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Smart technology maximises hotel room selling, says review
Friday, 02 Feb, 2011
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A new breed of technology suppliers is emerging that can help hotels sell their rooms more effectively, according to a new review just published.
According to the latest Hotel Reservations and Distribution Technology Review, which is published by consultancy Genesys, outfits offering automated channel management to hotel groups are on the rise.
This solves a long-standing puzzle for hotel groups. In the past, as more and more web sites have sprung up offering room nights, hotels have found it tough to decide which are the most effective for selling their product.
Until recently, they have had to make decisions about how many rooms to give to each distributor, reached by calculating effectiveness.
Now technology suppliers are using smart connectivity methods to allow hotels to control lots and lots of channels via one system.
Explained Genesys senior partner Paul Richer: “Channel management has become a mainstream issue for hotels. As more and more online distribution channels have been coming on stream, such as the growing number of bedbanks and online travel agents, hotels have been faced with the issue of where best to place their limited bedstock.
“If a hotel attempts to distribute its bedstock via poorly performing channels, it runs the risk of being left with empty rooms or having to drastically reduce its room rates. With so many channels now available, it is difficult for a hotel to know which way to turn."
He added: “Selling online via multiple distribution channels need no longer be a fraught exercise. Hotels now have a choice of several channel management services.
“Hotels can see what channels these services connect through and choose the service that will work best for their particular property.
“Hotels no longer need to sub-divide their bedstock across many channels but can simply provide a single set of availability to the channel management service."
Richer says the review also highlights how hotels are getting more involved in dynamic packaging.
He explained: “Previously the province of tour operators, hotels are beginning to realise that there is money to be made in dynamic packaging.
“From the hotels’ perspective, it will allow them to better control their product and own the customer – an aspect that it vitally important in these times when it has become so easy for consumers to shop around.”
by Dinah Hatch
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