Hoteliers converged in the ballroom of the Sofitel Sukhumvit to address some of the opportunities and shortcomings of the hotel industry in Asia on June 25 on the occasion of No Vacancy, a leading accommodation industry conference. Ideas were spread, criticism was dished out, and egos were tested, in an atmosphere more feisty than most conferences.
In an interesting revelation, Bambos Kaisharis, Google travel industry head for Southeast Asia, revealed that mobile devices have overtaken traditional desktop computers for travel related searches in Asia. Although most searches are performed on mobile devices, approximately 60% of actual bookings are still performed on a desktop computer.
Also notable was a presentation from last-minute booking app HotelQuickly, which faced criticism from the moderator and audience for its “opaque business model.”
In another forward-thinking exploration of the way customers interact with hotels, Anthony Green, Digital Director at QUO Global, implored web developers to make their websites responsive – meaning that they respond and fit to any screen size, minimizing zooming, odd sidebars and general incompatibility. Expect to see more and more hotels producing mobile-friendly booking systems and responsive websites in the near future.
Presenter Daniel Fraser is known throughout Thailand as being the host for the popular Thai TV travel series “Long Krung,” but he’s also the founder of a Smiling Albino, a luxury travel company that choreographs Southeast Asian experiences for rich and famous tourists. He revealed the secret that has attracted mega-wealthy clients, saying that he urges these types of travelers to “get out of their cocoon” and interact with local people. He explained that simply paying a few hundred baht to a crew of motosai taxi drivers to take a wealthy tourist family on a whirlwind tour of Yaowarat Road resulted in one of is happiest clients ever.
Coconuts was a media partner with the No Vacancy travel conference.
