Digi Hotel stage

Market experts presented for three days all the modern tools of Digital Marketing for the tourism industry and the ways the hoteliers can use them in favor of their business.

During the three days of the exhibition, panel discussions and presentations of successful case studies took place on the specially designed stage in Hall 1 with the aim of providing solutions and suggestions to the Greek hotelier regarding the effective promotion of his business. At the same time, trends and good practices that entrepreneurs could apply to formulate a correct and efficient digital strategy were analyzed.

Online sales & smart tools analyzed by leading companies in digital marketing

On the third day, topics related to online sales and smart tools were analyzed. The discussions began with the presentation by CapsuleT, where the innovative services of new Greek companies were presented. The topic was “Technology services for the hotel and the guest – From accessibility to the dining experience without worrying about any lost items”. The speakers were Ms. Elisavet Karatzas, Co-founder of Deliverback, Mr. Ilias Andreas Alexakis, Co-founder of orbito travel and Mr. Tasos Kannavos, Co-founder of Cellarhopping and the moderator was Ms. Katerina Saridaki, Director of CapsuleT Travel & Hospitality Accelerator.

Then Mr. Thomas Poulios Founder, of HotelAvailabilities and Mr. Nikos Tsitsoulis Co-founder & Global Commercial Director of Hotel lab analyzed the topic of “Sales Distribution”. During the discussion, the distribution channels that can be used by the modern hotel were analyzed, as well as their correct use and selection by hoteliers. The discussion was moderated by Mr. Dimitris Serifis, CEO of Nelios. Immediately after, Mr. Markos Georgiou, Managing Director of Loguers spoke about the latest trends in online sales, while Mr. Panos Leontopoulos, CEO of Hotelistas, spoke about the art of Revenue management, who analyzed the techniques which can lead to better revenue. Ms. Vicky Dorzioti, Director of Sales of Axia Hospitality analyzed the main Sales KPIs, detailing the steps that the hotelier and his partners must follow.

In the first Workshop of the day with topic “All about Online All Year Sales”, Mr. Alexandros Kapsetakis, Revenue Manager of RevitUp and Mr. Federico Santos, Founder of PURO Managements Agency explained the sales strategy and pricing policy that a hotel must follow in order to achieve better revenues.

In the Inspirational Speech of the day, Ms. Aigli Balamatsi, CEO of Interweave made a speech on “Make Your Hotel a Destination”, analyzing the audience of the new era. Then Mr. Philip Kuchelmeister, CEO of HOTELLISTAT GMBH, talked about the fact that data analysis can be a very valuable tool for hoteliers. Immediately after, Mr. Grigoris Floutsakos, Business Development Director of Smartrep spoke about “One to One Marketing: The future of Personalization”. The last day of Digi Hotel was concluded with the Workshop on Start Up Tools for Smart Hotels, with Mr. Yiannis Charalampakis of HotelToolBox, Mr. Savvas Georgiou, co-Founder of Welcome Pickups and Mr. Yiannis Georgidakis of Guest Smart , who presented the solutions and tools they have developed for the hospitality industry.

Digital marketing, advertising & integrated digital solutions for hotels

The day started with a discussion on Business Intelligence in the hotel industry. Mr. Giorgos Apostolidis Cloud & BI Consultant, Revival Consulting Services, Mr. Stamatis Anestis president of Cactus Digital Growth and Mr. Dimitris Angeloudis Vice President and CEO , Cactus Digital Growth analyzed how hoteliers can gain complete control of their business through digital tools. The panel was moderated by Mr. Giorgos Antipa, President & CEO of Revival Consulting Services.
During the following panel, Mr. Christos Vahamidis, CEO of WebOlution, Mr. Stathis Katsoula of Web in Tourism, Mr. Stamatis Anestis, President and CEO of Cactus Digital Growth and Mr. Michalis Ikoutas Managing Partner of Three Sixty, talked about the latest developments in the digital marketing of hotels, the changes and new data of the sector. The panel was moderated by Mr. Apostolos Ayvalis, CEO of Knowcrunch.

Then, Mr. Theodoros Katsimbras COO, of BookOnlineNow and Mr. Vassilis Doumas BPM & Business Intelligence Manager, of Worldline Greece analyzed the topic of the Digital Funnel and the Customers journey from first click to Booking & Payment, explaining the procedures of the digital journey of today’s traveler, but also the solutions provided by digital payments in the entire range of transactions.
Then Ms. Zaharoula Katrade, Head Of Marketing and Ms. Konstantina Lolis, Digital Account Manager of the company Digital Up analyzed the latest trends in hotel advertising on Social Media and gave some tips for the 2024 season to the hoteliers. The first Workshop of the day, entitled “Ads from A to Z”, informed the hoteliers about the practical solutions and answers for the entire spectrum of digital advertising. The speakers were Mr. Antonis Oulis, of ADS Solutions, Mr. Giorgos Iliopoulos of Hellenic Technologies and Mr. Alexandros Damigos of the company RateParity.

The Inspirational Speech of the day was given by Ms. Katerina Dimitrakopoulou, Managing Director of the SCL Mellon company. She talked about the content and what today’s travelers really want to know about the hotel they will visit. Then Mr. Dimitris Mathioudakis, Co-Founder of Mind The Ad analyzed the most current issue of Google Analytics 4 for hotels, explaining the big changes it includes.
During the second Workshop of the day on “Content: Video, Texts, Social Media, Blogging”, the speakers Mr. Vassilis Polyzos, Co-Founder of The VSCOPE, Ms. Marieta Sarigiannidou, Founder of MYND, Mr. Tasos Veliadis, Chief Strategist of Socialab and Mr. Stavros Hambakis, Visual Storyteller, presented the latest trends in the subject of the basic content for hotels. The Workshop was coordinated by Mr. Dimitris Dimitriadis. The last presentation of the day was entitles “What the candidates of the Hospitality industry want”, and was presented by Mr. Nikos Foros, Head of Employer Branding Solutions at kariera.gr.

The next day in hotel digital marketing by leading market executives

The digital transformation of hotel businesses was the main topic of the first day of Digi Hotel, the largest forum for the digital world of hotels held as part of the Xenia 2023 exhibition.

Ms. Ioanna Tzima, Head of Digital of the company Mativision spoke about the “Benefits of XR technologies and the Metaverse in the Hospitality business”. This was followed by a panel discussion on the topic of digital transformation and the significant benefits that hotels derive, moderated by Mr. Kostis Kapopoulos, co-founder of W2 and speakers by Mr. Basilis Riavoglou, Senior Business Development Manager Eastern Med & Balkans of OTA Insight, Mr. Konstantinos Panagiotakis Senior Sales Manager of GIATA, Mr. Dimitris Kapellos Head of R&D Innovation of Globalsat and Mr. Georgios Apostrangis, Commercial Director of Digital4U.

Ms. Maria Sarri, Head Of Sales of Webhotelier/primalres talked about the integration of basic digital tools and how they now work as a powerful weapon for hotel sales, explaining how this is achieved with the combination of Booking Engines, PMS and Channel Manager. Mr. Dimitris Serifis, CEO of the Nelios company, spoke about the critical issue of Search marketing (SEO, Google Ads) and the changes that have taken place today from the point of view of travelers, who are looking for more and more specific things and how the hotel should shape its content.

The new modern website of the hotel and how it should be designed, was analyzed by Mr. Angelos Karagounakis, CEO of Hotelwize in his speech titled “Towards a New Era for the Hotel Website”. This was followed by a panel discussion on “A Digital Day at Hotel Office: Reservations, Digital Payments, Marketing”, moderated by Ms. Vicky Tryfona, Powergame Journalist and speakers Mr. Konstantinos Alexiou, Commercial Director of Worldline Greece, Mr. Giorgos Ziogas partner of Global Mind and Ms. Dimitra Aridas VP Marketing & Sales, of the hotel chain Brown Hotels in Greece. As the speakers explained, technology helps hotels to highlight their services, reach larger audiences and optimize their reservations. There are now tools for all sizes of accommodation, while the important topic of digital payments and how they can be leveraged by hoteliers was highlighted.

Mr. Panagiotis Alefragkis, Head of Digital & 360 of The Newtons Laboratory, delivered the first inspirational speech of the event on “Hospitality of Tomorrow: Redefining Guest Experiences in the Future’s Hotels”. The current topic of artificial intelligence “AI”, was developed by Mr. Manolis Papadakis, General Manager of Eurotel presenting the most innovative solutions currently applied in the hotel industry. Mr. Giorgos Tatsis, General Manager of the company e-dreams analyzed the topic of Smart hotel & Business Intelligence.

The work of the first day was concluded with a panel discussion on “Funding Programs and Tools 2024 – Which ones do we expect and which ones can we use from today”, moderated by Ms. Viki Vamiedaki journalist at NEWS 24/7 and speakers Mr. Giorgos Antipa, President & CEO of Revival Consulting Services, Mr. Vassilis Zimnis, Head of Financing Department of Revival Consulting Services, Mr. Spyros Redetakos, Director of the Banking Department of Small Businesses of Alpha Bank and Mr. Vassilis Bitunis, Businessman – Hotelier.

The discussion analyzed the financing tools that hoteliers can take advantage of today in order to modernize their business or create a new one, while great emphasis was placed on the combination of financing from more than one program. In addition, the unique opportunities available for financing from the Recovery Fund, which concern small and medium-sized enterprises, but also the importance of choosing the right advisers, were highlighted.