How would you describe Cendyn's current state?
Cendyn has been on an exciting journey of growth and innovation over the last few years, including the recent rebrand, which was launched at ITB Berlin 2024. We were also pleased to share our new value proposition - a powerful collection of integrated solutions designed to unlock a hotel’s full revenue potential. To meet the needs of our customers and the hospitality industry as a whole, Cendyn has reinforced its technology, services, and account management teams, increasing our employee headcount to over 750 people across the world serving over 32,000 hotel customers in more than 150 countries.
What markets and segments are you focusing on today to enhance it and why?
In 2024 I am excited to focus on large and small chains and individual properties throughout Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica and Chile. Cendyn services hotel chains, hotel management companies, independent and boutique hotels as well as hotel casinos. Because we have employees all over the globe, we are able to give regional service, support, and insights into local markets.
What have been the main innovations that have been presented in recent months?
Cendyn has recently launched the Cendyn Revenue Growth package powered by AI. It is the ultimate solution to unlock a hotel's revenue potential in today's digital landscape. Tailored to meet the needs of every hotel type, the Revenue Growth package is designed to help hoteliers FIND new guests, BOOK more direct, and GROW revenue for your business. By striking the perfect balance across digital channels and ensuring hotels have visibility across all Meta and Google platforms, hotels can create a seamless advertising strategy leveraging AI that is built to drive more traffic and conversions through their direct booking channel. However, capturing more direct bookings is just the beginning. Leveraging sophisticated CRM targeting capabilities allows hotels to offer guests the personalized marketing they expect, including multi-channel promotions that create a truly bespoke experience such as birthday offers, specialized dinner offers, and targeted social media ads that align with email and SMS/WhatsApp campaigns.
Having high-level human resources is one of the main obstacles today to support growth and quality of service, how do you handle that situation?
Technology cannot replace human connection. What it can do is alleviate the work humans have to do so they can focus on more important tasks that tech cannot accomplish. One example includes call centers where AI-powered voice assistants with call center management solutions take on inquiries about parking fees, restaurant availability, and more while employees focus on handling more complex reservations and inquiries or other operational needs. Golden Nugget was able to shift 34% of their incoming calls to an AI-powered assistant allowing employees to dedicate their full attention to more complex reservations and other operational needs.
Another example of tech freeing up valuable human resources is employing a digital marketing platform that allows hotel marketers to optimize advertising strategies across various channels and utilizing AI to enhance visibility on Google. This will not only save time and effort but will maximize engagement and conversions allowing hoteliers to focus on strategy rather than execution.
What are some of the biggest challenges hotels face when competing against OTAs for guest bookings?
The biggest challenge for hotels is the sheer scale of OTA marketing investment — hotels will never be able to match that. Instead, they must adopt a strategic, thoughtful, and targeted approach to understanding their audiences. Additionally, the hospitality industry has been slow to adopt technology compared to other sectors, such as retail and entertainment, which are not afraid to test and invest in digital technologies. There's a lot we can learn about digital acceleration from these industries. Hospitality needs to be more open to learning from other sectors and applying those lessons to improve technology use and data management.
How can hotels win the direct booking race?
The tug-of-war between direct channels and online travel agencies (OTAs) has entered a new phase post-COVID. The pandemic initially tipped the scales in favor of direct bookings due to safety concerns and the need for flexible booking options, but inflation has led travelers back to third-party sites in search of better deals. Despite this shift, hotel chains that leverage brand recognition continue to secure more direct customers. To bolster brand recognition, hotels must engage in paid media and marketing to find new guests while continuing to drive loyalty with existing ones. Hotels need to ensure their messaging highlights not just the property's features, like rooms or meeting spaces, but its overall experience and destination. Pricing strategies are also key. Hotels need to offer the best price to maximize visibility on Google, where approximately 90 percent of bookings originate. The single biggest competitive advantage hotels have against OTAs is owning first-party data. Access to rich guest profiles allows them to tailor their marketing across channels like email and websites. Coupling first-party data with the right marketing and media strategies allows hoteliers to find new guests, drive them to book direct, and grow revenue.