"ITB Hospitality Day" 2014 discusses data leaks and new online distribution
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| Big Data - buzz word of the year 2013. / photo: Dreaming Andy Fotolia.com |
Berlin (February 14, 2014). The "general situation after Snowden" motivates many businesses to reflect on the flood of data under their own roofs. What hoteliers have to lose and how they can avoid a disaster will be explained by the keynote speaker at the 9th ITB hotel convention "ITB Hospitality Day".
The topic of the internet's influence will be continued directly in the next panel discussion: Will the hotel's own distribution power be able to absorb the decreasing rate parity? What will the new freedom in the online distribution cost? These two panels mark the beginning of the ITB hotel convention on Thursday, March 6, starting at 10.30 a.m. in Hall 7.1b, Auditorium London at the Berlin trade show grounds. The admission is free for all trade show visitors. For all those in the office or at home: the hotel convention will be broadcast live in the internet.
Keynote speaker is Uwe Bernd-Striebeck, Partner of the audit firm KPMG AG Wirtschaftspruefungsgesellschaft – a business which one does not expect to be a specialist in data protection. In Germany, KPMG has its own laboratory with 70 staff members who look after the organisational and technical security of businesses. In everyday life this means: on the one hand, they establish firewalls for businesses, on the other hand, they try to break through the firewalls of businesses. Uwe Bernd-Striebeck is the head of Security Consulting at KPMG.
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| Expert for data security: Uwe Bernd-Striebeck. |
Against the backdrop of the NSA spy affair and the current situation of data security in the entire economy, he wants to describe the influence of the latest events on the tourism industry in 30 minutes, take the hoteliers on a virtual trip and explain how they can respond to their weak spots. Starting at 10.30 a.m. (until 11 a.m.) under the provocative title: "You can check out any time you like, but your data can never leave. Disturbing developments in data security."
Data leaks followed by new distribution power
"ITB Hospitality Day" at ITB Berlin 2014 picks up on large social topics that have a great influence on the hotel industry today. The ongoing discussion in 2013 about rate parity at least took a clear turn in Germany at the end of last year: effective from April 2014, the Federal Cartel Office has prohibited the largest online travel agent HRS to insist on rate parity. Now, the industry is debating what this new freedom entails for the individual hotel managers.
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| Alexander Pyhan, Marriott. |
The participants of the panel "Online distribution: How much business does your website generate?" want to contribute to this subject. Whether the provocative subtitle "Hotels, hotel chains and OTAs caught between commissions and profits" is true or not will be analysed by moderator Carolin Brauer. The Managing Director at Quality Reservations in Langenhagen near Hanover is a specialist in distribution.
Panel guests will be Alexander Pyhan, Sr. Director, Global eCommerce Channels at Marriott International, as representative for the hotel chain industry; at the same time, he will speak about the role of the US online booking platform Roomkey, where Marriott is co-founder. Susanne Weiss, Chief Executive Officer at the Ringhotels consortium, which currently has 130 members, will be speaking for the private hotel industry. Michael Buller, Chairman VIR – Association of Internet Travel Distribution, where many large OTAs are members, represents the views of this segment in the current discussion. Dr. Mark Friesen of Quinta Consulting, pricing expert with experience in the airline industry and non-tourism businesses, will deliver external input. This panel discussion comes directly after the keynote (11 a.m. to noon).
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| Michael Buller, VIR. |
The convention in the live stream
Those who are not able to participate in the ITB hotel convention in Berlin themselves should click on www.techcast.com/events/itb/en in the internet, starting at 10.30 a.m. Here, they will be able to follow the day's events via live stream.
For the 9th time, hospitalityInside.com is organising the ITB hotel convention and brings together outsiders, experts and newcomers on the podium. This year, the 26 discussion participants of the six panels come from seven countries and therefore reflect the increasing globalisation of the topics. hospitalityInside.com is responsible for the convention's content and is exclusive media partner. / kn
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