Summary: HEBS Digital celebrates the firm’s many accomplishments of 2017—including the launch of the hospitality industry’s first Fully-Integrated Past/Future Guest Engagement and Acquisition Technology and Marketing Platform and many technology and digital marketing innovations—while looking forward to exciting developments in 2018.
New York, NY (December 14, 2017) – As the year comes to a close, HEBS Digital is proud to reflect on the firm’s many accomplishments of 2017, as well as recognize our clients and team members who made it all possible. Over the last 12 months, HEBS Digital continued to its industry leadership of helping hoteliers across the globe increase direct bookings and lower distribution costs, launched a number of website technology and digital marketing innovations, received a record-breaking 66 industry awards, published numerous whitepapers, and achieved record-breaking ROIs for its clients, among other achievements.
Company highlights from 2017 include:
Creating Industry’s First Past/Future Guest Engagement & Acquisition Platform: HEBS Digital’s parent company, Hospitality Tech Holdings LLC, acquired Serenata CRM, the most comprehensive hotel CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform in the hospitality industry today. Combining HEBS Digital with Serenata CRM, HTH has launched the hospitality industry’s first Fully-Integrated Past/Future Guest Engagement and Acquisition Technology and Marketing Platform.
Technology Innovations: The firm’s in-house team continued to release technology innovations that helps hoteliers increase direct bookings, lower distribution costs and achieve the perfect balance of beauty and science on their hotel website. This includes v7.04 of the smartCMS®, a cloud-based website technology platform that gives hoteliers unprecedented control over their websites and direct online channel streams, Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) Optimizer, Universal Guest Recognition/Loyalty Portal, Advanced Content Manager, Group Pages Module, Enhanced Reservation Abandonment Application Suite, as well as Facebook Dynamic Ads for Travel marketing application.
Industry Recognition: HEBS Digital won 66 digital technology, website design, and marketing awards, including a record-breaking 21 awards from the 61st HSMAI Adrian Awards Competition (including 10 Gold Awards), which eclipsed the firm’s previous record of 17 awards; five WebAwards, four Hermes Creative Awards, and eight Interactive Media Awards, including six “Best in Class” distinctions. In recognition for growth and development, Inc. Magazine ranked HEBS Digital on its 36th annual Inc. 5000 as one of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.
Industry Thought Leadership: Throughout the year, HEBS Digital published thought-provoking whitepapers and articles that highlighted key developments and trends in the industry. Topics included action plans to guide hoteliers how to plan their 2018 digital marketing budgets, how to maximize revenues from the Google ecosystem, and how to close the loop on the travel consumer’s “digital journey,” and how to plan a property pre-opening digital strategy.
Notable Client Website Launches: In 2017 HEBS Digital launched multiple award-winning websites that not only showcased innovations in technology and design but generated impressive returns for our clients, resulting in average cost of direct distribution of 4.5% across HEBS Digital client portfolio. Notable website launches included an enhanced brand website for RLH Corporation, which features over 1,100 properties and 14 brands (Gold Adrian Award), and a stunning new Loews Hotels & Resorts brand website, which utilizes cutting-edge revenue driving technology, AKA Hotels and Hotel ZaZa new brand websites, and numerous independent and branded hotels, resorts and casino property websites.
Noteworthy Industry Speakerships: Members of HEBS Digital’s team of digital technology and marketing experts spoke at conferences in North America, APAC and Europe, including the HSMAI Digital Marketing Strategy Conference in NYC, HSMAI Revenue Optimization Conferences in Toronto and Bangkok, Digital Marketing conferences in Singapore, Bangkok, and Phuket.
“It has been another successful year for HEBS Digital, and we value our clients who collaborate on countless ground-breaking technology innovations and digital marketing initiatives,” said Max Starkov President and CEO at HEBS Digital. “As we close the year welcoming new clients such as Viceroy Hotels and Resorts, Hard Rock International, Sage Hospitality, Bartell Hotels, J Collection, and many other marquis hotels, resorts and casinos, I speak on behalf of the entire HEBS Digital team when I say that we are looking forward to great new and exciting achievements to come in the year ahead.”
In 2018, HEBS Digital will continue to prioritize a strong mobile-first strategy for its clients in order to monetize the drastic shift to mobile, with consideration to Google’s upcoming switch to a mobile-first index. Hoteliers that partner with HEBS Digital ahead of this major shift will have the tools in place to maximize their mobile channel presence and direct online revenue.
