The hotel business is all about hospitality, experience and customer satisfaction. But let's face it: between staff shortages, pressure on profitability and ever-higher expectations from travellers, running a hotel can be a real challenge. Fortunately, technology is here to make life easier for staff, increase revenue and improve the customer experience. But beware: it's not up to you to adapt to the tools, it's up to them to adapt to your approach and your needs.
Less Paperwork, More Customer Experience
With staff shortages, every minute counts. Automation is your best ally in enabling your teams to concentrate on what really counts: the welcome and the customer experience.
PMS such as MEWS, Apaleo or MisterBooking automate the management of reservations, payments and check-ins, considerably reducing manual work. Tools like DUVE, LoungeUp or Canary Technologies allow customers to check-in and check-out directly from their smartphone. The result: fewer administrative tasks for your team, more fluidity for your customers.
Always the best prices thanks to Revenue Management
How can you be sure of selling your rooms at the right price, at the right time? That's where Revenue Management Systems (RMS) like IDeaS, E-axess and Lighthouse come in. These tools analyse demand, competition and trends in real time to automatically adjust your rates.
With a good RMS, you can optimise your average price, your occupancy rate and therefore your RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Room), without spending hours on it. And if you boost your ancillary sales (spa, catering, experiences, etc.), your TrevPAR (Total Revenue Per Available Room) will soar too!
Managing your Distribution Without Spending the Night
Between Booking, Expedia, your website and your direct sales, managing your distribution can quickly become a headache. Fortunately, channel managers like SiteMinder or D-Edge can centralise all this for you.
But to take things even further, solutions like GauVendi are revolutionising direct booking. Thanks to AI, GauVendi doesn't just sell rooms, but unique experiences tailored to customers' expectations. You personalise your offer and maximise your added value, which translates into more direct sales and a better average price.
A 100% Consistent Customer Experience
Having tools is good. Having tools that talk to each other is even better. The important thing is to create a coherent ecosystem tailored to your finances that follows the entire customer journey. Here are a few examples of players all involved in the pre-stay, stay and post-stay phases:
Before arrival: Upselling and follow-ups with DUVE or Experience Hotels.
During the stay: Digitalising the experience with BOWO and Canary Technologies.
After departure: Building loyalty and managing reviews with LoungeUp.
Rely on the right tools, not on a ‘gas factory’
The trap is to want to digitalise everything without thinking it through. Every hotel is unique, so there's no need to adopt the technology of a large group if you're running a boutique hotel or a budget establishment. The important thing is to choose tools that are adapted to your size, your budget and your concept.
And for that, independent consultants are your best allies. In France, agencies like WHA Agence can help you make the right technological choices. Internationally, experts such as the World Hospitality Alliance bring their vision to bear in structuring an appropriate digital strategy. Their mission? To help you avoid unnecessary investment and steer you towards truly effective solutions.
Tech, a Performance Booster
Far from being a constraint, well thought-out technology is a powerful facilitator for the hotel industry. It enables teams to become more efficient, improve the customer experience and, above all, optimise revenues (average price, occupancy rate, RevPAR, TrevPAR, etc.).
But remember: it's up to the technology to adapt to you, not the other way round. Take the time to choose your tools carefully, connect them intelligently, without extra layers or extra costs, and take advantage of what technology can really do for you: greater profitability, greater fluidity and greater customer satisfaction.
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