With unofficial statistics hinting that there are about a million hotels globally, properties are on a constant lookout for technology to fulfil the traveller’s quest for the most ideal accommodation in the quickest possible way.
Sabre is a technology provider that serves various aspects of the travel industry. It includes three distinct business units – Sabre Travel Network, a Global Distribution System (GDS) that connects travel buyers and sellers; Sabre Airline Solutions that offers solutions to help airlines market, sell, serve and operate more efficiently; and, Sabre Hospitality Solutions, which provides the hotel industry with distribution, operations and marketing solutions.
Sabre Hospitality Solutions has recently introduced the SynXis Analytics cloud, the first AI-powered business intelligence solution to increase hotel revenue across channels.
A recent phone interview with Frank Trampert, Managing Director and Chief Commercial Officer of Sabre Hospitality Solutions, Asia Pacific is aimed at how Sabre Hospitality Solutions helps hotels with the distribution of their content, provides tools to support their operations, and enhances the guest experience through streamlined data processing with SynXis. The interview follows:
HNP: How is Sabre Hospitality Solutions any different to others of the same technology?
We work with hotel companies irrespective of where the geographical location is. We now have 39,000 hotels and we are represented in 174 countries.
The way we differentiate ourselves is that we have a platform in which we designed our application. The easiest way to illustrate this would be through our three-pronged approach; we have a platform that enables hosting, reservation, and shopping capabilities. On top of that, we have the ability to allow third parties to consume these services and applications. Many of our competitors do not have that open environment that allows clients to be flexible when it comes to distribution. We enable that open environment, providing our clients with the ability to customize their services to suite their unique needs. Hence, we are providing them with cutting-edge technology that can be deployed and accessed globally at a very affordable cost.
HNP: Is the Sabre GDS connected to Sabre Hospitality Solutions?
Sabre Travel Network and Sabre Hospitality Solutions serve two distinct clienteles within the travel industry.
Sabre Travel Network is a Global Distribution System (GDS)that provides travel agents with the content they need to complete their bookings.
On the other hand, Sabre Hospitality Solutions works with hoteliers to distribute their content, support their operations and provide tools to help enhance the guest experience through streamlined data processing, such as SynXis.
Sabre Hospitality Solutions also operates a Central Reservation System (CRS), which helps to manage the flow of reservations and distribution of the availability on the hotel side. HNP: So, it becomes seamless from research to booking? Yes, our solutions will enable a seamless experience, from research to booking, for both the traveller and the hotelier.
HNP: What is your cutting edge?
We work with what is called a single-image profiling. In many ways, the hospitality industry has been traditionally challenged with multiple databases. The hotelier’s headache is to clean those databases, merge them, and use them for marketing purposes. Within our platform, we have one, central database, which has the ability to create a single customer profile. This profile is available on the micro server, so no matter what application is being utilized, it will draw from the same set of data. We collect what we can, and merge this into a golden profile. The data is centrally stocked depending on how the customer makes his reservation, creating a 360-degree life cycle whether he books direct, online, or through any other channel.
We use machine learning (AI), algorithms, to detect patterns and data and we are making forward looking projections. We are no longer depending on history. We are looking at how the hotel is being booked, what data points are being leveraged, and analyse how we can best use this to enhance the customer experience. The system helps us to better understand the data and provides us with information on how we can keep a customer’s business, and the foundations of their decision-making process. The solutions that we have invested in for our clients remove the guesswork, and provide reassurance, and ultimately, help hoteliers improve their business.
Trampert is responsible for business and financial performance, customer engagement and overall growth and development of Sabre Hospitality Solutions. With a rich background in hospitality, Trampert held highly sought-after leadership positions working with largest global hospitality companies—Wyndham Hotel Group, Carlson Hotels, Brand Karma Singapore, and most recently, as the CEO for Tune Hotel Group in Malaysia. He enjoys the complexities of international businesses, enabling him to not only run his own advisory firm but also to join a technology start-up focused on cloud based social media solutions for the global hospitality sector.
