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Three things guests are looking for from their hotel accommodation in 2022

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Since the start of the pandemic, hotel stays have been few and far between for millions of people around the world who have endured lockdowns and travel restrictions. Now, with the world opening its doors to travelers once again, what are guests demanding from hotels as we collectively contend with the lasting impacts of the pandemic?

Not only do hotels need to consider how COVID-19 has changed the way we travel, but they also need to take into account other modern issues, as well as the latest trends in the way people travel.

Here are three things that guests will be looking for from their hotel stays in 2022.

1. Smart In-Room Devices

Smart technology is being used more commonly in homes across the world, as people seek modern solutions to minimize the stress of home life. With guests looking for home comforts from their hotel stays, incorporating smart devices into the rooms can go a long way to helping enhance guest comfortability. Examples include smart thermostats or lighting, which can be controlled via a mobile app for added convenience, or even voice assistants that could act as a telephone and much more.

Not only do smart devices have the power to improve guests’ comfort and all-round experience, but they can also be used to help make more eco-friendly choices. Sustainable travel is a hot topic just now, and hotels have a responsibility to offer more eco-friendly stays for their guests. Using smart devices makes it easier to track energy usage, and limit wastage, both for guests and the hotel.

2. Refundable Rates

The demand for refundable rates is nothing new, but with the unpredictability of Covid-19 still very much at the forefront of people’s thinking, there are more calls for it than ever before. Though the world is starting to slowly find its feet again after the pandemic years, there is still some uncertainty around travel plans, and guests will be seeking comfort in flexible booking policies.

Of course, cancellations, particularly at short notice, can present a challenge to hotel owners who are looking to fill their booking sheets and maximize profits. To mitigate the potential impacts of last-minute cancellations, you might want to consider different strategies to retain the booking in a different guise. For instance, you could offer gift vouchers on future bookings, perhaps with an added incentive to ensure you retain their custom.

3. An ‘Airbnb’ Experience

Short-term holiday rental bookings have skyrocketed in recent years, with companies like Airbnb and Vrbo reaping the benefits of this trend. In response, hotels are adopting the processes that make this style of accommodation popular, to attract more guests in the post-pandemic era.

Research reveals that the biggest reason for customers choosing to stay in short-term rental properties instead of hotels is the added privacy they can provide. Part of the appeal of these properties is the lack of contact that’s required with the owners, which has been particularly important during the pandemic. Contactless check-in and other automated services are catering to this demand, which is likely to remain a feature of the industry going forward.

To Sum Up

The hospitality industry is always evolving, and has to constantly be looking for ways to accommodate guests’ latest wants and needs if it wants to remain competitive. As we’ve discussed, it’s likely that hotels will need to combine innovative uses of modern technology with changes to booking policies to help meet consumer demands in 2022. Both from a personal comfort perspective and in response to the climate crisis, incorporating the latest technologies throughout the accommodation will go a long way to satisfying the modern hotel guest.

“Geoff is a freelance content producer and researcher from Plymouth, MA. Apart from his projects, he also attends different conferences and events on business marketing, sustainability, travel, and safety.”
About Author | Geoffrey Aldis

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Top 5 trends in online travel booking in Middle East in 2022

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Middle East is one of the first regions to recover from the pandemic. The region has been witnessing an outstanding growth in tourism. While the pandemic had hit a hard blow to this flourishing economy and there was a drastic drop in bookings, thanks to corporate demand, including meetings, incentives, conferences and events, Middle East hotels have recovered very well compared to other global destinations. Mega events like Dubai Expo 2020 and the football championship are expected to drive a major influx in demand as well as deliver a beneficial ‘halo effect’ for the surrounding markets.

The pandemic influenced everything: not just the travel business or a country’s economy but also traveller’s demand pattern. This has brought a change in people’s choice of venue, hotel bookings and travel behavior. Irrespective of experiencing a 64% decline in travel demand in 2020, Middle East is expected to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels or better by 2023.

Before seeing the trends in online travel booking in Middle East in 2022, let us have a quick glance at the top destinations in the region.

Top Tourist Places to Visit in the Middle East
Middle East has always been a tourist hub especially Dubai. We have shortlisted the best places to include in your itinerary:
• Dubai
• Abu Dhabi
• Amman
• Petra
• Istanbul
• Doha
• Riyadh
• Jeddah
• Mecca
• Medina

The Influx of Tourist to the Middle East: Back to Tourism & Business
With international borders opening and ATM Dubai taking place in the second week of May, the Middle East tourism industry is pacing up. The percentage of travellers planning their visit to Dubai and Saudi Arabia has already taken flight.

As per the World Travel and Tourism Council’s report, before the pandemic, Middle East’s travel and tourism industry’s contribution to the economy was $270 billion, i.e. 8.9% of the total economy output.

With travel restrictions slowly being removed and the world getting ready to explore the rich heritage, Middle East is all set to welcome tourists and business travellers. Saudi Arabia, the hub of oil is expected to attract business travellers from all over the world once again. The WTTC predicts a year-on-year increase of 28% in 2022 in the Middle East travel sector.

But this time the travel trends have changed and so has the online booking trends.

Top 5 Trends in Online Travel Bookings in Middle East

Escapism Travel
With “work from home” becoming the new normal and majority of the companies working on this model, the concept of “escapism travel” is flourishing. This allows people to work from anywhere they want. People are looking towards getting out of their cities and travelling to different destinations to explore new places, experience rich heritage and embrace nature while working remotely.

Combining weekend getaways with short trips to nearby destinations has increased the number of domestic travellers. Considering the uncertainties of the market and the increasing desire to travel, last minute hotel bookings are pacing up. Speaking of last minute travel plans, Google is the first stop a traveller visits. Having your hotel listed on Google increases your chance to pull-in a booking. Running an ad with special offers for last minute bookings on GHA is like icing on the top for your property.

Calling the Corporate Travellers
Middle East: the hub of business travel has started welcoming corporate travellers from all around the world. Global Business Traveller Association (GBTA) anticipates a 32% rise in corporate travel spending in 2022. Business travel is once again going to be in the spotlight this year after having outstripped leisure travel in late 2021.

While business owners are all set to explore travel opportunities at Arabian Travel Market (ATM), India remains the key-source market for GCC’s travel and tourism economy with Russia ranking to be the second-largest source market.

Corporate travellers demand for elite bookings and services. Hence, they often prefer booking directly via the hotel’s website. This is your chance to attract this high-spending audience by showcasing high-quality videos and images of your property, rooms, amenities etc. Highlighting your property in its true form with genuine details increases your chance to bring direct bookings to your table.

Accelerated Demand for Flexibility
Since pandemic nothing is sure shot. We don’t know what will happen next and how our coming days will turn out to be. In such a scenario, travellers look for flexible booking options. Travellers might extend their stay into a staycation or there can be chances to reschedule the booking or worse cancel the room bookings.

In such a scenario, both the domestic and international travellers prefer booking their stay at those hotels or properties that offer flexible booking options. Trend shows that hotels offering free cancellations and date change options in Middle East are witnessing the maximum bookings since the third quarter of 2021 and so on.

For hotels to easily manage guest bookings, modifications and cancellations from different sales channels including the brand website and integrate it directly into their PMS, they should connect to a good hotel channel manager.

Boost Your Presence with Digital Marketing
Pacing up with the demand for luxury hotels, a total of 32,621 hotel rooms are under construction in Saudi Arabia. With new hotels coming up and cut-throat competition in the market, digital marketing is one of the best ways to reach your visitors.

The trend for digitalization has made it essential for hotels to have an online presence on social channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and so on. Facebook groups and Instagram influencers trigger the traveller’s decision these days.

Data-driven decision making is flourishing! People tend to check hotel ratings and rankings before making any reservation. With a mobile app, you can give the customers the advantage of contactless services from bookings to payments to room service and much more. Collect post-stay reviews to build your reputation and attract new bookings.

It’s time to maximize the use of digital technology to cater to guests at your property and create a valuable reposition.

Longer Stays & Sustainability
With minimum travel instances for the past 2 years, guests are seen extending their travel plans. Being the home to the oil reserves of the world and major companies, every year Middle East welcomes a high percentage of business travellers. The desire towards exploring more and embracing the heritage of Middle East is the reason for longer stays. After all who doesn’t love beauty? Coming to prolonged stays, travellers prefer extending their stay by directly getting in touch with the hotel or from the hotel’s website.

This trend of longer sustainable stays is expected to continue flourishing in 2022 and beyond!

With the travel restrictions lifting up, the region is all set to welcome travellers from all corners of the world. This roadmap of recovery calls for digitalization and trends to deliver safe, satisfactory, and contactless service. 2022 is growing to be a promising year for the Middle East travel and tourism sector.

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How to improve your property’s listing on Airbnb

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As the hospitality industry continues to recover, hotels are seeing new travel trends and behaviour. It’s time to improve your visibility on your sales channels as that can make a direct impact on your bookings.

Here is a step-by-step guide to take you through the process of crafting and perfecting your Airbnb listing from start to finish.

Tip #1
Make your photos shine

Guests spend more time exploring photos than on any other part of the listing page. They don’t always read description, but they’ll almost certainly flip through (and study!) your pictures. Quality images help Hosts showcase their personality and style. Along with the listing title, the cover image is the first thing guests will notice in search results.

Prioritise your cover photo. Your cover photo is what appears first in search results, so make sure it’s one that catches travellers’ attention. Also adding brief captions will help guests learn important info about your space and listings with 20 or more high quality photos in general have higher conversion and occupancy on the platform.

Tip #2
Add new amenities

Remember that things you’re factoring into your pricing may not be obvious to guests. For instance, the safety and beauty of your neighbourhood may mean nothing to someone who doesn’t know your town, so be sure to mention them in your listing. Among 2021’s most searched amenities include a pet-friendly space, wi-fi, air-conditioning, washer, and TV, so make sure to list any that you offer. Many guests are looking for listings that enable them to live and work anywhere. Listening to the travelers’ needs may help increase your bookings. Give guests helpful tips to get the most from your amenities. It’s important to make sure your property is a good value for the location and amenities you offer.

Tip #3
Listing Title, Description & Property type

Try to create engaging content that helps travelers to get to know your area better. The first step to marketing your home may seem small, but it’s an important one – and that’s to name your space. You want to find a name that’s distinct, memorable, and clever. Airbnb Guidebooks let hosts put together a comprehensive list of destination recommendations and tips. Try to keep your listing details as accurate and up to date as possible. A great listing description is one of your best tools for securing bookings and setting guests’ expectations. Make sure your properties are accurately categorized. Is it a hotel room, apartment, bed and breakfast or a house?

Tip #4
Competitive nightly price

Price is one of the main factor’s guests consider when choosing where to stay. It is always up to the Hosts to decide the nightly price they charge. It’s important to make sure your space is a good value for the location and amenities you offer. When setting your nightly rate, it’s helpful to consider additional fees—like cleaning fees, extra guest fees, service fees, and local taxes—and how they’ll impact the total price your guests will pay. Market Research is must, learn how hosts near you adjust pricing seasonally, at weekends, and for special events or public holidays. Guests are hesitant to book listings with no reviews, so for new hosts, setting your price a little lower than your ideal number is a great way to attract guests.

While Airbnb marketing is an essential part of business growth, you can only go so far without the right tools on your side for property management. RateTiger offers stable and secure solutions for channel management, price intelligence, connectivity and centralised reservation management to hotels, apartments, chains as well as boutique properties globally.

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7 Things to Consider While Selecting a Hotel Booking Engine

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As the travel industry is pacing up with a renewed interest after the decline in the pandemic, travelers across the globe are gearing up for vacation planning and hotel bookings. This is a positive sign for the hoteliers to grab the opportunity and improve their revenue. Hotels generating direct bookings during these times will tend to recover from the sluggish business affected by the pandemic. Additionally, most hoteliers operating in the competitive hospitality industry would agree that a hotel’s website should be the most profitable channel and bring in the most of the bookings.

Direct channel is not only the most profitable distribution channel for hotels compared to other channels such as OTA booking sites. Reservations via your direct website give hotels access to all guest details and profiles from the beginning and own this relationship through their entire booking journey. . The simple way to do that is to incorporate a hotel booking engine software on your website.

An online booking engine platform offers people the freedom to self-serve, meaning they can easily check rooms, availability and rates in real-time. Thus, it enables hoteliers to have complete control over the guest booking journey and information respectively.

“What is a Hotel Booking Engine Software?

“In simpler terms, an online booking engine is a software that is integrated into the hotel’s website and social media pages so that the accommodation providers can drive-in direct, commission-free traffic. A direct booking engine in other words could be considered a low-cost revenue channel.”

However, to optimize revenue with the available resources, it is also important to choose the right booking engine platform. Identifying your top requirements and selecting a system that fulfills those requirements with efficiency can be a start. With so many options available in the market it is often hard to choose one direct booking system.

So, how to consider the right online hotel booking engine software to elevate your guest experience and boost direct revenue? Let’s explore some of the major factors you should re-think before integrating booking engine solution.

1. Customization Option, Responsive, and User-friendly Design

Having a booking engine customized according to your hotel promotes brand awareness leading to more conversion. When the hotel logo is visible on a booking engine, it ensures the guest is booking the hotel he wants as well as helps him remember the hotel. This maintains a consistent online reputation of the hotel.

In the last few years, desktop has been replaced by mobile phones as the preferred mode of search and browse by majority of people. Globally, mobile has become the dominant mode for hotel searches. According to a recent report, 77% of all traffic to website comes from mobile and it contributes 60% of all revenue.

Having a responsive design makes it easier for guests to view hotels and make bookings from their smartphones without having any viewing problems due to the design.

Having a customized and responsive design gives a smooth and happy booking experience. The guests booking rooms will already have an idea of what to expect when they arrive and during their stay in the hotel.

2. Hotel Metasearch Site Integration

With Google going big on hotel booking, growth is metasearch space has accelerated significantly in the last couple of years. Metasearch sites are platforms that allow guests to compare hotel rates from different booking sites. For example, if one hotel has 6 different prices on 6 different websites, all those prices will be displayed along with the site names on a metasearch site. For travelers, Google’s continuous scrolling option makes it easier to find and book great hotel deals.

With Google being the first place of search, hotels now have an opportunity to showcase their properties with rich media content and attract offers. Having your direct booking engine integrated with metasearch sites will allow your guests to have a better booking experience. Guests will easily be able to check prices and make direct bookings from the metasearch site in the presence of a direct booking engine.

Having your booking engine integrated with a metasearch site will help your hotel have an upper hand among the competitors as it is a reliable way to advertise your hotel rates and availability. Hoteliers could drive in direct traffic from metasearch sites without having to advertise rates or pay commission separately.

3. Guest Review & Rating Integration

It’s all about the guest experience!

Before booking or finalizing any particular hotel, the guests tend to search one of the most important aspects of that property is the past guest experiences in terms of customer reviews and ratings. The more people talk about your hotel online, the better the visibility in different search engines. According to a 2021 TripAdvisor stucly called “Power of Review”, 3 out of 4 travelers thinks online reviews are extremely important when it comes to making travel decisions.

Having the option to integrate customer reviews and ratings through the booking engine platform seals the deal for any potential users. It boosts the online visibility of the hotel giving you the chance to get enough traction and drives the guest’s intent to book more often.

4. Booking Option via Social Media Platforms

The majority of the potential guests spend the maximum of their time on social media like Facebook. Having a booking engine integrated with such platforms can help drive maximum conversions. An advertisement on Facebook of the hotel with a “Book Now” CTA button makes it easier for guests to locate and make their direct bookings.

A booking engine integrated with social media platforms increases the presence of a hotel online. Without having to advertise and pay separately for advertising, a hotelier can easily drive in direct traffic.

Social Media is an integral platform through which hotels can increase their brand awareness and reputation. Even if a potential guest sees a hotel on Facebook but doesn’t book it immediately, he will remember which hotel to look for when making a booking.

5. Integrated with In-house Channel Manager & PMS

A channel manager in simple words is a hotel management software with allows a hotel to manage and monitor its rates and availability on a single dashboard.
A PMS or Property Management System is a software that enables a hotel or group of hotels to manage all aspects of hotel operation.

When a booking engine is integrated with a channel manager and PMS, it automatically updates rates and availability. This prevents overbooking problems. Additionally, it saves hoteliers from manually updating rates and availability which could otherwise lead to human error and increased workload. Analytics and report available with channel manager and PMS together can give an overall report that can help hotels to make wiser decisions. Keeping a check on things that help gain revenue is always a positive addition.

6. Payment Gateway Integration

Payment after a booking is a crucial step in the whole booking journey. Incomplete payment due to technical problems can cause a bad reputation for a hotel. Hence, integrating a safe and secure payment gateway is very important.

According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the hospitality industry contributes around 55% of the total Credit Card fraud complaints. Many hotels and resorts follow a legacy system due to the outdated software and Information technology infrastructure they installed and followed over years. Data breach has become one of the biggest concerns for hoteliers.

While it’s important for hotels to offer a seamless experience during payment process, they need to implement measures to minimize cyber-threat. A PCI-DSS certified payment gateway integration is essential to protect not only the consumer but also the business from losing large sums of profit.

. Directing guests to a direct payment gateway after booking a room from a booking engine will ensure guests gain trust and make payments effortlessly.

Allowing guests to make payments with all available options like – debit cards, credit cards, and online wallets, boosts a positive guest booking experience. Providing support in case of a failed transaction and alerting guests of fraud can be other ways of gaining trust and enhancing the booking experience.

7. Multi-currency & Multi-language Support

International travelers always look for a user-friendly online booking engine to make hassle-free reservations. Most travelers may not be comfortable with English and hence, look for local languages to understand the details of their bookings. In case, some international traveler is facing problems in making a reservation, he or she might be looking for support that could help them in their local language.

The conversion of currency can be difficult at times and could create confusion in travelers. Hence, they look for booking engines that would show price rates in their currency. When making payments, they want to make sure they are paying the right amount. So, it is important to show prices in their currency.

Hence, having multi-currency and multi-language support helps build brand recognition and online reputation. It enhances guests’ booking experience. It allows hotels to drive-in untapped international traffic.

The Way Forward

Presenting easy access to make reservations, right on your website will increase the chances of confirmed booking from potential guests when they arrive at your website. OTAs are a great way of competing in the market, however, the commission that they charge can be excruciating on the commission part of the hoteliers. Having the right booking engine integrated into the website is as important as presenting your hotel on any OTA. Hence, get the right booking engine on your website and help guests make their booking journey a positive one.

Still looking for the perfect booking engine solution? Visit RateTiger Booking Engine solution or to know more connect with our industry experts at marketing@erevmax.com

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RateTiger Partner Ecosystem Updates – Rewarded Elite Status on Expedia & offers OBP on Hotelbeds

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With a multitude of events happening, travel continues to boom in several regions and hotels need to ensure they have the right channels in their distribution mix. Are you optimizing your hotel’s visibility across multiple touch points? Are you making sure guests can find your hotel when they have the booking intent?

Now is the perfect time to look at your tech stack and distribution strategy, and how you can improve it for this year and next. Leverage our connectivity to expand your visibility in key source markets. RateTiger continues to expand its partner mix and add new features and APIs to existing connections.

If you are looking to connect to any specific tech partner or a channel, do explore the RateTiger Partner List of 450+ distribution and tech providers. For any queries or channel addition request, contact us on https://ratetiger.com/contact/

Expedia Elite Partner Status
RateTiger has been awarded the Expedia Elite Connectivity Partner Status for 2022. This recognition underscores our focus on maintaining a high-quality connection that empowers you to serve travellers better and grow your business on Expedia Group’s travel platform. RateTiger will also work directly with Expedia Group’s leadership team, providing feedback and helping shape future products and technology solutions.

OBP on Hotelbeds
You can now manage Occupancy Based Pricing (OBP) on Hotelbeds directly from your RateTiger platform – the first channel manager to offer this feature for Hotelbeds. Maximize your room exposure by displaying different occupancy options. Take advantage of this pricing model to appear in more search results, increase occupancy of more valuable rooms and boost revenue opportunities on Hotelbeds. Promote exciting deals and boost your hotel occupancy – capture the available demand and increase online revenue.

Expand in APAC with Tiket.com
Are you looking to expand your presence in the APAC market? Check out Tiket.com – one of the pioneers in the Indonesian OTA space. One of the largest OTAs in the country, Tiket.com has a user base of 17+ million and connects to 1000+ B2B corporate partners and 3000+ events and attraction site partners. Add them to your distribution network to increase your hotel’s presence amongst APAC travellers and attract more bookings.

Are you looking to integrate with RateTiger? Reach out to us on https://ratetiger.com/become-a-partner/

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Get rewarded for your sales this summer with Booking.com

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Build a stronger season with 30% off your commission on Booking.com.

Booking.com invites eligible properties to join the Summer Commission Discount offer. This offer is the latest opportunity in the Partner Performance Investment Program, Booking.com’s initiative to invest in partners’ recovery through financial incentives. You just need to opt-in your extranet and its completely FREE!

The deadline for you to opt-in is April 30, 2022.

Here’s how it works:

The commission discount is based on sales targets. You get 30% off commission for any extra stayed room nights over your sales target, from May 13 to September 11, 2022. The nights you have already sold for this offer period count. The offer’s sales target takes local market conditions and the latest travel restrictions into account, which are important in these uncertain times.

How to join the offer:

Visit the Opportunities Page in the Booking.com extranet –
https://admin.booking.com/hotel/hoteladmin/extranet_ng/manage/commission_discount/campaign.html

• Click on Partner Commission Discount

• After reviewing the offer, click ‘Get Started’

• Fulfil the opt-in criteria in your extranet

• Click ‘Join Offer’ and you are done

How to monitor progress: Once you opt -in to the offer successfully, the initial page will turn into a site to monitor sales and savings. For any queries, please contact your Booking.com Account Manager or send a message via the extranet inbox to Booking.com. If you are looking to increase your hotel’s visibility and expand online bookings – contact us today

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3 Next-Gen Hotel Tech Trends that may Dominate 2022

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While there’s plenty of innovation happening on the hospitality technology front, there are a few that stand out. The big brands are still capable of dictating the direction of the industry at large. However, small and medium-size players are making equally big strides, influencing the segment in a deeper way.

This means that it’s important to keep tabs on what’s happening with established players as well as smaller innovators. Let’s look at the top 3 next-gen technology trends in the hospitality industry that we should look out for in 2022.

Booking technologies that are built on optimization and efficiency

Technological progress has long been a part of the hospitality industry, and online booking technology is a part of the same conversion. For example, you can use this platform to automatically sync all of your business accounts and bookings. Besides, you will have access to features that allow you to have an overview of all your properties on one screen. This can be useful for those who operate several establishments around the world.The latter feature is crucial for those who are always on the go and don’t have time to manage all their bookings manually. Another benefit of booking technology platforms is that they are extremely easy to use. Not only that, but they also provide detailed reports about your business operations and help control every single aspect of it.

The increased reliance on all-in-one solutions

In 2022, the hospitality industry will be ruled by solutions that integrate multiple capabilities, which not only bring cost-saving opportunities for businesses but also provide ease of management, higher efficiency, and greater productivity. With the help of SaaS and traditional software technologies, hotels can run booking systems, check-in services, and other useful programs in a fast and efficient manner without spending too much time on management and maintenance.

One of the most popular software solutions used by hotels today is RateTiger Channel Manager. The company provides online distribution, channel connectivity, market intelligence, and revenue management solutions for any size hotel ranging from economy properties with a few rooms up to luxury five-star resorts. In addition, RateTiger allows hotels to manage reservations, inventory control, room rates, marketing campaigns, and other business operations via a single portal.
Higher priority to cyber security

While going digital and moving to the cloud has benefits in abundance, it also comes with several challenges, including cyber threats. In fact, cyberattacks are on the rise. Every year there are more data thefts and ransomware attacks. Data leaks happen more often and can result in big losses for companies.

Unsurprisingly, cyber security issues will be a hot topic in the hospitality industry this year and beyond and is one of the major technology trends in the hospitality industry. It would be a disaster if the full workflow crashes or gets hacked because of ineffective security measures. Security breaches are not only bad for business but also put your customers’ data at risk, thereby calling lawsuits.

Hotel owners must clearly define the digital security standards and best practices to keep data safe from cyberattacks and breaches. These standards should cover everything from hardware to software to digital storage. Setting up a comprehensive security program for staff and clients alike is also very important. This is exactly what we will see this year.

Final words
Here are the top hotel tech trends 2022 in the hospitality industry that will gain momentum and demand our attention. It would include the emergence of blockchain solutions, usage of predictive smart systems, virtual reality tours, and a wider prevalence of smart recognition technology. These trends will take the hotel bookings a step forward towards a totally transformed hospitality industry entirely driven by technology and personalized experiences.

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Hotel Channel Manager – Improve Your Revenue in 2022 & Beyond

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COVID-19 has witnessed a dramatic change in consumer behavior. The hospitality & travel industry is one of the major markets that has witnessed a great setback due to pandemics and realized some major changes in the customer life-cycle in terms of travelling behavior.

In the tourism & hospitality industry, the latest travel demands and change in the customer’s perspective on travel has inclined toward – sustainability and technology. Hence, the hotels and online channels must focus on the pain points within the industry to elevate their business and stay ahead in the competition.

The year 2022, can see a boost in the tourism sector based on the research conducted by Expedia, Booking.com and other players. Thus, hoteliers must stay abreast with their hotel technology to manage their daily operations – be it room rates, ease of online booking, or providing the best guest experience with an effort to make online visitors into a permanent customer.

This drill-down to the accommodation owners to have the best hotel management solutions like Hotel Channel Manager, booking engines, rate intelligence platform to deduce the customer’s preference. At RateTiger, we focus on the B2B hotel solutions and importance of having the best channel manager – why you should have it, the key attributes to achieve scalability, and remain competitive in the market.

What is a Hotel Channel Manager?

Hotel Channel Manager is a software tool which allows hoteliers to sell all your rooms on your connected booking sites at the same time automatically. It provides a list of several online sales channel on a single dashboard enabling simultaneous monitoring and control over all these online sales channels. When there is a major change in the inventory or a room needs to be closed for sale, an OTA channel manager automatically updates it on all Hotel Sales Channel or OTAs.

This software created to help hotels to compete in a market where the demand for online room reservation rose rapidly without losing out on revenue. Channel Manager helps hotels boost their online bookings and have maximized their profits by helping them to increase their online presence.

Online Distribution channels includes Metasearch engines, OTAs, Global Distribution Channels (GDS) or direct channels like the website of a hotel. All these Online Distribution Channels can be managed using a centralized control panel when using a channel manager software.

Hotel Channel Manager – Key Attributes & Importance

The strategy of using numerous channels to sell on is not so effective until the hotel knows the right channels to sell on. Hotel Channel Manager System provides a list of channels which effectively increases your revenue. Let’s take a look at the major attributes of a channel manager:

Increase Online Presence

Hotel Channel Manager help hotels to be in the appropriate position for display on online distribution channels for maximum views. Hotels get the opportunity to maximize their profits by being visible on platforms visited mostly by online travelers looking to book their stays. Increasing visibility help increase market reach as hotels are displayed on international platforms for international travelers to confirm their bookings.

Maximize Profits

With Hotel Channel Manager it helps display the real time rates and availability, and automatic updates across all online channels with minimal investment. Also, it helps hotels save on their revenue and maximize their profits. With hotels being available online throughout the year, they are also visible during low seasons which give them the extra revenue which they would otherwise miss in the absence of a channel manager

No Overbooking

With automatic inventory update and pooled inventory, travelers booking online can also see when a hotel is fully sold out. That way hotel reduces the risk of overbooking as guests can only book rooms which are available. In traditional way or in the absence of channel manager, there was no way for guests to know if a hotel room was sold out which resulted in double booking.

Reducing Human Errors

Manual processes are not only time consuming but it also increase chances of human error. With automated updates of rate and inventory the productivity is increased. The hotels can use their staffs to focus on other strategies for revenue management effectively. Overcoming the disadvantage of manual process being slow, online channel manager updates real time inventory thereby, never missing an opportunity of successful room reservation.

Analyze What Works

With an effective hotel channel management system, a hotel can analyze what is working and make changes with what is not working. With the data from the channel manager, a hotel can ensure the right channels to be on which channels are actually helping them maximize their profits and also that the prices displayed are optimized. A complete transparency of data across all channels helps to correct errors in time and stay ahead in the competition.

Keep Everyone Updated

Channel Manager Dashboards are easy to use. With multiple hotel staff members using the channel management system, one must think, it will create confusion and chaos. However, it is not so. Hotel Channel Management System can be set and reset with just a few clicks. Important dates, holidays and peak season prices can be set from prior to make work easier for hoteliers.

Total Control on Property

With two way XML connectivity provided by a channel manager, the user or the hotelier automatically gets informed of any cancellation or other modification which might have happened on any channel. The hotelier or user can then update this information to all connected channels in just a click. Also, a channel manager enables a hotel to split its inventory on different online channels. If required a hotelier can also switch off its inventory on a certain channel for a period of time in just few clicks.

What are hotels looking for when choosing a Hotel Channel Manager?

Now that we understand what a channel manager is, let’s talk about the most important difficulty faced by hotels these days: choosing the right channel manager for their hotel. How will one know which is the best channel manager to use! The first step to go about it is selecting the channel manager that provide free trail and choosing the best among them. The following could help hotels know the Channel Manager to choose that we help them with optimum revenue in the long run:

Does the Channel Manager provide a free trial?
How many channels the channel manager is connected to?
Is the channel manager connected to the channels important for your hotel?
How many dates, room type per channel and number of channels can the channel manager help manage simultaneously?
Does the channel manager update and automate in real-time?
Does the channel manager use pooled inventory model?
Does the channel manager support multiple users and multiple devices?
Do the channel manager provide adequate support and in hoteliers native language?

Though this list above cannot be called the complete guide to a good channel manager but these could be the basics from where one can start.

Other systems to use with a Hotel Channel Manager:

To boost the efficacy of a channel manager, some other systems can be integrated. Improve business results by maintaining accuracy and smooth operations by using:

PMS

Property Management System is a system that manages the whole property. When integrated along with a channel manager, any changes made on the PMS regarding your property, say inventory, it is picked up by the channel manager and is informed to all the connected third party channels.

Booking Engine

When a hotel website is connected to a booking engine, a hotel can easily convert their potential guests into happy guest by direct sales. Using a booking engine, unlike OTAs, is commission free and saves a big part of the revenue.

Rate Shopper

A Rate Shopper is a pricing intelligence tool that helps a hotel set the optimized price in different seasons of the year. Based on supply and demand, when the market changes, a rate shopper allows the hotel to track their competitors. Rate Shopper helps keep the numbers right.

Way forward

Elimination of several procedures as in the traditional marketing has made channel manager popular amongst the crowd. Every hotelier who is not using a channel manager is losing out on a chunk of revenue. In fact, investing a lot on traditional marketing and not getting enough returns is another major drawback of not using this tool. Hotel Channel Manager is the future of Hotel Industry and the future is here!

Looking for a Trusted Hotel Channel Manager?

RateTiger Channel Manager has been experiencing the hospitality industry in and out over the past 20+ years. It has successfully been helping hotels stay afloat through the changing times especially through the bigger storm named COVID-19 pandemic.

Get other services like PMS integration, CRS, Hotel Booking Engine, Hotel Website Design and Hotel Digital Marketing with RateTiger (product of eRevMax). Contact us at marketing@erevmax.com or visit www.ratetiger.com to know more.

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Hotel Yield Management Strategies to Boost your Revenue

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One answer that is commonly searched for by accommodation providers is a pricing strategy that would make most profits from the given inventory which includes not only hotel rooms but also packages, services and other amenities. This pricing strategy is called Yield Management. Often misinterpreted as revenue management, yield management isn’t the same as revenue management.

Come, let’s find out what actually Yield Management is and how is it important to maximize profits.

Yield Management vs Revenue Management

In simple terms, Revenue Management is selling the right product to the right customer for the right price at the right time. Perfecting revenue management is both art and science involving an effective pricing strategy. Yield management is a part of revenue management which solely focuses on hotel rooms. While the primary focus on the revenue management is to optimize RevPAR, yield management is about figuring out selling right room to the right customer for the right price at the right time. The key difference is revenue management also encompasses services while yield management is all about inventory. Hotel rooms is a perishable inventory in the sense that the room available, if not sold on a particular date, the opportunity to sell it for that particular date is gone and will not come back. Yield Management in hotel is figuring out how to wisely use these opportunities.

Why is Hotel Yield Management Important?

Having an effective yield management strategy is crucial for hotels to optimize their occupancy. Hotels change price of their rooms based on booking windows. The inventory is perishable and in limited quantity. Typically rates closer to dates vary depending on the occupancy level. If the hotel needs to increase occupancy, it might have to lower the price, and simultaneously, if there is high demand, price would be increased. For yield management strategy to be successful hotels need to have an effective distribution mix to identify the right change to acquire the right customer.

Demand for hotel rooms differs with different times of the year. During the different seasons of the year the traffic is different which bring in different demands. Knowing what to do with pricing when the market dips or when the demand is at peak helps not only optimize revenue but to make maximum use of available inventory.

Top 4 reasons why hoteliers should apply yield management strategy:

Minimize Pricing Errors

Accurate pricing forecast reduces pricing errors and help eliminate risks that might have been miscalculated. When you have a plan for something and have calculated results, you have a scope to identify the errors. Once identified, you can correct them in time before you lose out on the opportunity. Yield management acts as that plan that shields you from any unforeseen loses so you can rectify any errors made in time to maximize your revenue. Minimizing the pricing errors will help build reputation which is one of the important pillars of success for a hotel.

Segmentation at Its Best

The idea might be to try and focus on driving traffic from a particular segment of the market. But very often, when we try to do that, we lose out on the other segments out there which might benefit us. Yield management in hotel exactly helps you out of it. Let’s take the example of corporate travelers who book their rooms on a short notice whereas leisure travelling family who booked rooms earlier. Offering the same price to both on their dates of booking will result in booking cancelation by the family. Hence, yield management help you understand the demands of potential guests from different segments and how to put the pricing accordingly.

Meeting Guests’ Demands

The hotel industry has become very dynamic in the recent times. With automation and digitalization in play, guests demand differently which need to be met by hotels in order to achieve success. Some guests might be looking for personalized experience rather than the automated services. With changing guest demands, it is very important to have an effective yield management strategy that would help you understand the dynamics and plan the pricing according to guest preferences. Meeting guest demands successfully can drive in positive reviews in turn building a good reputation.

Stay Ahead of Competitors

When we strategize our yield management, a part of the planning includes researching for the right pricing. It leads hotels to look at what their competitors are doing, what pricing their competitors are keeping. Keeping a close eye on the competitors leads a hotel to know where they are lagging behind and to catch up with competition in time. Focusing on beneficial bookings can result in loss of potential bookings. Tracking demand trends and understanding booking patterns can help strategizing effective pricing and stay ahead of competitors.

One example of hotel yield management strategy could be ‘time-penalty’ approach. Let’s say there is a festival around. “Time-penalty” strategy increases the price of the rooms gradually as the dates get closer to the festival. So how do you effectively strategize Yield Management for your hotel?

It’s time to get Your Team:

For a beneficial Yield Management Strategy, a hotel requires a dedicated team for research and analysis. A right team with the right tools and insights will help the hotel take the right action at the right time and deliver valuable results

In short, yield management in hotel means minimum investment bringing in maximum revenue in the form of maximum bookings.

Learn More: Hotel Industry Glossary

RateTiger is a leading B2B hotel technology company – providing hotel channel manager, hotel booking engine, hotel CRS, hotel website design and digital marketing solutions to hospitality companies.

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What is the Hotel Booking Engine Software?

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With the traditional ways of hotel marketing slowly fading away, modern day travelers are drawn more towards online booking. Hotels use third parties like OTAs for their online distribution. One problem with third parties like OTAs being involved is the commission they charge. The commission charged prevents a hotel from making optimum revenue from available resources.

So, is there any other way of getting rid of commissions and driving in direct reservations? The answer is Hotel Booking Engine.

What is a Booking Engine?

A booking engine is an application that is installed and appears on a hotel’s website or social media page. A traveler visiting the hotel website or social media page can make direct bookings and payments form this application.

Booking engine is a commission free way for hotels to drive in direct bookings. The charges applied by third parties like OTAs can be eliminated as reservations are made directly through a booking engine. Online Booking Engine reduces the reliance of a hotel on OTAs for delivering them bookings. Hence, maximizes profit with optimum utilization of resources.

The importance of a booking engine for a hotel

Most modern day travelers tend to visit a hotel’s website before final reservation. Having a direct gateway available on the website improves guest experiencing giving the guests a hassle free way for confirming their reservations.

The services of a hotel doesn’t start from the guests arrival on property, in fact, it starts from when the guest is searching for a hotel. Presenting your hotel in an attractive way gives you an upper hand in guests’ wish list. Not having a hotel booking engine on the website can make the potential guests lose interest in your property. Hence, it is important to remain up-to-date with what modern day travelers look for when they make reservations.

And direct reservation gateway is one of them!

Increased Conversions:

With the help of a booking engine, a traveler can check the availability and rates of a room without being re-directed to other websites or having to write long messages or speak over the call to anyone. They can make reservations and modify such reservations without bothering or being bothered by any third parties. Ensure that booking engine integration with hotels website and social media pages is customizable. This can help you give you guests a real feel of what your hotel is like and convert your potential guests into confirmed reservations.

Trustworthy Online booking:

Most travelers want to make sure that a property they like is not fraud or fake. So they go on the hotel’s website to check the details making sure that it is trustworthy. Not having a booking engine will make them exit the website and hence, may lose interest in the property. An online hotel booking engine helps the guests to trust a property and make their payment securely. This improves guests’ experience and drives in positive feedbacks. A user friendly booking engine will create a lasting impression of the hotel on the guests.

Simplifies work with quick and easy set-up:

A hotel will never need to accept reservations or send reservation confirmations manually, in the presence of a booking engine. It gives access to the occupancy data to all employees of the hotel so they remain prepared for the guests’ arrival from beforehand. It also allows a hotel to collect valuable data about the guests in order to provide personalized experiences for better stay. A booking engine integration helps store personalized data so it can be used later for advertising and providing guests with personalized offers.

Digital Assistants and special offers:

Research says over 1 in 3 travelers across countries wish to use digital assistants to research about their trips and make travel reservations. A booking engine helps a hotel provide digital assistant that builds relationship with guests providing guests with better booking experience. It also gives hotels an opportunity to attract guests by offering upsell promo codes and discounts throughout the year. Another research shows 60% of US travelers travel on impulse trip based on good deals on flight fares and hotel charges they find online. Exclusive packages and early booking offers helps attract such guests.

Better decisions with data:

A booking engine can provide insights and reports on top countries, top cities, referring sites, booking lead, revenue, rooms reserved, rooms sold and overall performance result. This allows the hotel to make better decisions on which marketing campaign is working and which one is not. Hotels can focus on attracting more guests from the places where they might have missed. With the readily available data, hotels can take improved decisions on their online distribution marketing campaigns. Based on the data hotels can also keep an eye on their performance and can make changes accordingly maximizing their profits.

Features to look for in a hotel booking engine

Looking for a hotel booking system but can’t decide on which one to choose? Here’s a quick checklist to go through before deciding on a booking engine:

Customizable booking engine platform with tailored themes
Responsive design, that is, a design that is adjustable to all screen sizes.
Allows up to 25 images in gallery and attractive banner image.
Social media integration, that is, linked with all social media handles.
Provides analytics and reports for improved decision making
Enables hotel to create promotion codes and discount coupons
Hides unavailable rooms and alerts guest when the search criteria has not been found
Quick and user friendly reservation process with secured payment gateway
Multilingual, that is, texts are available in several language to attract international guests
Multi-currency helping international guests to make hassle free payments.
Flexible pricing to boost revenue
24/7 customer support for hassle free set-up and other queries.
An eye-catching or attractive “Book Now”
Free demo or trial is available before buying the booking engine.

There is a lot more to check on before choosing a booking engine for your hotel but the above list mentions the most important ones that must be there in a hotel booking engine.

The Next Step!

Are you looking for a booking engine? Contact RateTiger today at marketing@erevmax.com for a free trial.

RateTiger has been in the hotel industry since 2001 and has faced every ups and downs of the market ever since. Being ISO and PCI certified along with GDPR compliant, RateTiger provides their client with the best software tools and technologies to fuel their growth in the market. Known for providing smart solutions, RateTiger Booking Engine comes with the following features:

Mobile first
Commission free
Multi-currency
Multi lingual
Offers secure payment gateway
Metasearch integrated

And a lot more! RateTiger has a 24/7 proactive customer support to guide you and reach your goals. Explore RateTiger for our hospitality solutions & more. Connect with our industry experts today.

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