Agenda
Focusing on the latest in digital marketing, revenue and e-commerce trends, the Direct Booking Summit agenda is designed to be immediately actionable for hotels. Join us for inspiring keynote presentations, fireside chats and panel discussions.
Please note our final agenda is still being refined, so keep an eye out for new sessions being added and the order of the event to be finalized!
9:00 AM
YOU’RE GETTING PARITY ALL WRONG
Are you ready to challenge the way you look at price parity? In this session, Sandor J Winkler, Corp Director Sales and Marketing at The Villa Group will share his new hypothesis to tackle the issue for potentially better results.
Sandor J Winkler, Corp Director Sales & Marketing, Villagroup
9:30 AM
WHAT HOTELIERS CAN LEARN FROM E-COMMERCE EMAIL STRATEGY
The gap between successful e-commerce email campaigns and the impact of emails in the hotel industry is wide. The reason? Most e-commerce businesses have the time to create a personalized strategy for capturing emails and contacting customers. Join Senior Triptease Product Designer, Chimmy Kalu, to steal the quick e-commerce tricks that will skyrocket your email performance.
Chimmy Kalu, Senior Product Designer, Triptease
Alasdair Snow, Co-Founder and Chief Product Office, Triptease
Don MacCorquodale, Director of Revenue Management, One King West
Karen Wilken, Marketing and Public Relations Manager, Fountain Head
10:00 AM
THE HIDDEN COST OF OUTSOURCING MARKETING AND SALES TO OTAS
With years of hospitality experience at The Leading Hotels of the World, Cendant Hotel Group and Wyndham Worldwide, Tim has seen first hand the cost of handing over your marketing and sales strategy to OTAs. Join him to learn what you’re up against and what you can do about it.
Tim Peter, Founder & President, Tim Peter Associates
10:25 AM
COFFEE BREAK
10:55 AM
OPTIMIZING HOLISTIC REVENUE
Richard Valtr, Founder of Mews, hosts a panel of hotel revenue experts to discuss the opportunities and challenges of driving holistic revenue. From how to balance short terms gains against future revenue potential, to the best ways to incentivise your team to drive ancillary revenue, this panel will be packed with insights and real, lived experience of what works and what doesn't.
Richard Valtr, Founder, Mews
Matthew Wolf, Cluster Director, Revenue Management, Montage Hotels
Shawn Usami, Vice President, Revenue & Distribution, EOS Hospitality
Arthur Lane, Corporate Director of Revenue Management, Charlestown Hotels
11:30 AM
COMMERCIAL STRATEGY TITLES OR TACTICS
Lori Kiel, Chief Commercial Officer, Kessler Collection
12 PM
7 UX TRICKS YOU CAN STEAL FROM OTAS TODAY
They're your biggest competition but there's no denying they're also the best in the business at getting customers to click and book. If you want to understand great UX design, the OTAs are the ones to learn from. So Join Triptease Senior Product Designer, Chimmy Kalu, to learn the ten top UX tricks you can steal from OTA websites and use to drive direct bookings for your own business.
Chimmy Kalu, Senior Product Designer, Triptease
12:30 PM
LUNCH BREAK
LUNCHTIME SESSION WITH HOVR
Most of the content we produce as brands is out of context; it's consumed as entertainment rather than for a purpose such as education or inspiration which leaves buyers without clear answers or directions. Learn practical ways to deliver brand content to your site visitors when they need it most; while they're on your site looking to make a direct purchase. This session will dive into how top brands are leveraging their brand, influencer, and UGC to strategically weave content into the fabric of their site journey to engage, educate, and convert site visitors. You'll learn concrete steps you can take today and for free to start delivering Content in Context.
Jason Craparo, CEO, Hovr
1:30 PM
AUDITING THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE GUEST LENS
Jason has years of experience across both hospitality and e-commerce so there’s nobody better placed to share what they’ve learned about looking at the booking journey through your customers’ eyes. Learn how to audit your current booking funnel to optimise for a great guest experience and more direct bookings.
Jason Pirock, Corporate Director, Marketing, Springboard Hospitality
2:00 PM
CASE STUDY: THE RIGHT WAY TO DO CHATBOT SELLING
If you have a chatbot on your website, you’re probably sitting on an untapped source of direct bookings. Join Corrina Terenstra for an actionable case study on how to create your own ‘digital concierge call center’ that could increase direct bookings by 4%.
Corrina Terenstra - Sales & Marketing Director The Reef Resorts
2:20 PM
THE ULTIMATE HOTELIER TECH STACK 2024
Need to invest in the right technology but don’t know what to pick or prioritize? Leslie Lew, VP Revenue and Technology at Practice Hospitality, will share his best choices, worst mistakes, winning decision making criteria and a framework to help you build your ideal tech stack.
Leslie Lew, VP Revenue + Technology at Practice Hospitality
Dan Wacksman, Co-Founder of hotelBschool.com & Founder / CEO of Sassato
3:10 PM
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT THAT GUARANTEES A DIRECT CLICK
Join Dan Smart as he shares his strategy for engaging your community in a way that will drive them to book direct.
Dan Smart, Director of Sales & Marketing at Dream Inn Santa Cruz
3:30 PM
CHAIRMANS WRAP UP
Charlie Osmond, Founder, Triptease
3:45 PM
AWARDS CEREMONY