The Importance of a Property Management System (PMS) in the Hotel Industry

Hotel Property Management Systems have come a long way to become one of the most essential technology tools for accommodation providers today. Simply put, a good PMS is considered the backbone for a hotel. Property management systems make it easier for coordinating the functions of the front office, guest management, sales, planning, and reporting. It allows property owners to manage front desk operations, rates and promotions, and customer loyalty data, consolidating the status of all hotel properties in one place.

Why every hotel needs a PMS and the benefits they can derive?

Guest Reservations

The most important benefit of a PMS is that it helps hotels to seamlessly manage guest reservations. An ideal PMS should allow a hotel to centralize all guest bookings in one place whether they are coming from third party channels. Brand.com or direct walk-ins. When all the reservations are reflected in one place, it becomes easier for the hotel staff to have access to up-to-date inventory information. It gives clarity to hotel employees to know which rooms are reserved and when, so they can manage operations accordingly.

Managing online third-party sales channels

Most PMSs work with various hotel channel managers, like RateTiger, to make it seamless for hotels to transfer rate and availability data to OTAs and get reservation delivery into the hotel system. Some PMSs offer in-built channel management functionality which allows hotels to offer better online reservation experience through a vast network of volume-producing online sales channels.

Revenue Management

Property management systems also helps hotels to manage revenue effectively.  It helps hoteliers to assess the performance of the property, using key performance indicators like ADR (average daily rate), RevPAR (revenue per available room) and GOPPAR (gross operating profit per available room). A good PMS also offers rate plan management where hotels can quickly create room type-rate plan combinations, which assists hoteliers to easily respond to changes in demand. These change in demand may occur due to seasonality, local events, and various other factors.

Front-desk Operations

A front-office module allows a front-desk manager to view and update room reservation status, manage guest check-ins, and process payments. Some property management systems offer integration into check-in kiosks or allow checking in or out via QR code. This module connects reservation, housekeeping, spa, activities, and guest relations management modules in a single environment.

Digital Check-In

With social distancing becoming the norm, digital or contactless check-in is a preference for many guests nowadays. The contactless technology allows guests to arrive, and then check-in using the mobile app on their phone, or by using a self-service check-in machine. The PMS can sync automatically, keeping check-in and occupancy information updated.

Guest Data Management

It is critical for hotels to collect and organize guest data to keep in touch with current and past customers during and after check-out. A CRM integrated with PMS can help the front desk and reservation team to collect all guest information from these sources, store guest data and have a database in an accessible format.  Advanced PMS also enables hotels to manage guest loyalty programs effectively.

Third Party Integrations

Hotels today need multiple technology solutions to manage their property efficiently. But the key challenge for hotels is that most technology solutions work in silo, and it becomes difficult for hotels to get a clear picture of how everything can work together. An integrated system helps hotels to have synchronized data essential for informed decision making. Hence it is important for a hotel PMS to have open API or option to integrate to other technology systems so that hotels can take benefit of it.

Reporting

Last but not the least, is reporting. Everyday hotel staff access many reports including guest data, reservation, booking pace and trends, channel performance and various other relevant metrics for business performance analysis. A good PMS provides quality reports with advanced analytics and insights in easy-to-use formats.

How to get started?

If you are looking for a good PMS, get in touch with us today. RateTiger works closely with all leading PMSs including Opera, Prologic First, IDS Next, WinHMS, ArabSoft, Cenium, Guestline, ePMS, Ezcloud, Hotelogix, HotSoft, Indra, Infor, Protel, Intimus, Mews, Oracle, Skyware, and Visual Matrix,  and we are happy to recommend you systems that work well in your region.

Further, if your property is looking for any technology solution individually or integrated on a platform – Hotel Channel Manager, CRS, Internet Booking Engine (IBE), Rate Shopper, GDS & Metasearch management, Website development, Business Analytics – please reach out to us for a ‘no-obligation’ demo today – https://www.erevmax.com/erevmax-contact.html

 

 

 

Connect to niche travel channels to generate more bookings

Explore Verychic and HalalBooking from the eRevMax Partner EcosystemAs the world slowly recovers from the impact of the pandemic and international borders are starting to open, travel is expected to pick up. In the post-COVID-19 world, travellers will be extremely conscious of safety protocols, hygiene as well as social distancing norms.

Travel and tour operators will have a big role to play in designing itineraries that avoid public forms of transportation and crowded tourist areas. Further, hotels need to find new ways to market themselves to multiple audience types. Hence it is important to consider niche travel channels that cater to specific guest segments and could be a potential source to generate new bookings.

eRevMax works with a variety of digital travel platforms to offer its hotel partners a whole range of demand sources to choose from. Today we are featuring two such niche OTAs that you may want to consider adding to your distribution mix.

Verychic

VeryChic organizes private sale of outstanding hotel rooms exclusively for its select upscale members, offering attractive deals. It is one of the fastest growing online travel agencies in the French market with over 5000 hotels partnerships attracting 12,000 bookings per month. Verychic has a loyal customer base of over 9 million members across Europe. Verychic enables its luxury and upscale hotel partners to optimize distribution and provides them access to new guests via its private sales.

HalalBooking

UK based HalalBooking is a leading travel booking website for halal-conscious travelers, and allows travellers to find hotels, resorts and villas suitable for their individual needs. The website lists over 71,000 properties in 50 countries. Over 2000 travel agencies worldwide are part of its affiliate partner programme. You can now manage HalalBooking directly from your RateTiger / LiveOS platform.

If you are looking to add any of the above or manage a new tech partner or channel from your RateTiger platform, do contact us today

 

The Week, That Was – March 2021 Week 4

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!!

Mayaland Hotels and Resorts endorse RateTiger for online distribution

One of the leading luxury heritage chains in Mexico, Mayaland Hotels & Resorts have highly recommended RateTiger for channel connectivity and online distribution. The group has been using RateTiger Channel Manager to update rates and availability across online sales channels for the last three years and have experienced significant improvement in occupancy and revenue.

https://www.erevmax.com/ratetiger-news/ratetiger-news-archive/mar2021-erevmax-mayaland-hotels-resorts-endorse-ratetiger-online-distribution.html

Google launches property promotion ads for hotels globally

While standard hotel booking link ads are meant for advertisers to capture a booking for a hotel a user already chose, property promotion ads are designed to enable advertisers to influence the buying decision for users still looking for a hotel.

https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/10541931

Google makes hotel listings free – are you ready to grab the opportunity?

Do you know hotels can now display their rates and availability without taking part in Google PPC or Google Hotel Ads?  Through a recent announcement, Google has made hotel listings free. Google has a list of integrated partners including RateTiger through which hotels can feed data sources for booking links. If you are interested in displaying your rates on Google Hotel Ads, contact us today on marketing@erevmax.com

https://www.erevmax.com/blog/index.php/2021/03/google-makes-hotel-listings-free-are-you-ready-to-grab-the-opportunity/

Vaccine passports: Can they save travel? Should they?

Perhaps the main obstacle to wide use of vaccine passports is political: Ethical concerns about dividing the world into vaccinated and unvaccinated for purposes of travel freedom.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/The-Big-Story/Vaccine-passports-Can-they-save-travel-Should-they

5 big signs that travel is roaring back

Hotel reservations on Expedia.com for some parts of the United States this summer are “all booked up” and the company expects Europe will soon follow as the number of vaccinations grow.

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/20/business/travel-rebound-coronavirus/index.html

Hotels show signs of life, with travel boom in sight

Hotels are preparing for the prospect of a surge in demand, as occupancy rates at U.S. hotels reached 52% last week, the highest since Covid-19 lockdowns began, according to STR.

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/hospitality-tourism/hotels-show-signs-life-travel-boom-sight

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

Thanks and have a good day!

 

Google makes hotel listings free – are you ready to grab the opportunity?

Hotels can now display rate and availability without taking part in Google PPC

For long, Google has remained the Elephant in the Room for the hotel industry. In the last five years, the search -engine giant has consolidated its place as the leader in the meta search, now accounting for over 57% all metasearch bookings.

It is the first place to go for many people when they start their search. Google has now made it free for hotel owners and travel agencies to list their properties on Google Search.

When a potential booker selects a hotel from the search option, in the booking module, the overview section is now showing four paid listings under the Featured options and two organic search results. Clicking on the Prices Tab, the user would be able to see all four paid listings along with all search results.

This section is now showing booking links from unpaid listings as shown in the organic search by hotels and travel companies.

This is a major opportunity for hotels. Hotel booking links have always been offered via Google Hotel Ads, which acts like a metasearch channel displaying real-time pricing and availability for hotels for specific dates of travel. With this new development, this barrier is removed and gives hotels a chance to display their direct rates and booking links without worrying about metasearch budget.

This opportunity is available for all the hotels through their Hotel Center account. Hotels which are already taking part in Google’s Hotel Prices API and Hotel Ads do not need to take any action and will be shown in All Options based on the organic search ranking.

The ranking of the organic search results will be based on an algorithm that looks at non-commercial factors, and pricing accuracy will be ensured through new tools and processes as well as using reliable data sources.

Google has a list of integrated partners including RateTiger through which hotels can feed data sources for booking links. If you are interested in displaying your rates on Google Hotel Ads, contact us today on 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.

The Week, That Was – March 2021 Week 1

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!!

Travel Tech Announces First 2021 Virtual Conference for USA & Canada, from March 8-12, 2021 

Join us to explore new business frontiers and discover innovative technologies. Hear from experts on how they are adapting to the new normal and generating revenue opportunities for their business. 

The event will provide North American hotels with technology-based educational resources & actionable strategic updates, designed to support their financial recovery. 

Register Now for all five days of the TravelTech USA & Canada conference - https://event.webinarjam.com/register/1/x463mfm 

 Business travel in the age of Covid-19 

 Business travelers rely more on their corporate travel booking partner to ensure travel accommodations are safe, and making last-minute changes as government policies shift. 

 https://www.travelerstoday.com/articles/49160/20210303/business-travel-in-the-age-of-covid-19.htm 

 Italy has a new way to combat overtourism 

 Before travel opens up again, Florence wants to make sure things will not return to the way they were before. One way to make sure of that? Diverting visitors away from Florence itself. 

 https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/uffizi-diffusi-tuscany-galleries-overtourism/index.html 

 TripAdvisor’s new subscription model wins fans on Wall Street 

 With TripAdvisor Plus, the fees that hotels normally pay the company will instead go to the consumer. 

 https://www.barrons.com/articles/tripadvisor-stock-new-wins-a-fan-on-wall-street-51614709413 

 When can we go on vacation again? This is what experts say 

 While travel experts are optimistic that things will slowly begin to open up again this year, how quickly that happens will depend on where you are, where you want to travel to. 

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/when-can-we-go-on-vacation-again/index.html 

The changing face of travel payments 

Travel players are putting together preliminary itineraries for consumers looking to book trips but holding off on taking payments. 

https://www.pymnts.com/travel-payments/2021/the-changing-face-of-the-travel-payments-supply-chain/ 

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

Thanks and have a good day!

eRevMax expands its Channel Ecosystem with MG Bedbank, HyperGuest and grabrooms

With the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out restoring travelers’ confidence, hospitality business is expected to show signs of recovery. As demand destination is getting closer to origin, various OTAs are working with hotels to attract early bookers with more incentives and flexibilities. Hence it is important for hotels to know which channels are giving maximum exposure to their property. Here are some of our technology and channel partners leading in their specific markets. Get in touch if you wish to connect to any of our 450+ partners.

MG Bedbank

Considered South East Asia’s largest Bedbank, Indonesia based MG Bedbank is the newest addition to the eRevMax Channel Ecosystem. It works closely with over 5,500 hotels across the region and is a trusted and preferred booking platform for thousands of travel agents. If you are looking to attract new bookings, connect to this channel today.

HyperGuest

An API based platform, HyperGuest is the first open distribution marketplace where rooms move at hyperspeed. It enables direct connectivity between hotels and travel providers (Agencies, Consortia, specialist OTAs, Group Bookings). There is no cost for using the platform, hotels pay commissions only for confirmed reservations directly to the travel provider. Connect to the platform via RateTiger to capture available demand.

grabrooms

Are you looking to increase direct bookings from brand.com? Our new booking engine partner, grabrooms provide hoteliers with multiple direct booking solutions. With smart features like dynamic rate rules, powerful revenue algorithms and mobile wallet, your hotel can expand website sales. Implement a responsive and powerful booking solution for a smooth reservation experience for your guests. Contact us for more details.

Are you looking to manage any new tech partner or channel from your RateTiger platform? CONTACT US TODAY – https://www.erevmax.com/erevmax-contact.html

Hoteliers to stay cautious as per eRevMax’s Hotel Sentiment Outlook 2021

eRevMax has published an in-depth Hotel Sentiment Outlook for 2021 based on hotel survey conducted in December. The report highlights varying levels of business confidence among hoteliers with Middle East showing strong travel rebound while most Western markets are far from normalcy.

The travel sector is unpredictable and with the spread of the new Covid 19 strain, the situation continues to look grim. The survey shows that hotels are cautious and looking for ways to generate new business.

As far as expectations regarding the time required for the market to recover and reach pre-Covid levels, the industry is largely divided. Around 40% of participating hoteliers felt that the travel industry will take up to 2 to 3 years to reach pre-Covid levels of business. While short term recovery has been witnessed in some regions, by and large, hoteliers feel that recovery will take longer, possibly by 2024. Almost 75% respondents believe that there will be a spike in domestic tourism while all other segments of tourism – MICE, corporate and foreign travel will continue to underperform over the next few months.

The survey findings show that hotels are prioritizing online sales to drive demand with channel management and booking engine solutions, even as there is a definite shift to automated touchless solutions.

To know more such key insights, please download the full report – https://www.erevmax.com/ratetiger-news/ratetiger-news-archive/jan2021-erevmax-hotel-survey-highlights-varying-levels-business-confidence.html

Prologic First, Trivago and Atlantis join the eRevMax Partner Ecosystem

As lockdown and social distancing restrictions start to ease across the globe, domestic tourism is set to play a vital role in the rebuilding of economies. Advance hotel bookings are steadily rising in some parts of the world. Travelers are focusing on staycations and regional travel. Various OTAs are working closely with hotels to ensure health and hygiene protocols are strictly followed. They are offering new packages and creating local campaigns to attract guests and help increase hotel reservations. Knowing the right channels that bring business to your city is a key and being connected to them is very important to increase your hotel’s presence online.  Here are some of our technology and channel partners leading in their specific markets. Get in touch if you wish to connect to any of our 450+ partners.

Prologic FIRST

One of our long-standing technology partners, Prologic First is known for its smart solutions for the hospitality industry. Over 2000 hospitality businesses across 40 countries use Prologic First as a preferred technology vendor. Their lead product WISH PMS is an advanced, new generation Hotel Front Office Software that consolidates all hotel front desk functions into a single workplace. Prologic First provides WISH PMS to both multi-property and standalone clients. With its contactless features, hotel guests can update their profiles, acknowledge registration cards, view the folio, avail express checkout, settle their bills and give feedback from their phones. If you are looking for a PMS provider, get in touch with us today.

Trivago

Are you looking to attract leisure travelers? Trivago, the global hotel search engine, empowers more than 120 million travelers every month in their search for the ideal hotel. In total, trivago’s sites cover more than 2.5 million hotels and other types of accommodations in 190 countries. Connect to trivago today through RateTiger and boost your hotel’s visibility with trivago’s Rate Connect and advertise direct rates to millions of travelers. Get your property listed now to grow your domestic booking share.

Atlantis

Are you looking to increase your hotel’s direct bookings? Implement a smart booking engine on your brand website for a smooth booking experience for your guests. Atlantis Online Reservation System (ORS) provides hoteliers with multiple direct booking solutions, including reservations management and integration to popular PMSs. Atlantis marketplace provides $450 million in gross bookings every year. If you are looking to change your booking engine, contact us today.

Are you looking to manage any new tech partner or channel from your RateTiger platform? CONTACT US TODAY – https://www.erevmax.com/erevmax-contact.html