Attract more families to your property by setting up Child Rates Policies on Booking.com

Families are a large and lucrative guest segment in hospitality industry. On average, they stay longer and are more likely to book than other segments, such as solo travellers and couples. As hoteliers, you need to cater to the ever-changing guest expectation to drive demand to your property. According to Booking.com data, families stay an average of 28% longer and book at 27% higher rate than couples and solo travellers. When searching for accommodation on Booking.com, travellers prefer to see room details that specify the number and ages of children that can be accommodated.

You can create and manage Child Rates for your property for Booking.com directly from your RateTiger platform. Setting up child rates lets families see all the important details and prices for a particular room or unit on your property page. You can set the maximum number of children and adults that can stay in each room.

Search data on Booking.com also shows that families are returning to travel faster than other traveller segments

  • Increase family bookings by up to 15% – Stand out in search results by creating attractive offers aimed directly at this large group. Setting competitive child rates can lead to an increase in family bookings by up to 15% on average.
  • Flexibility and control over your prices – By creating pricing rules for children based on up to three age ranges, you have complete flexibility to define rates and attract families of all sizes.
  • Greater transparency for your guests – When you set up child rates, the full price for the entire family is clearly displayed throughout the booking process, making it easier for families to choose an accommodation and preventing any unexpected charges at the time of check-in.

 

If you do not already have a Child Rates Policy set up for Booking.com, you can easily create one  – https://partner.booking.com/en-gb/help/policies-payments/policies/how-set-policies-rooms-rates-and-facilities-children

There are a host of additional solutions through which your property can benefit and attract more bookings. You can get more details from the Booking.com Recovery Toolkit.

Subscribe to RateTiger today and start using this feature. Reach out to us for your connectivity needs to make the most of your online revenue- https://www.erevmax.com/erevmax-contact.html

 

5 tips to optimize your hotel’s profile on Booking.com – Part 5

We aim to bring to hotels quick and easy ways to optimize their presence on Booking.com and get more reservations for their property. Through this series, we are highlighting tips that you can leverage through the various promotional options that Booking.com provides.

In the last part of this series, we will talk about the Payment solutions available through Booking.com

Allow Booking.com to take care of online payments

Data breach and payment security have been one of the biggest concerns of the hotel industry. In the last 2 years, many hotel chains have been victims of data compromise. A robust payment solution is a must-have for hotels to avoid security breach and guaranteed pay outs.

Booking.com has recently introduced guest payment options which can help hotels reach more guests, reduce cancellations, and save time on administration related stuff.

Secure, reliable, and easy to manage, the payment module gives hotels a wide range of options including internationally recognized PayPal, Alipay and WeChat Pay.

To know more about this, please check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgKfMcRLebY&feature=emb_title&ab_channel=Booking.comPartners

Benefits for Hotels choosing Booking payment solutions –

  • Put an end to chasing down guest payments
  • Eliminate dealings with fraudulent online bookings
  • Avoid guaranteed payouts according to the hotel policy

Benefit for Guests –

  • Choice to select from a wide range of payment options

According to Booking.com data, guests who make online payments are much less likely to cancel or have no-show than those who don’t – ensuring more secure revenue for the hotel.

Booking.com offer properties two payments solutions to choose from:

  1. Guests can only pay online (i.e. Booking.com facilitates all payments),
  2. Guests can either pay online or at the property (i.e. Booking.com only deal with the hotel’s online payments).

To know more about how you can get started, contact us on marketing@erevmax.com

 

5 tips to optimize your hotel’s profile on Booking.com – Part 4

In this series, we are focusing on easy recommendations that you can leverage for driving more demand to your property through Booking.com.

In the fourth part of this series, we will discuss Non-refundable Rates and how you can benefit from it.

Non-refundable Rate

According to a recent survey done by Booking.com, the two most important considerations for making new bookings are flexible cancellation policies and competitive pricing offers. In the third part of the series, we discussed the benefits of Flexible Rate Plans. However, for 40% of travelers, pricing is a major factor, and this is where non-refundable rate comes into play.

Benefits of Non-refundable Rate

Non-refundable rate typically offers lower rates than fully flexible rates and are quite popular with travelers with fixed plans. Hotels often offer non-refundable rates to secure guaranteed bookings and revenue.

According to Booking.com data, hotels who offer this Rate Plan reduce cancellations by an average of at least 9% and have experienced overall booking boost by up to 5%.

Booking.com recommends participating hotels to combine at least two of three rate plans: Free Cancellation, Non-Refundable and Early Booker. Data shows that hotels who have efficiently used all three have seen a 5% increase in bookings, an 11% increase in visibility and a 9% reduction in cancellations.

Hotels can activate the Non-refundable rate plan from their RateTiger dashboard, by simply selecting the option from the promotion tab. They can also monitor and modify all existing campaigns on Booking.com from the View and Apply Promotion Module on RateTiger.

To know more about it, contact us on marketing@erevmax.com

5 tips to optimize your hotel’s profile on Booking.com – Part 3

Through this series, we are highlighting some of the deals and promotions that you can leverage to attract more business to your property through Booking.com.

In the third part of this series, let’s look at Flexi Rate and how and when to activate it.

Be more flexible with your rate policy

Thanks to the uncertain times we are living in, traveler behaviour has gone for a radical shift in the past one year. With flights being rebooked and travel plans being bumped, many guests are now wary of sudden change in plans.

According to a survey done in April 2020 by Booking.com, 73% of customers cited free cancellation as their main reason for booking a property. A fully flexible rate plan allows hotels to offer potential bookers more freedom in case their travel plans or general circumstances change.

However, because of its flexible nature, this rate plan is also the most expensive one making it the most profitable for hotels.

Flexible – 1 day policy

Due to the ongoing pandemic, most hotels across the world have taken a flexible approach to their pricing policy. Booking.com has recently created the Flexible – 1 day policy which allows hotels to quickly extend all your free cancellation periods to one day before check-in. This basically means a guest can cancel for free until 24 hours before the check-in. After that point, they will be charged the cost of the first night if they decide to cancel.

Benefits of the Flexible – 1 day policy

  • Drive more bookings by potential guests looking for flexibility.
  • Improve visibility in search ranking.
  • Decide which rates you want to convert to ‘Flexible – 1 Day’ policy and have full control on all rates.

Adding Flexible Rate Plans

Hotels can create and manage the Flexible Rate Plan either from their RateTiger Channel Manager platform or from the Booking.com extranet. For any queries or to see how to set up this Rate, contact us today –marketing@erevmax.com

 

 

5 tips to optimize your hotel’s profile on Booking.com – Part 2

In this series, we are focusing on easy and highly actionable tips on the best ways to optimize Booking.com channel to get more reservations for your property.

In the second part of this series, we are happy to highlight the Early Booker Rate on Booking.com.

Create special promotion for Early Bookers

Done correctly, promotion can be a great tool to grab attention of the bookers searching for a property.  Hotels can create targeted campaigns through their offers. Booking.com allows Early Booker Rate for hotels to target potential guests who prefer booking far in advance. This way, hotels can secure bookings well before a busier season giving it a chance to start from an advantageous position.

The Early Booker deals are flexible options where hotels can fix their own discounts, duration, time and booking window based on their requirements. They can set them up and run the promotion for multiple days or months when this promotion will be visible to guests.

Want to know where to start?

Booking.com recommends setting the Early Booker Deal promotion up for a minimum of 30 days in advance from check-in. Many hotels create special rates for lead time of 90 days and 180 days in advance as well.

In recent months, Booking.com made significant updates on this promotion. The Early Booker Rate is designed based on the COVID-19 recovery patterns identified in guest demand and can easily be adapted to any hotel’s particular situation and needs.

A point to remember

Hotels can leverage Early Booker Rate to improve occupancy for future dates. However, the hotel revenue management team needs to be extra careful to control this promotion and ensure only eligible guests receive this special rate.

You can now create and manage an Early Booker Rate directly from the Promotions section on your RateTiger dashboard. For any queries or to see how to set up this Rate, contact us today –marketing@erevmax.com

 

 

5 tips to optimize your hotel’s profile on Booking.com

We are glad to bring you a short series of posts, where we will cover 5 specific tips on how you can optimize your hotel’s profile on Booking.com and attract more reservations.

Through our 5-tips series, we will share 1 recommendation on each post and explain how you can utilize it to your hotel’s advantage. Starting with the first of this series, lets talk about the Genius Program.

Join Booking.com’s Genius Program

Genius is an exclusive loyalty program which brings partner hotels and frequent bookers closer.

According to Booking.com data, on average, hotels taking part in the Genius program have experienced increase in their bookings by 18% and revenue by 17% – even including the cost of discount.

Hotels taking part in the Genius program gets a special Genius tag, ranking boost and better visibility in search results on Booking.com which helps in getting more bookings faster.

The property is displayed to a select group of customers who travel more often, book further in advance, and spend more when booking.

Hotels can always check their eligibility on the booking.com extranet:

https://admin.booking.com/hotel/hoteladmin/extranet_ng/manage/genius.html?lang=en&ref=menu&ses=9a4c805441d3dabfc9d218c48e008cf2&hotel_id=522903.

If the eligibility criteria are met, they can sign up to Genius via the “Opportunities” tab in their Booking.com Extranet.

The participating partners automatically enable the mandatory 10% Genius discount on their least expensive or most popular room and start attracting high-value Genius guests.

To know more about the perks of becoming a Genius Hotel Partner, click here.

If you are looking for assistance with managing your online channels, contact us today.

Capture the fastest-growing segment of bookers with Booking.com’s Mobile Rates

In these uncertain times, travellers are looking for extra flexibility. As hoteliers, you need to cater to the ever-changing guest expectation to drive demand to your property.

eRevMax offer seamless connectivity to multiple channel partners to expand your online brand visibility. With the growth in domestic tourism, Booking.com is expecting almost 74% of bookings to come from a mobile phone. Adding a mobile rate to your property will increase your visibility with these customers and unlock your market potential with last-minute mobile bookings. You can update Mobile Rates on Booking.com directly from RateTiger.

The use of mobile in emerging markets has changed how travel is searched and booked and by managing mobile rates, you too can improve reservations coming from mobile bookers.

Did you know?

  • 80% of travellers use a mobile app when researching a trip*
  • 50% of accommodation searches and bookings are made on mobile*
  • Mobile rates give partners 28% more bookings from mobile traffic*
  • 2-in-3 mobile bookings are made by Millennials or younger customers. Everyone might search from mobile but Millennials book.

What is Mobile Rate?

A Mobile Rate is a special discounted rate that’s only visible when someone uses Booking.com’s app or accesses Booking.com’s website using a mobile browser. You can use Mobile Rates to increase your bookings from mobile devices by up to 28%. Mobile Rates are active throughout the year.

How does your business benefit from Booking.com’s mobile rate?

Attract more bookings

Offering mobile rate drives more potential guests to your property page.

Mobile rates on average give partners 26% more bookings from mobile customers.

Mobile rates on average give partners 3% higher click-through rate from search results to the hotel page.

Stand out in searches

Once you activate the feature, a special badge will appear next to your property in search results and on your property page and during the booking process.

Position your property to digital natives who share experiences via social media.

Target mobile users with a special discount to encourage them to book your property immediately while they are on mobile.

Better price, better reviews, better ranking

Two-thirds of mobile bookings are made by millennials – who write more reviews than any other traveller segment. Attracting these bookers can positively impact your overall ranking on Booking.com.

Millennial smartphone ownership is rising: >94% in advanced economies, and >62% in emerging economies*. Attract this customer base with a special discount.

Avoid attention shifts to a competitor when they change device and start a new search process.

How Mobile Rates work?

  • Mobile rates are only visible to guests on mobile devices (on both the Booking.com app and mobile browsers).
  • A minimum 10% discount is recommended.
  • Mobile rates apply to all your rooms and rate plans. The discount combines with discounts for the Genius programme, as well as any other promotions you have set up. However, it does not add on to Country rate or Limited-time Deal.
  • You can set up 30 blackout days per calendar year.

The majority of reservations on Booking.com’s platform is made using mobile devices, so offering a Mobile Rate helps you tap into this large group of potential guests. Mobile Rates can also help you target millennials. The property can activate, edit and deactivate the mobile rates any times.

Creating Mobile Rates via RateTiger

If you do not already have a Mobile Rate set up for Booking.com, you can easily create one using through RateTiger.

  • Log in to your RateTiger platform – https://live.ratetiger.com/#/login
  • In the main dashboard, you will see the Promotions tile. Click on Create Promotion to go to the Promotions page.
  • On this page, select Mobile Promo and then select the channel – Booking-XML
  • Input the discount / promo and click on Create. The Mobile Rate gets created for Booking.com.

You can always update the settings of your Mobile Rates or deactivate them so that potential guests no longer see them.

Lastly there are a host of additional solutions through which your property can benefit and attract more bookings. You can get full details of the Booking.com Recovery Toolkit on the partner page.

RateTiger, powered by LiveOS, provides rate shopping, channel management, booking engine and online distribution solutions to hotels worldwide. It offers 99.9% system uptime and is security certified under ISO, PCI and GDPR compliant. eRevMax continues to expand its partner base through new integrations to offer hoteliers seamless connections across different systems including PMSs, CRSs, OTAs, Metasearch channels, GDS, Wholesalers and offline tour operators among others.

Subscribe to RateTiger today and start using this feature. Reach out to us for your connectivity needs to make the most of your online revenue- https://goo.gl/3gKUJZ

 

 

Introducing Promotions for Booking.com through RateTiger CRS

RateTiger Central Reservation System has been enhanced allowing users to create and manage promotions for Booking.com directly from their RateTiger dashboard. Promotions are special prices that a property can offer during a certain time window, or to a certain type of booker. In RateTiger Settings, they appear under the Promotions tab in the Inventory Module.

On booking.com, hotels can create three types of Promotions from their RateTiger dashboard – Basic Deal, Mobile Rate and Profile Rate.

Basic Deal Promotion:

  • Easy and fully customizable promotion, which will give the guest a discount on selected rooms and rates.
  • Customize the promotion for everyone or members only
  • Control on MLOS, Dates and Room Type
  • Hotels can run the promotion for various Rateplan and Payment options

Mobile Rate Promotion: Options for-

  • an app only rate- i.e, guests booking (only) through Booking.com mobile app would get this discount
  • dot rate and t.dot rate- i.e, guests booking through the Booking.com website on their mobile browser

Profile Rate Promotion:

  • Target the promotion to a certain set of guests
  • Discount can be displayed only to verified, logged-in business travelers, and will apply to all your room types, rates and dates except excluded.

Monitor your Promotions:

  • On your RateTiger dashboard, the View and Apply Promotion widget provides a detailed report of all the existing promotions and allow users to modify / deactivate a campaign.

RateTiger CRS, powered by LiveOS, is the next-generation reservation management platform for hotel revenue managers to manage multiple distribution channels including web, mobile, voice, travel agent and online travel agent (OTA) channels.

This is a very exciting opportunity as this marks the start of a series of upcoming releases, to give hotels different ways to create and sell Promotions on multiple platforms through RateTiger.

Get connected to RateTiger today and start selling promotions. Reach out to us for your connectivity needs to make the most of your online revenue- https://goo.gl/3gKUJZ

 

The Week, That Was – June 2018 Week 2

In five minutes or less, keep track of the most important news of the week, curated just for you. We present to you hand – picked news on latest industry perspectives and some general updates. Read on!!

 

Hotel Beacon NYC recommends RateTiger as the most effective Channel Manager
The upscale hotel has been using RTConnect for 2-way XML connectivity between its property management system and online sales channels for the last three years to effectively manage all its demand partners seamlessly.

https://goo.gl/tJt9yX

How TripAdvisor ranks hotels
Online guest reviews have become worth their weight in gold to hotels. Today, a huge 95% of people read a travel review before they book a trip, which means building a strong online reputation plays a fundamental part in attracting guests and driving bookings.

http://www.traveltripper.com/blog/how-does-tripadvisor-rank-hotels/

Securing last-minute bookings during peak season
Peak season in travel presents its own unique challenges. The article explores why deep discounting may not always be the winning recipe to secure late bookings and how thinking outside the box is necessary to maximise revenue. Every hotelier and property has to deal with peaks and troughs in demand, but if rooms need to be filled at the last-minute, being able to think beyond dropping prices and taking a more strategic approach could give you that crucial competitive edge.

https://click.booking.com/features/2018/06/04/securing-last-minute-bookings-peak-season/

Are hoteliers too skeptical of artificial intelligence?
AI disruption has already begun in the business world, and the hospitality industry should pay close attention. Hotel companies must already be strategizing about how they can take advantage of this inevitable new wave of automation and guest-experience evolution.

https://www.phocuswire.com/Hoteliers-skeptical-of-AI

How and why you have to deal with the watershed that is GDPR
The GDPR is a watershed event that will impact every business that collects personal information, wherever located, and no industry will be more impacted that the hospitality industry. Other companies can choose not to do business with EU citizens; some companies have determined that it is impossible to comply and have actually closed. That is not an option for hotels. Hotel companies need to understand the goals and requirements of the GDPR. The nature of hotels and the various data holding sources such as OTA bookings and PMS systems escalate the regulation for travel and hospitality industries.

https://ehotelier.com/global/2018/06/08/deal-watershed-gdpr/

In land of the giants, smaller OTAs find ways to grab customers
According to Phocuswright’s U.S. Online Travel Overview 17th Edition Report published in February, OTAs’ market share rose to 19% in 2017 from 17% in 2015. Booking Holdings brands Priceline and Booking.com accounted for 23% of the U.S. OTA market share last year, while Expedia brands (excluding Egencia and HomeAway) accounted for 69%.

http://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Technology/Smaller-OTAs-find-ways-to-grab-customers

Connect with us for your connectivity needs to make the most of online revenue.
https://goo.gl/3gKUJZ

Thanks and have a good day!

 

eRevMax lists out Top 5 Channels in 5 Key European Markets


Hotel connectivity leader eRevMax has released an infographic on online channel penetration and performance in 5 key markets in Europe. Based on reservations processed by the company over the past one year, the infographic lists out top 5 online distribution channels in UK, France, Germany, Spain and Russia.
Data from eRevMax clearly shows the dominance of Booking.com in all key markets, including Russia. When it comes to technology adaption, UK leads with over 93% hoteliers having a property management system. Mobile has emerged as one of the fastest growing channels with as many as 29% of online travel bookings in Spain coming from it.
To see the full infographic, please click herehttps://goo.gl/lVazNQ