Channel Manager

A hotel channel manager is a software tool that automatically updates your room availability and rates across multiple booking platforms like Booking.com and Expedia in real time. Little Hotelier combines a property management system (PMS) with a powerful channel manager, allowing you to manage all operations from a single platform. This all-in-one solution helps prevent overbookings, eliminates manual updates, and can increase bookings by up to 46%. Try it free for 30 days.

Hotel channel management is essential for increasing bookings and revenue because it allows you to distribute your room inventory across multiple online travel agencies (OTAs) like Hotels.com, Airbnb, Lastminute.com, and Agoda. By managing all your distribution channels from one place, you can reach a global audience and avoid overbookings. Effective channel management ensures real-time updates of rates and availability, helping you attract more guests and maximise revenue. With Little Hotelier’s Channel Manager, you can update all platforms from a single dashboard and simplify your booking process.

Hotel channel management software works by connecting your property to multiple online travel agencies (OTAs) and automatically syncing your room availability and rates in real time. For example, if you have 10 rooms listed across 5 OTAs, the software ensures that when a booking is made on one platform, your inventory is instantly updated across all others. This prevents overbookings and allows you to maximise visibility and sales across all your distribution channels, including your own website. With a channel manager, your guests always see accurate availability, no matter where they’re booking.

A hotel channel manager and a central reservation system (CRS) serve different purposes. A channel manager focuses on distributing your room inventory across multiple booking platforms like OTAs and your hotel website, automatically syncing availability to increase bookings and prevent overbookings. In contrast, a CRS is designed to manage and organize all your reservations centrally, helping improve internal efficiency. While the channel manager brings in new bookings, the CRS helps optimize how those bookings are handled. Both systems can integrate with a property management system (PMS) to boost revenue and enhance the guest experience.

A hotel channel manager and a booking engine serve different but complementary roles in your hotel’s reservation system. The channel manager distributes your room inventory across multiple third-party booking platforms, while the booking engine allows guests to book rooms directly on your hotel’s website. Think of the booking engine as a virtual receptionist that manages the entire booking process, from room selection to payment processing. Together, these systems help increase revenue and improve the guest experience by covering all sales channels effectively.

A hotel channel manager offers several essential features working together in one centralised platform to maximise bookings and prevent overbookings:

• Channel distribution management: Automatically updates room availability and prices in real time across all connected booking platforms, ensuring accurate inventory and preventing double bookings.
• Rate management: Adjusts room rates dynamically based on occupancy, demand, and seasonality, maintaining rate parity across channels to maximise revenue without overcharging guests.
• Booking management: Tracks and manages bookings, cancellations, and modifications in real time, providing a seamless experience for guests while reducing operational errors.
• Reporting and Analytics: Provides detailed reports on booking volumes, revenue, channel performance, and guest preferences to support data-driven decisions and improve revenue and satisfaction.
• Integration with Hotel Systems: Connects with property management systems (PMS) and other hotel apps to streamline operations and enhance the guest experience from booking to check-out.

Hotel channel management software offers several key benefits: it increases your online visibility, ensures rate parity across channels, and helps you make informed decisions about pricing, marketing, and distribution. By connecting your property to over 450 booking channels worldwide, you can reach more ideal guests and avoid overbooking. Although there are subscription and commission fees, the increase in occupancy and revenue typically outweighs these costs. Using Little Hotelier Channel Manager, you can efficiently manage all bookings from one platform, sell all available inventory, and reliably boost your revenue over time.

When choosing hotel channel management software, consider these key factors:

1. Number of channels: Ensure the software connects to a wide range of OTAs without additional fees for more channels, so you can access broader markets.
2. Support and training: Choose a provider with accessible support staff to help you set up and maximise your use of the system.
3. Reporting capabilities: Look for solid reporting tools that allow you to track sales performance by channel, helping you optimise commissions and partnerships.

Little Hotelier’s channel manager buyers guide can also help you find the best fit for your business needs.

This involves choosing the right software, creating a hotel profile, connecting to OTAs, configuring room rates and availability, testing and launching, and monitoring and optimising performance.

Here are 5 simple steps to follow:

Once you’ve chosen a hotel channel manager, you need to create a profile for your property. This includes information like your property’s name, location, and room types. You’ll also need to prepare photos of your property’s rooms and amenities.

Next, you’ll need to connect your channel manager to the booking sites where you want to list your rooms. This involves setting up an account with each website and then linking the account to your channel manager.

After connecting your property to OTAs, it’s important to configure your room rates and availability. This includes setting the room rates for each room type and date range, then specifying how many rooms are available for each rate.

Before going live, make sure you test the tech to check everything’s working. Make test bookings on each of the different distribution channels and check that the room rates and availability are being updated correctly.

Once your channel manager’s up and running, monitor the performance of all your OTAs and optimise your room rates and availability as you need. Analyse the reports and data provided by the channel manager and make adjustments to ensure you’re maximising your revenue and occupancy rates.

When setting up Little Hotelier’s channel manager, you can start with a free trial by completing an easy online sign-up process guided by a step-by-step wizard. Alternatively, you may be connected with a professional onboarding specialist to assist you. Backed by SiteMinder’s 19+ years of hospitality technology expertise, the platform’s smartguide provides helpful instructions on what to do next to maximise your software use. To ensure a smooth setup, prepare photos of your property and rooms, a list of room types, and important details such as your contact information before you begin.

Support is available 24/7 during and after your channel manager setup, backed by SiteMinder’s team of hospitality technology experts. Depending on your plan, you can access email support, online chat, or dedicated phone support. Additionally, Little Hotelier offers a learning centre with resources that answer common questions about features and usage.

Yield management is crucial for maximising hotel profitability. It involves adjusting room rates based on room availability and demand to influence guest booking behaviour. For example, discounts may be offered for nights with many empty rooms, while rates can be increased when occupancy is high. Effective yield management helps optimise pricing strategies and boost overall revenue in hotel channel management.

The cost of a hotel channel manager varies based on the provider, included features, number of connected channels, and rooms managed. Pricing models may include a flat monthly fee or commissions based on generated revenue. Costs generally range from tens to a few hundred dollars per month. While it may seem expensive, the increased revenue and time savings typically outweigh the costs.

Yes, Little Hotelier offers a 30-day free trial with full access to all features. There are no lock-in contracts, and you can cancel anytime during or after the trial. After the trial ends, you can continue with a paid plan using your selected payment method or cancel your subscription. Start your free trial today at no cost.