We went to Berlin to talk with Moritz Klussmann, CEO and Co-Founder of Customer Alliance. 

Celebrating their 10 year anniversary, Moritz tells us about his journey starting a company right out of university, lessons learned and challenges faced. 

Today with over 7000 customers worldwide, Customer Alliance provide Online Reputation Management & Customer Experience Management tools for their customers. Helping them provide engaging experiences at all stages of their own customers' journey, collecting feedback and improve their business.

Chapters

00:28 - Background

03:59 - Challenges

05:35 - Customer Journey

07:17 - Voice Technology & Chat Bots

10:01 - Today's Smart Hotelier

14:47 - Online Reputation

15:35 - Today's Technology Gaps

18:49 - Personal Travel Expectations

This podcast is also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

You prefer to watch the Interview? Watch the video version here.

We sit down with Co-Founder & CEO of HotelChamp, Kristian Valk. Based in Amsterdam, Kristian talks about Hotelchamp's company culture, customer stickiness, startup challenges, maximising data and of course the state of the nation around the best methods for boosting direct bookings and building guest relationships. 

Hotelchamp have a great product, a fantastic team of people and it was a great pleasure spending time with them and talking shop with Kristian. 

Chapters

00:22 - Background

02:55 - Company challenges & advice

05:17 - Company Culture

07:53 - Lookers to Bookers

11:25 - The Guest Journey

15:50 - Kristian's thoughts on Google

20:23 - Maximising Data

24:54 - Voice & AI

29:18 - Personal Points of Value

During a trip to Sydney we took the opportunity to sit down with Mike Ford, Founder and Managing Director at SiteMinder. Mike shares with us the challenges he faced building SiteMinder to the business it is today, the current state of the hotel technology space, Direct versus OTA and 3rd party bookings, Book on Google, and other great insights.

Chapters

00:33 - Background 

05:28 - Describing what SiteMinder does 

06:28 - SiteMinder scaling challenges 

10:09 - Direct Reservations versus OTA and 3rd party Bookings 

13:39 - Book on Google 

15:26 - Technology challenges for independent hotels 

20:02 - New application categories 

23:32 - Mike’s opinion on technology in the next 3-5 years 

27:06 - 5 minutes with a room of hoteliers

You prefer watching the interview? Find the video version here.

The Aussie invasion of Cologne... It was a pleasure to sit down in this episode with Mark Fancourt and Cheyne Cole, founders of Travhotech and TestBedsVegas during their recent European trip. Both Mark and Cheyne bring a diverse range of experiences to our industry and we talk about where hotel tech has come from and where it is heading. 

Chapters

0:16 - Customer Journey Optimization

10:06 - TestBedVegas vs. TRAVHOTECH

The Aussie invasion of Cologne: André Baljeu and Daniel Zelling sat down with Mark Fancourt and Cheyne Cole during their Europe trip in May 2019. Both are the Founders of TRAVHOTECH - Travel & Hospitality Technology Consultants and TESTBED.VEGAS - the travel & hospitality innovation community in Las Vegas. Mark and Cheyne bring a diverse range of experiences to our industry and we talk about their professional backgrounds, where hotel technology has come from, and where it is heading.

Chapters

0:58 - Cheyene's Background

4:27 - Mark's Background

10:53 - Current Hotel Technology Environment

If you prefer watching the video version of this episode find it here and on the techtalk.travel Youtube account.

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Also, find the second part of this interview:

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We sat down with Connie Rheams, VP Hospitality from Beekeeper whilst at HEDNLA LA 2019 for a chat about her journey and experiences in the hotel tech industry. 

Connie is a highly respected innovative visionary and proven leader in the hospitality space, being recognised in 2014 by the Hospitality Financial & Technology Professionals as one of the hospitality technology industry’s notable and influential female IT executives.

Chapters

0:45 - Background 

5:05 - Beekeeper 

6:52 - Hotel’s Pain Points 

9:40 - Integrations 

12:52 - Connie’s travel expectations 

14:33 - Tech Predictions 

17:03 - US Economic Downturn? 

18:18 - Advice to graduates

We sat down with John Burns during the HEDNA LA conference in January 2019 for a very enjoyable chat about his experiences in the hotel tech industry. Discussing topics such as the European Tech scene, mergers and acquisitions, and the Chinese travellers to name a few. A true stalwart of our industry, John is the President of Hospitality Technology Consulting.

Chapters:

00:35 - Background

03:00 - Evolution of Tech

05:30 - The European Tech Scene

08:09 - The Future of the Front Desk

09:36 - Industry Mergers & Acquisitions

11:31 - Advice to Students & Tech Startups

13:32 - Preparing for the Chinese Traveler

15:26 - US Property Development Challenges 

Daniel Zelling and André Baljeu sit down with the founders of Cloudbeds, Adam Harris and Richard Castle. Based in San Diego, they share their journey on how Cloudbeds started and their take on the current landscape of hotel technology.

"It all comes back to the guest experience." 

This podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Chapters

00:32 - Background 

01:46 - What started it? 

04:21 - Evolution of Product 

10:08 - Simplifying Integrations 

15:07 - PMS (Property Management System) or HMS (Hotel Management System)? 

21:06 - The decision-making process 

23:11 - The European Market 

25:09 - Next Industry Big Thing 

26:44 - 5 Mins in a room of Hoteliers 

29:26 - Front Desk. Is there an expiry date?

You prefer watching the interview? Find the video version here.

Cloudbeds is a Founding Member of techtalk.travel.

More from and with Cloudbeds

It was a great pleasure to sit down with world-renowned hotelier Ricco De Blank for this interview. André Baljeu was lucky enough to catch him whilst he was visiting Amsterdam leading up to Christmas in 2018. 

Given it has been announced shortly before the recording of this interview, that he was stepping down as CEO of Sun Hung Kai Properties based out of Hong Kong, it was an excellent time to sit down with him to understand some of the qualities that have made him such an industry influencer and thought leader with the world of luxury branded hospitality.

Prior to transitioning to the property development side, Ricco was General Manager of one of the most beautiful hotels in the world, The Ritz Carlton Tokyo. It was there André first met Ricco during the pre-opening stages of that project in 2006. It was very apparent to André then, that Ricco was someone who does not accept second best. He holds himself to the same high standards that he expects of everyone that works in his team. He is a true professional.

As Ricco said in the interview, working in the hotel industry requires patience, like a good bottle of wine, only getting better with age, so will the career of someone who fully commits to being a hotelier.

Chapters with time-stamps:

2:04 - Ricco's background 

5:57 - Experience with hotel technology 

9:28 - Phones in the hotelroom 

11:22 - Who is Sun Hung Kai Properties 

12:17 - The life of a hotel property developer CEO 

14:35 - WeChat's influence on travel 

17:15 - Relevance of hotel management companies 

21:58 - Acquisitions and Data Security 

25:44 - The General Manager of a luxury branded hotel 

30:32 - Ricco's advice for young talents in hospitality to starting a hotel career

techtalk.travel's team note: Ricco de Blank passed away in 2019. Together with the entire hospitality community, we mourn his loss and extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues.

We spoke with Iris Steinmetz, back then VP Product & Partnerships at Snapshot about her journey from operations to technology expert. Discussing what Iris believes open API (Application Programming Interface) really means and how hotels can maximize their data to improve their business.

Chapters

01:02 - Iris's Background 

05:16 - Going to a Start-Up 

08:10 - The Meaning of Open API's 

15:10 - Chapter Four - Technology has progressed 

18:09 - Chapter Five - Hotels hiring developers 

21:03 - Chapter Six - The value of a Hotel's Data 

24:03 - Chapter Seven - Advice for moving into Hotel Technology

This podcast is also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

You prefer watching the interview? Find the video version here.

You might also be interested in the editorial about Real Time Data in the Hotel Industry. Find it here.