Since the launch of its guest experience management platform Xperium in 2018, India-based RepUp has seen its portfolio grow to nearly 30,000 rooms across South-east Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the US.
Xperium leverages AI to deliver analytics and automation that drive revenue, increase guest satisfaction and streamline operations for hospitality businesses.
Unlike most similar products on the market that only have transactional data about the guest, Xperium provides data such as the number of visits, average spend, average feedback score, online reviews, and more.
This data, along with the company’s in-house machine learning models, enable hotels to personalise guest experience based on purchase behaviour, past visits, feedback and guest preferences. This allows hotels to maximise revenue per guest through upselling and to offer relevant offers that have higher conversion rates through targeted omnichannel marketing.
“We have seen three to seven per cent additional revenue generated for our clients as a result of targeted marketing campaigns, upsells and direct bookings,” said Pranjal Prashar, CEO and co-founder at RepUp.
“Hotels use our solution in many ways, from highly specific campaigns like sending a freebie to guests on their fifth visit to simple upsells like room upgrades, spa packages, etc. Hotels have also been using the platform for remarketing to past guests or selling use-later vouchers during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Many of the company’s hotel clients used the platform to promote staycation/daycation packages, F&B offerings to customers within driving distance, and spa packages during the pandemic, shared Prashar.
And, despite the pandemic, the company expects to double its portfolio by the end of next year.
“We have a very healthy sales pipeline in these markets because of new partnerships and integrations built during the pandemic, and we expect to add another 30,000 rooms by the end of 2022,” said Prashar.
“In 2022, the markets of US, Middle East and South-east Asia are going to bring in an additional 15,000 rooms, whereas 10,000 are going to come from previously churned customers that stopped subscription due to the pandemic.”
He added the company has partnered with Guesty and a few other platforms to venture into a new vertical – vacation rentals, which is expected to contribute another 5,000 rooms.
Creating multiple local PMS partnerships is key to growing the company’s business since a lot of hotels prefer to use regional PMS players, explained Prashar.
During the pandemic, the company integrated with many PMS and strengthened its partnerships in target markets with key players, including Oracle, WINHMS, IDS, Cloudbeds and Hotelogix.
RepUp was among nine companies picked to be the pioneer cohort of the Singapore Tourism Accelerator, launched in October 2019 by the Singapore Tourism Board. The company’s participation in the programme pushed it to expand to other industry verticals, revealed Prashar.
“We opened up a new vertical dedicated to covering attractions, and the Singapore Tourism Board was a key part of this initiative. Customer experience and reputation is a larger problem for not just hospitality, but any customer facing brand,” he said, adding that the company has also ventured into the luxury retail segment which it is “highly optimistic” about.
Prashar said he is “cautiously optimistic” about the hospitality sector’s recovery, and has plans to strengthen the company’s presence across the globe over time.
He noted that the markets in which Xperium has a presence in are starting to see a pick-up in activity, and that global hotel occupancy has reached 60 per cent, almost double the occupancy figures in 2020 – which, though far from 2019 numbers, are “a big improvement”.
“Our direct focus is going to be in the Middle East, Africa and South-east Asian markets because we have a good presence there and the growth opportunity is immense. We are also expanding in the US through a partnership model with existing players in micro markets,” he said.
Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay has welcomed a new 15,000m² nature sanctuary, Kingfisher Wetlands, along its waterfront. It features more than 200 native true mangrove trees and mangrove associates planted amid newly-created water cascades and streamlets, as well as a wildlife lookout that bird-watchers and nature photographers will enjoy. Educational signage helps visitors gain a greater understanding of frequently-spotted wildlife in the area.
Tourism Australia has kicked off a campaign to welcome Singaporean citizens back to Australia, ahead of the opening up of quarantine-free travel for vaccinated citizens from Singapore to Australia on November 21.
The two-phase campaign, with the tagline We’re Excited to Welcome You Back, features destination imagery of the participating jurisdictions of New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory. It commenced on November 12, with the next phase to roll out on November 21.
“As one of our largest inbound markets, we have long held strong tourism ties with Singapore, so we are really excited to be welcoming this market back,” said Brent Anderson, Tourism Australia regional general manager South and South-east Asia.
He noted that Australia has long been a popular travel destination for Singaporeans, who spent A$1.53 billion (US$1.12 billion) on their travels here in 2019, and with more than 80 per cent repeat visitation.
“Australia’s relative isolation from the rest of the world, coupled with its sparsely populated land and natural wonders, have never been more precious and desirable, and we hope Singaporeans will jump on the opportunity to fall in love with Australia all over again,” said Anderson.
As part of the campaign, Tourism Australia is working with a range of key distribution partners to drive bookings and boost recovery for Australia’s hard-hit tourism economy, including Chan Brothers, UOB Travel, Dynasty Travel, CheapTickets.sg and Klook who will provide tactical offers aimed at stimulating travel to Australia from Singapore. Details of the available travel offers and packages are available on australia.com.
Tourism Australia is also partnering with Singapore Airlines and Qantas to support the recovery of the airline industry and recommence services into Australia in the coming months.