Hotel Property Management Systems have come a long way to become one of the most essential technology tools for accommodation providers today. Simply put, a good PMS is considered the backbone for a hotel. Property management systems make it easier for coordinating the functions of the front office, guest management, sales, planning, and reporting. It allows property owners to manage front desk operations, rates and promotions, and customer loyalty data, consolidating the status of all hotel properties in one place.
Why every hotel needs a PMS and the benefits they can derive?
Guest Reservations
The most important benefit of a PMS is that it helps hotels to seamlessly manage guest reservations. An ideal PMS should allow a hotel to centralize all guest bookings in one place whether they are coming from third party channels. Brand.com or direct walk-ins. When all the reservations are reflected in one place, it becomes easier for the hotel staff to have access to up-to-date inventory information. It gives clarity to hotel employees to know which rooms are reserved and when, so they can manage operations accordingly.
Managing online third-party sales channels
Most PMSs work with various hotel channel managers, like RateTiger, to make it seamless for hotels to transfer rate and availability data to OTAs and get reservation delivery into the hotel system. Some PMSs offer in-built channel management functionality which allows hotels to offer better online reservation experience through a vast network of volume-producing online sales channels.
Revenue Management
Property management systems also helps hotels to manage revenue effectively. It helps hoteliers to assess the performance of the property, using key performance indicators like ADR (average daily rate), RevPAR (revenue per available room) and GOPPAR (gross operating profit per available room). A good PMS also offers rate plan management where hotels can quickly create room type-rate plan combinations, which assists hoteliers to easily respond to changes in demand. These change in demand may occur due to seasonality, local events, and various other factors.
Front-desk Operations
A front-office module allows a front-desk manager to view and update room reservation status, manage guest check-ins, and process payments. Some property management systems offer integration into check-in kiosks or allow checking in or out via QR code. This module connects reservation, housekeeping, spa, activities, and guest relations management modules in a single environment.
Digital Check-In
With social distancing becoming the norm, digital or contactless check-in is a preference for many guests nowadays. The contactless technology allows guests to arrive, and then check-in using the mobile app on their phone, or by using a self-service check-in machine. The PMS can sync automatically, keeping check-in and occupancy information updated.
Guest Data Management
It is critical for hotels to collect and organize guest data to keep in touch with current and past customers during and after check-out. A CRM integrated with PMS can help the front desk and reservation team to collect all guest information from these sources, store guest data and have a database in an accessible format. Advanced PMS also enables hotels to manage guest loyalty programs effectively.
Third Party Integrations
Hotels today need multiple technology solutions to manage their property efficiently. But the key challenge for hotels is that most technology solutions work in silo, and it becomes difficult for hotels to get a clear picture of how everything can work together. An integrated system helps hotels to have synchronized data essential for informed decision making. Hence it is important for a hotel PMS to have open API or option to integrate to other technology systems so that hotels can take benefit of it.
Reporting
Last but not the least, is reporting. Everyday hotel staff access many reports including guest data, reservation, booking pace and trends, channel performance and various other relevant metrics for business performance analysis. A good PMS provides quality reports with advanced analytics and insights in easy-to-use formats.
How to get started?
If you are looking for a good PMS, get in touch with us today. RateTiger works closely with all leading PMSs including Opera, Prologic First, IDS Next, WinHMS, ArabSoft, Cenium, Guestline, ePMS, Ezcloud, Hotelogix, HotSoft, Indra, Infor, Protel, Intimus, Mews, Oracle, Skyware, and Visual Matrix, and we are happy to recommend you systems that work well in your region.
Further, if your property is looking for any technology solution individually or integrated on a platform – Hotel Channel Manager, CRS, Internet Booking Engine (IBE), Rate Shopper, GDS & Metasearch management, Website development, Business Analytics – please reach out to us for a ‘no-obligation’ demo today – https://www.erevmax.com/erevmax-contact.html
