Category: General

1. Prioritize the website and mobile experience

In a world where most of our lives are spent online, it is not surprising that lot of your customers will book rooms online. That’s why it is extremely important to develop an attractive website for your hotel which is equipped with all the latest features and functionality. Your website may be the first impression your potential guests get about your hotel so make sure that the website is professionally done otherwise you may lose lot of bookings.

 

2. Offer direct booking concessions

Direct booking helps build customer loyalty. You can encourage direct booking by offering value-added discounts. These may include discounts on food and beverages, lower reservation prices, discounts on future stays, and more. The goal is to keep guests away from using hotel comparison sites, so that you can save lot of money on commissions to third party agents. You can also promote a loyalty program so that you reward guests who recommend your hotel to others. This way you can catch lot of additional guests.

 

3. Cleverly manage your distribution channels

Compared to large hotel chains, independent hotels often do not have enough budget to for large scale marketing. These smaller hotels should choose the right distribution channels to gain worldwide exposure.

 

4. Manage your important data records

Whether you’re using CRM technology or plain Microsoft Excel to manage your data, you should always keep in mind that you don’t need every piece of information. Only store key data and organize it efficiently. When properly analyzed, key data insights can help your overall revenue management approach.

Storing and organizing key data can become extremely easy and convenient if you use the right software application like a hotel PMS. So consider investing in a powerful PMS  that offers tons of valuable features.

AIO Hospitality offers such a PMS which is highly powerful, affordable and comes with an amazing range of reporting tools. The right PMS can not only make your operations easier and smoother, it can also help you better analyze your business and take informed steps to increase revenues and grow further.

 

Many hoteliers are clueless about what to do next after they develop their website. They have heard or read about the importance of building a website. They probably noticed most of their competitors have their own websites up and running, so they thought if they don’t develop a website they may be left far behind in the race. So they finally decide jump in.

However, developing a website is just the first step in a long, arduous journey which you need to undertake. Just slapping together a few pages and publishing it online may not do you much good.

Remember this – in the online world, content is the king! If you don’t have proper content on the website, you may not be able to go far. Let us give some pointers about how to publish amazing content for your hotel website.

– Good content is all about details: The more in-depth, informative and detailed the content the better it may perform. If the content you publish is very informative, useful and comprehensive it may get lot of social shares and likes. People who read it will see you as an authority figure in this industry. You can gain lot of recognition, trust and fame by publishing well-researched, in-depth content that covers a topic from many angles.

– The titles are very important: Whatever content you publish, you need to make sure you give it a great headline. Title is the first part of the content which the users see. If the title does not interest them or arouse their curiosity they may not even read the rest of the page. So the title should be enticing and interesting.

– Titles should not be misleading: The rest of the content should deliver on the promise of the title. Whatever you promise in the title should be fulfilled in the content. If the content fails to deliver on the promise, it will turn out to be a big disappointment for the readers. Title is like a promise which the rest of the content fulfils. If the title reads ’10 Tips to Travel on a Budget’, make sure the content covers 10 tips, otherwise readers are going to feel misled and annoyed.

– Organize the content: Make sure the content is properly organized and is easy to read. Remember that web content is usually written for the general public – the layman. It should be easy to read and understand. Avoid using difficult words. Organize the content in topics and subtopics. Use subheadings, pictures and bullet points in order to make the content look organized and easy on the eyes.

– Make the content laser-targeted: Make the content targeted to a specific audience. If your content is not directed to any particular user, it is unlikely to perform well. So decide beforehand who are the people to whom you are addressing with a particular blog post, video or article.

We shall be providing more tips and suggestions on writing awesome content for your hotel websites, stay tuned!

Booking engine that helps you earn more. More and more people are prefering to avoid human interactions whether it is during room booking or during check-in or check-out. The more operations that can be automated the better.

Automation will help not only in minimizing human contact, it will also help in providing faster and seamless user experience. There will no longer be any need to wait in long queues. Human errors or mistakes can be minimized as there is minimal human involvement.

Modern day guests expect and demand more. They want better experience, pleasant engagement, faster reaction, higher flexibility. People are busy and have limited time, so they want faster service.

People also like ease of use. They want to be able to check out hotel rooms information whenever they want. They want the information about a hotel available to them at their fingertips at any time of the day or night so that they can search and book a room whenever they want through their mobile or laptop.

Hotels which do not provide such facility to users are likely to miss out a huge and growing percentage of hotel guests. Recent surveys conducted by various business organizations point to the fact that growing number of people are prefering to book rooms online without the need for human contact.

So it is very important for hotels to provide an online hotel room booking system that is simple, user-friendly, convenient, fast, reliable, secure and has got all the required features that people expect! Thankfully AIO Hospitality provides such an excellent online booking engine and associated software applications that do the job!

Our prices are highly reasonable and affordable. We have feature rich applications built for the hospitality sector. Our applications are suited for all kinds of hotels ranging from small motels and lodges to big hotel chains.

You can connect your hotel booking engine with channel manager, PMS and with GDS/IDS. The GDS/IDS can connect your hotel to 650,000+ travel agents and 2000+ OTAs. Contact us to know more about the AIO hotel room booking system solution!

Software solutions provider Metova has conducted a survey of 1000 people in USA in 2020. The survey involved those people who have stayed at a hotel or resort in the past 2 years. They found that most people are hesitant to interact with humans and would much rather prefer to do their operations through a mobile app.

Nearly 90% people said they prefer hotels to have a mobile app which would let them manage all activities related to their stay without the need to interact with another human being.

This is a profound revelation which has come to light after this survey. The post-Covid world is likely to be very different than the one we have been used to. Almost every area of our life is going to be different. Businesses have to adapt to the changing world, specially the hospitality and travel industries.

If any hotel has been neglectful of integrating technology, now is the time to jump right in otherwise you may be left far behind. Hotels need to develop a fully functional website which has a booking engine integrated so that guests can book rooms online. Not just website, but hotels would also need to develop mobile apps which allow users to manage most of the tasks related to their stay.

Automating as many tasks as possible and reducing human interaction seems to be the key. If your hotel does not have a mobile app or a website, you may stand to lose nearly 90% customers because they would prefer some other hotel which has a website and app.

As per a latest research from hotel technology solution provider Criton, 80% of hotel guests are likely to download a mobile app that would help them to get information about a hotel, book room online and allow check-in, check-out.

This research has pointed out a growing trend among travelers and hotel guests. They no longer prefer public kiosks nor would they prefer human interaction. Doing all these operations through a mobile app can be much more convenient and safe for the guests.

The research has revealed some very interesting facts:

• Around 62% people said they prefer check-in and check-out through a mobile app while 30% said they prefer to do it through a webpage
• Only 8% people revealed they would check in or out through a public kiosk
• Almost 80% people revealed they were willing to download and install a mobile app which would provide all information about a hotel and allow them to book online
• 48% people said they are likely to stay at a hotel if they had an option to order food through an app

Hotel management has to deeply ponder the findings of this research. It shows how important it has become for hotels to have an online website and a mobile app. If you don’t have an app or website, you may lose a huge chunk of people who will go to some other hotel which has these features.

Hotels can no longer ignore website and app, nor can they ignore having an online presence and doing digital marketing. These things assume more importance in the post-pandemic era. If you are serious about your hotel business then you should have a decent website with booking engine integrated, preferably along with a mobile app. You should also build your presence on social media sites so that potential guests can find you.