Hotelbeds on being the ‘partner of choice’ of hotels in APAC

Pippa Williamson joined Hotelbeds in September last year taking the role of vice president for APAC leading all core commercial activities across the region while growing the relationships with Hotelbeds’ suppliers and clients across APAC. Having sat on the other side of the table, and working with mutual clients for many years, has enabled Pippa to develop a more customer-centric approach for Hotelbeds.

TD has spoken with Pippa about her joining one of the largest travel tech companies in the world and her optimism for this year’s travel space. Pippa was hailed from the hospitality industry working for large chains and luxury brands.

Travel Daily (TD): What are the challenges you experienced in moving from hospitality to the travel tech sector?

Pippa Williamson (PW): The hotel industry is complex and has many challenges to integrate new technology across multiple functions and legacy systems so moving from that environment to working for a global leader in the Travel Tech space has been one of the most exciting parts of my new role. Having access to rich data and intelligence, which helps to generate demand and provide value for our partners, is a game changer and one I’m thrilled to be a part of.

TD: What are the pressing challenges hotels face nowadays and how can Hotelbeds help hoteliers increase their profit margins?

PW: With the absence or reduced business from corporate and MICE segments, hotels have been challenged through relying solely on leisure or retail business.  In many cases, this has increased a hotel’s reliance on a subset of players that also compete for their direct business.  By operating exclusively in the B2B arena, we are uniquely placed to drive future growth for our partners without competing for the end customer.

Apart from the technology piece, the reduced talent pool and higher labour costs is also a major challenge in most APAC markets.  Hotels are seeking to do more with less leveraging our Travel Tech or partnering with us to access our rich data and intelligence to bring incremental and high-value business to drive profitability.

TD: What are your goals for Hotelbeds in the region for 2023? How will you get there?

PW: We have ambitious goals for 2023 for Hotelbeds. There is a huge opportunity as the region continues to reopen, not least with the recent development in China, and we are confident that we can retain our position as an industry leader thanks to our customer-centric approach and focus on becoming a partner of choice for our suppliers and clients.

TD: What travel trends do you think we will see this year? How will you capitalise on them?

PW: Outside of APAC, the travel industry saw a recovery like no other in 2022, and 2023 is expected to be even stronger as travellers are determined to make up for lost time during the pandemic and take more leisure trips, often with a ‘revenge travel’ mindset.

With border restrictions in place in APAC for longer than anywhere else, the pent-up demand in the region remains high.  This demand will be further fuelled by the relaxing of border restrictions for China and travellers from outside APAC seeking to experience or reexperience the rich and diverse offerings here.

Indeed, we are therefore forecasting significant growth this year versus 2022 and are excited to see air capacity improve in the region, which will drive hotel occupancy.