Smart Channel Manager Distribution: “smart” online distribution

Smart Channel Manager Distribution: “smart” online distribution

After the pandemic crisis, hotel owners now have a great challenge: to sell better in order to be more profitable. That is to say, to try to maintain or increase occupancy and, at the same time, increase the Average Daily Rate.

To achieve this, hotels must adapt their distribution plan, choosing channels with lower costs that allow for an improvement in the operating account and technological tools that help them in the process.

This is where Smart Channel Manager Distribution comes in. A series of strategies that help hotel owners to optimise revenue and improve distribution in online channels, always accompanied by powerful tools that allow you to develop these smart distribution strategies.

Maintaining an appropriate distribution mix

According to Statista, 72% of independent hotels in Europe use more than one online travel platform. This establishes a high revenue dependency on these booking portals.

Therefore, a smarter strategy is to stick to only those distribution channels that offer the most profitability.

This means that direct sales will have to become more important in order to balance the increased operational costs. So, as a hotelier you will have to choose what weight to give to each channel in distribution.

Direct Bookings vs. OTA Bookings

Online travel agencies are great allies for hotels, provided they are managed properly. They should be an important distribution channel, but not to the point where the majority of revenue depends on them.

While these platforms are often travellers’ first contact with hotels, it is not smart to bet all your chips on them.

Use them, but manage very well the positioning inventory, the rates of each platform and their commissions. With this, you will be able to evaluate if the commercial relationship is the right one for your hotel.

Direct Bookings: Highest Priority

If you know how to manage the costs of direct bookings, this should be the most profitable channel for your hotel. To make it so, here are a few tips:

  • Optimise the website
  • Do SEO and content marketing
  • Control direct distribution costs
  • Offers best rate guarantee
  • Creating a customer loyalty strategy
  • Educate and reward your staff

This will help to promote your hotel brand and position it in search engines, which will generate an increase in direct bookings.

Pricing Strategy

For all of the above to work, you need to keep your pricing strategies right. This means announcing rates at the right time and in the right channels. Because each market segment, type of distribution channel and amount of demand merits a different price.

If you don’t, you will be missing many opportunities.

Therefore, if you want to attract more guests, you will have to optimise your prices on every channel you advertise on. In addition, this ensures more revenue and effective distribution. It is also important to avoid common mistakes in your pricing strategy:

  • Trying to sell all rooms too early
  • Do not change tariffs
  • Setting prices on hunches
  • Reacting to your competitors’ price changes

Smart Online Distribution Strategies Ensure Better Prices

Several cases have shown that better online distribution guarantees more revenue, as it increases ADR.

This is possible by striking the right balance between each distribution channel you use. Tour operators should be the lowest revenue earner in the business, due to their high cost. Instead, direct bookings and online travel agency bookings will become more important.

In this way, you can guarantee higher profitability for your hotel and the longed-for increase in the average daily rate.

Pricing strategies have to be accompanied by systems that support you in maximising your hotel’s RevPAR, effectively managing the Yield in a fully automated way. For example, YieldPlanet’s Price Optimizer allows you to do just that, with the help of artificial intelligence. In addition, the Price Optimizer works 24/7 ensuring that the hotel can always react to any changes, regardless of when they happen – so that no opportunity to change prices or close sales is lost or delayed.

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Channel Manager Update: Introducing new discount and cancellation option to Airbnb

Channel Manager Update: Introducing new discount and cancellation option to Airbnb

We are happy to introduce new promotions to Airbnb as well as the possibility of canceling reservations from the Channel Manager interface.

New discounts include long-stay discounts applied to all dates without necessity of introducing stay dates, advance purchase deals for stays booked at least 1 month in advance and last minute deals. Discounts can be accessed from Setup -> Partners -> Configure section.

 

New options in connectivity to Airbnb also include the possibility of canceling reservations from the Channel Manager interface. Please note that canceling a reservation from the interface requires providing a cancellation reason.

 Missed any update? Click here for all our latest Channel Manager updates and more.

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Channel Manager Update: Smarter Distribution

Channel Manager Update: Smarter Distribution

Back are the times when properties can be fully booked at pre-pandemic levels. Refreshing inventory in all distribution channels as fast as possible is a hot topic again. For channels with 1-way connectivity (meaning active distribution of prices, allotment and restrictions from the Channel Manager without reservations returned from OTA) there is an option to refresh inventory more often. This can increase performance of those channels when inventory is being sold out there fast or being autoreplenished after a cancellation.

Please reach out to your Support Team to discuss switching 1-way channels into 2-way connectivity to make use of the basic Channel Manager feature of retrieving reservations. Alternatively, if turning on 2-way connectivity is not an option, please discuss with your Support Team sending even duplicate data on inventory to selected channels. Please note that distributing data more often might require switching to 1 of the higher product versions of the Channel Manager.

Missed any update? Click here for all our latest Channel Manager updates and more.

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How to avoid cancellations and minimise their damage to your business

How to avoid cancellations and minimise their damage to your business

The risk of cancelled reservations is something inevitable for every hospitality property. Some guests will always cancel the reservation for different reasons, but how hoteliers can handle it without notable damage – remains an eternal question. 

Getting the booking by another guest on very short notice is a challenging task, but not impossible. How to get a new reservation after a last-minute cancellation? And what lessons should you learn to minimise the risk of booking cancellations?

  • Create a clear cancellation policy: If you provide your guests  with a deadline for cancelling, you need to make sure that conditions and dates are clear. One of the ways to do that is by making sure it’s written in the terms and conditions of the reservation so that the guest can be informed  beforehand. If you also want to have a non-refundable deposit, you need to make it clear beforehand. 
  • Ask for a deposit: You can ask guests  to pay a non-refundable fee, so if the cancellation comes, you will be covered by the deposit fee. It will also make them feel more committed to the reservation. The deposit can make your guests think twice before cancelling if they don’t want to lose their money. 
  • Have good communication with your clients: Having good communication is crucial. It’s important that you reply to your guests quickly and efficiently to make a good impression. It would also be thoughtful if you check on them after the reservation and before the arrival to build more trust. 
  • Speak with your guests after a cancellation: If guests cancel their reservation, talk with them and try to learn why they cancel for you to improve. There may be a common problem that you can avoid. 
  • Offer to reschedule: If a guest cancels because they can not come on that date for personal matters or for any kind of reasons, you can offer them to change the dates. This can help you to leave a better impression and not to lose a guest. 
  • Keep your calendar updated: Keeping it updated is crucial to avoid unnecessary cancellations and double bookings. Imagine that two different guests make a reservation on the same property through different sites because it appears available on both, even though it isn’t, just because the calendar hasn’t been updated properly.
  • Have a good Channel Manager: Updating the information, sending fresh availability to your channels and keeping all the data synchronised will help you to cover the cancellation damage, promote and sell cancelled rooms via another distribution channel. All of these tasks can be easily covered by Channel Manager, which is an absolutely irreplaceable tool for a modern hotelier. If you are looking for one, check how YieldPlanet’s Channel Manager can meet your needs and help you to fight unwanted cancellations. You can find more information and updates abour our Channel Manager here.

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Sell more with high-quality visual content | Part II

Sell more with high-quality visual content | Part II

On the first post we explained 6 steps about turning visual content into a calling card of your property to sell more because we’re in a new era of visual culture. On this second part, we’ll continue with 5 final steps:

7. Going beyond imagery with virtual reality
Hospitality customers usually require lots of information before they book a room. Property and room descriptions, customer reviews, images, and sometimes even videos – all of these need to be reviewed, in most cases, before making a final decision. Due to virtual reality, this can be significantly shortened. Nowadays many travel companies are providing virtual reality elements on websites or apps, such as a virtual walk-through. It allows users to experience a digital version of a hotel room, or even take a look at one of the nearby attractions. This immersion can enable hoteliers to offer a ‘try before you buy’ option for their guests to simplify the process of making a decision and eventually, reservation.

8. After-photoshoot tips
You did a great job! Now you have a lot of photos, start to select the best ones and get ready to have them done before publishing online. There are a lot of editing tools for laptops and smartphones that can easily polish your photos up. Using these tools, you can sharpen blurred images, make color corrections, play with the light, crop it, and much more. Remember to go easy on the filters and effects. Keep in mind that the final image should still look natural and accurate. Some of these tools are very affordable or even free, so you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg to get one. For example, Canva, Pixlr Express, PicMonkey, and GIMP can help you to apply some nice professional tricks to your photos in free plans.

9. Make sure your photos are high resolution
A grainy and blurred photo that makes the guest squint to see some details doesn’t help an image of your property. In fact, it may even damage it. Illuminate such photos from your portfolio and use only high-resolution images on your website, social media, and other platforms. Take into account that some of the social media reduces the quality of photos while uploading.

11. Encourage your guests to take photos & share 
Make your guests become your photographers! Start with creating an Instagram or Facebook account and come up with an easy unique hashtag. Ask your guests to take photos to share them on social media and tag your property name or use your hashtag. You can encourage guests to do so by offering nice benefits – discounts or free things (drinks, massages at SPA, desserts, etc). Repost or like every pic you have been tagged on to show your interest and gratitude to your guests. You can even use those photos on your website or other social media profiles and tag the photographer. Make sure that people from the photos you place on your website are ok with this.

12. Stick to OTAs and advices
OTA, or an online travel agency, is a marketplace that allows consumers to research and book travel products and services directly with the travel provider. With new tendencies continuously evolving, your multimedia content is crucial in generating engagement. To publish pictures that attract traffic, you need to follow the strict guidelines each OTA provides. Here are examples of some of the biggest players on the market and their regulations:

expedia

Expedia is an international travel platform with the purpose to bring the world within reach. On their website, Expedia claims that the right photos can encourage guests to stay at your hotel, making photography an essential part of the website. Expedia advises:

  • To use room-specific views as they get up to 11% higher conversion rate
  • To post horizontal photos, explaining that vertical photos are not recommended
  • The photos to be above 1,000 pixels and show an eye-level view and a straight horizon line

Airbnb is an American online marketplace and has its own set of guidelines for uploading real estate-related photography. For example, Airbnb requires all the images:

  • To be at least 1024 x 683 pixels and be taken in a landscape format
  • To be taken in the daylight and have the light coming from the windows

Furthermore, photographers need to pay attention to the details, such as a painting hanging on the wall of the house or a tent in the forest, in order to emphasize the character and ambiance of the property.

Booking is a travel fare aggregator website headquartered in Amsterdam. At Booking, they recommend sharing at least 24 photos describing the place. The images also must have consistent quality and high resolution. There should be at least four photos of each room reflecting a view of the room from multiple corners and unique room features and facilities.

However, the most important is to make sure the information you give customers on OTAs is up-to-date and concise. A hotel channel manager is an application that enables you to manage various distribution channels from a central point of control. Using one can help you to avoid situations where you need to access each OTA individually, one by one, in order to make adjustments to things like room rates or availability. This can help to facilitate a far more dynamic pricing strategy, where you can make adjustments to prices on a single OTA, or on all OTAs at the same time, depending on what you are trying to achieve.

YieldPlanet Channel Manager is a single point of control for all your distribution channels, easily synchronized with your own PMS. Channel Manager offers revenue management functions that help hoteliers to make informed decisions to drive profits. Discover YieldPlanet’s Channel Manager and get a free demo with one of our sales team members, which will help you to choose the best option for the property.

Download a free checklist, which can help you to implement all the advice to convert your visual content into a selling machine and profit more. Discover what hints you should take into consideration to improve your visual content strategy now.

channel-manager
Get the free checklist and start to sell more!

Download a checklist by leaving your email here:

 

 

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Meet our Channel Manager Knowledge Base! 👩‍💻​

Meet our Channel Manager Knowledge Base! 👩‍💻​

We are happy to present our Channel Manager Knowledge Base. You will find answers to the most common questions about the use of the Channel Manager.

It will allow you to send tickets through the Support Form, improve your experience while having access to the tickets and knowing their status. Help Center Platform is an all-in-one – Support System and a self-serviced learning experience.

You will need to register on our Help Center Platform in two easy steps:

First, you’ll need to Sign Up and you’ll recieve an email to confirm your account.

After that, you’ll set up a password.

And then you can start using it and Sign In with your account!

As said before, at the Knowledge Base you will find information about the Channel Manager, both in English and Spanish. 

You can also submit a ticket and then check its status. Moreover, you can select to which deparment you want to add that new ticket.

We hope you find Knowledge Base helpful. Our work does not stop here. We will work together on new improvements. Register to start using our Help Center Platform now.

Missed any post? Click here for all our latest Channel Manager related posts.

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YieldPlanet is opening a new office in the Canary Islands

YieldPlanet is opening a new office in the Canary Islands

YieldPlanet is proud to announce that it is increasing its footprint by opening a new office in the Canary Islands together with AiboSolutions. The new office located in Las Palmas signifies YieldPlanet’s continued growth and development.

“The promotion and distribution of hotels in the Canary Islands are very different from the hotels in other parts of Spain: high season, distribution channels, type of offer, imperative need to combine accommodation with air travel, etc. I have always been convinced that to provide a high-level service in the Canary Islands, it would be necessary to have a local team of support and management representatives. And I am glad to have this accomplished.”

Roberto Sanchez

Head of Sales in Spain, YieldPlanet

Find us at: Hotel Cristina by Tigotan Las Palmas, Gomera, 6, 35008 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Spain

YieldPlanet is a strong team of experienced and highly competent experts. Every day we are contributing to making our clients’ lives easier and successful and we are very proud to work jointly to complete our mission. 

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YieldPlanet is taking part in the Kit Digital program

YieldPlanet is taking part in the Kit Digital program

YieldPlanet, together with Gestion Revenue, is taking part in the Kit Digital program, which aims to digitalize small businesses in Spain. The main objective of the program is to support the implementation of digital solutions that help companies significantly improve their level of digital maturity. Learn how to apply and how to get the maximum benefit out of the Kit Digital program with YieldPlanet.

Kit Digital is an initiative of the Spanish Government, with the aim of subsidizing the implementation of digital solutions available on the market to achieve a significant advance in the level of digital maturity. This initiative, promoted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, is financed by the European “Next Generation EU” funds within the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan.

Kit Digital subsidizes digital solutions oriented to the needs of small businesses, micro-enterprises, and self-employed workers, belonging to any sector or type of business.

The YieldPlanet Channel Manager and Price Optimizer solutions can be subsidized by the digital kit through the management of our Spanish subsidiary.

This is a great opportunity both for all those small establishments that have not yet taken the step towards digitalization and automation of their online distribution with Channel Manager; and above all for those that already use the basic solutions (PMS, Channel Manager, Booking Engine) but want to make a differential leap and start working with Price Optimizer (RMS), optimize their prices, perfect and automate their revenue management to obtain a qualitative leap in their revenue per room.

Whether you have already checked that your business is eligible for this program or you have not yet done so, you can request more information using this form.

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Manage Expedia promotions via YieldPlanet

Manage Expedia promotions via YieldPlanet

We are happy to announce that from now on, Expedia promotions can be managed via YieldPlanet. Promotions set in most OTAs require creating additional rate plans and modifying mappings in your channel manager. Unlike most OTAs, Expedia promotions are easily managed by defining promotional rules calculated from the main rate.

Start your Expedia promotions in 3 easy steps described below:

1. Proceed to YieldPlanet Promotions tab in the Setup menu and select Expedia from the drop-down list.

expedia-channel-manager-yieldplanet

2. Click ‘Add’ and define the promotion type.
Promotion types available:

  • Options for a single discount, day-of-the-week and multi-night.
  • Same-day-deal offers last-minute travelers a one-time discount off your lowest-priced room.
  • Early booking offers a discount to travelers who book early on dates that you choose.
  • Minimum and maximum lengths of stay may be set for all promotion types to apply.

3. Define the conditions and start your promotion.

 

Follow simple guide instructions to learn how to attach tags to a promotion for effective merchandising, set the target group and manage other settings:

Single promotions offer percentage-based discounts (between 1 – 75%) for all nights of a stay (such as 10% off)

Day-of-week promotions are applicable for specific days of the week within the travel window (such as Mondays at 10%, Tuesdays at 12%, and so on) to help manage occupancy fluctuations

Multi-night promotions for extended lengths of stay to reward travelers who stay longer (such as “Stay 3 nights and get the 3rd night at 40% discount”). This type of promotion is unique for Expedia.

You can attach tags to a promotion for effective merchandising on the points of sale by tagging promotion as Same-day-deal, early booking, or basic deal.
Additionally once creating a promotion please specify whether it would be targeted to Expedia customers (member-only deal) or to all travelers searching through mobile devices (mobile discount).

Looking for Channel Manager, which will perfectly suit your property and meet all your needs? Check what YieldPlanet offers and contact our team to let us match you with the best solution on the market.

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Sell more with high-quality visual content | Part I

Sell more with high-quality visual content | Part I

Visual content is an irreplaceable tool in the age of visual culture, which every hotel can use to inspire guests to book their stay. High-quality photos can make your marketing content go from good to great and give your bookings a leg up. Along with prices, images are the first thing online visitors look at, so do not underestimate the power of visual content in the new year and try something outstanding and original to keep your property visible and prosperous. Learn how to sell more in the new era, by turning visual content into a calling card of your property just in a few steps. 

1. Set up Your Space
First thing first: take the time to tidy up your rooms for a better look before you start. No photo editing program will save you from the mess. Focus on the main things and make sure that the photo will represent the essence of the room, its design, and its atmosphere. Guests should see all features that can be found in that particular room type or apartment. Slightly rearrange furniture, open or close windows, set chairs nicely around a table, add flowers, fix curtains these simple things will do magic for your photos. But don’t get carried away too much: beware that the rooms should look about the same way in the photos as they do in reality. If you move or change furniture too much, add things that are not in the room when guests arrive, it will make them feel deceived.

2. Make the light your best friend
It’s a well-known fact that lighting is one of the key factors in photography. Lighting can completely change a space – its size, color palette, or even initial purpose. It can expose the benefits, emphasize the current atmosphere and creative design, or show all disadvantages in the first place. Before getting straight to the photo shooting, consider what your traveler is looking for: coziness, creativity, or maybe community spirit, and think about how you can broadcast it via camera. 
Avoid artificial light that casts blue or orange shadows in the room. It is better to use natural light instead, which comes into the room through the door and windows, to make your room look bright enough.
The most suitable light for the exterior shooting can be caught shortly after sunrise or just before sunset. During these periods of the day, light is redder and softer than when the sun is higher in the sky. They call this phenomenon a golden or magic hour in the photography world. The brightness of the sky matches the streetlights, signs and helps to create beautiful volume pics.

3. Choose the Right Perspective & Angle
The right perspective is a big deal in photography. While making a photo, consider various angles to bring out the best features of your property. If your room is small, find the best angle for it to look a bit bigger. The best place to take a photo of a small room is an entrance (doorway). For a better result use a wide-angle lens. 
Even the most basic meeting rooms have a visual element. Try to find it and use it to expose the best of the place: a great view from the big windows, a flat lay of pencils, notepads and gadgets, modern furniture, a big monitor for the presentations, etc. 
Remember that you can control what the viewer sees, so try to answer yourself following questions every time you take a photo. This will help you to present all the facilities of the room to your future guests in the best way.
– What am I trying to show off through the photos? 
– What is unique about my property/this particular room? 
– What would I personally appreciate seeing in the photos before making a reservation?
– Will I avoid questions about basic things for staying (bed, bathroom, toiletries, towels, etc) with these photos?

4. Highlight What’s Outside the Room
Let people see the bigger picture – become their local guide by using photos to highlight places and attractions outside the hotel room. Start from your property: take some snaps of the reception desk with the staff, the restaurant during breakfast or the crowded kitchen with the busy chefs, or even corridors, which lead to the window with a great view. Include nice add-ons to your facility: SPA, swimming pool, amazing views, multi-level parking, etc. Move beyond the room: help your potential guests to experience the place during their stay at your hotel. Share the photos of everything you find interesting – sea and beautiful beaches, amusement parks, museums, bars, or restaurants with good local food.
If you don’t want to update your photos too often, avoid showing technology items such as computers, phones, or cars. As technology is developing fast, all of these can quickly date your photos and question their accuracy.

5. People Who Make Your Property Special
Your staff is something, which eventually makes guests come back time and again. But what if your staff could not only bring back regular customers but also invite brand new travelers? So why don’t you get to know them before the first arrival then?
Take a photo of your bartender holding a drink he has just made or your spa therapist during the manicure making for guests. Pick the photos that look natural, so guests can see the faces and names of people that bring your hotel to life every single day. Remember to ask your employees for permission to place their photos online.

6. Expose your Unique Selling Points (USP)
Think about what the benefits of your property are and what makes it so unique so the guests would choose it over something else. Do you already have something in mind? Great, those things are your unique selling points.
Since you already know them, now try to highlight them all in your photos. Show your website visitors all the advantages of staying at your place. It could be everything that you are proud of in your property: a beautiful garden, excellent wellness services, outstanding location, organic food, etc.

Download a free checklist, which can help you to implement all the advice to convert your visual content into a selling machine and profit more. Discover what hints you should take into consideration to improve your visual content strategy now.

channel-manager
Get the free checklist and start to sell more!

Download a checklist by leaving your email here:

 

 

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A second wind for your distribution strategy

A second wind for your distribution strategy

Author: Agnieszka Chacińska, KAM at YieldPlanet

Designing a winning distribution strategy is not an easy task. It is not even a one-time task – it is a process. The distributional strategy must respond to the constantly changing needs of customers and the market itself. It also needs to be constantly improved to maximize the profit of the hotel. How can you improve your current distribution strategy?

1) Define your channel mix for market and segments you target (check our suggestions):
To build a successful online distribution strategy you have to think not only about markets you want to target, but also segments of clients that may be interested in your offer. Once you define who you want to attract, concentrate on building tailor-made strategy for specific target groups. Different channels will work well for business clients, and different for individual tourists or tour groups. The better you know the clients you want to attract – their needs, lifestyle, demographic, and preferred booking methods the easier it will be for you to design a winning online distribution strategy.

2) Test new channels
To optimize your revenue management strategy, you should concentrate on promoting direct reservations, strengthening your presence in most important OTAs, but at the same time continuously explore new channels that may help you in growing your business. Hospitality trends change over time – and so should your revenue management strategy. Stay tuned, compare KPIs across all channels, optimize existing ones, and don’t be afraid to experiment with adding new OTAs. Use your Channel Manager to manage everything from one point of control.

3) Make sure your offer for direct guest is at least as good as on OTAs
The fact is that OTA-based guest acquisition is costly. How to convert OTA reservations to direct ones? Make sure your offer for direct guests is at least as good as on OTAs. Ideally, it should be even better. Think about some exclusive benefits – best rate guarantee, late checkout, special treatment during check-in or entire stay (e.g. extra discounts on SPA treatments or dining). You may also think about introducing a loyalty program and definitely about the right post stay targeting campaign.

4) Use knowledge of Booking Windows in your distribution strategy
By understanding booking windows that are specific for every single hotel, market and segment, revenue manager can adjust prices accordingly and as a result reach high occupancy and maximize hotel’s revenues. Check the average booking window and the peak booking time for your property and customers segments and use this information when designing your pricing strategy.

The development of professional competencies is a necessary thing in our industry and very important to me personally. Several years of experience, knowledge, skills in the field of Revenue Management, and achieved CRME title allow me to provide YieldPlanet clients with the best knowledge, which they exactly need and carry forward their business. I think that it is very important for our customers using Price Optimizer to be aware that they cooperate with RM experts.

Agnieszka Chacińska

KAM, YieldPlanet

YieldPlanet is a strong team of experienced and highly competent experts. Every day we are contributing to making our clients’ lives easier and successful and we are very proud to work jointly to complete our mission. 

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YieldPlanet April Integrations

YieldPlanet April Integrations

We are very proud to be integrated with nearly 500 partners, and the list of our connections is constantly growing. Meet our latest integrations, which can help you to develop a daily routine, achieve much more and get much better results from your work:

lulubeds

Hotellion PMS is a smart property management system designed to support hotel operations in the most efficient way.
The PMS contains modules for managing both individual and group reservations. Users can control all hotel events as well as invoicing and benefit from real-time financial analytics. Thanks to the integration with external providers such as YieldPlanet Channel Manager, hotels can easily distribute to numerous OTAs, wholesalers, and tour operators maximizing direct reservations at the same time.

SynergyBooking is a powerful booking engine specially developed to take your direct sales to the next level.
Our integration has the efficiency of both technologies, fully integrable, agile, and user friendly, achieving more direct reservations for your hotel with a reliable and simple reservation process.

bidroom

Passepartout PMS makes it possible to keep all activities under control: rooms, restaurant, conference centre, bar, pool, beach, equipment, and any kind of rental spaces.
PMS modules are developed to increase the profitability of the business by improving staff efficiency and, at the same time, streamlining hotel procedures thanks to the connection of the software with the different systems present in the hotel.

bidroom

ODEON PMS is a Turkish hotel management system designed for individual hotels and hotel chains. ODEON has been successfully serving premium exclusive hotels in Turkey for over 20 years now. The company’s mission is to produce high-quality software with new generation technologies, to offer solutions supporting hotel success, and to increase profitability in a dynamic hotel environment by granting access to accurate and timely information.

Our partners and we are constantly evolving and adapting to the market requirements to be even more useful to you. In light of the ongoing war in Ukraine and the humanitarian crisis faced by the people living there, our partners, Booking.com and Airbnb are enabling their clients in certain countries to support refugees by offering them a place to stay for free or at a significantly reduced rate.

booking.com

Booking.com allows partners with properties located in certain countries to offer refugees leaving Ukraine a place to stay for free or at a significantly reduced rate. To do so, they can create a Ukraine Refugee Rate for their property. Of course, Booking.com will waive the commission fee for these reservations. The special rate currently applies for bookings and stays until June 30, 2022.

airbnb

Airbnb.org offers free, short-term housing for up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine, and they need your help to achieve this. There is an imminent need for short-term accommodation and people who open their homes in nearby countries, including Poland, Hungary, Romania, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, France, Netherlands, UK, and Ireland. Here’s how you can help by hosting or donating.

To learn more about of each of connection YieldPlanet is integrated with, visit Interactive Integration list or sign up for our newsletter to keep up to date with hospitality news. 

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Channel Manager Update: Occupancy Based Pricing in Booking.com

Channel Manager Update: Occupancy Based Pricing in Booking.com

Channel Manager Update: Occupancy Based Pricing in Booking.com

Occupancy Based Pricing in Booking.com – take advantage of extra revenue and fast distribution. YieldPlanet was one of the first channel managers certified to use Booking.com’s newly launched Occupancy Based Pricing.

Now the process of switching to Occupancy Based Pricing is even faster than before and can be achieved in a few simple steps:

  1. Request your Support Team turning on Occupancy Based Pricing
  2. Receive mapping guidelines and switch confirmation
  3. Send occupancy rates to Booking.com

All properties considering or requesting YieldPlanet as a provider on Booking.com can choose between default Standard pricing and Occupancy based pricing. Choosing the best-suited pricing model in any OTA is one of the key factors for a property’s successful performance and a number of reservations in the future. We strongly believe that Occupancy Based Pricing brings more revenue to properties. Booking.com confirms that finding and estimates that switching to Occupancy Based Pricing with no additional actions can bring between a 3.5% – 5.0% of revenue increase.

In Booking.com’s Occupancy Based Pricing rates per each occupancy are defined individually and stay fully flexible. With Occupancy Based Pricing there is no need for any fixed-rate relation between prices anymoreTake a triple room for example – from now on you can insert fully independent rates for 1, 2 or 3 adults accommodated within the room. No rate linkage within Booking.com is required with the newly launched pricing model. 

channel-manager

Take advantage of current upgrades to the pace of data distribution to Booking.com and see your rates and inventory in real time on Booking.com extranet.

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YieldPlanet January Integrations

YieldPlanet January Integrations

YieldPlanet January Integrations

We are very proud to be integrated with nearly 500 partners, and the list of our connections is constantly growing. Meet our latest integrations, which can help you to develop a daily routine, achieve much more and get much better results of your work:

lulubeds

Room Rack PMS. Cloud PMS is chosen by individual properties as well as hotel chains. The PMS offers efficiency, detailed reports and statistics, flexible pricing options, easy integrations with the channel manager, booking engine and accounting modules.

CyclingFriendly

Pipeline. Since 1989, Pipeline Software has been exclusively dedicated to the Travel Agencies sector, with ORBIS being their main product, with more than 4,500 installations throughout Spain. Orbis is the PIPELINE SOFTWARE solution for the business management of travel agencies.

bidroom

Intea PMS. Polish cloud-based, easy-to-use and comprehensive PMS system that will ensure cost savings, security and constant development of the software. The PMS can also support restaurant, SPA or conference venues.

Our partners and we are constantly evolving to be even more useful to you.  It helps our clients reach global and regional markets, simplify everyday work and maximize the revenue of their business. Meet major updates to established channels:

booking.com

Booking.com. Recently launched new way of distributing data to Booking.com made the connection to by far the biggest OTA worldwide, even 3 times faster than before. YieldPlanet has adapted to Booking.com’s OTA Rates and Availability Endpoints supporting a faster pace of data distribution and bulk updates of data.

airbnb

Airbnb.com. Airbnb has introduced occupancy-based pricing and rate plans functionality and YieldPlanet is among the very first channel managers to offer this solution to propertiesOccupancy-based pricing launched with rate plans is a powerful feature providing great flexibility and a new approach for revenue management on Airbnb. Properties using rate plans are free to insert unrestricted occupancy prices, thus making Airbnb capable of supporting even the most advanced revenue strategies.

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YieldPlanet has started to work with the Tecno Campus Mataró!

YieldPlanet has started to work with the Tecno Campus Mataró!

YieldPlanet has started to work with the Tecno Campus Mataró!

The students of  Tourism and Leisure Management and Business Administration and Innovation Management of the TecnoCampus Mataró will have available technological tools for practical application of the knowledge.

The University of Tecnocampus has reached a collaboration agreement with the companies Ubikos, Yieldplanet, Fideltour and Marmirada for the use of its hotel management computer tools to train its students in a test environment with current cutting-edge tools.

The tools that have been made available to train its students in a test environment with current cutting-edge tools: Webs para hoteles, Alojasuite booking engine; UBIKOS (Property Management System), Price Optimizer RMS (Revenue Management System) Yieldplanet Channel Manager and FIdeltour CRM (Customer Relationship Management) from Fideltour, Narcís Serra Director of Studies is pleased that students will now be able to manage, organise, plan and work in a virtual hotel with real tools. “We put tools at the disposal of students to let them learn in a much more practical way”,

Yieldplanet team is proud to be part of this project with the university to help students to become successful professionals in the hospitality industry.

November Channel Manager Updates

November Channel Manager Updates

November Channel Manager Updates

In summer 2021 YieldPlanet started moving customers gradually to a safer way of displaying credit cards called ReservationsZone. The operation is finalized now.

In the new solution users requesting credit card details in the channel manager interface are asked to authorize themselves via the ReservationsZone platform and then card details are displayed in a separate tab. This solution enhances security of accessing credit card data via the Channel Manager since it introduces additional safety measures.

 

Access to ReservationsZone is secured by Oracle platform and only property approved users can display sensitive card data. ReservationsZone verification is performed either via email or by phone/sms or fingerprint.

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In the Channel Manager there is a new column called Payment where properties can immediately check whether a credit card is provided in a reservation. It is easier now to see all reservations containing cards.

Connect directly with Agoda and increase your production globally!

Connect directly with Agoda and increase your production globally!

The new Partnership can be activated FREE OF CHARGE until the end of your subscription period, even in case you reached the maximum number of channels with your Channel Manager.
Hurry up – Special offer is limited in time! Don’t miss out on this great opportunity.

Agoda is a truly a global OTA with over 2 million accommodation partners spanning across all continents.

By loading direct rates, Agoda can make sure your inventory gets the true global reach and production it deserves via better placement and marketing opportunities, which are currently not available to you. Their goal is to provide your hotel with the right customer at the right price and right time to build a mutually beneficial partnership.

Agoda unique value & Performance:

  • Market Leader in Asia-Pacific and US – Growing fast in Europe
  • Active Marketing on Agoda and Priceline
  • Competitive commission – No extra fees
  • Average length of stay 2.8 days.
  • Average lead time over 30 days.

How to activate Agoda?

1. Go to the CHM Dashboard
2. Click on the Agoda banner

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3. Sign the contract and wait for instructions

secure-yp

The Agoda and YieldPlanet onboarding teams will then help to create your profile and start taking bookings.

YieldPlanet October Integrations

YieldPlanet October Integrations

YieldPlanet October Integrations

We are very proud to be integrated with nearly 500 partners and the list of our connections is constantly growing. Meet our latest integrations, which can help you to develop a daily routine, achieve much more and get much better results of your work:

CyclingFriendly

CyclingFriendlyCycling Friendly unifies cycling routes, altimetry’s of all-mountain ports, events, cycling news, blog sections with information on products and services, hotels agritourism, short-stay accommodation, bike rentals, specialised agencies, physiotherapists, etc and all geolocated in a map allowing the client to find it as quick and easy as possible.

bidroom
Bidroom. Founded with the mission to make the hotel industry fair for both travellers and hotels, Bidroom is the first membership-based marketplace for travel lovers. Hotels get bookings with no commission, and instead, they offer discounts and added perks to members.
lulubeds
Lulubeds.plFocused on the Polish market Lulubeds offers a wide variety of accommodation types, both for individual and group travellers. Lulubeds.pl is a brand of Tourist Polska providing tourist services to its customers since 1997.
seera
Seera.saSeera journey as the Al Tayyar Travel Group operating from Saudi Arabia. For 40 years, the grew itsportfolio of brands; helping families, businesses, holiday-makers, pilgrims and government officials move around our region and our world. Its dedication has made Seera the leading travel and tourism services company in the region.

We and our partners are constantly evolving to be even more useful to you.  It helps our clients reach global and regional markets, simplify everyday work and maximize the revenue of their business. Meet major updates to established channels:

airbnb

Airbnb.com. Airbnb.com connection has been extended with the possibility of applying MaxLOS. The maximum length of stay helps properties to influence the desired length of a stay in received reservations, especially those made for high demand dates.

September Channel Manager Updates

September Channel Manager Updates

September Channel Manager Updates

We are happy to inform you that Revenue Rules in your Channel Manager have been extended with time-based rules.

There are 2 types of rules in Revenue rules that hotels can use from now on:

chm-updates
  • Allotment-Based Rules are designed to increase or decrease price or to close out certain channels when allotment is in a specified range.
  • Time-Based Rules are designed to increase or decrease price for specified booking window or calendar dates.

Time-Based Rules is a new functionality that triggers price change irrespective of the number of available rooms. Rules can be run every day at a specific time or automatically activated after any price change.

What is also special in regards to Time-Based rules is that they can be reversed and rates go back to previously set levels.

chm-updates

    Major advantages of time-based rules:

    • Possibility of automated price actions like applying advance purchase or last-minute discounts within basic rates.
    • Time-based rules can modify any price per hotel or per channel level.
    • Time-based rules and allotment-based rules can be used at the same time – allotment rules will increase or decrease rates when allotment criteria are met while time-based rules will be fired on a certain booking window or date range.

    Please visit Setup -> Revenue Rules to find Time-Based Rules functionality.

    If you have any questions please contact [email protected].

    Attracting millenials and families on Booking.com

    Attracting millenials and families on Booking.com

    Attracting millenials and families on Booking.com

    Summer heatwaves combine with cautious optimism in the European hospitality market this year.

    Although inoculation is still before the halfway point in most countries, it has been proved to be successful, and travel restrictions are lifted fast across Europe.

    International travel will not rebound soon to pre-pandemic levels, but the time for the first holidays since 2019 has come for many Europeans.

    Now, as demand for accommodation services is on the rise at least among domestic travelers, Booking.com has prepared 3 recommendations for properties looking to rise occupancy levels:

    1. Activate mobile rates

    A Mobile rate is an exclusive discount of 10% higher available only to mobile users both on the Booking.com app and on a mobile browser. Offering mobile rates increases properties visibility in search results for mobile users. It also increases mobile bookings by 26%.

    Two-thirds of mobile bookings are made by millennials. They write more guest reviews than any other traveler segment. By attracting millennials, a property can positively impact its overall ranking as it can become a top pick for mobile guests.

    2. Configure child rates

    Child rates can help attract more families to your properties

    Families stay on average 28% longer and book 27% more stays than couples and solo travelers.

    Booking.com has made it easier for your properties to configure their pricing and occupancy policies to attract more families to book.

    3. Turn on online payments and see less cancellations

    Plenty of bookers like to pay for their stay up-front. These guests are also less likely to cancel than others.

    Booking.com will guarantee your properties’ payouts, even when the cards are invalid or fraudulent – so properties don’t have to worry about chasing up payments from guests.

    YieldPlanet supports the above recommendations for properties and accommodation managers. All actions can be found and processed in YieldPlanet Channel Manager Opportunities section as pictured below: