An interest in building direct bookings is growing quickly among hotels in Asia, as increasing competition within the distribution chain is eating away at profits.

– Achieving a healthy balance among the various channels has become a critical component of a hotel’s distribution playbook. In this highly competitive landscape, it has become obvious to hotels that building their direct booking channel is the way they should go,” said Pierre-Charles Grob, managing director for FASTBOOKING in Asia.

Due to keen interest, FASTBOOKING, an e-commerce solutions company that helps hotels create direct sales strategies, has partnered several other key hospitality industry specialists to bring a Digital Tour to Asia. The tour is touted as a learning lab for hoteliers to explore ways to “better protect their profitability”.

With FASTBOOKING, the tour partners — EnVeritas Group, Ideas, TrustYou and STR — will take the tour across Asia, starting in Hong Kong on March 23, 2016; followed by Bangkok and Tokyo in May 2016. More dates and locations will be announced soon.

Among the topics to be shared at the first event in Hong Kong are key essentials to boosting website capacities in order to accommodate more direct bookings; how to better manage distribution channels and raise conversions through revenue management; ways to maximise direct bookings and profitability. Insights on Hong Kong’s yearly results, travel trends and the evolution of customer behaviours.

Speakers at the event include Rachel Grier, managing director of iDeaS — A SAS Company; Brice Bay of EnVeritas Group; Frederick Wong, managing director and vice president Asia Pacific for TrustYou; Anthony Zhang, business development manager of STR Global; Jean-Luc Chrétien, co-chief executive officer of FASTBOOKING; and Pierre Charles Grob, director for Asia at FASTBOOKING.

To register for a complimentary pass to the half-day event in Hong Kong, click HERE