Danica Smith

Try and remember this is (most likely) not your paid job, you are most likely not a professional speaker who travels the world speaking at TED talks or UN conferences - so ease off on the pressure! Remember you have been asked to present for a reason, so have fun and let your passion shine through - the rest will fall into place! For some practical advice... 1. Slow down your pace 2. Remember to look up and provide eye contact 3. Ask some questions about a data point or insight to interact with the audience Finally, remember every presentation you give, you gain a whole bunch of experience and improvement areas every time - so go out there, have fun, prepare, and do your best, you will be great!

There are many factors to be considered when selecting a vendor for your guest experience platform (from security, scalability of the platform, how it integrates with your PMS and RMS - the list goes on and on). However, after working in this field for 10 years with hoteliers around the world, from budget to luxury, the main criterion for success is selecting a vendor who truly acts as a partner. It´s important to choose a partner who ensures Guest Experience sits at the heart of everything you do, engaging everyone from owners to F&B to maintenance teams. Relevant data to relevant team members is key and a partner should be able to create guest experience strategies tailored to your brand to ensure you gain the competitive edge.

It really depends on the purpose of the travel and the individual guest. We know from data trends (based on a sample size of 9,500 hotels) Booking.com is some regions accounts for 68% of total review volume, with Google reviews on the rise. Whilst Tripadvisor reviews accounts for less than 10% of review market share, it doesn't mean that it is not a step in the purchasing cycle. Yes I might book on Booking.com and leave a review on Booking.com, but it doesn't mean that I haven't visited Tripadvisor in the research phase.