking button to fully-featured software suites that integrate the entire process from your website to your in-house reservation system.

It is a daunting enough prospect for global chains to decide on which to use, but for the independent hotel or hostel, the choice can be overwhelming.

Do you go for a full-featured suite of software so that you know, at least, that all eventualities are covered (an expensive option), or do you risk signing up for one of the smaller, more basic booking engines but potentially suffer the headache of upgrading at a later date when you realize a feature is missing?

Not to mention the tedious manuals and in-house training you will invariably need to navigate once you have signed up.

Full article here: Digital explore hotel, hostel and accommodation booking engines in the current market and why simplicity is key.

TripConnect and How it Affects your Business | SUITE EXCHANGE

When TripAdvisor introduces something new, inns and hotels watch closely. Why? With over 260 million visitors a month, 3.1 million business listings* and millions of reviews on tripadvisor.com, TripAdvisor is clearly a major player in the hospitality industry. With TripConnectTM, TripAdvisor is looking to capitalize on its brand and technologies to drive more business to your booking engine.

TripConnect and How it Affects your Business

One of the keys to Tripadvisor.com has always been to organize and list businesses by rank, based on the number and quality of guest reviews. If you were the highest ranked inn you enjoyed the top of the page. But things are changing. Once guests enter a check-in and check-out date, inns are listed in order but also based on whether they show availability.

Let’s take a look at Santa Fe, New Mexico on TripAdvisor. At the start all the inns are listed in order. Click on “Show Prices” and enter a check-in and check-out dates. At least at the time of writing this article the list doesn’t go #1, #2, #3, etc. It skips over #1 and #3 which are lower on the page way at the bottom; well below inns that have rates via Expedia, Booking.com, TripConnect, etc. Why? Notice that they only have links that say “Contact accommodation for availability”. These inns are not sharing their availability with TripAdvisor.

What does this mean? Just like before inns are ranked by order, but now if you don’t share your availability with TripAdvisor, you may not be in the normal numbered order once a guest starts checking availability. With gathering and displaying availability and rates, the core of TripAdvisor is changing.

These are big changes and understanding them is important to your hospitality business.

12 questions about TripAdvisor TripConnect you were too embarrassed to ask - Tnooz

TripAdvisor, the giant review site, has launched an advertising bidding tool called TripConnect.

For the first time, independent hotels and bed and breakfasts worldwide can bid directly in auctions to drive traffic from TripAdvisor to their websites.

Owners of small properties will be able to drive TripAdvisor users to their own booking engines, sidestepping middlemen like online travel agents (OTAs) and Google Search. If you own a hotel or B&B but find the above statements confusing, or if you aren’t comfortable with technology and digital marketing, then this blog post is for you. Think of this as “the missing manual” for TripConnect.


See more at: http://www.tnooz.com/article/tripadvisor-tripconnect-metasearch-auction-independent-hotels/#sthash.5s5upm42.dpuf

12 questions about TripAdvisor TripConnect you were too embarrassed to ask - Tnooz

TripConnect: Rate & Availability Marketing on TripAdvisor

TripConnect is a powerful and exciting new way for hotels, inns and B&Bs to compete for bookings on the world’s largest travel site.



TripConnect empowers accommodation owners to generate new business by bringing visitors who are ready to book directly to their website’s booking page.

What are the key benefits?

Sign up for TripConnect and exponentially increase your exposure and opportunities for direct bookings:

Maximize bookings. Drive travelers directly to your booking engine. TripConnect sends travelers who are ready to book straight from TripAdvisor to your website’s booking page.

Increase revenues

Turn direct bookings into upsell opportunities. TripConnect sends travelers directly to your website — where it’s easier to upsell guests to higher-priced rooms. Generate higher per-guest revenues by using your website’s upsell capabilities!

Reduce costs

Make more by spending less. When you generate more direct bookings, you spend less in commission fees. TripConnect brings the power to maximize direct bookings to your fingertips.

TripConnect: Rate & Availability Marketing on TripAdvisor

24 insights to shape your TripAdvisor strategy

24 insights to shape your TripAdvisor strategy | TripAdvisor Insights:



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