Technology continues to transform the way people do business. This is no exception for hospitality industry. Hotels and guest houses continue to face difficulties with double bookings, overbookings, lack of online presence, data error due to manual entry and time management. The ideal solution; a complete Channel Manager Software.
A channel manager in the hospitality industry, is a software that allows for the distribution of hotels, B&Bs, Vacation Rentals and other type of accommodation, onto websites (channels) where the traveller can book. A channel manager will instantly update rates, calendar and often also content, and therefore saving the property manager a lot of time, reducing manual mistakes and increasing the number of bookings.
Following are some advantages of a channel manager;
It is simple
A channel manager lets you easily manage your hotels rates and availability distribution across various third-party sites simultaneously. Its function is surprisingly simple: You manage your bookings by changing prices, inventory and inclusions without having to change settings across multiple sites. It’s efficient and reduces the risk of making an error. The system entirely works cloud-based; it doesn’t require a computer running or any software to access it. Instead, it functions entirely through your browser.
It is convenient and error free
There are many third party booking websites such as bookings.com, Agoda.com, Expedia, hotels.com etc; where hotels get the help for rooms to be filled. Managing this can be a hectic task which can often lead to mismanagement, over booking, double booking etc.
However, with a channel manager in place, as soon as a booking is made on one site, the channel manager automatically updates all the other websites in real time. This reduces the likelihood of a double booking. Channel Managers are integrated to Android or iOS applications which provide the convenience of managing the properties from anywhere.
Multiple Property management
Channel manager helps to manage multiple properties conveniently. User will be able to adjust the prices of different properties based on demand, requirements and availability. This also allows to save time, reduce the number of staff’s engaged and minimize errors
Brand Management
A channel manager can help to manage online reputation, counteract negative comments and reviews. Some channels managers are capable of incorporating with social media such facebook, twitter and Instagram as well.
