techtalk.travel

Tune in to this interview: Kevin King, Chief Operating Officer at Shiji Group speaks with André Baljeu and shares exclusive insights about his very own background, his career highs and lows, what sets Shiji Group apart and much more.

Time Stamps:

02:17 - Kevin's Background

09:50 - Career Highs & Lows

13:11 - What makes Shiji Group different?

16:22 - What keeps Kevin King up at night?

18:13 - Current Challenges

22:47 - Selling StayNTouch

27:26 - Could it happen again?

29:20 - Applying Historical Learnings

32:21 - Hotels Hesitation with Technology

36:04 - What Kevin looks for in talent

38:27 - Merging Company Cultures

40:01 - Too many brands, or not enough?

41:37 - What is Kevin's favorite Hotel and why? 

This podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts.

Kevin King is the Chief Operating Officer of Beijing Shiji Information Technology Co. ltd.

Kevin King has worked as the Chief Operating Officer of Beijing Shiji Information Technology Co. Ltd since June 30, 2015. Kevin focuses on the domestic management and growth of Shiji and oversees the globalization of the company. Prior to joining Shiji, Kevin worked with leading hospitality technology solution provider, MICROS Systems Inc., which merged with Oracle in 2014, for over 17 years in various operational and business management roles, including the business and technical development of global payment solutions.

About Shiji Group

Shiji Group provides software solutions and services for the hospitality, food service, retail and entertainment industries, ranging from hotel management solutions, to food and beverage and retail systems, payment gateways, data management, online distribution and more. Founded in 1998 as a network solutions provider for hotels, Shiji Group today comprises 5,000 employees in 80+ subsidiaries and brands, serving over 74,000 hotels, 200,000 restaurants and 600,000 retail outlets.

Shiji Group is a Founding Member of techtalk.travel

Tune in to the recording of the second COLLECTIVE #hoteliers session that was streamed live 5th June 2020 on LinkedIn and Youtube. 

Find the podcast also on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

The following hoteliers joined David Turnbull in this conversation and shared their experiences and views about the current situation:

Dirk Fuehrer, Chief Commercial Officer at Vienna House

03:50 l Managing Today  What’s your current status (low-point to now)? What was/is the biggest challenge for you? What is the biggest learning you personally take away from this situation to date?

29:00 l Consumer Behavior Hygiene and Sanitation, is that the new Luxury? Where are the Customers at? What has been the biggest surprise you have seen with regards to the customers? 

37:26 l Sustainability Are we moving backwards with regards to our industry's performance regarding environmental sustainability?

41:55 l Technology What are the barriers to implement new Technology?

42:53 l Audience Questions How are you dealing with sanitation? How are you embracing technology to support here?

47:30 l Preparing for Tomorrow What is the future of a hotel, when we cannot rely on half upon the segments that make up our businesses up in a 'normal' business scenario? Where do you see the major risks and opportunities?

1:11:00 l Audience Questions What is your advice to graduates and young talent aspiring a career in the hotel industry? What can they expect with regards to career building looking at a depressed market?

1:15:00 l Audience Question How long will the emphasis on cleanliness last? What do you think the impact will be on Airbnb?

1:17:30 l Audience Question Are you taking specific measures to increase revenue, as for example enhanced cross-selling?

Read more about techtalk.travel COLLECTIVE series here.

Tune in to the recording of the wrap-up session of season 1 of the COLLECTIVE series, bringing all perspectives together to discuss the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the various segments and on the industry at large. #thecollective was streamed live 29th May 2020 on LinkedIn and Facebook.

#consultants perspective: Charlotte Davies, Founder & Principal Consultant at A Bright Approach

#hotelschool perspective: Dana Jiménez Herrera, MBA,  Lecturer/Trainer Management Skills and Mentoring, Project Leader "Practical Placement Experience" at Hotelschool The Hague

#hoteliers perspective: George Westwell, CEO at Cheval Collection

#vendors perspective: Julie Grieve, Founder & CEO of Criton

#nextgeneration perspective: Sina Ritter, current and soon-to-be graduated student of the Master of Science in Global Hospitality Business at EHL – Ecole hotelière de Lausanne

Find this podcast also on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Read more about techtalk.travel COLLECTIVE here.

Tune in to the Podcast version of the recording of the techtalk.travel COLLECTIVE #nextgeneration - the live session for hotel management students, recent graduates and soon-to-be graduates and representatives of the leading educational institutions and hotelschools - that was streamed live on Facebook and Linkedin and recorded 8th May 2020.

This open session covers 2 major aspects being impacted by the current situation: 'Managing, Studying and Teaching today' and 'Preparing for Tomorrow'

Find this podcast also on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Read more about techtalk.travel COLLECTIVE here.

Tune in to the recording of the techtalk.travel COLLECTIVE session for hotel consultants, that took place 4th May 2020.

The following panelist joined André Baljeu in this conversation and shared their experiences and views about the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on their own business as well as the hotel, as well travel industry at large:

Charlotte Davies, Founder & Principal Consultant at A Bright Approach

Gregg Hopkins, Partner and Senior Managing Director at PROVision Partners

Jeremy Rock, Owner at RockIT Group

Mark Fancourt, Co-Founder at TRAVHOTECH

Michaela Papenhoff, Managing Director at h2c GmbH

Find this podcast also on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Recording of the techtalk.travel COLLECTIVE #vendors live session: The following industry experts joined André Baljeu in this conversation sharing their views, experiences and expectations regarding the impact of the Covid-19 crisis.

This open session for hotel technology providers covers 3 major aspects being impacted by the current situation: 'Managing today', 'Preparing for Tomorrow' and 'Consumer Behavior'.

00:06:00 MANAGING TODAY

How are you currently supporting your existing customers (existing & future) and is there more that can be done? 

What are other terms you are helping hotels financially through this downturn - without compromising your own business needs and objectives? 

Audience question: Have you see an Uplift in inquiries even during these downtimes. If so, how are you going to harness the new market without actually putting sales messages out there? How do you manage this by making sure to get the balance right?

00:40:30 PREPARING FOR TOMORROW

Audience question: How do you expect things to move over in the next 3-6 months?

Have the industry's expectation towards vendors/Hotel Technology providers changed and will they change (after Covid-19)?

Audience question: Do you believe that guests are going to be raising their expectations on the facility providing clear and visual information regarding the indoor air quality as well as providing PPE amenities. Where if anywhere would technology play its role in there?

01:04:40 CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

How long is it going to take for technology and hotel companies to have build up enough money again to start to spend it?

Hospitality was the first one to lock down. Will it also be the last one to bounce back, due to economic, social as well as legal restrictions?

You prefer watching the session?

The COLLECTIVE #vendors was streamed live on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Lea Jordan, Co-Founder at techtalk.travel sits down with Philip Ibrahim, General Manager of THE STUDENT HOTEL BERLIN.

00:57 - Chapter 1 - Philip's background.

03:49 - Chapter 2 - The Student Hotel - What is it all about?  

08:54 - Chapter 3 - Applying technology in hotel operations.

12:56 - Chapter 4 - Technology replacing people? 

19:26 - Chapter 5 - Philip's career highs & lows.

29:57 - Chapter 6 - Staffing challenges in hospitality and in the Berlin hotel market.

38:00 - Chapter 7 - Philip's top tips for young talents seeking a career in the hotel industry.

If you prefer watching the video version of this interview, find it here.

Connect with Philip on Linkedin. 

THE STUDENT HOTEL BERLIN: www.thestudenthotel.com/berlin/

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During a trip to Munich, I sat down with Pontus and Lars who founded Berner+Becker. They offer hotels tailor-made outsourced revenue management, revenue management project consulting and training, delivering quality and cost-efficient revenue management services for all types of hotels.

00:41 - Chapter 1 - Background

08:10 - Chapter 2 - Skills of a Revenue Manager

10:05 - Chapter 3 - Spark behind Berner + Becker

13:26 - Chapter 4 - Key findings from clients

21:12 - Chapter 5 - Outsourcing Revenue Management

25:04 - Chapter 6 - Market Awareness

26:51 - Chapter 7 - How do hotels know what tech is right for them?

30:00 - Chapter 8 - Most common mistakes

36:48 - Chapter 9 - The next 5 years

During the World Travel Market 2019 in London, we took that chance to sit down with Leif and Alexander from Atomize. Talking about their current market position, challenges to get their Revenue Management platform into the marketplace and what they see as the differentiating factors that stand between today's Revenue Management solutions.

Chapters

00:41 - Background & Motivation 

05:14 - Start-Up Experience 

06:50 - Global Footprint 

07:41 -  The Integrations 

09:57 - Data Quality 

12:20 - Machine Learning 

15:54 - A Competitive Landscape 

18:58 - Customer Acceptance 

22:03 - Marketplace participation 

23:13 - Tips to the new start-up 

25:00 - What stood out in 2019

On a recent trip to Berlin, David Turnbull joined André Baljeu in interviewing two of the three Co-Founders of Hotelhero, Florian Montag and Thibault Gence, at their Berlin Offices. 

We discussed a range of topics from their motivations to start a company right out of Hotelschool right through to their learnings over the last 3 years.

Time stamps

00:39 - Background & Motivation 

04:15 - Hotelhero's Evolution 

09:15 - Hotel's adopting an R&D approach 

12:57 - Balancing Technology vs. Service 

20:45 - Learning from Hotels

00:11 - The Necessary Resources

02:18 - Tech Providers Opportunities

06:57 - AI & Robotics in the future

17:54 - Guest Experience always wins

20:35 - Advice for Start-ups

Also find these interviews with inspiring hospitality industry professionals and leaders: