Impact of Booking Engines in Modern Hotel Management
Over the years, the hospitality industry has undergone a remarkable transformation. It includes technological advancements to enhance guest satisfaction and revolutionize the guest journey.
In modern hotel management, the hotel booking engine has played a significant role. In this blog, we will discuss the impact of hotel booking engines in modern hotel management.
What is Modern Hotel Management and why is it necessary?
Modern Hotel Management is a term that refers to the use of technology, innovation and personalization to create a better guest experience and a more profitable business model.
Hoteliers are moving into modern hospitality because they want to adapt to the changing needs and expectations of their guests. Also, they want to improve their operational efficiency and revenue streams.
Now, let us discuss the positive and negative aspects of hotel booking engine in modern hotel management
Positive Aspects of Hotel Booking Engine in Modern Hospitality:
Improving Direct sales:
A hotel booking system helps accelerate direct sales. It is done by streamlining the booking process and converting the hotel website into a booking website that is available anytime.
Moreover, It helps to eliminate the commissions from distribution channels which helps in increasing the hotel’s profit and reducing the guest acquisition costs.
Increase in Hotel Revenue
Nowadays, the guests are not only looking for the stays, but they are demanding the entire package. A hotel booking engine can help you with this. Hoteliers can offer additional services such as airport pick up and drop offs, SPA treatments or meal packages during the booking process.
They can also increase or decrease the services based on the guest’s stay. It will help in growing the hotel’s revenue and refine the guest experience.
Enhance Guest Experience
In this modern era, the guests need to take care of many things while planning a trip. One of the ways you can help your guest is by providing a simple interface to book the rooms in your hotel.
With the help of a hotel booking engine, guests can book their hotel rooms online from anywhere. It will save the booking and allow your guests to know more about your hotel and help them so that they can make better decisions during the booking.
Gain an advantage over competition
As we all know the hospitality industry is one of the most competitive industries. There’s always scope for having features that differentiate you from the competition. Having your own hotel booking engine will give you a competitive edge you have complete control over the booking process and your guest experience.
Moreover, it will help you to try different pricing and revenue management strategies to improve your hotel’s growth.
Negative aspects of Booking Engines in Modern Hospitality:
Internet Connectivity
The hotel booking engines offer a lot of advantages for the hotelier. However, to make them feasible, You have to be highly dependent upon the internet. You’ll need a reliable internet connection to check the reservations made and to add bookings that are made offline.
Also, you need to make a note that if there’s a technical glitch or network failure, you will not receive the bookings. Any customer query will not reach you on time, which leads to late response and customer dissatisfaction.
High Costs of Hotel Booking Engine
The booking engines offer a lot of unique features but they do come with a hefty price. Some providers will come with free trial periods but they don’t showcase all the essential features. To get those necessary features, You might end up paying a hefty price.
Some engines can charge you per transaction, while others operate on a subscription model. Moreover, there can be recurring costs for bug fixes and support. And don’t now forget hidden charges that may occur unexpectedly.
Lack of Human Touch
Although the booking engines provide multiple benefits, one area where they can’t compete is providing a human touch. It can affect in customer service area. The customers may not feel valued or appreciated by the hotel and can miss the opportunity to negotiate or request any special deals.
Also, the hotel booking engine may not handle complex or customized bookings as these often require human attention and flexibility.
Essential Training for Hotel Booking Engine
We already know what unique features the hotel booking engine comes with. However, knowing all of them is not easy. Your hotel staff like hotel sales, marketing, and front desk management are not tech geeks.
It could take a few days or a month to learn all the basic features of the system. In some scenarios, the hotel staff hires technical employees to manage the booking engine. Also, booking engine providers can charge you extra for the training of the system.
Conclusion
A hotel booking engine offers various advantages that can significantly improve the reservation process and enhance the overall guest experience in modern hotel management. It is a convenient solution for guest to book their accommodations anytime and from anywhere.
However, it is essential to recognize the potential disadvantages of a hotel booking engine. The initial cost of implementation and maintenance can be a barrier for some hoteliers. Nonetheless, with careful consideration, the advantages of a hotel booking engine can outweigh the disadvantages that lead to any hotel’s business growth.
Get In Touch With Us!
If you are a hotelier and looking for software for your hotel, One Property Management that I recommend is QloApps – A Free hotel booking software
QloApps also offers various other hospitality technology services such as Channel Manager, Cloud PMS (QloSaaS), 100+ Addons, Revenue management, Data analytics, and many more.
If you have any suggestions, kindly share them on the QloApps forum. For any technical help, kindly raise a ticket.