Covid19 has changed the travel industry. With travel going south, hotel industry is being forced to make adjustments in the wake of plummeting occupancy. Facing an unprecedented crisis, hotels of all sizes across the world are desperately rethinking strategies as they plan to recover and rebuild.
Even as cost cutting becomes norm and investment on technology infrastructure is being scrutinized, technology is going to emerge as a hotelier’s trusted best friend when it comes to optimizing operational efficiency.
As travel slowly opens, the initial demand build-up is expected to come from local and domestic travel. This trend is being witnessed in markets like China where hotel occupancy is driven by staycation, drive-in and local travelers. Markets which have been dependent on international travelers are expected to take longer to recover than one with stronger domestic base.
This is the time for hoteliers to evaluate their online distribution mix. According to a recent report by Sojern, hotel bookings to Abu Dhabi within a 48km radius accounted for 77 percent of all bookings in April and domestic travel from Dubai accounted for 91 percent of searches and bookings within the same radius.
It is important to capitalize on the local channels. Hotels need to monitor their production data and upcoming booking trends to identify the more profitable channels. Effective channel management can assist hoteliers with both issues – by increasing visibility and allowing for variable rate changes between seasons.
The challenge for many hoteliers in managing these channels is to ensure accurate rates and inventory allocation to optimize each channel to increase sales and maximize revenue. It is necessary to have an effective hotel channel manager for every property. Proper channel management also needs a pooled inventory model. Pooled inventory makes sure that hotel rooms are simultaneously promoted across every channel with no concern of overbooking. It is now time to focus on strategies rather than updating channels. Along with finding out the right vendor for your distribution management, always check whether the provider is PCI and GDPR compliant.
Take complete control of your revenue and channel management strategy to control distribution costs and drive more direct bookings. Considered one of the best hotel channel manager in the market, RateTiger is integrated with more than 400 OTAs and working closely with 9000 hotels globally. It is the connectivity partner of choice for large hotel groups, mid-scale chains as well as independent properties in both luxury and budget segment worldwide providing solutions through its core product brands – RateTiger , LiveOS and AgentX101.
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