Because a hotel cannot do without management software
Does a hotelier really need management software, such as a channel manager, to manage his hotel or can a spreadsheet suffice?
As devil’s lawyers we will try to understand what are the advantages of using an excel file to manage a hotel.
After a general overview of the evolution of management software, we will try to understand how to manage some fundamental aspects such as:
- Booking calendar
- Management of bookings for individuals and groups
- Portal housed
- Istat
- City tax
- Tax document issuance (including electronic invoicing)
- reports
- lists
- Booking conditions.
The list above is a rough idea of some of the tasks that are carried out in the structure and which, it appears evident, cannot be managed with the help of the excel sheet only, but only through a management software that allows greater control. on its structure in some aspects that are capillary to say the least.
In addition, a modern management software allows you to be accessible via smartphone and therefore to be able to control your structure from any device and from any part of the world in which you are located, an internet connection will be sufficient to understand what is happening in your hotel .
What is a hotel channel manager?
What are the advantages of having a channel manager?
The channel manager is an indispensable tool for any small or large accommodation facility that sells rooms or apartments through online agencies (OTA). The channel manager has the task of synchronizing: prices, availability and reservations on all online sales and distribution portals.
The main purpose of the channel manager is to make the hotelier forget the manual operations of synchronization and updating of rates and availability on the various OTA portals, sheltering him from the bogeyman par excellence … or overbooking.
The importance of using a CM that works in a “transparent” way, that is to say that operates on the basis of the settings set by the hotelier and that manages openings and closings automatically, should also be underlined.
In the episode we will explain the difference between a 1-way channel manager connection and a 2-way XML connection.
What does it mean that a channel manager works 2-way “automatically”?
1) The hotel receives a booking from an OTA portal, this will be sent to the channel manager who will take care of managing it by sending it to the management software which will show the details of the case such as:
- name and surname of the booking agent
- number of nights
- date of arrival and departure
- rate booked by the customer
- accommodation booked by the client
- any notes that the same customer has entered during the booking process
- credit card number in case the customer has entered it
2) The hotel inserts a reservation received directly into its management system, as soon as the reservation is automatically entered, the management software must update the channel manager that the number of rooms for sale has decreased by 1 unit. At this point, the channel manager will then update the OTA portals with the reduction of availability.
