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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Inventory restrictions – a key aspect of your revenue management strategy

Inventory restrictions – a key aspect of your revenue management strategy

The condition of the hospitality industry is clearly improving after the difficult pandemic period. The demand is growing, and we are now in the stage of smooth recovery, so this is the best time to focus on cost optimization and boosting the revenue. How to shape and implement winning revenue management strategies in the hotel industry? How to effectively integrate restrictions into your action plan?

Booking Restrictions you should consider while shaping strategy

Continuous monitoring and understanding of booking patterns is the key to the success of any revenue strategy. Knowing the behavior and needs of your guests, you can not only improve your offer, but also wisely implement restrictions that will allow you to maximize the hotel’s revenues. What specific restrictions are we thinking about? You have a lot of possibilities to choose from, but will be better to focus on a few basic restrictions:

  • Minimum Length of Stay – think about giving priority to guests who plan to stay for a longer period when you expect very high demand – e.g. before Christmas or big events. Longer stays bring lots of benefits. You can reduce housekeeping costs; time needed to check in/out and build guests loyalty – the longer they stay the more chance you have to win them over. But no worries, you can always add a release that would allow you to open sales in case if you still have unsold rooms before a certain DTA (days to arrival).
  • Maximum Length of Stay – it may seem that limiting availability by specifying a maximum number of nights a guest can book does not make sense but think about it to protect your property against “ghost” reservations and scammers who make a reservation for 30 days, and then carry out schemes with cards.
  • CTA (Closed to Arrival) – it means your potential guests are not allowed to arrive on that day. Think about this restriction if you do not have staff or for any other reason you do not want to perform check-ins on a given day (e.g. Christmas). CTA may be also useful before special events to facilitate the check-in process better.
  • CTD (Close to Departure) – why to block check-outs on a given day? Mostly to drive more profits for your hotel, but also to better manage reception’s workload over busy periods. How can CTD boost your income? For example, by blocking check-outs on Saturday you can win over those guests who are ready to stay until Sunday. Skillful application of arrival and departure restrictions will work in a similar way as MLOS.

You should also remember to control prices and adjust them to the changing market situation and occupancy rate. Restrictions and skillful price optimization will allow you to get the most out of your hotel’s inventory.

Price Optimizerdynamic price optimization for your hotel

Effective implementation of your revenue management strategy is not a simple task, but don’t worry. You don’t have to do everything on your own. In order to fully use the potential of a hotel, it is necessary to use technology that will analyze many different factors in real time and adjust the offer and pricing policy to them. Check out our Channel Manager and Price Optimizer, which will do most of the work for you.

Price Optimizer offers for example a convenient function adjusting the discount depending on the rooms availability – the higher the occupancy rate, the lower the discount on the non-refundable rate. Worth mentioning here is also the Capture Availability function which limits the availability of rooms in the offer and thus prevents their sale at low prices – for example it avoids group bookings and the commission that must be paid to OTA for such reservations. Thanks to Dynamic Pricing they can be sold at prices that reflect demand level.

Do you want to learn more about how YieldPlanet’s Price Optimizer can help you?

Read our last case study and discover how Price Optimizer has helped The Íslandshótel chain to grow and become one of the country’s best and most prospering hotel chains, which hosts thousands of people every year.

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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.

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Get the free checklist and start to sell more!

Download a checklist by leaving your email here:

 

 

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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.

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Get the free checklist and start to sell more!

Download a checklist by leaving your email here:

 

 

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10 reasons why hotels should invest in Metasearch

10 reasons why hotels should invest in Metasearch

10 reasons why hotels should invest in Metasearch

‘Metasearch engines are becoming such a crucial strategic factor, that many in our industry even started questioning whether these platforms should no longer be considered advertising channels, but rather distribution ones. Having been operating in the hotel metasearch advertising landscape since its early days, over a decade ago, I’ve had the privilege to monitor the evolution of each engine closely.’ – Vincent Ramelli, CEO WIHP

Metasearch is one of the most fast-developing tools in the hotel distribution world these days. It helps to target property potential guests in the first stages of the search, increase revenue, build, and strengthen brand awareness, and much more. It is a constantly growing tool, which allows hospitality properties not only to implement a solid metasearch advertising plan but also constantly benefit from it.

Metasearch can be considered as your alternative marketing tool, which promotes your property on a different scale and highlights it among many others. Offer placement, price management technology, data accuracy are key factors, which distinguish metasearch from other advertising tools. Being visible with as many metasearch engines as possible dramatically increases your chances of getting booked.

At YieldPlanet we do our best to provide our clients with the most convenient access to metasearch services we partner with. YieldPlanet is fully compatible with WIHP. We send all the necessary information to WIHP, such as prices and availability, which enables it to analyze all the offers on the market and show the best one to the end-user. The integration is absolutely seamless and complementary.

More reasons on why you should consider metasearch as a new distribution tool, you can find in a special material, created by YieldPlanet’s partners WIHP here:

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E-book: “Visual content as a calling card of your property”

E-book: “Visual content as a calling card of your property”

E-book: “Visual content as a calling card of your property”

Visual content is an indispensable tool in the age of visual culture, which every hotel can use to inspire people to book their stay. High-quality photos can make your marketing content go from good to great and give your bookings a leg up. That is why, our marketing team has prepared a free e-book “Visual content as a calling card of your property” to help you sell more in the new era, by turning visual content into a calling card of your property. In this e-book, you will find 11 practical tips, which will help you on your way to success by using visual content tricks.

At the end of the guide, you will also find a checklist, which can be a great help to you in implementing all the advice to turn visual content into a calling card of your property and, eventually, sell more. Discover what hints you should take into consideration to improve your visual content strategy now.

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If you have any questions, contacts us by sending an email to [email protected].

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Traveler Value Index

Traveler Value Index

Traveler Value Index

Our partner Expedia Group says travel is a force for good. This was true before the global shutdown of travel in 2020 and remains even more true today. We hope to use the lessons learned during this time of adversity to generate opportunities for the whole global travel ecosystem.

This is why, our partner, Expedia Group has created the Traveler Value Index, new research to understand the impact of the pandemic on traveler behavior and how COVID-19 will continue to influence booking decisions. The Traveler Value Index reinforces what they’ve learned about new expectations on health and safety while pointing towards more industry transformations. For example, travelers are putting more emphasis on values-based booking decisions, like seeking accommodations that share their views on inclusivity and sustainability. And Expedia Group has found that people are so eager to travel that more than a third would swap a salary increase for more vacation days.

Download the “Travel Value Index” e-book by Expedia Group to adapt to new traveler preferences, and to capture post-pandemic demand. From this e-book you will learn:

  • What travelers value in 2021
  • Hotels: Generations split on top consideration
  • Vacation rentals: Financial security is key
  • Air: Refunds fly high
  • Car rental: Flexibility over price
  • Cruises: The environment is top of mind for younger travelers

Download a guide: “Revenue management tips for hoteliers all over the world”

Download a guide: “Revenue management tips for hoteliers all over the world”

Download a guide: “Revenue management tips for hoteliers all over the world”

Together with Agnieszka Chacinska, certified revenue management expert and Key Account Manager at YieldPlanet, we have prepared a free guide “Revenue Management Tips for hoteliers all over the world”

In this guide, Agnieszka shares practical tips, which will help you on your way to success by using revenue management tricks. 

“Revenue Management Tips for hoteliers all over the world” will help you to find answers to the following questions, which every hotelier wonder about, and will also show how to apply all the mentioned hints to your property:

  • How to organize and encourage your team at all levels to reach common goals?
  • How to create the offer, which immediately converts into bookings?
  • How to keep up with trends but also preserve your style?
  • How to optimize your routine work?
  • How to learn from your guests and get to know them better every day?

At the end of the guide, you will also find a checklist, which can be a great help to you in implementing all the advice into your strategy and track the score. Discover what hints you should take into consideration to improve your revenue management strategy now.

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If you have any questions, contacts us by sending an email to [email protected].

Improve 7 bad habits to become a successful hotel revenue manager

Improve 7 bad habits to become a successful hotel revenue manager

Improve 7 bad habits to become a successful hotel revenue manager

Revenue management is a dynamic and constantly changing field. A revenue manager is responsible for making a lot of decisions daily that directly impact net profit of a hotel. Smart pricing strategy and efficient inventory management are the keys to success. To be successful in their role a Revenue manager should not only prepare accurately the strategy, but at the same time be open and flexible, constantly measure the results, draw conclusions, and work hand in hand with new technology.

In an effort to find the best way of handling Revenue duties some habits should be avoided:

1. Lower the price when there is a lack of demand without taking into consideration the booking window.

Sometimes revenue managers have a “magic” number of days before the arrival, some kind of emergency line, crossing which they decrease the price in order to capture the demand. It can be 3 weeks, 15 days, 1 week etc. This approach is too general and does not take into account a specific booking window for a certain date.

Even when we compare the current KPI with data of past periods, we can have an erroneous conclusion. Before pushing the “button of emergency”, a revenue manager should also analyse the situation, demand on the market, competitors’ offer, try to find out the reason for the lack of demand. And only if it looks like pricing movement can help the situation, a manager can proceed with this method.

Some other tricks to avoid dropping the price down can also be used in the situation like opening a new “more economical” category or adding a special offer. The right revenue strategy should raise the price in case of pick up, and not fall from the high price to the low. Honest and respect to other guests that have made the reservation before, expecting to have the best offer because of early booking, is important and necessary for a good online reputation and guest’s trust.

2. Focusing on the general KPI data instead of analysing pick up for each category separately.

The smart approach to pricing policy should involve different characteristics like, for example, client profile, the speed of the pickup, the method of reservation and the rate plane, but also the pickup per category. Depending on the day of the week, season, the purpose of travel our guest can be interested in one or another category.

Observing and analysing the demand of our inventory, we can be focused more on specific customer behaviour, encouraging it with overbookings within the most popular category, adding restrictions, making more accurate revenue and distribution decisions. Inventory management is a “new black” of the hotel industry.

Get The Wheel of Successful Revenue Management!

This coaching tool helps you understand what exactly your property is missing on its way to success. Let us help you to find out what steps you can take to develop it in the nearest future by improving your approach.

3. Not trying to put yourself in a customer place.

Revenue managers should always try walking in their future guests’ shoes. Try to follow the reservation process in different ways, starting to look for a hotel considering your client needs. Check each step a future guest is taking starting from choosing your hotel among others, making the reservation in the booking engine, payment process, analysing the information guests receive upon the reservation is made or even when checkout is done to follow the feedback.

Checking the offer of the competition, the manager should not only compare prices but also online reputation, what they include into the price of accommodation, what services they offer in a hotel, do not forget about the direct offer at the websites. Take a look at the whole picture and try to see if your pricing policy meets the guest’s expectations.

4. Following the same habitual sales strategy and distribution list every year.

Revenue strategy should always remain in constant change. Ideally, it would be good to make notes about changes in demand and customer behaviour to apply that knowledge when the future revenue strategy will be planned. 

Being on the top of ultimate updates in the distribution world is a “must-have” for a revenue manager. Every year the rating of the most popular OTAs is changing, so it is useful to check this data from time to time, updating the distribution list.

5. Not using technology. 

The most important and valuable resource is time. Having the possibility to analyse the information gathered and prepared automatically is a huge benefit. A revenue manager does not have to spend hours preparing Excel tables, comparing data for different periods. All this can be done in a moment.

Automatization has already become an essential part of a hotelier’s life. We already cannot imagine how to live without a channel manager, booking engine. The same importance has a Revenue Management system for efficient revenue management. 

Rapid and productive management of restrictions and pricing policy can be not only a significant advantage over the competition but also a perfect and reliable non-stop working partner.

6. High occupancy is not always a success rate. A revenue manager should concentrate on the net profit.

This undeniable truth is not a secret anymore for any hotel employee. It is important not only to make monthly & yearly distribution cost calculations but also to be ready to terminate disadvantageous contracts if needed and enhance the cooperation with some new partners. We do not have an endless number of rooms to sell, so we have all the rights to make our distribution strategy more effective and profitable. 

Everyday a revenue manager is checking KPI targets and trying to reach a better result. Our main goal is not to have daily high occupancy, but to find the perfect balance in terms of revenue strategy to generate more net income and it depends only on our actions.

7. Not sharing your revenue strategy with other departments.  

Transparency and effectiveness of internal communication is an essential base of hotel activity. The reservation department, front office, sales team should always be aware of revenue strategy and follow the same line. They should know not only what restrictions we do have, but it might be useful to give them some short explanation. That way we do not only give them information but also help them to understand and to support us in achieving our goals. 

The whole team should work for the best result not only for their department but for the final objective of a hotel. That is why it is always a good idea to have the part of employee motivation depending on the final result, not only on personal achievements. This way hotel staff will be interested in meeting the best expectations but also can provide a revenue manager with useful and important information.

Download an e-book: “RMS algorithms during the pandemic: challenge or opportunity?”

Download an e-book: “RMS algorithms during the pandemic: challenge or opportunity?”

Download an e-book: “RMS algorithms during the pandemic: challenge or opportunity?”

With the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospitality business was one of the sectors which were hit the hardest. Nevertheless, we truly believe that awareness of the situation and proper preparation can bring a perfect solution, help to save many hotel properties from closure and breathe life into them again when the vaccine is generally available, restrictions are lifted and travellers are back. Therefore, our experts prepared free practical e-book: “RMS algorithms during the pandemic: challenge or opportunity?”

From this e-book you will learn:

  • how the algorithms work in Price Optimizer
  • what challenges and opportunities COVID-19 has brought
  • how we can use this knowledge to react upon the crisis

Download free e-book now:

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DOWNLOAD E-BOOK
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If you have a question, contacts us by sending an email to [email protected].

Free e-book about guest communication tools

Free e-book about guest communication tools

Free e-book about guest communication tools

New reality dictates new rules and requires you to take actions that are worth noticing in this challenging period. It is not enough just to sell a room in your property anymore, you need to think about how to sell great experience, emotions and pleasant moments to make your guests come back.We have asked GuestJoy, Hotelinking and Bookboost to answer 6 questions on how communication with your guests can help to improve the quality of their stay, ultimately turning them into repeat customers.From this e-book you will learn:
  • Why guest communication is so important
  • What guest communication tool is
  • Upselling is the new black
  • 2020 trends: what conditions the quarantine lifestyle dictates to hospitality

  • How and why you should start to use text messaging
Download it now:
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If you need help to choose the best provider of guest communication services for your property or if you have a question, contacts us by sending an email to [email protected].

Guest communication tools: why guest engagement is important?

Guest communication tools: why guest engagement is important?

Guest communication tools: why guest engagement is important?

Guest engagement has never been so important, as we move forward through the next couple of years travelers will look for peace of mind when planning their trips. Hotels need to clearly communicate cleanliness and hygiene policies, and be accessible to guests throughout the guest journey.

Consumers expect immediacy, whether it’s quick search and book options, or response to their enquiries and in-stay questions, or dealing with cancellations – hotels have to deliver a higher level of service in ever decreasing profit margins and reduced people resources. Hotels will need to use their staff smartly to make sure guests are serviced and hotel operations are seamless. Technology is providing the solutions while improving opportunities for the hotel all within the confines of social distancing and heightened health anxieties.

Guest messaging solutions give the additional boost hotels need to secure bookings, manage online check in, and provide guest services digitally – especially when there is less people interaction. This not only protects staff and guests but gives the opportunity to reach guests instantly.

 

Hotels can own guest communications

With the rise of social media, the way to communicate and engage with guests has changed radically. People have moved from email and phone to social media apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, SMS. Instant messaging has given way to a generation of travellers who want information quickly and efficiently without being bombarded with lengthy email messages, or having their inboxes inundated with irrelevant offers.

Millennials and younger generations prefer texting rather than calling because it is less intrusive and time consuming. Hotels need to look towards SMS and messaging apps where 75% of consumers are OK with receiving SMS from brands (according to Techjury). This gives you the chance to be direct and relevant. 

Hotels should engage with guests on the messaging platforms they are using. Guest messaging platforms provide a central inbox for all consumer messaging channels, so your staff only need to manage one inbox. Preset answers and automated replies is saving hotels a huge amount of time on repetitive enquiries.

 

Making Upsells work for your hotel

Upselling is a great opportunity for hotels to maximize revenue from occupancy and increase RevPAR, upselling potentially makes up 10% – 20% of hotel guests’ total spend (Hospitalitynet).

The front desk has become the first personal touch point upon arrival, making the front desk prime for more sales responsibilities. In the short-medium term this will need to change, social distancing will mean less people contact – yet how do hotels keep open communication channels with their guests?

Traditional ways of upselling through the front desk or emails are no longer effective. According to PhocusWire, marketing campaigns only have an average open rate of 16.1%, click-through-rate of 2%, and conversion rate of 0.3%, which is very low.

SMS and messaging apps have opened a new door for hotels. Upselling by direct messaging has a much higher open rate of nearly 99% (Adobe Blog), response rate is 209% higher than phone or email (techjury), read within 3 minutes, and we have seen a conversion rate of 10% according to one of our own case studies.
 

Precise Targeting: Message the Right Guests at the Right Time

A real case: Jorplace Beach Hotel which has selected BookBoost as their guest communication tool

Maika, the Operations Manager of Jorplace Beach Hostel was struggling to increase ancillary revenues. Guests are very budget-conscious, seeming unwilling to spend on extra services, not even when they needed it.

To tackle this problem, Maika launched a campaign precisely targeting specific guests with relevant messages; for example, scheduling an invitation for a ‘late check-out’ at exactly the moment these guests are having such a good time to inspire them to act on this offer.

With a conversion rate of 10%, guests purchased the late check-out. Moreover, 87.5% of all late check-out sales resulted from using Bookboost’s messaging services. It turns out that guests are more than willing to pay for more, you just need to pick the right audience and communicate the right message to them.

In a time when staff numbers will be at an all time low, hotels need to be as efficient, yet responsive as ever.

One of YieldPlanet’s partners Bookboost wants to make it easy for you and your teams to address all customer enquiries in the most lean and efficient way possible. Bookboost Guest Messaging is offering all YieldPlanet customers its Web Messenger and Unified Inbox for FREE All you need to do to get Bookboost Guest Messaging products totally for free is just sign up, using a special code “freeforme”Take advantage of the special offer until 30th June 2020.

Why do you need to be on GDS now

Why do you need to be on GDS now

Why do you need to be on GDS now

GDS business can be a significant source of incremental bookings. Who is it for and how to use it? Read YieldPlanet’s white paper to find out:

In the world where diversification of distribution channels is one of the key factors that make your property perform better, hoteliers cannot avoid to consider GDS as one of the tools they have to diversify distribution. GDS business can be a significant source of incremental bookings. With an optimized GDS strategy better cost per acquisition than with OTAs can be achieved. GDS are the way for hotels to connect and conduct business with travel agencies and travel management companies alike. GDS deliver some of the most valuable customers for hotels; business travelers, who tend to spend more on premise and pay a higher average daily rate (ADR) than their leisure counterparts. We have prepared this white paper based on data and insights concerning the most important GDS providers in the market. You will learn from it:

  • what a GDS channel is
  • who the main players in the GDS market are and how they operate
  • at the difference between the GDS and other distribution channels is
  • how your property can benefit from activating a GDS channel
  • how to choose a GDS

We believe it will help you to formalize and build your GDS strategy for your property.

Claudio Limacher, CEO, YieldPlanet

Download an e-book: “RMS algorithms during the pandemic: challenge or opportunity?”

Download an e-book: “RMS algorithms during the pandemic: challenge or opportunity?”

Download an e-book: “RMS algorithms during the pandemic: challenge or opportunity?”

With the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospitality business was one of the sectors which were hit the hardest. Nevertheless, we truly believe that awareness of the situation and proper preparation can bring a perfect solution, help to save many hotel properties from closure and breathe life into them again when the vaccine is generally available, restrictions are lifted and travellers are back. Therefore, our experts prepared free practical e-book: “RMS algorithms during the pandemic: challenge or opportunity?”

From this e-book you will learn:

    • how the algorithms work in Price Optimizer
    • what challenges and opportunities COVID-19 has brought
    • how we can use this knowledge to react upon the crisis

If you have a question, contacts us by sending an email to [email protected].

6 tips to make your photos sell rooms

6 tips to make your photos sell rooms

6 tips to make your photos sell rooms

Check out our 6 easy tricks on how to use room images to your full advantage.

Good room photos give your bookings a leg up.Along with prices, images are the first thing visitors who book online look at. You should, therefore, make sure each room type offered through your booking engine is not only clearly described but also illustrated by several high-quality photos of different parts of the room.

  • Get the most from your images: a good selection of attractive, high-quality pictures will promote your hotel well;
  • Give your guests the full picture: take photos of the room, bathroom, and a couple other angles to provide guests with a more complete visualization;
  • Think beyond the room: for example, if you are offering a room facing the sea, it is advisable to showcase the pictures of both the room and the sea view;
  • Make them feel at home: include a picture with a stack of fluffy towels, nice toiletries, and slippers;
  • Take them on a trip with your photos: make your potential guests imagine lounging on the bed with a glass of champagne or enjoying a bubble bath on the tube. Emotion is everything when it comes to selling;
  • Take them on a trip with your photos: make your potential guests imagine lounging on the bed with a glass of champagne or enjoying a bubble bath on the tube. Emotion is everything when it comes to selling;
  • Depict the target group of guests – especially when it comes to MICE, SPAs or hotels which organize weddings, you can add photos with people and let the guests identify themselves with the models an events on the pictures.
  • Remember that images play a key role in the decision to book. As we live in the age of visual culture, let the pictures do the talking!

Website photo gallery

Website photo gallery

Website photo gallery

The website photo gallery is the hotel’s visit card. Thus it should provide visitors with the first impression of the place where they’ll be staying and what is in there for them.

As such, make sure that your gallery includes photos of:

  • the property: its lobby, guest rooms, the restaurants, and other amenities;
  • the area: hotel exterior, surroundings, views from the room(s) and eventually the local attractions;
  • the services: recreational areas, SPA, fitness center, concierge, etc.

You can divide your photo gallery into tabs to better target your group of clients and enhance user experience. Each of the tabs will be a thematic photo album (e.g. Weddings, Golf, Scuba Diving, etc.). Put yourself in the shoes of potential guests and group photos according to the different audiences. What do they want to see? A group of friends on a diving getaway is probably not willing to look through wedding photos, nor a couple planning their honeymoon hoping to see a few buddies swinging their golf clubs.

Once the photos are selected and grouped, you can also add a tag to your photos to improve your search engine ranking on Google!

Start growing your mobile bookings today

Start growing your mobile bookings today

Start growing your mobile bookings today

With 335 million devices sold around the world during Q1 2015, smartphones are ubiquitous and their usage keeps growing. Travellers are no exception – today more than half of them book their hotel stays and flights with their smartphones. In the US alone, last year 40% of travellers switched from traditional desktop/laptop computers to mobile devices for travel-related tasks.

How can you take advantage of this trend?

First and foremost, if your hotel has its own website make sure it displays nicely on the smaller screens of smartphones and tablets. In fact, after the recent adjustment of Google’s algorithm mobile device compatibility has become a must: your site might have been on the first page of Google’s search results, if it’s not mobile friendly it will no longer be visible. Google’s decision may be controversial but it reflects the key role of mobile Internet usage.

Contact details

A website content you see on a large computer screen will most likely appear differently on a mobile device. In particular, information might be shown in a different order, so it is important to keep the most important elements „above the fold” – i.e. in the area immediately visible after the user has loaded the page. The phone number and the email address of your hotel, as well as the contact form, should be in this area. A mobile webpage can be very long so don’t make your visitors search for your contact details endlessly!

Next, if you already have w responsive, mobile-friendly website, keep in mind a few rules which might help you grow your bookings.

Booking engine

If you are using a booking engine make sure it is usable on a mobile screen. In particular, navigation elements should be large enough (make it easy for your visitor to hit the „book it” button with his/her finger). Luckily a growing number of booking engines are mobile friendly. And if you choose YieldPlanet’s Booking Engine, you will also benefit from seamless integration with your website – the booking page is just another page within your web domain, rather than a pop-up window hosted on a third-party booking domain.

How to get there…

Some of your potential guests are searching for accommodation whilst already on the road. Make it easy for them to reach your hotel, wherever they are. It is as simple as adding a Google map to your website with your hotel’s position marked – visitors of the mobile version will be able to use your coordinates to navigate and find your hotel easily.

Minimize the weight of your pages

Despite broadband access offered by most cellular networks, in many places around the world mobile Internet can still be painfully slow. This means that your web pages, when accessed via a mobile device, should be lighter than your standard pages. For example, your mobile page can use smaller and fewer pictures – you can keep just a couple of images that illustrate your property the best.

Mobile ads

If you advertise via Google Adwords remember to optimize your ads for mobile devices. This will increase the number of visits to your website. If you send email newsletters do you know that most email marketing service providers make it possible to send responsive emails, adapted to mobile devices? Simply provide an alternative design, adapted to smaller screens, to improve the results of your email campaigns.

Become a “mobile-friendly” hotelier to stay ahead of your competitors and grow your bookings today.
Sources: idc.com

How to cater the world’s travel champs?

How to cater the world’s travel champs?

How to cater the world’s travel champs?

Germans are the champions of world travel and hotels should work to win their patronage.

The German market is very attractive: Germany has the largest population among EU countries with Germans spending more on foreign travel than any other nation, which is almost 70 billion euros per year. If you are looking to establish a market presence in Germany look no further. YieldPlanet offers a connection with the major German OTAs.

Contact us and we will provide you with valuable insights on how to pave the way for your entry into the German market.

How to plan and implement winning revenue strategy II

How to plan and implement winning revenue strategy II

How to plan and implement winning revenue strategy II

A revenue strategy is vital to the success of a hotel’s revenue management philosophy. A revenue strategy allows the entire revenue team to discuss, strategize, and understand what the goals are for the hotel and how to work towards these goals. It is also critical that the strategy is put into writing. By strategizing with the team and documenting the revenue strategy a hotel is setup to ensure that the hotel looks out into the future and creates a long-term measurable path for success.

The objective of a revenue strategy is to capture the optimal profitability from projected demand. It is important that there is a focus on creating a successful strategy.

Developing a Successful Revenue Strategy

The first step in developing a revenue strategy is to first ensure that the entire revenue team is included, prepared and attends the meetings. To be successful the entire revenue team needs to provide their input, and fully buy into the strategy. This is the only way to ensure all perspectives are taken into consideration and that there is across the board agreement. Moving forward, everyone needs to be working from the same foundation and goals.
It is also important to understand that the development of a revenue strategy may take one long meeting or several shorter meetings. So be sure to plan accordingly and make sure everyone has the same understanding and expectation

The elements that should be included in every revenue strategy are as follows:

    • Demand targeting, to determine the most appropriate segments and identify which ones will deliver the greatest profit or value to the hotel. This must be done for the entire year and broken down by season, by month.
    • Acquisition planning, to determine a communications plan and a sales plan that outlines how to reach each of the targeted segments to achieve the goals.
    • Customer retention, to identify the method(s) by which the hotel plan will retain customers. How will the hotel work to communicate directly with the customers to capture their next booking? How will the hotel target the appropriate customers directly?
    • Revenue per available customer value Identify the types of customers who provide the most value to the hotel. Factors to be included in this are the total spend, the time-of-year or day-of-week the customer typically stays with the hotel and finally the method of booking. Once the hotel has a good idea of the revenue per available customer, create a plan to target the customers with higher value.
    • Channel costs determine the cost to the hotel for each channel. This will allow the hotel to understand the most profitable channel through which to receive bookings.
    • Channel shifts once the hotel understands the most profitable channels, develop a plan to target specific customers or customer types to shift their bookings to a lower cost channel as appropriate for each customer. For example, for those customers who currently book through a higher cost channel such as a third party site, provide an incentive for them to book via a lower cost channel like the hotel’s website. It will not be appropriate to shift all customers to another channel but it will benefit the hotel to shift those that are appropriate.

As mentioned earlier, all of the decisions and factors must be documented and distributed to all revenue team members. Be sure to include the following in the documentation.

        • Be specific and detailed with all action plans that are created in support of the strategy;
        • Assign responsibilities for all action plans;
        • Assign timelines or specific dates for all action plans.

The last step in the development of the strategy is to set a follow-up meeting or meetings to review the progress, discuss any challenges and identify resolutions. This meeting will allow hoteliers to ensure everyone is doing what they should be doing in order to stay on target.

Communicating the strategy

Once the revenue strategy is developed and properly documented, it is critical to communicate it to all key stakeholders. “This must be done in a well planned and thorough manner in order to obtain a high level of ‘buy-in’ of the current goals and objectives of the hotel.

All members of the revenue team must receive a final copy of the strategy. Be sure to distribute the final copy to all team members by the predetermined due date.
A communications plan must be created and executed in order to ensure proper understanding, support from the field and success. Each department and level of staff or management has their own role in ensuring success. Therefore, they will need to understand varying parts of the strategy in order to support it and do their part. Remember—one size does not fit all. The communication will need to be tailored to each audience member. For example, what the general manager needs to know may be different from what the front office manager needs to know and will certainly be different from what the reservation agent need to know.

It is very important that the revenue director (or whoever is responsible for the communication) manage the communication to all team members. The communication of the strategy can ultimately determine its success.
Following are 7 crucial recommendations to help manage the communication of a revenue strategy:

      • Prioritize the information that needs to be shared.
      • Educate appropriately.
      • What is the specific information that each department needs to know?
      • Provide specific ways each department plays a role and show them their importance.
      • Be specific about what is needed from each department.
      • Create a plan of action with each department. Be specific by assigning dates and responsibilities.
      • Set follow up meetings to ensure ongoing communication and buy-in.