The German online distribution specialist Quality Reservations honours hotels that generate sustainable revenue through strategy, inspire guests and employees and inspire and advance the industry with pioneering ideas with the Forward Thinker Award. The winner and thus "QR Forward Thinker" ("QR Vordenker") 2024 is the Hotel Telegraphenamt in Berlin. Tobias Koppisch, Head of Sales & Marketing, and Vanessa Bigge, Director of Revenue & Reservations, accepted the award. The award ceremony took place on the eve of ITB Berlin at the Hotel Telegraphenamt.
Hotel Telegraph Office
The boutique hotel near Museum Island, which only opened in 2023, emerged as the winner of the competition of 280 QR partner hotels, which had to prove their thought leadership in four assessment categories in 2024: inspiring employees and guests, living sustainability and generating revenue with the right strategy. The Hotel Telegraphenamt was exemplary in inspiring employees through knowledge transfer and further training, asserting itself in the hotly contested Berlin market, including in the business segment, and achieving a direct sales share of 40% in the channel mix.
Concrete measures: All sensible automation and digitalisation measures were implemented for employees from day 1. For example, two-way interfaces were established that linked online sales with analogue sales. This reduced the workload for employees, increased their efficiency and left much more time for guests on site. A lot of time was invested in training and further education on the topic of online guests, as the aim is to welcome this demanding clientele accordingly.
Inspiring guests and generating revenue: To secure important market shares, the telegraph office relied on a digitally flawless and emotional guest approach. Particular attention was paid to making the hotel easy to find on the internet through the Google Organic listing. This measure is an important part of the booking engine at QR.
QR's reasoning: "The Hotel Telegraphenamt is characterised by its forward-thinking mindset, its willingness to invest and its trust in the complete one-stop sales solution offered by QR," explained QR Managing Director Carolin Brauer. In addition to the award, the mastermind hotel received an executive marketing package worth 9,000 euros. Tobias Koppisch praised the competition as a valuable contribution to the further development of the industry: "With the Forward Thinker competition, QR shows best practice examples that can be implemented and that every hotel can learn from."
The winners and the QR team at the "QR Forward Thinker" award 2024 (from left): Angela Friedrichs-Özdemir (QR), Erik van den Bergh (Infinity Hotel & Conference Resort Munich), Vanessa Bigge & Tobias Koppisch (Telegraphenamt), Alexander Günther (Atlantic Grand Hotel Bremen), Katia A. Müller and Carolin Brauer (QR).QR Vordenker 2024_Platzierte_QR Team
Atlantic Grand Hotel Bremen
As in the previous year, the Atlantic Grand Hotel Bremen took second place. The 4-star superior hotel with 234 rooms has been a QR partner hotel since it opened in 2010. Decisive factors for the nomination were the high proportion of direct sales (34%), the low staff turnover and the long-standing commitment to sustainability.
Concrete measures: Sustainability has many facets at the Atlantic Grand Hotel Bremen. The hotel has e-charging points and is certified as a Green Sign Hotel Level 4. It places great importance on regionality, produces its own honey and is a member of United Against Waste and Too Good To Go. These measures were consistently continued and communicated in 2024. In the business area, sustainable partnerships with companies and consortia were maintained as before: The hotel offered corresponding rates and also the QR business rate for business travellers without a fixed contract, regularly communicated all news with the help of marketing in the relevant GDS systems and via the Travel Messenger newsletter.
For Sales Manager Alexander Günther, the competition had a noticeable effect on teamwork: "We will continue to explore new ideas and technologies to offer our guests a unique experience and integrate even more environmentally friendly practices into our everyday lives."
Infinity Hotel & Conference Resort Munich
Last year's winner, the Infinity Hotel & Conference Resort Munich, took third place. With 439 rooms, it is the largest hotel & conference centre in southern Germany and has been a QR partner hotel since 2017. The reasons for the nomination emphasised the high level of innovation, the cultivation of sustainable partnerships and the strong increase in revenue from direct sales in the business and leisure segment.
Concrete measures: A large proportion of the increase in sales was recorded in the MICE sector. The Infinity used so-called MICE links with great success. These are created individually for the room contingent when a conference is booked and passed on to the booking company. These in turn pass the MICE link on to the participants, who can then book in independently 7/24. Additional effect: The bookings are immediately loaded into the PMS without the need for manual work - a significant relief for event departments in companies and hotels.
General Manager Erik van den Bergh once again drew a positive balance of the competition: "Our insights from the Forward Thinker competition are manifold and have positively influenced both the team dynamics and our way of working. The intensive discussion of the topics of quality and innovation and the establishment of a feedback culture strengthened the team and encouraged the willingness to take on new challenges."
Forward-thinking qualities are indispensable
The hotels in 2nd and 3rd place were delighted to receive a superior marketing package worth 6,000 euros. At the end of the award ceremony, the outstanding achievements were toasted together with a mastermind cocktail created by ChatGPT. Carolin Brauer summarised: "Thinking and acting with foresight is essential in these fast-moving times with demanding guests and smaller teams. We value the close dialogue with all our partner hotels. We can only deliver the right solutions if we know what our partner hotels are dealing with." / CB
