There were times in the not too distant past, believe it or not, when all hotel bookings were made over the phone or in person. But how often does that happen now? Not very often.
Technology has changed the industry, and for the better. For bookings, it’s improved efficiency, streamlined processes, reduced workloads, and increased the range of people that can find out about the hotel and make the reservations. Still, some hotels lack their own booking engine, instead relying on others to provide the booking medium and incurring the associated costs.
It doesn’t have to be like that, and it’s easier than you think to set up your own professional booking engine.
In this article, we’re going to take an in-depth look at the benefits of a hotel booking engine. Specifically, we’ll look first at what your own hotel reservation system might actually look like, before taking a deep-dive into the extensive list of benefits having one will bring to your business, and then look one of the best hotel booking engines around: Avirato’s booking engine.
Hotel reservation systems come in all sorts of forms, with varying designs and additional functionalities, but they do all have one thing in common: they are a medium for customers to make reservations directly from you. In other words, a software program that you can add to your website (or with the best hotel booking engines, your social media accounts, your WordPress, etc.) that takes care of the entire booking process.
So, now that that’s settled, let’s get down to the crux of the matter: what are the benefits of a hotel booking engine?
For bookings, it’s improved efficiency, streamlined processes, reduced workloads, and increased the range of people that can find out about the hotel and make the reservations.
Notepad at the ready, the list of benefits of a hotel booking engine is long.
They work around the clock. A hotel booking management system, being online, never stops working. That means that, even while you and your staff are resting, you can take reservations and generate income 24/7. A good booking engine will take care of it all for you.
They can collect insights and produce reports. The best hotel booking engines will generate analysis reports for you. This means you’ll be able see what’s working and where – if your promotions are effective, when bookings take place, and plenty more.
They’ll considerably reduce your workload. With a hotel booking management system, all your reservations processes will be automated. The best programs will automate and manage communication between all your accounts, with check ins and check outs, payments and reviews, INE submissions and more all taken care of. Reservations are at the heart of everything in a hotel business, so they need to be integrated. This means you’ll have more time on your hands to rest or spend on other areas.
You’ll gain more direct bookings. Bookings via third-party platforms are a massive party of today’s hotel world, but this comes at a cost: commission and fees. With your own booking engine, you’ll get direct bookings. This will cut out intermediaries, maximise your profit margin, and create a closer link between you and your customers.
You’ll have more control. You can control everything with your own booking engine. Special promotions and prices, information provision, communication with customers – everything.
So, potential guests will be able to check room availability, study the prices and make their reservations, online around the clock. Meanwhile, your workload will be reduced, you’ll be able to make smart decisions based on detailed insight and analysis reports, and you can take control back and remove intermediary commissions. The advantages of a hotel booking engine are endless, what’s not to love?
The advantages of a hotel booking engine are plentiful, as you now know. So, which booking engine should you choose for your business? There are a lot on the market. One way of guaranteeing success is to opt for Avirato. Avirato’s booking engine is proven to increase direct bookings by 30%. Here’s why:
It’s designed for maximum booking conversion.
The reservation process is simplified with Avirato’s booking engine. The two-step conversion reduces abandonment rates, and the price comparison features and options to add promotional codes make things simple for your customers and giving you the edge over the competition. It’s also optimised for ultimate responsiveness. This means it works across smartphones, tablets and computers (customers book via all platforms), without hitches. What’s more, it’s also set up to add professionalism to your business, with a modern, attractive and friendly design that’s adaptable to your brand, with the ability to customise logos, pictures and colours.
It’s a multiple-hotel booking engine.
You can sell several accommodations from the same website, or across platforms, and all managed from an easy-to-use central system for you.
There’s integration with all your sales tools, and all the sales tools you might use in the future.
WordPress, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Facebook, Google Maps, local currencies, SMS, satisfaction surveys, multiple languages…. anything and everything you can think of. And if there’s something not yet integrated, just get in touch and Avirato will find a solution for you.
It includes revenue increasing cross-selling and upselling features.
You can increase your booking revenue exponentially with Avirato’s cross-selling and upselling tools, designed especially for the hotel sector. Offer extra products and/or services so that guests can add them to their booking, simply, and turn their stay into an unforgettable experience. The average ticket value and customer satisfaction will increase dramatically.
There’s complete and total security.
Avirato boasts the most secure and widely used payment gateway on the internet. PCI compliant, HTTPS secure url, GDPR compliant; with validation and payment processes taken care of, clear and simple information for customers, including messages with records of their payment automatically sent to them, and tracking of interrupted payments and basket abandonment warnings. All of this fosters confidence with customers, which encourages sales.
Join the 8000 businesses who have already put their faith in Avirato – over 46 million reservations can’t be wrong.
Customer service
L -V 08.00 a 22:00 (GMT +2)
Customer service email
Commercial
Services
