Every small accommodation provider would benefit from having a well-integrated hotel booking system. Without one, you will fail to get more direct online bookings through your most profitable channel – that is, your website.
Guests will be able to instantly secure online reservations with a hotel booking system. It is a software application that allows you to sell your rooms through your own website, and third party sites that your hotel is listed on (eg. Facebook).
Hotels of all sizes have had to adapt to the increasing demand for online bookings. Consider that a third of all spending on travel – to the tune of $145 billion – goes through online booking (source).
Today’s hotels are expected to have booking systems in place, because it’s more convenient for guests as well as staff. Instead of having to wait for you to be at your desk, guests can quickly check your availability, book and confirm their stays – all without speaking to you.
Your booking engine should seamlessly integrate with your website so that guests who want to book online have a consistent booking experience.
It should do this by:
(If you’re currently looking for a hotel booking engine, download our interactive buyer’s guide – it is a workbook containing everything you need to make the right selection for your small hotel.)
Download our complete Buyer’s Guide to Hotel Booking Engines
Download Now
Send this to a friend
Your hotel booking system should also integrate with your front desk system and channel manager. That way, you will be able to see when bookings come in, and all your online channels will reflect the correct number of available rooms.
Without well-integrated systems, you will spend hours updating multiple websites for rate and inventory changes. Each time a booking is made over the phone or on your website, you will have to rush to update your availability on the third party distribution sites being managed by your channel manager.