Guest Lecture: Sharing Practical Experiences with Online Travel Platforms

To provide students of the Master of Science programme in “Luxury Hospitality and Health Service Management” with a comprehensive understanding of the current state and future trends of the hospitality industry, Lecture Mr. James Wong invited Mr. Kenji Chan, Sales Manager of Hotel Central Macau in Macau, to deliver an engaging lecture on practical experiences with Online Travel Agencies (OTAs).

Mr. Chan began by giving an overview of OTAs, illustrating key applications within the travel industry. He highlighted various aspects, including consumer-focused platforms, commercial and operational use by suppliers, and the latest technological integrations.

He then elaborated on the relationship between travel industry suppliers and OTAs, reviewing the history of OTA development. He pointed out several challenges faced by the hotel sector, such as high commission rates, overbooking or underbooking issues, opaque incentivisation mechanisms, and lack of brand control. To address these, he shared strategies for hotels to leverage OTA platforms effectively, including inventory synchronization and real-time updates, rapid order processing and confirmation, data forecasting, dynamic pricing and revenue management, as well as feedback monitoring and response to enhance occupancy and profitability.

Mr. Chan also introduced the current rankings of leading OTAs and analysed the global OTA market. He predicted that industry competition would increasingly focus on technological innovations—such as AR navigation and blockchain-based room status management—and ecosystem integrations, citing examples like Trip.com’s cooperation with airlines and Meituan’s collaborations with scenic spots. Users will be able to choose platforms flexibly according to their travel scenarios to enjoy optimal experiences. Mr. Chan demonstrated how hotels utilise OTA platforms through a series of internal data displays, showing students how these platforms can improve operational efficiency and occupancy rates.

Through this lecture, students gained a deeper insight into the current landscape and future development of OTAs, along with a clearer understanding of how hotels can use these platforms to target different customer segments and optimise sales and services.