07 September 2012
David Roche, President of Hotels.com, Venere.com and Expedia Lodging Partner Services addressed up to 100 Irish tourism businesses this week at a breakfast seminar organised by Fáilte Ireland and held in the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin.
The seminar, which is the first in a series of free breakfast seminars, focused on how businesses can use their online presence and online travel agencies to boost their business and drive more customers to book their accommodation.
Businesses attending the seminar heard from David Roche, who spoke about the current trends his business is anticipating, and their potential impact should they be realised.
Speaking at the event Mr Roche emphasised –
“Technology is now a crucial aspect of selling to visitors. Mobile technology in particular is becoming much more popular with visitors, and in order to stay ahead of the curve businesses need to either invest in this technology or work with someone who does.
“From our perspective customers are expecting more and more online providers to use technology to cut through the blizzard of choice. This can be an expensive task however, using Online Travel Agents who invest heavily in new technology can be a cost effective way for smaller hotels to leverage more business without having to make the same investment.”
Speaking at the seminar Tony Lenehen, Head of Industry Services, Fáilte Ireland, emphasised the importance of providing the Irish tourism industry with supports that are relevant and topical –
“Being able to support the Irish tourism industry in a practical and pragmatic way is crucial for us in Fáilte Ireland. Through this series of seminars we are aiming to provide businesses with information that is relevant to them. We also want to ensure that they leave each seminar with some kind of a ‘take-away’ that will help them to grow their business in a practical way.”
Attend further breakfast seminars
This seminar is part of series of breakfast seminars which will be running over the next number of weeks. The next seminar will be held in Dublin in October – watch out for further information.
Information on further seminars will be available by email and you can register your interest to find out more about our breakfast seminars by contacting ronan.fleming@failteireland.ie
Image caption: (l-r) Nicky Logue, Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel, Paul Keeley, Head of Enterprise Development, Fáilte Ireland, David Roche, President, Hotels.com, Ian McGuinness, Roganstown Hotel, Aline Fitgerald, Four Seasons Hotel