8 crucial features of the hotel booking system
Yearning! that your Hotel Booking System to be on the list top ten? Then wait no more.
I have come up with a few features, if you implement these on your Hotel Booking System then definitely yours will count among the best.
Our life revolves around the screen, it surrounds us everywhere in our pockets, hands, office desk, side table, and more.
Digital technologies touch many facets of our day-to-day life. Moreover, due to the pandemic customer expectations of the hotel industry are not the same.
They want everything to be technology-driven.
Hence, to meet the customer expectations, make sure the hotel booking system fulfills the demands of today’s travelers.
Cloud-based reservations are possible through the hotel booking system
The future is unpredictable, we don’t know what the future will unfold for us. So, prepare in advance by opting for cloud-based reservations.
Through its help, your employees can access the online booking system remotely.
A cloud-based Hotel booking software is accessible from any location, at any time, from a laptop, cell phone, or tablet.
It is more affordable to operate, manage, and protect than the on-site systems.
Automated Reservation System
Solve the issue of inconsistency by connecting the channel manager with the central reservation system.
Here what I mean by inconsistency is double booking, overbooking, or not confirming a guest’s booking.
It will add to negative reviews and result in a loss of revenue.
The issue arises because people book rooms through a number of sources, like the hotel’s website, online travel agencies (OTAs), and the front desk.
So, your system should be able to handle it efficiently. Thus, it is imperative to link the channel manager with the central reservation system.
Hence, all the updates like room availability, their rates, etc can be viewed by guests in real-time.
Automating the reservation system with a reliable hotel booking system reduces the risk of manual errors in business.
Furthermore, having a streamlined booking system in place eliminates the chances of losses and improves the guest booking experience.
Integration through the hotel booking system
A property management system(PMS) is a software useful in managing all the hotel operations, and Central Reservation Reservation is its main module.
Or it can even stand alone. It’s closely related to the front desk because it sends all information about new reservations to the PMS for processing.
And revenue management modules of the PMS since it modifies prices based on certain criteria.
Hence, it influences the revenue.
The channel manager is the interface that connects the PMS to all of the distribution interfaces.
It uses several types of APIs to acquire information about room availability and rates from the CRS and communicate it across many channels.
Including Global Distribution Systems, Online Travel Agencies, wholesalers, metasearch sites, and the hotel’s own website.
As rooms are booked, the inventory information is synced across all online channels, preventing overbooking and ensuring rate consistency.
A channel manager can be included as part of a full PMS, as part of a separate CRS, or as a standalone piece of software that can be linked with current hotel software.
The interface must give a quick view of the calendar front desk, making the reservation process go more smoothly.
The hotel booking system must provide a seamless booking experience
Your website must be simple, convenient, and easy to operate. For guests’ better experience, the steps for booking a room must be clear and a few in number.
Moreover, people are actively engaged on their phones.
So, It’s important that a booking engine that supports fast-loading on a range of devices and connections. It should be fully optimized for mobile devices.
Processing Online payments
Nowadys, people are more willing to make online payments than through cash or cheque.
Thus, to allow easy payment for your guests and adhere to the requirement of social distancing.
Your PMS must integrate a payment processor that allows secure access to major payment gateways.
Through it, you can fulfill booking/cancellation policy requirements.
Transaction value from online reservations must be automatically shown in the backend of the financial report.
Chatbots
Delight guests and drive efficiency through chatbots. Chatbots serve as a virtual concierge service, they answer queries of website visitors.
They understand the queries of guests and support all possible interactions with guests.
Apart from that, it follows some special provisions and policies so that there is no threat of data breach.
They bridge the gap between getting information through face-to-face interaction and online experience.
For instance, What is the check-in time? Does breakfast is included in reservation fees?
Accounting software
Accounting is a vast concept and for the smooth running of your finance department.
Hence, look for software that has top accounting software integrated to streamline invoicing, billing, and more to automate repetitive tasks.
Whether you are tracking commission or configuring payment policies, it is wise to integrate Property Management System with hotel accounting software.
This will saves time and employees can put energy toward other tasks.
Others
- Easy to use interface because complex software causes more mistakes.
- Optimize to operate on cell phones and tablets so that employees can use them to access data from anywhere. Apart from that customers can make bookings through them.
- Automate email to communicate with guests and send them personalized emails.
- Highlight the special events happening in your hotel or nearby locations.
- To appeal to a broader market, provide multiple languages and currency support.
- Provide discounts, and promo codes to your regular customer. Or give discounts during the season, holidays, early-bird or last-minute booking.
Conclusion
We can conclude that if you want your hotel to grab more bookings then have these features in your hotel.
Researchers find out that online bookings will make more than 6o% of travel and tourism segment revenue in a year.
Hence, to manage these bookings automated reservation process is place is crucial.
Furthermore, having a streamlined booking system in place helps hoteliers provide a more intuitive booking experience to guests.
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If you want to learn about the functionality of QloApps then you can visit this link: QLO Reservation System – Free Open-Source Hotel Booking & Reservation System
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