Key takeaways from the Japan workshop: A recap

Cendyn 's Workshops in Tokyo and Osaka last week were a dynamic exploration of the hotel industry's current landscape. Two days of insightful sessions, intimate discussions on emerging trends, best practices, and the art of driving new demand were complemented by extensive networking opportunities with peers and partners. 

A special thanks to our esteemed partners, including Prince Hotels , Google , BCD Travel , Oracle , Expedia Group , and cloudIT , who graced us with their expertise and insights as speakers. 

Here's a brief recap of some of the key topics covered during the workshops: 

• Google & the digital landscape – presented by Google , covered two main sections - the modern user journey for Japanese travelers and the characteristics of inbound travelers to APAC countries, specifically Japan. Interestingly, it was highlighted that the top 3 channels that travelers use to plan their trip include OTAs, Google Search, and Google Maps. Speaker - Sayo Nakagomi
• Future of Corporate Travel – presented by BCD Travel , highlighted the strong recovery in global business travel. In 2022, global business travel spending grew by 47% to $1.03 trillion, and in 2023, it is expected to grow by 32%, providing hotels with a huge opportunity to attract this segment of travelers.  Speaker - Kento Ota
• Driving demand through effective distribution – presented by Cendyn , focused on the growth in international visitors to Japan, with the top 5 countries being Korea, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and the US. The session emphasized the need of going back to basics to build an effective hotel distribution strategy – the importance of being available on the right channels, optimizing online presence, dynamic pricing and leveraging technology to capture the growing demand. Speaker - Hiroyuki Kuga
• Optimizing your online hotel presence – presented by Expedia Group , highlighted the importance of making rooms and rates available for far out dates. When looking at 2024 data, Expedia showcased how 45% of future bookings in Japan are from North America and Australia. The average ADR is $302 for future bookings globally for 2024. However, when compared to future bookings for Japan, the average ADR is only $222. That’s leaves a big gap – hence the importance of loading future availability now to increase the likelihood of securing high ADR bookings ahead of time! Speaker - Miho Yamazaki

• Fireside chat: Ignite your online presence – presented by Prince Hotel , covered tips and tricks as well as best practices on how to increase online visibility for your brand across various distribution touchpoints, including direct and third-party channels. Speakers – Mr. Jun Sasaki, Prince Hotels & Yasukazu Itakura

• Elevate profitability with direct bookings – presented by Cendyn , focused on the full-funnel approach for demand generation as well as optimizing brand.com to boost conversion rates. They also elaborated on the importance of building a strategy around personalization to attract direct bookings. Speaker - vittoria muollo

• Redefining loyalty to retain your guests – presented by Oracle , highlighted how loyalty is for both guests and employees, and how it is connected across all touchpoints for a consistent, real-time emotional experience. They also emphasized that the hospitality of the future is automated, intelligent, and personal. Speakers - Patrick Andres & Akito (Kevin) Nemoto (Pratt)
• Panel Discussion on AI for hospitality – showcased examples and best practices on how AI is currently being used by hoteliers, some of its most innovative applications, key benefits that AI brings in terms of customer experience, operational efficiency, and cost savings as well as ways that Google and Expedia are using AI to help hoteliers reach and connect with their target audiences.  Speakers from Google , Expedia Group , Prince Hotels , Cloud IT , moderated by Cendyn .  

A big thank you to our very own Yasaka Tazawa, CHDM for being a wonderful emcee and expertly helping us navigate through the various sessions. In summary, this event was a true game-changer, leaving us all with invaluable insights and renewed inspiration. 🌟

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