But Why is Technology Important in the Hospitality Industry?

Travelers, today, are now more inclined toward services that are tech-driven, simple, and deliver personalized experiences. These changing needs and wants of travelers are defining the way hotels operate.

Further, it’s not just only delivering the guest experience, but certain technologies have also made hotel operations really seamless. Tasks that once required a lot of manpower can now be done in minutes with little to no human involvement.

To stay ahead of the game and expand business in this extremely competitive industry, technology is definitely a weapon in the arsenal of hotels worldwide.

Phil Davidson in interaction with GuestRevu said:

When it comes to managing a hotel, there are many forms of technology and the needs are very universal. Whether they’re being used in different regions or different types of accommodations, hotel technologies have undeniable benefits in terms of streamlining operations, informing operational decisions, increasing bookings, and maintaining high standards of customer service.

Gavin Philipp, VP of Operations, Charlestowne Hotels said: 

When a guest stays at a hotel, they expect their personal devices to do whatever it is they need it to do automatically – hotels need to be able to deploy the technology to do that seamlessly. They must focus on ensuring personal tech is integrated with the hotel itself.

Example of Hotels Making the Best Out of Technology

To help you understand better the role of technology in hotels, here are some examples of hotels that have turned to hotel tech and are reaping the benefits.

Boutique Hotel Palacio, Dominican Republic

Boutique Hotel Palacio in the Dominican Republic is a great example of how hotel technology increases revenue.

The hotel incorporated a cloud hotel PMS and an integrated channel manager in the tech stack as it was looking for a way to cut down on the hefty commissions to the OTAs. With the channel manager connectivity, they quickly witnessed significant gains in terms of direct bookings.

Cremorne Point Manor, Australia 

Cremorne Point Manor in Australia is a 4-star Boutique Hotel. The property was looking for a simplified process of their day-to-day routine.

They deployed a robust cloud hotel PMS along with some integrations. What did they achieve?

They have not only streamlined their hotel’s end-to-end operations but have also witnessed a 21% hike in their revenue.

Zostel, India

India’s first chain of backpacker’s hostels, Zostel is another great example of a property making the best out of technology.

Zostel is using a channel manager that allows them to control rates, and distribute inventory from a single dashboard. Also, they are able to monitor occupancy rates constantly to eliminate under bookings and boost revenues.

Palm Oasis Boutique Hotel, Thailand

Having a system that lets you strike the correct balance between OTAs and direct bookings is really important for a successful hotel business. And Thailand-based, Palm Oasis Boutique Hotel is a great example of that.

Palm Oasis deployed a hotel management system with an integrated channel manager and booking engine. They quickly witnessed the benefits it presented.

They are now able to take care of commission-free bookings from the website as well as bookings from my travel agents. And they can view all of that from one single dashboard.

How does Technology Increases Your Hotel Revenue?

We cannot emphasize enough how important technology is for modern hoteliers. And having a great hotel technology stack increases revenue. But how does that happen? Just because you have a certain tech in place, will your sales go through the roof?

Well, that’s not exactly the case. 

Smart technologies make the guest journey simple and help deliver personalized experiences. The more customers feel valued, the more they will spread the word and this drives your bookings.

Now to help you understand better, let us show you 6 ways hotel technology contributes to your revenue.

#1 Streamlines your booking process

Technologies like a cloud hotel PMS, mobile app, booking engine, and channel manager make your entire booking process really simple. The scope of error reduces significantly, which in turn saves you from booking losses.

• A hotel PMS makes your frontdesk more efficient as most of the tasks get automated. Your frontdesk staff can quickly take reservations and check-in guests. 
• With a hotel mobile app, you can manage hotel operations right from your smartphones. You can accept bookings, check-in and check-out guests, and perform a lot of other tasks. 
• Direct bookings are commission-free and contribute to your overall revenue. And a booking engine helps with just that. It provides guests with the opportunity to reserve with your hotel directly from your website and social media.
• Overbookings might cost you business. And this is where a channel manager comes into the picture. With a channel manager, you can sell your rooms on multiple OTAs at the same time. Also, it updates your inventory on all the channels in real-time, reducing the risk of overbooking.

Simply put, hotel technology allows you to accept bookings from multiple avenues in an error-free manner. Also, it makes the entire process guest-friendly which is a major factor in bringing more business.

#2 Helps you upsell and cross-sell better

You cannot neglect upselling and cross-selling at any cost when it comes to increasing your hotel revenue.

But what do you need to improve your upsell and cross-sell game? It’s DATA such as the guest’s preferences or purchase history. 

There are certain technologies that let you gather the right data in the right form, analyse them, and target guests who are more likely to buy your services. 

So, incorporate those systems in your hotel’s infrastructure, sell better, deliver a great experience and enhance your revenue.

#3 Increases staff efficiency

When hotels work towards increasing revenue, they mostly overlook their staff. It is really important for hotels to ensure staff efficiency because this enhances guest satisfaction and that ultimately contributes to your hotel revenue.

Today, technologies like cloud Hotel PMS, mobile app, automated staff training systems etc. have made the daily operations of a hotel much simpler.

Hotel’s staff now have more time to focus on guests, rather than getting busy sitting in front of the systems.  

For example: If your hotel frontdesk is equipped with an OCR-powered management system, then you don't have to manually enter all your guests’ details. You can scan the guest IDs and auto-fill the required details, making the entire process fast and simple.

#4 Makes your marketing more effective

Marketing is really crucial for a successful business, irrespective of the industry. And the hotel business is no exception. 

However, hotel marketers need to have the right metrics if they want to deliver more. This is where technology in hotels steps in.

Here’s how it helps:

• It allows you to gather and store huge data in the right form and from the right sources.
• You can use that data to understand your target audience.
• You can deliver more effective campaigns — be it an email, or an in-message ad or just an ad post on your potential guests’ social media feed. 
• Platforms like Google Ads and Facebook ads also improve your digital marketing efforts. You can run your ads based on your audience understanding, preferences and location.
• Then there’s WhatsApp marketing which has gained a lot of traction lately. You can drop personalised text messages right into your former/existing/potential guests’ WhatsApp inbox.
• Further, with technologies like beacon, you can send targeted adverts to people based on how near they are (or their device) is to your location.

#5 Helps you make informed decisions

The price you charge for your hotel rooms is vital for your business and it requires strategic decision making.

Technologies like revenue management systems and hotel PMS can make this process a bit simple for you (if not completely). A revenue management system allows you to analyse the market and helps you determine the rates that are being offered at competing hotels.

And when you have this information handy, it becomes much easier to make an informed decision which helps in boosting your hotel revenue.

#6 Improves guests’ experience

A guest is always a hotel’s priority and technology helps extensively in improving their experience. Also, the happier your guests are the more likely you are to increase your returns.

There are a lot of guest-facing technologies that are being used by hotels today. Let me help you understand with examples.

Example 1: Amid the COVID pandemic, guest safety is of utmost priority and with contactless technologies, you can avoid compromising with it. When you have a contactless system in place, you can allow your guests to bypass the frontdesk and go to their rooms directly with little to no human contact.

Example 2: Kiosk is a great way to let the guests check-in in a much simpler manner. Guests can go to a kiosk, scan their IDs, get their temperature check and check into their rooms. They don’t have to come in contact with anyone else in the hotel.

The hotel industry is anyway ever-evolving, and with the COVID pandemic, the industry is forced to transform all over again to fit into the new normal. In this entire transformation, technology is at the centre.

Hotels that are keeping abreast with the latest techs are more likely to stay profitable in the long run.

Different Ways You Can Use Technology In Your Hotel Operations

Now that we have seen how hotel technology increases revenue, let us look at some ways to use technology to increase hotel revenue.

• Frontdesk: Incorporate a cloud hotel management system that automates your hotel’s end to end operations. This will help you minimize wait time and increase your staff’s efficiency.
• Mobile App: Introduce a mobile app for your hotel to let your guests have easy access to all your services. You can also equip it with in-app messaging and AI-chatbot to communicate with your guests.
• Touchless Hospitality: Allow your guest to self-check-in at your property. The more concerned you become towards your guests’ safety, the more you gain guest loyalty.
• Direct Booking: Integrate a booking engine to your website and Facebook pages to drive more direct bookings and do away with third-party commissions.
• OTA Bookings: Have a channel manager in place to update your room inventory in all OTAs in real-time and avoid overbooking.
• Point-of-Sale System: A POS system integrated with your hotel PMS helps you streamline all your F&B services.
• Online Reputation: Get reputation management and feedback management system to strengthen your online presence. A feedback management system will help you discover how guests experience your services and a reputation management system will help you monitor guests’ reviews.
• Revenue Management: Revenue management is crucial for hotels to stay profitable. Having a revenue management system in place helps hoteliers in using data from their own hotel and from the market at large to predict consumer behaviour and sell the rooms and services at an optimal price.
• Financial Accounting: Hotel financial accounting empowers hotels to make better decisions and bring in good fortune. When you have a system that deals with your hotel finances, you can be more efficient in budgeting, forecasting, and planning future costs.

The post How Hotel Technology Extensively Contributes to Your Overall Revenue? appeared first on eZee Absolute.

Well, for some of your fellow hoteliers; this still might not be a reason powerful enough to invest in a tool called channel manager. If you too are looking for a compelling conviction on why to invest in leading-edge distribution automation technology, read on:

Hotelier and Channel Manager: The connection

Room availability and rates; these are prime factors that govern the ROI of your hotel business. You are well aware that managing an optimum level of rates and occupancy is sheer essentiality, and it falls completely under your span of control. Not to forget that this is a continuous process (a full-time job for those who perform it manually) to be followed day in and day out at any accommodation.

Therefore, it is indispensable to evaluate the number of efforts, time, energy and payroll that are dedicated to maintaining them manually. Just imagine, what if you can automate this process and get rid of manual operations? Wouldn’t it be a giant relief? Hence, for you to get a channel manager and ease up, we have accumulated top “7 reasons as to why hotels need a channel manager”.

1. Easily add new booking channels for your hotel. The more the better!

Multi-channel booking strategy is what works best in any season. A hotelier following this does not have to depend on limited booking sources. The more sources that bring you booking, the better and safer it is for your business. Implementing a channel manager at your property gives you access to hundreds of connected channels. A channel manager bridges your property with all those booking platforms, displays your inventory to crowds of bookers looking for accommodation in your city and brings you paid bookings. Moreover, being connected to online platforms has more advantages such as,

• Higher distribution reach,

• Demand generation,

• Higher ROI,

• Variety of booking sources,
• And, get seen by regional as well as global bookers.

2. Single dashboard for strategic inventory and rate management

Tiresome inventory management becomes hassle free once you deploy a channel manager to do that. Moreover,

• You get a single dashboard that gives you an insightful overview of availability and rates distributed on all connected channels.

• Minimized human intervention with system to push and pull data. You can post and manage precise room rates and inventory allocation with minimum efforts.

• You can send out pooled inventory to channels to acquire maximum bookings from any channel, without worrying about overbookings.

• Your room rates and availability are always in sync and latest to the moment across all channels, so that your staff does not need to sit and pass on inventory refill and updates. 

• You can post restrictions and inclusions; while processing new, modified and cancelled reservations centrally.

• Rates on different OTAs, vacation rental portals, metasearch platforms and even your own website; manage it from one-place.
• You can manage multiple properties too.

Everything automated. Just send a command and system does it for you. Instead of manual operations, you can focus and strategize better distribution.

3. Time saving automation with even 365 days calendar update

Without a software, inventory and rate distribution across channels is a do-it-yourself task for you. You might miss something, and it can cause errors, double bookings, wrong or delayed updates and a lot many unpredictable mistakes. Duh! And then comes correction part, consuming more of your time. You might lose track of updates. You might never realize if your sent update was never executed at OTA end. What a sad life, isn’t it?

Now think of a channel manager that can magically take all this of your pain away. Yes, a channel manager would not make humanly(!) mistakes or errors, maintain update logs, keep control on overbookings, keep inventory and rates always latest and synced, and notify you of updates communicated to OTA. Take a sigh of relief, I know you are getting a Channel Manager for your hotel now.
Moreover, you can update calendar even for an entire year if you want on channels that support it, in just a click. Let the system take care of rate updates and while you sit back and enjoy your time conversing with a guest or two.

4. Quick stop sale and auto-updates. Do more with lesser efforts

Imagine a sticky situation when suddenly a group demands bookings and you need to use up inventory that is currently allocated to and live on a given travel site. I know there remains a sense of fear while stopping the sale manually. So many to-and-fro operations might overwhelm you. This is when a system like channel manager comes to your rescue.

If you are sending room rates and occupancy details too frequently; you might as well need to ask a particular channel to stop selling a certain part of your inventory. Later on you might release inventory. All you have to do is click on stop sale button and system will automatically put a halt to online sale of your inventory on a that channel. Not only saving you repeated efforts, it also prevents revenue loss you might suffer due to this errors.

Just a channel manager and there you go….No more mismatching inventory, no more revenue leakage, no more delay, no more overbooking. All you have is swift and simple distribution with real time updates at remarkably reduced manual efforts!

5. Minimize over bookings and under-bookings. Utilize complete inventory!

A channel manager comes up with several built-in mechanisms that help you effectively prevent overbookings and under-bookings. Sometimes, you might end up receiving more bookings than your physical capacity, and bingo! your inventory is oversold.

On the other hand, due to uneven distribution, possibly you might not be using inventory to the fullest capacity, that is, under-bookings! Without a channel manager when you go out to resolve this, it can prove to be the toughest job ever.

Just some human or technical errors might cost your hotel loss of reputation, decreased customer loyalty and much more. At such times, channel manager keeps on trying in back-end multiple times until a request sent to OTA is not successful in order to save you from overselling. And it notifies you as well with execution status. So, you need to have that channel manager because you know you cannot afford to sit and keep a tab on updates communicated to OTAs and their statuses.

6. Effortless rate parity maintenance

It can be tricky when you see your demand increased and your want to make the most of it. Might as well you want to give out rooms on discounted rates to your guests, which becomes easy as a pie with a distribution tool.

Channel manager systems are developed to automatically maintain efficient rates to ensure that any changes you make on system are unanimously updated across all platforms in real-time, leaving no room for errors. Thus, you can avoid rate disparity and enhance your hotel’s online reputation.

7. Yield Management features for skyrocketing efficiency

More than just a number Best Available Rate (BAR) is a way to achieve optimal revenue. It’s a brainstorming task to set up a dynamic rate plans and derive the most suitable room price of the day.

If you have a channel manager, it can help you sell right room at right price at right time; that too, automatically. Owing to high/low occupancy at your property, system will hike up or slash down room rates to sell each and every room for you. Sounds like a smart idea to increase bookings? That’s the most effective yield management.

Done, there you go! Now that you have assimilated the top reason why you should get a channel manager, there is one more thing you should know about. Before you begin evaluating an online distribution tool for your property, do keep in mind these points.

• Channel manager should give you connection with your already existing booking channels.

• Channel manager provider should be able to quickly connect you with channel of your choice so that you can broaden your reach.

• How about foreign currency conversions in system?
• It should integrate with systems that you use at your property. For example, it should integrate with a hotel PMS or booking engine, so that you operate on a live inventory at any given time.

Final takeaway: The good, The better, the best

Without a channel manager,

• Every morning you rush to update all calendars with live rates and the latest occupancy.

• Keep worrying about overbookings or missed bookings.

• Repeat those same time-consuming tasks every day.
• You might lose that potential revenue you could’ve earned otherwise.

With a channel manager, you can

• Enjoy your morning coffee while interacting with your guests.

• Leave the front desk and take a vacation too. You have a channel manager on mobile to check and update rates if and when you wish to.

• Automate recurring operations to save time and money and master productivity.
• Earn higher ROI with no revenue leakage.

Because you have the tech way to manage it.

Decide now, how do you wish to spend the rest of your life as a hotelier? With or without a channel manager?

The post 7 Ultimate Reasons Why You Should Invest in A Hotel Channel Manager appeared first on eZee Absolute.