GUEST BLOG: What’s in a name? Understanding the confusion about “serviced apartments”

I can’t begin to express just how many times I’ve had the following conversation with people:

“So what industry do you work in?”

“The serviced apartment industry.”

“Do you sell apartments?”

“No, we provide short or long stay accommodation for business and leisure travellers.”

“Oh, so it’s like a hotel?”

“Not exactly…”

There is a lot of confusion over the name of the serviced apartment industry, and indeed of similar relatively new types of accommodation becoming regularly used by business and leisure guests. Apart-hotels, corporate housing, residences – just what exactly is the difference between all of these types of accommodation?

Serviced apartments are fully equipped and furnished apartments available for short or long stays, with some of the facilities of a hotel such as 24 hour reception and weekly housekeeping. Aparthotels are the middle-ground between serviced apartments and hotels; they are extended stay hotels that feature extra “home from home” facilities such as a kitchenette and a small living area, but that are managed and run like a hotel - for instance, maintaining a daily cleaning service. Corporate housing is a term used for fully furnished apartments which are rented out for fixed periods of time, but do not benefit from services such as a reception or regular housekeeping.

How does the name of each one affect how they are perceived by the public? As Juliet famously pondered in Shakespeare’s classic play, what’s in a name? When we think about apartments, the first thing that will come to mind is real estate – buying or renting an apartment through an estate agent. This seems to be the cause of most people’s misunderstandings with what serviced apartments actually are, assuming that we sell apartments.

The word ‘apartment’ in itself is an Americanism that has become adopted here in the UK but appears to have taken on a slightly more particular meaning here. In the United States whereas ‘apartment’ refers to self-contained housing units generally, in the UK it is typically used to refer to higher-end or more luxury units – instead using the word ‘flat’ for general usage or more lower-end builds.

What would the connotation be if our industry was known as “serviced flats” in the UK? I suspect that this would affect how the product our industry offers is perceived, with more people viewing serviced apartments as a less premium budget option akin to hostels. And whilst this option may certainly exist as with the broad range of options available within the hotel industry, it is certainly not representative of an entire sector.

So it would appear that what’s in a name is, in fact, rather important for creating the right impression about the industry for potential guests. One question to ask would be this: do we really need so many names? Would our industry benefit to some extent from name homogenisation?

What can be confusing is the way in which companies have categorised themselves. Can a serviced apartment company consider themselves to have corporate housing accommodation? Of course. Is a hotel chain that also owns serviced apartments still just a hotel chain? Maybe. Even Marlin will face this problem in the future considering the fact that our seventh property to open in 2016 is our first aparthotel.

But what is certain is that when serviced apartments gain further recognition in 2015 and become more of a standard choice for the leisure traveller as well as the business traveller, the understanding will also come naturally.

This post was written by Susan Cully, managing director, Marlin Apartments - https://twitter.com/marlinlondon. Marlin is exhibiting at the Business Travel Show, 25-26 February 2015, Olympia Grand, London - register NOW for free at www.businesstravelshow.com. 

GUEST BLOG: Tips to finding a better deal on air travel in 2015

Everyone loves a deal – especially when it can mean capturing more satisfaction for business travellers in addition to cost savings. Business Travel Show exhibitor Egencia teamed up with Expedia and the Airline Reporting Corporation (ARC) to study 2015 air travel trends. Here are a few tips to help you and your business travellers get ready for takeoff.

1. Expect lower prices in 2015. Overall, slight increases in demand and larger increases in supply, combined with declining fuel prices should lead to lower prices in North America and Europe in 2015.
2. Buy tickets on Tuesday. Air-ticket price data indicates that for travel booked more than three weeks in advance of departure date, Tuesday still appears, by the slimmest of margins, to be the best day of the week to buy.
3. Consider premium class for short-hauls. Premium-class tickets are potentially more valuable on short-haul routes as the fare gap between premium and economy cabins appears to be shrinking.
4. Know your bundles and their prices. Internationally, especially in Europe, low cost carriers continue to drive prices lower, due in part to unbundling services and prompting legacy carriers to do the same.
5. Choose days to fly carefully. For long-haul flights, leaving on a Thursday and returning on a Monday, can save 20%. On short-haul flights, departing on a Saturday and returning on Tuesday can save up to 25%. And, this could provide your travellers a chance to enjoy their destination.

This post was written by Graham Kingsmill, managing director, EgenciaUK. 

Want to know more about air trends for 2015? Find more specific regional and market-by-market details in our full report: Preparing For Takeoff: Air Travel Trends 2015 or schedule time to visit Egencia at the BusinessTravel Show in Stand B435. Register now for a free visitor pass to the show at www.businesstravelshow.com. 

GUEST BLOG: TMC challenges and opportunities in 2015

As travel management specialists for the oil, gas and marine sectors, Wings starts 2015 heavily focused on helping clients reduce their costs further to meet the challenge of the rapid decline in the cost of oil, whilst, at the same time, capitalising on technological developments which can assist the journey of the business traveller. 

The current downturn in the oil price is reflected by producers having to cut their costs or mothball certain projects, to reduce their operating costs and the impact flows down to all service providers, including travel management companies. It’s a cyclical event and will eventually recover but, for now, everyone is tightening their belts and holding on for a rough ride. Getting value for money from business travel is even more vital. Specially negotiated airline rates designed for the oil, gas and marine industries reflect the specific needs of these travellers and offer the best value.

Traveller tracking has always been a critical element of travel management for the oil and gas industry and it is no surprise that safety and security is paramount to every business traveller now. The advance in technology continues to benefit travellers; be it from simple travel apps for service updates and check-in, to safety devices that monitor passengers throughout the journey, using real time traveller tracking based on a single technology platform to ensure accuracy. New advances using GPRS on smart phones, travel coordinators can send a controlled message to their travellers to confirm they are okay.

Launching soon is a new breed of intuitive, self-service and mobile-enabled business intelligence tools, so that clients can measure and improve the performance of their travel programmes and perform comprehensive analytics, transforming their data into valuable insights for more informed, decision making.

In the oil sector technological progress has expanded the boundaries of exploration in emerging markets, some of them with limited infrastructure and challenging safety and geopolitical concerns. The key destinations over the next five to ten years will depend on the political and environmental landscape that the global leaders follow – interesting times ahead.

This blog post was written by Paul East, COO UK, Europe and Americas, Wings Travel Management. Wings is exhibiting at the Business Travel Show, 25-26 February 2015, Olympia Grand, London. Register for a free visitor pass now at www.businesstravelshow.com. 

TRAVEL MANAGERS LOOKING AFTER MEETINGS RISES AGAIN

Much has been written about the convergence of travel and meetings in recent years, with many professionals now having travel and meetings in their job titles. As time goes on, there seem to be no sign of this trend abating as, according to a survey by the Business Travel Show, the number of business travel managers with responsibility for meetings management is on the rise again - last year it increased from 52 to 57 per cent. The number of organisations with a strategic meetings management programme in place also increased, from 27 per cent to 34 per cent.

179 travel buyers took part in the survey, 73 per cent from the UK and the remainder from continental Europe. We have been asking these questions of our buyers since 2010 and below you can see the yearly comparisons:

(1) Does your remit include meetings management?

	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010
Yes	57	52	55	40	51
No	43	48	45	60	49

(2) Do you have a strategic meetings management programme in place?

	2014	2013	2012	2011
Yes	34	27	39	30
No	41	45	37	41
Planning to	24	28	27	22

One of the buyers on the Business Travel Show advisory board - Jef Robinson, global category manager (meetings and events), Citrix Systems - pointed out that, while more and more travel managers may be taking on responsibility for meetings management it doesn’t mean the transition is without its challenges. He said: "It’s tricky to develop a meetings and events process that reduces risk and reduces company expenditure but without planners losing ownership. Selling the concept of SMMP technology within an organisation is also a difficult task but, done well, it’s a transition that will not only help companies to leverage better deals with suppliers but also improve their duty of care.”

So, it's a tricky job but one that more and more managers are being faced with. Perhaps now is an opportune time to point out that there are a number of meetings related conference sessions at the Business Travel Show next month which are designed to help you make that transition smoothly.

Tues 24 February, 1630-1730        

Integrating travel and meetings

More and more companies are combining their management of travel and meetings, not only to leverage better deals with suppliers but to improve their duty of care and achieve many other efficiencies. Does integration make sense for your business too?

Thurs 26 February, 1600-1700

First steps in strategic meetings management

Many companies would like to manage their meetings with a co-ordinated strategy but there are many challenges, from internal resistance to lack of reliable data. How do you overcome these hurdles to get yourself on the road to true meetings management?

About the Business Travel Show:

The Business Travel Show, held annually in London for 20 years, is Europe’s largest specialised exhibition and conference bringing together 6,500 European travel professionals. This long established and reputable event provides business travel buyers and managers with the suppliers, knowledge and contacts to help create and develop successful travel programmes.

Please don't miss out - they are free to attend so register now at www.businesstravelshow.com - and let us help you master the art of meetings. 

This post was written by David Chapple, event director, Business Travel Show. You can contact him at david@businesstravelshow.com or chat to him on Twitter @David_Chapple.