Do you own a hotel or are you working in a hotel, for instance as a general manager? Then you probably know all too well that it can be difficult to find great staff and it can also be difficult to cut costs in this very competitive sector. Luckily, we’re living in the digital age, so a lot of repetitive tasks can be done way quicker with suitable software, so your front desk staff can focus on what’s really important: welcoming your guests and making sure they have the best time during their stay. But exactly which software can revolutionize your backoffice? We’ll gladly tell you in this article.
The basics
There are a few software programs every hotelier just needs to have. You just need to have your own booking engine if you don’t want to pay an arm and a leg to online travel agents for commission, just like you need a PMS to deal with your reservations and other administrative tasks. Channel management is also very important. If you have lots of customers staying in your hotel, you’re bound to have a lot of customer data. You can use this to better manage your pricing and a good channel management system allows you to easily change your online inventory and price rates easily – and on all websites you offer rooms. These three kinds of programs/software are the base of pretty much every hotel operation. If you aren’t using one or more of these yet, you don’t know what you’re missing!
In-room software
Anno 2022, more and more companies are focusing on in-room software. This can range from adding a tablet in the room that controls everything from lighting to the heating and ordering food without having to call room service, to software that tells the front desk in which rooms the heating is on full blast, while no one is in the room. The possibilities are endless. Good to know: in-room software is very well liked by guests!
Payment software
Are you still manually inputting credit card information into your PMS? Then you know what a stupid task it is – especially if you have to do this for hours if you have to input info from virtual credit cards issued by OTA’s. Did you know there are hotel payment systems that build connections so you don’t have to do this manually anymore? This way you also don’t breach any laws regarding privacy! It can truly be that easy.
Which new type of software do you use in your hotel?
