Is Your Pub, Inn or Guesthouse Energy Efficient?

ABOVE: This cartoon from xkcd.com completely captures the tech support I received from a well-known computer company today.. This webcomic made me chuckle!

Impacting Future Profit

Every hotel, motel, guesthouse, or inn owner I speak to expresses a desire to help the environment and become more eco-friendly. In some cases, this desire stretches to a willingness to invest heavily in the quest. This article, Blue Sky Thinking, by Daniel Pearce in The Publican is a great example of the extent some publicans are willing to go to in order to make an impact on both the environment and their future profit.

The article begins by stating, “Rising energy costs… You should have already taken steps to tackle them…through ensuring you are on the best energy tariff for you, by taking all the simple energy-saving measures across your business, and by ensuring that your staff are following them too.”

Taking Steps?

However, many of the publicans I talk to during meetings and on social networking sites just aren’t taking steps to cut costs and increase efficiency.

What steps has your company taken to reduce the need for paperwork and filing?

One of the simplest and most cost-effective methods of reducing paperwork is to invest in a booking system to:

Create new bookings
View and edit existing bookings
Records customer details
Manage room bookings and venue bookings
Control payment details

Plus, using a booking system makes it simpler to produce reports including, customer loyalty reports, customer payment reports, guest arrival reports, hotel accounting reports, room financial reports

So, remember… You don’t need to go to the extent of the pub owner in The Publican article I mentioned above. Simple steps can make a huge difference to your establishment and the environment.

Thanks for reading,

Emma

Please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk for more information or to comment. I'll get back to you as a matter of priority. Thanks!

Do You Run a Pub or Inn with Accommodation?

Are you the owner or manager of a pub or inn with accommodation?

Do you manage bookings with a notepad and pen?

Do you feel as though a computerized booking system is out of your price range?

SPECIAL OFFER FROM MY FAVOURITE UK BOOKING SYSTEM...

Well... I have been in contact with Hotelsystems.co.uk. This British booking company offers an in-house Windows based application to help you automate your day-to-day room bookings, leaving you time to actually run your business.

Their booking software is one of my UK favourites and includes functionality for room booking, maintaining a maintenance schedule and customer invoicing requirements.

This month only...

Hotel Booking Systems have agreed to offer publicans who read my blog a FREE 30-day trial followed by a 5% discount when they purchase the full version. Here's how:


Click on THIS LINK for your FREE 30-day Trial:


Then... To purchase the full booking system:

1) Click HERE

2) Complete the form at the bottom of the page remembering to enter the Site Code and the MID code from the computer that you wish to be licensed.

3) Enter the promo code HSYSTEMSFIVE (as it is shown) to ensure your 5% discount is applied

4) Finally, click the continue button to see the purchase summary and complete payment.

In return for this generous offer, Hotel Booking Systems want to know what you think!

They are continually looking for ways in which to improve their product and/or service; so, if you have any feedback or questions please email them on sales@hotelsystems.co.uk or call +44 (0)7811 872519.

Alternatively, let me know what you think of their system, and I'll pass on any criticism, advice, or ideas for improvement... Or, of course, any praise!

Thanks again for reading,

Emma

Please do not hesitate to contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk with any comments.

Back in Action

Left: Pagodas and temples in present-day Bagan, Burma

Back in Action

I’m back. Apologies to everyone for the extended absence, but after two years of continuous hard work, I was in desperate need of a long holiday (with a few moments of research thrown in for good measure) to completely unwind.

I was lucky enough to be able to fit in a month of Hong Kong, Thailand, and Myanmar, before heading back to the UK for a winter of research, consultancy, and product development… So now it’s full steam ahead!

I have already been in touch with two of my favorite hotel booking systems and have exciting news from both. I’m currently consulting for Hotel Booking Systems who have (yet again) surprised me with an amazing upgrade to their current system… More news to follow shortly!

I have also been surprised by the change of customer demographics for both of these companies and look forward to reporting more about this.

Who’d have guessed that so much could change in just a month!

I will of course be writing more regularly again and am looking forward to keeping you up to date with the ever-evolving world of hotel booking software.

Thanks for reading,

Emma

Please feel free to leave your comments below or email me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

To Tweet, Blog, or LinkIn... That is the Question!

As a hotel, motel, or guest house owner, it’s becoming more and more difficult to know where to advertise, which social and business networks to join, which message systems to use, which social bookmarking sites to take advantage of, which blogs to follow and which blog platforms to post from.

Business Social Networks

LinkedIn is obviously the number one business social network, but what other business social networking sites should you be using? Facebook and Xing both have a huge number of professionals and industry experts at your fingertips, but how do you turn these numbers into tangible business contacts? Plus, developing leads and creating business opportunities is time consuming on both of these sites.

Twitter on the other hand creates a lot of high quality conversation, produces leads, and encourages information exchange without being time consuming. How long does it take to answer the question “what are you doing?” twice per day, thus informing potential guests of your news, unique selling points, and current promotions?

... And Advertising?

And where should hoteliers advertise nowadays and which online booking websites are the most popular with prospective guests? The choices are growing out of control!

Today, I was reading the 2009 National Travel Monitor by Ypartnership and Yankelovich.

In their report they state that “sixty-six percent of leisure travelers now use the Internet to plan some aspect of their travel (versus 35 percent in 2000), while 56 percent now report making reservations online… Travelers visit search engines such as Google, Yahoo or MSN first when considering vacation destination alternatives. The websites of specific countries or destination boards are visited next, followed by online travel agencies such as Expedia and Travelocity.”

The most popular websites for travel planning (according to the 2009 National Travel Monitor) are as follows:

Visit first when selecting a destination:
Search engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN) 34 percent
Website of national tourist office/CVB 23 percent
Online travel agency like Expedia, Travelocity 22 percent
Website of hotel chain 8 percent
Web site of individual hotel or resort 7 percent
Blog 1 percent

However, search patterns for selecting accommodation are understandably different. Consumers first visit the websites of online travel agencies; brand-specific sites are not the most popular when selecting lodging. Meta search engines that compare room rates are visited first by just over 1-out-of-20 travelers when selecting accommodation:

Visit first when selecting hotel/resort:
Website of online travel agency
(Expedia, Travelocity) 31 percent
Search engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN) 26 percent
Website of specific hotel chain 21 percent
Website of individual hotel/resort 10 percent
Meta search engine that compares rates 5 percent

So, what do I advise my clients?

I recommend that they adopt a selection of the aforementioned networking, advertising, and booking tools in order to optimize their visibility to consumers.

There is no need to waste valuable hours posting from every blog platform, networking in every available social networking site and updating your activities in each and every message system… Your message will get lost and you’ll stop to take a breath and wonder where your life has gone; it’s just too time consuming. So, stick to the tools and the methods that produce proven results:

1) Twitter twice daily to inform your prospective guests of news, great reviews, current promotions, and things that YOU find interesting.

2) Join relevant groups on LinkedIn to ask advice from industry experts.

3) Ensure that your hotel, motel, or guest house website is optimized to guarantee that you are listed within the top three results for your key words on search engines such as Google.

4) Connect with your local tourist information and the national tourist office to make certain that your hotel information is listed on all related websites and in all associated publications. Offer promotions, gifts, and prizes for tourists directed by these sources.

5) Keep your website up-to-date and conduct regular market research to discover what guests think and feel about your accommodation based upon what they see and read.

And finally...

Never underestimate the power of a strong and wide-spread network. Whether the network is physical or purely an online presence, it is and will continue to be invaluable for research, advertising, and producing precious leads.

For further information on the National Travel Monitor, please visit the publications section of YPartnership

Thanks for reading,

Emma

I am still on a search for the best hotel booking system for small to medium sized hotels. If you know of hotel booking software that can beat HotelSystems.co.uk for ease of use and functionality then please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

Hospitality Innovation News

As my passion of travel and hospitality grew ten years a go, so did my interest in hotel marketing. My research into hotel marketing then developed until I became fascinated by hotel systems and began working with system developers and delivering training within hotels in Asia.

Slowly, my interest in hotel systems has expanded to encompass all things of a technical nature within the hospitality industry; particularly the nerdy innovations that could be considered superfluous by some but I consider to be ‘funky enticements’.

Latest Innovative Announcement

The latest techy announcement comes from Starwood , who have entered into a partnership with Zinio , a company that digitally published printed magazines. Starwood will now offer a Digital Newsstand to guests in Four Points, Element, and Aloft hotel properties, for free!

My understanding is that the Digital Newsstand will be accessible in guest rooms and at kiosks in the lobby.

The Starwood press release states:

“The digital newsstand, … will offer participating titles including: Caribbean Travel & Life, Destination Weddings & Honeymoons, Field & Stream, Golf Fitness Magazine, Kiteboarding, Macworld, mental_floss, Outside, Outside's GO, PC World, Saveur, Ski Magazine, Skiing, Spa Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, Wakeboarding and Working Mother.
Also, Starwood will be the first hotel company to offer VIVmag, the first interactive digital women's luxury-lifestyle magazine, conceived and designed exclusively to be read digitally.

To access the digital newsstand during your stay, you click through from the internet portal page (on your laptop in your room or on a lobby kiosk) "to the private-label newsstand where free single issues will be featured," pick the magazine you want to read, register for Zinio, and read mags to your heart's content.”

The digitized magazine titles will include animated graphics, easy to read text, account registration, and simple navigation.

You can expect to see the digital newsstands in Element hotels by the end of May and hopefully we will see them at Aloft and Four Points by Sheraton properties later this year. Whether this includes Asian hotels is not clear, but I do hope to see them in at least large cities by the end of the year.

Yet another example of innovation from the Starwood group of hotels!

If you know of any innovative hotel booking software or hotel technology, I would love to hear your comments and reviews. Please get in touch via the ‘comments’ link below or by emailing me at eharradine@hotmail.co.uk.

Thanks for reading (and for your feedback)

Emma

How to Drive Guests to Review Your Hotel Online

In a previous article I mentioned the importance of encouraging your guests to review your hotel online on Travel Search Engines, such as Trip Advisor or Kayak.

Since writing the article, I have received four or five emails plus a comment on this site asking for more information on exactly HOW to encourage guests to write reviews.

The general trend appears to be that if guests are extremely unhappy then they are more likely to post a negative review on a travel search engine. Guests who have been unhappy with their stay and have not received a suitable outcome after a complaint are the most like to use a bad review to express their emotions, often in a non-factual way. As unfortunate as these occurrences are, and as harmful as they can potentially be for your business, they don’t have to be so.

The Positives of a Negative Review

Not only is a bad review an opportunity to look inwards at the quality of your service and product, and therefore grow and improve, it is also an excellent chance to respond in a professional manner. It is your chance to show empathy and understanding, explain your point of view, and publicly right any wrong doings. Who could ask for better free PR?

Excellent Example

I remember a great example on Trip Advisor in January 2008. A guest wrote a terrible review of the Sofitel Galaxy Hotel in Nanjing, describing the poor service, terrible food, and low quality of the room fixtures. Within four days the GM responded to the criticisms in a delightfully professional manner, apologizing where necessary, whilst politely pointing out that he had video evidence completely contradicting the guest’s unsubstantiated claims. Excellent! His reply filled me with joy and reminded me of how much I love this industry!

However, I digress…

Special Offers and Gifts

My hotel and guest house clients have been successful in getting customers to write reviews by giving a special offer to all those who do. A simple 15% discount or a free bottle of wine on their next stay if they write a review after this stay is enough to encourage your guests.

Reminder Cards

I have suggested to a number of hoteliers that they create inexpensive business cards to hand to their guests at check-out that ask them to review their property at whatever travel search engine they favour. This can, of course, incorporate the idea above by including a coupon on the back of the card. Due to their size guests can easily place them in their wallet and be reminded to write the review at a later date.

Asking your guests for help is, in my experience, usually well received and they are more than willing.

Create a Forum

You should also consider developing a forum for guest to discuss the hotel and surrounding area online; recommending nearby restaurants or sights worth visiting, for example. Again, from experience, I have noticed that people are much more likely to forward websites to friends when they are featured on it.

If you have any further suggestions you’d like to share with me or fellow hoteliers and guest house owners, please add your comments below or email me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk.

Many thanks for reading,

Emma

I am still on a search for the best hotel booking system for small to medium sized hotels. If you know of hotel booking software that can beat HotelSystems.co.uk for ease of use and functionality then please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

Who Are You Marketing To?

Above: Are you marketing to Generation Y?

Who Are You Marketing To?

Market analysis during an economic crisis provides an astonishing opportunity to observe changes in consumer behaviors and attitudes.

A well-respected travel industry research authority projects that the total U.S. travel market will decline 11% in 2009, returning the industry to pre-2006 levels. This decline reflects a dramatic shift in consumer demand levels and provides valuable insight into the changing behavior of the modern traveler.

Whether you’re the owner of a small to medium sized hotel, motel, or guesthouse, or whether you’re the GM of a luxury establishment within a multi-national hotel chain, you would be wise to observe these changes and customize your product and marketing to target this emerging market.

Generation Y

Twenty-five to thirty-four year olds are spending the most per household on travel and tourism. Plus, eighteen to thirty-four year olds are considerably more likely than older age groups to indicate that they plan to travel more this year. The forty-five to sixty-five age group is spending the least per household on travel and is also the most likely to reduce travel spend this year.

Online Travel Agencies

Due to an ever-growing and increasingly loyal customer base, online travel agencies (OTAs) like Expedia and Orbitz will outperform other channels in year over year despite their recent bout of fee cuts and revenue-eroding promotions.

Online Travel is Not Yet Saturated

Consumers that spend the most on travel still use a mix of online and offline methods, therefore, there is still an opportunity to grow your customer base using your own online methods.

Travel Search Engines

Over a quarter (28%) of travelers now use travel search engines, such as TripAdvisor, when shopping for travel destinations and places to stay. This concept is not new; however, it looks as though websites such as Kayak have become mainstream elements in the travel planning process and are here to stay.

In order to increase customer base, hotels must focus on impressing current guests and encouraging them to write about their stay on travel search engines.

The information and statistic for this article were taken from PhoCusWright's Consumer Travel Report. This highly-informative report uncovers the detailed behaviors and attitudes of the U.S. traveler and helps companies understand how consumers are adjusting travel behaviors and reacting to market trends. The report is available for purchase at www.phocuswright.com.

Many thanks for reading,

Emma

I am still on a search for the best hotel booking system for small to medium sized hotels. If you know of hotel booking software that can beat HotelSystems.co.uk for ease of use and functionality then please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

Hotel & Travel Innovations

Above: My personal favourite innovation within the hotel industry. W Hotels have introduced the Whatever/Whenever service to their already extensive list of luxury services.

Hotel & Travel Innovations

Today I have been looking back over the last three years, and reading travel articles I’d written for both business and pleasure; I cannot believe how much the travel industry has changed. Obviously, dramatic changes occurred after the events of September 11th; however, it’s changes unrelated to this event that have made the biggest impact. Technological changes have made the most noticeable difference; the web; hotel booking systems, and low cost operators have rendered the travel agent virtually obsolete.

Hotel booking systems have changed dramatically. Many of the small to medium-sized hotels I originally consulted for were using nothing more than a pen and note paper to record bookings; many didn’t see the necessity for a computerized system. And even then, the systems that were available didn’t even have graphical booking calendars let alone the ability to create reports. Now, systems include financial reports, maintenance schedules, and invoice options.

Booking Systems

And what does the future hold? Booking systems aimed purely at small to medium-sized hotels, motels, guest houses, and inns are evolving into web based booking systems to allow potential customers to enquire on room availability.

And within other areas of the hotel and travel industry:

Despite the struggling economy, airlines appear to be looking to the future; upgrading business class to the point that it looks like a luxury hotel and airport lounges so that they resemble fine dining restaurants. So what’s next? Will we have private bath and shower areas and individual lockable rooms in first class? Economy class changes will be interesting to monitor as well; self check-in seems to finally have caught on and pay TV appears to be growing in popularity. How about more comfortable seating and the ability to get from your window seat to the aisle without disturbing fellow passengers?

Shanghai and London have led the way in terms of innovative airport transportation. The Maglev (a magnetically levitated train) is a definite ‘must-do’ when in Shanghai and the Heathrow Express (the most expensive train journey in the world per mile) is a definite ‘don’t-do’ when in London. But of course, companies selling over priced on-airport parking shudder at the though of inexpensive and innovative airport transportation, so I wonder where their futures lie? Is there room for innovation within airport parking? I hope so!

What about hotel innovations? The concept of budget hotels has extended the term ‘budget’ to include new ‘miniature hotels’. Miniature hotels take the idea of ‘no frills’ and run with it; no frills means no TV, no windows (unless you’re either lucky or willing to pay extra) no phone (excellent, no calls from prostitutes at three in the morning!) and no toiletries, but of course, they’re extremely cheap; catering to guesst who couldn’t normally afford the luxury of travel.

At the other end of the scale, high-end hotels have added new luxuries to their already extensive list; bath butlers, personal butlers, elevator wi-fi, to name but a few. My personal favourite luxury innovation is Whatever/Whenever by Starwood’s W Hotels. Their advertising reads:

“Birthday Party at 35,000 feet? Wedding Dress Pickup by Helicopter? Bath of Hot Chocolate? At W Hotels, your wish truly is our command with our Whatever/Whenever service. We’ll make your special moment magical, and transform your dreams into reality. Whatever you want. Whenever you want it (as long as it’s legal!)”

At this precise moment, I’m trying desperately to think of the most original and difficult to achieve Whatever/Whenever possible. Any ideas?

If you have an idea for a crazy Whatever/Whenever or have heard of a crazy hotel/travel related innovation, I’d love to hear from you. What’s your favourite travel innovation from the last three years?

Thanks for reading,

Emma

Please leave your comments here or email me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

24 Hour Customer Support

Above: The testimonials offered by Hotel Booking Systems are a good example of positive ‘customer support’ feedback.

Customer support: number three on the list

“Customer support – 24 hours” came third on the list of requirements when sixty small-to-medium sized hotel, motel, and guest house owners and GMs were questioned about their hotel booking system requirements. However, when asked about their reasons for swapping their booking software supplier, “Lack of continuing support” was number one on the list. This did not come as a surprise to me.

An effective hotel system must be usable in any country, with any currency, and any tax system. It is for this reason that free fields are required (as opposed to drop downs) and programs must be fully customisable. Most (but certainly not all) companies have realised this and therefore offer full customisation; however, with complicated systems and full customisation, there needs to be an option for twenty-four hour support; something that, yet again, most companies (seem) to realise.

However, I have come to question the support offered by these hotel booking system providers. I have lost count of the number of unanswered calls, week long waits for email replies, and voice mail messages I have left… All to no avail. And once I receive such terrible support once, I no longer have faith in the supplier and no longer recommend their product to my clients. It’s as simple as that! If a customer is promised support as part of their software package, then that promise needs to be fulfilled.

Respondents agree

It seems that my questionnaire respondents agree:

“I have come to trust software providers that request additional payment for support. Any company that has told me they can answer my emails or calls 24 hours for free has let me down one hundred per cent of the time.” – Simon, Hope Hotel, USA

“I’m getting too old to understand the ins and outs of a complicated booking system. I want to be told how to use it and get on with using it from day one. Once something goes wrong, it’s not like I can figure it out for myself; I need help. And if there is no one to help me for over a week, what am I supposed to do meanwhile?” – Anon, UK

“I’d like to send some of these people on a customer support course to teach them how to deal with real people. I sometime wonder whether they know their own software because they certainly don’t know how to explain it to me. I need quick, supportive, answers to my questions.” – Anon, UK

“I don’t mind waiting two days for a reply as long as I know it’s going to be two days! Don’t promise me the earth and give me a ping pong ball, I’ve learnt enough in this industry and won’t be taken for a mug anymore!” – Peter, Swan Inn, Yorkshire, UK

Testimonials

As a consultant within the industry, I have found testimonials mentioning excellent customer service and support are of utmost importance when promoting your software. I expect to see two or three testimonials from establishments of a similar size to the hotel, motel, guest house, or inn, I am consulting for. Excellent testimonials (that can be checked) can make or break my decision to use a system provider and I am sure that this is true of establishments searching for their own booking software.

I wish to also convey the importance of this to the hoteliers reading my blog: ALWAYS ask for testimonials and ALWAYS ask whether you can check their validity. If a supplier cannot provide positive feedback from previous clients and/or seems reluctant for you to contact the person, DO NOT trust the supplier. I learnt my lesson the hard way, there is no reason for you to do the same.

I hope that hoteliers and hotel booking software suppliers have found this, and previous, posts useful. If so, please add your comments to support my ideas, completely disagree with my thoughts, to advertise your own hotel/software, or to ask any questions you have.

Thanks for reading,

Emma

Please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk for further information or advice.

Hotel Booking System Results - Now In!

On Monday April 13th, I posted an article titled, “A New Dawn?” which mentioned my customer research involving fifty owners and GMs of small to medium sized hotels, motels and guest houses. Since I posted the article, a further ten people have come forward offering their thoughts and expertise, which has boosted the validity of my data immensely.

Thank you very much to those of you who took part; your participation was invaluable.

I am pleased to announce that the data has now been collected and analyzed and the results will be published here over the following days and weeks.

I will start today by offering you the top ten requirements of hotel, motel and guest house owners when looking for a hotel booking system:

1) Accessibility
2) Ease of use – Intuitive flow through
3) Customer support – 24 hours
4) Software customization and upgrades – Regular upgrades and ad-hoc customization upon demand
5) Required functionality
6) Value for money
7) Positive company reputation
8) Real time updates on internet availability searches
9) Recommendations from previous buyers – Reliable and trustworthy sources
10) Company longevity – One or two years just isn’t enough

As I predicted, ‘software customization and upgrades’ is close to the top of the list. However, I have rarely met a hotel owner that hasn’t wanted to customize their software in some way, shape, or form, so I am surprised that this was not in the top three.

I am positive that number eight, ‘real time updates on internet availability searches’ would not have appeared in the top ten a year a go, which proves that the need for software developers to be constantly evolving their hotel booking systems is vital.

I have A LOT more data and information to bombard you with over the coming months, and hope that it is useful for both developers and hotel owners searching for the perfect system.

Thanks again for reading,

Emma

I am still on a search for the best hotel booking system for small to medium sized hotels. If you know of hotel booking software that can beat HotelSystems.co.uk for ease of use and functionality then please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

Off Peak Discounts

Offering an ‘off-season’ discount is a concept that I’m sure you, as a hotel owner or GM, are all too familiar with. In fact, as you’re clawing your way out of a difficult off-season right now, I’m sure you’re keen never to return to such depths. You know your product is first class and your service top rate, so why should you have to lure guests with huge discounts and extra perks?

Well, I believe that off-seasons are a thing of the past. Off-seasons are the times when prospective customers least like to travel and therefore are much less likely to stay in your hotel, motel, or guest house. To entice these customers, hoteliers have turned to internet booking agents to offer unbeatable discounts as a last-ditch attempt to improve occupancy levels, but this has done little good for RevPAR.

So, what if you use your marketing skills to ensure that potential guests want to travel and yearn for a stay in your hotel. Sounds difficult? It doesn’t have to be…

It’s all about targeting; targeting exactly what within your hotel or surrounding area will attract your prospective guests; and targeting the correct words to use on your website and advertising to optimize your visibility within search engines.

Let’s start with the former marketing skill: targeting what amenities you can take advantage of in order to attract guests…

I’m searching on the internet for a guest house during the summer; a beautiful little cottage appears. I look at the amenities and discover that it is close to the beach, has a swimming pool, and is within easy walking distance of the local town, which has outside terraces and beachside bars. Perfect!

I’m searching on the internet for a guest house later that year. It’s snowing outside. I discover the same little guest house and check out the amenities. I’m told once again that there’s a beach, a pool, and outside catering. No thank you very much! It’s far too cold; I’d rather stay at home.

Actually, the guesthouse was close to a mountain with great winter sports and hiking available. There are lodges nearby with spas, which serve good hearty winter roasts, and the guesthouse has a great indoor sauna area… But I wasn’t told any of this. The guesthouse owners have marketed themselves as a great summer getaway and in the process have marketed themselves an off-season.

Your marketing must be constantly evolving in order to attract guests through each ‘high-season’ available to you. This might mean finding seasonal activities for every season and highlighting the benefits of avoiding the crowds, but no matter how you do it, you’ve got to give them a reason to want to travel off-peak.

Next, we’ll tackle the second marketing skill: optimizing your visibility in search engines to attract the right guests for the right seasons; another ever-evolving task.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click Ads (PPC) are vital tools if you’re going to attract guests all year round. And, there is no excuse for hit and miss website marketing anymore. With analysis tools, such as Google Analytics, it is easy to see which key words generate the most traffic to your site and pinpoint consumer trends during certain times of the year.

Once you have analyzed the data and know what consumers are looking for, it becomes easier for you to emphasize your unique selling points (USP) during each season and give your guests exactly what they want, not just what you think they want.

To summarize, it is possible to manipulate seasonality in order to gain conversions, and if you use your website marketing strategically, you can make the concept of an ‘off-season’ completely obsolete. Just don’t expect to build a website and be able to leave it untouched for a year… As the market evolves, you need to as well.

Thanks again for reading,

Emma

I am still on a search for the best hotel booking system for small to medium sized hotels. If you know of hotel booking software that can beat HotelSystems.co.uk for ease of use and functionality then please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

A New Dawn?

I’d like to start by acknowledging the increasing stream of emails I have received over the past two months requesting advice on ‘what clients want’ from their hotel booking systems. Thank you very much for your thoughts and comments; your emails have not gone unnoticed! As I type, a further wash of emails are flooding my inbox; emails from the exact clients you have spoken of; hotel, motel, and guest house owners.

I have contacted fifty previous customers, friends, peers, and acquaintances to gather the exact information software developers are looking for, and 75% have been returned already; within three days… I’m both amazed and grateful.

I am filled with a sense of optimism at the thought that system developers actually want to know what their buyers want and need. I have seen too many badly developed systems over the last three years and although I have seen a steady improvement (not usually from the industry leaders) I am ecstatic that this might be about to change.

If you are a hotel, motel, or guest house owner and would like to participate in this survey, please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk for further information. Thank you.

In my opinion, the option of customizing the system and upgrading regularly is of optimum importance. I’ll be interested to see whether the information I collect from these surveys will correlate with my beliefs.

I would also like to acknowledge the other end of the spectrum. A steady backlog of emails from hotel and motel owners / managers is building up. Emails requesting further information about what they should be looking for and where to find the best systems on the market. If I am yet to reply, please accept my apologies; I will be replying to everyone this week and plan to offer the same advice within this blog at a later date.

Thanks again for reading,

Emma

I am still on a search for the best hotel booking system for small to medium sized hotels. If you know of hotel booking software that can beat HotelSystems.co.uk for ease of use and functionality then please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

Can Your Lobby Replace the Common Shopping Mall?

Today, I read a fascinating article in The Week, titled The Vanishing Shopping Mall. I won’t ruin it for you by quoting large sections; instead you should give it a read yourself.

The article discusses the idea that malls, which were once blamed for killing high streets and downtown shopping districts, are quickly becoming an endangered species. Even before the economic crisis set in, shoppers were spending less time in malls and more of their free time in places where there are options other than shopping. Now, during this downturn, shoppers are not spending money on discretionary items… And, unfortunately, it’s only discretionary items that are sold in shopping malls.

Instead, shoppers are choosing to spend their time in places where there are alternatives to shopping. Shoppers are visiting places that The Week describes as “lifestyle centers”. They say that the amenities “draw the consumer in for reasons other than to just purchase items.”

So, is the failing of the shopping mall an opportunity for hoteliers? Is it possible to develop your hotel to entice the newly evolved general public? Is this your chance to drive traffic from outside the hotel into your lobby?

Starwood, once again, are ahead of the game in this respect. Their W boutique hotels have built their brand entirely around this concept. Starwood say,

“W Hotels are unique and individual expressions of modern living, reflected in the brand’s sensibility to a holistic lifestyle experience with cutting-edge design, contemporary restaurant concepts, glamorous nightlife experiences, and signature spas.”

Hotels that are able to lure the general public to their lobby for food, a few drinks, a coffee, a lunch meeting, or a party, whilst being able to purchase tickets or have their hair cut, are the hotels which will survive this recession.

Personally, I have a meeting every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, which never takes place in my office. Every week I meet my business associate in a Starwood hotel. Why? The answer is simple; the convenience! The convenience of being able to order any train tickets or flights I need from their travel centre before heading for a spot of lunch. After lunch I can grab a coffee from their lobby bar to drink during the meeting. I can use their free wi-fi after the meeting to complete my emails and write this blog before heading back down to collect my tickets. By then it’s six o’clock and I can head to the bar for a couple of after work drinks during happy hour. It really is a “lifestyle centre”.

In parts of Asia and the Middle East, hotel lobbies with a number of bars and restaurants are not uncommon. So, is it not conceivable that lobbies will (or at least can) become the recreation spot of choice throughout the West also?

Large hotels need to create an outdoor element to their hotel if possible. Is there a barbeque area or a place for patrons to walk? Could you introduce a band to bring life to your lobby bar in the evening? Is it possible to create a technologically advanced open area for patrons to plug in their laptops and charge their iPods whilst enjoying a martini?

This concept was bought home to me by the GM of the Sheraton Nanjing Kingsley a week a go. I have never actually stayed in the hotel, but after bumping into her for the fourth time that week, she asked, “do you live here?” In truth, the answer is almost yes; it’s a place to work and relax even though I am not staying in the hotel.

Think about your hotel, motel, or guest house. It may be small, but is there an opportunity for you to open it up to non-guests? Do you have a restaurant that you could advertise to the surrounding community? Could you open up your gym facilities to the outside world? How about massages or a coffee shop? Find a way to become the new centre of your community.

There is a world of opportunity out there. It’s up to you to seize it!

Thanks for reading,

Emma

I am still on a search for the best hotel booking system for small to medium sized hotels. If you know of hotel booking software that can beat HotelSystems.co.uk for ease of use and functionality then please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

How to Succeed in a Difficult Economy

Hotel occupancy is suffering...

In my last entry, I discussed the current trends in RevPAR and HPI. Occupancy is suffering, and this deterioration looks determined to continue for some time. In fact, I read on Travel Daily News last month that,

“PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates 2009 average U.S. hotel occupancy will fall to 56.5% - a decline of 5.2% from 2008 and the lowest in more than 20 years. More importantly PwC projects RevPAR to decline 11.2% this year. It is hard to imagine any hotel getting through this year unscathed.”

Therefore, now is the time to ensure that your hotel stays one step ahead of the competition. The economic situation will hurt your competitors as well, and they may not ever see the light at the end of the tunnel. You need to guarantee that you do; but how will you accomplish this?

It’s all to do with your internal and external marketing…

Many hotels have begun to slash room rates in an attempt to fill rooms. However, you must remember that this tactic can be easily copied by the competition. If you and your five competing hotels all slash prices, or even offer additional nights for free, the impact on RevPAR will be significant. Plus, once you have dropped your room rates, it will be difficult to restore them once the economy improves.

So, don’t slash your prices for dramatic effect; increase price flexibility and be prepared to add value to your guest’s stay. Consider working with outside businesses, such as car rental or day trip companies, to create packages that will ‘wow’ your guests.

In the same way that many companies have cut training, a large number of hotels are now slashing advertising. Ensure that you have a large online presence by improving your hotel’s website and conducting search engine optimization; you need to be listed on the first page for any keyword searches related to your hotel and your area.

Make sure that every page of your website and every word of your hotel blog communicates value. Your prospective guests need to know that they are getting maximum value from every pound they spend. Remember that comfortable surroundings during difficult times make your hotel worth every penny your guests spend.

Customer Relationship Management...

Managing your relationship with your customers is extremely important right now; you need to establish loyalty. Hotels with the most loyal customers are also the most profitable.

Your competitors will most likely focus on attracting new customers. You need to have a more balanced approach toward customer acquisition and retention and actively manage your customer relationships to build loyalty.

However, managing customer relationships has become sophisticated and requires a remarkable amount of coordination. It is all about the movement of prospective guests through the customer lifecycle from awareness to loyalty. This can start with your hotel website, blog, and any other form of advertising you use, all the way through to the up-selling used by employees and the hotel booking system that you use to store guest information.

Remember that loyalty comes as a result of:

1) Using advanced CRM and Hotel Booking Software which has become extremely affordable, even if you are running a small hotel, motel, or guest house.

2) Ensuring your advertising and added value are highly personalized and individually targeted. Remember that your message must be relevant to your stressed and financially-burdened guests.

3) Creating a strong emotional bond with your guests. There may be years between visits but loyal guests do return and give you referrals. Everything from the first view of your website, through the moment they make a booking, to the moment they check out must feel personal. Guests want to feel wanted.

If you take this advice on board, you stand a greater chance of staying ahead of your competitor. Now is the time to implement the new CRM and booking system that you’ve been considering. If you properly implement these systems you will significantly enhance your chance of success during difficult times.

Don’t forget that loyalty is the key to success!

Good luck to you all,

Emma

London Hotel Prices Fall

It has been interesting to monitor Hotel Price Indexes (HPI) over the last few months. Having spoken to a number of GM’s worldwide; during this economic downturn they have been reluctant to lower prices and have instead added value to their stay packages in order to keep their RevPAR high and limit the panic caused to hotel owners, lending institutions, and management companies.

In fact, it was only two months a go that I gave three cheers to the hotel industry for seeing the bigger picture and continuing training throughout this recession. It seemed that hotel GMs had donned their armor plating, had their heads down, and were prepared to battle on into the unknown.

I’m currently based in China, and the financial crisis is yet to hit in such a dramatic way as in the east. Hotel occupancy within 5* hotels based in manufacturing and engineering cities has dropped due to redundancies in the west and the removal of foreign experts on international assignment; however there is no immediate need for pessimism.

Yet, I was not surprised to read on Travel Daily News International that hoteliers across the UK - and especially in London - are continuing to drop hotel room rates. Hotel.com’s HPI shows that London hotel prices were down by 12% to £111 per room on average in the last three months of last year.

The article by Theodore Koumelis continued to say that “Hotels.com saw a 49% increase in the number of searches by Eurozone travellers for London hotels in December 2008 compared to a year earlier, as travellers sought to take advantage of the struggling pound.”

A quick search of hospitality related websites, and the travel section of British newspapers, reveals that the British press has at last turned PRO-BRITAIN in terms of it being a holiday destination. For years it has been difficult to find any positive press, yet now every British city is the new ‘Place to Be Seen This Summer’. But is this tactic working? Web searches from abroad have increased because of the weakness of the pound, but that isn’t going to aid the Brits themselves in any way.

Travel Daily News International says, “UK hotel prices were down by an average of 12% at the end of 2008, with hotels in the north-west seeing some of the biggest price drops. Prices in Blackpool fell by 22% to an average of £79 per room per night, and in Manchester by 19% to £73.”

So you tell me, is the title of Theodore Koumelis’s article, “Boost for Tourism as London Hotel Prices Fall”, an accurate one? Will the UK HPI continue to fall during this economic turmoil, or will the price increase indeed be a boost for tourism?

Click here to read the full article.

Bye for now

Emma

I am still on a search for the best hotel booking system for small to medium sized hotels. If you know of hotel booking software that can beat www.hotelsystems.co.uk for ease of use and functionality then please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

The Importance of Decision Making

Today, I wish to cover a subject often spoken about within the hospitality industry, which is also a topic I broached not long ago when discussing empowerment and customer service related issues: Decision making!

The decision making abilities of hotel employees can make or break a guest’s stay. However, hotel owners and GMs too often reward the managers who achieve immediate results (often through luck) and not those who have made some admirable (lateral thinking) judgments which, often through no fault of their own, have not produced the instantaneous results required.

The owners, CEOs and GMs have got where they are thanks to their excellent decision making skills, however, if they were to look back at all the good decisions they made which went badly, they should be thankful to have a job at all. In today’s climate they be cleaning the toilets rather than managing hundreds of employees.

Professor Zeger Degraeve, who is the ‘Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Professor of Innovation, Professor of Decision Sciences’ at London Business School, believes that “the result is irrelevant… as a measure of decision quality.” Professor Degraeve goes on to say that a decision is made in a split second and then implemented (often by others) at a later date, the result is then observed in the future. Events happen that a manager could not possibly foresee and not every variable is controllable by the hotel or the decision maker. “Therefore, the quality of the result is not an indicator of decision quality and the result is irrelevant as a measure of decision (and execution) quality.”

It is important for hotel industry leaders to observe the decision being made at the time and judge the employee based purely on their decision making ability. The judgment may be made based on efficiency, profit, or even guest satisfaction, but it needs to be made based on the question, “what are we trying to achieve?” In the hospitality industry, the answer to his question will nearly always be guest satisfaction and therefore, if the customer was happy with little extra cost to the hotel then the decision was a good one, even if the result in the long run is less than originally hoped for.

For more information on Professor Zeger Degraeve and his thoughts on decision making, please go to HoteleMarketer, where there is an in-depth interview with the aforementioned thought leader.

To link this back, briefly, to hotel booking systems:

Hotels, motels, and guest houses choose hotel systems based upon their needs at the time of purchase. They cannot possibly foresee future events that will render the booking software unusable to them. It doesn’t mean that a bad decision was made; it purely means the results are poor. The overriding factor of hotelsystems.co.uk is the ability to customize the software for individual requirements... Meaning no bad decisions short or long term.

Hospitality Industry Networking

As a hospitality industry professional it is of utmost importance to keep up-to-date with latest industry trends and practices. This isn’t difficult if your hotel or hospitality-related business is based in a large city of a developed country; however, if you are based in a small village on the outskirts of somewhere like Ouagadougou or Timbuktu, then staying ahead of your competition isn’t always easy.

It is for this reason that online social networking sites are vital for communicating with hospitality peers and experts.

Sites like Facebook have become popular with Food & Beverage Managers and Marketers for keeping in touch with clientele. I receive messages and wall posts almost daily from the Sheraton Nanjing Kingsley Hotel & Towers and also the Sheraton Tianjin Hotel. The Starwood Group has been quick to adopt modern methods to attract guests and clients to their bars and restaurants. And it works!

However, what about exchanging ideas and practices with hospitality peers?

Sites like LinkedIN are great for networking with a wide range of professionals. However, my personal favourite for networking within the hospitality industry is WIWIH (Who is who in hospitality) which allows you to discuss anything from the day to day running of a hotel to occupancy and RevPar with industry experts.

I have been using the forums to continue my search for the ultimate hotel booking software.

The extremely active forums will provide inspirational ideas for promoting your hotel and getting ahead of your competition.

Until next time,

Emma

I am still on a search for the best hotel booking system for small to medium sized hotels. If you know of hotel booking software that can beat www.hotelsystems.co.uk for ease of use and functionality then please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

Hotel Booking Software - Review 2

Today has been an enjoyable and informative (if not so productive) business day. As I mentioned in my previous post, Tristan from hotelsystems.co.uk is in the process of updating the booking software to embrace the varying requests of the hotel industry. So, after an hour of begging and pleading (I have no shame!) Tristan agreed to give me a sneak preview of his work in progress.

I’m always nervous when any of my preferred software is updated and supposedly improved. Will the level of functionality remain high? Will it be as user-friendly? Will it remain efficient to use? I was thrilled to discover that the answers to these questions were yes, yes, and yes again.

The booking system offered by hotelsystems.co.uk is one of an increasing plethora of applications that promise to be the perfect addition to your hotel, make your motel more productive, and eradicate the possibility of double booking. However, the difference between this booking system and the others on the market is the slimline efficiency and level of detail provided.

I noticed a number of definite improvements, including:
1. Credit card number encryption in the database.

2. The highlighting of bank holiday dates in the booking calendar.

3. An extended payment section to allow the special addition of payments – Which permits for the addition of details to a report, allowing users to reconcile the deposit payments for bookings against their takings.

Plus, these developments have been made without hindering the intuitiveness of the program; bookings flowed in a highly logical manner and I was never left wondering which button to click or function to use.

I cannot recommend this software enough.

I am, however, extremely keen to discover alternative hotel booking systems for small to medium sized hotels, motels, and guest houses. So, if you know of hotel booking software that is more efficient or detailed than the system offered by http://www.hotelsystems.co.uk/ please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

Thanks for reading!

Emma

Hotel Booking System Review

A few weeks a go I posted a shout out to Ed Sansbury who is in the process of developing a cutting edge hotel booking system. I have had the privilege of viewing his software during its infancy (I believe it to be less that fifty per cent complete) and am impressed with the options section, which has clearly marked tabs allowing users to customize the system for their own requirements.

At this early stage, my feedback to Ed included improvements in integration to enhance the logical system flow. These improvements included naming conventions, a call to action, booking reference customization, an enhanced pricing system, and free fields for tax.

I am very much looking forward to seeing the finished version of this hotel booking software and am confident that Ed is capable of developing this system to a highly competitive level.


Despite the fact that the system is less than fifty per cent complete, I would rate the software with a 4 out of 10, with a potential for 8 or more in the future.

Good luck with the continued development, Ed!

On a related topic, I spoke with Tristan from http://www.hotelsystems.co.uk/ today and was very excited by news of his latest booking software upgrades, due for release shortly. I'll be taking a look over the next couple of days and will post information about his updates here. So, watch this space!

Hotel Industry Insolvencies

I’d like to start on a personal note by highlighting the very sad death, last week, of one of my heroes; John Martyn, the British singer, song writer, music legend, and guitarist extraordinaire. His jazz, folk, funk, and blues fusion was always original and utterly captivating. He’ll be sadly missed by his many devoted fans, and certainly by me. Rest In Peace, John, Rest In Peace.

And to continue the depressing tone of today’s blog, I feel the need to talk about recent insolvencies within the hotel industry. As the ‘credit crunch’, ‘economic tsunami’, ‘global recession’, or whatever you choose to call it, has over taken our personal lives, businesses, conversations, nightmares, television screens and newspapers, I have been reluctant to add to the ever-increasing depression surrounding our lives.

The number of small-to-medium sized hotels, motels, and guesthouses to go bankrupt in the UK over the last ten years has been reasonably high in comparison to other industries and businesses. However, large hotels and hotel chains have always remained stable with insolvencies peaking at forty-four in 2007. Whilst travel agent insolvencies had risen by 95% over two years in 2007, the percentage of bankruptcies within hotel chains had risen just a few percent per year until 2007.

However, I was not surprised to read in The Times Online today that Insolvencies in the hotel sector doubled over the winter and that “36 hotel businesses failed in the final three months of 2008, the highest quarterly figure since the early 1990s”. The Times revealed that, “the increase took the total number of insolvencies over 2008 to 87, almost double the total of a year earlier”.

For more information on the facts and figures please visit the Times Online article by Dominic Walsh at:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/leisure/article5634691.ece

At this early stage it is impossible to foresee how long this downturn will last and how large an effect it will have on the hospitality industry, but judging by the delayed effect the crisis has had on the hotel industry, I wonder whether the effects will be seen long after the economy improves.

We just have to hope that the hotels with service and a product to be proud of come out the other end fighting fit and with fewer competitors; hopefully those hotels that should never have been in the industry in the first place.

Goodbye for now,

Emma

I am still on a search for the best hotel booking system for small to medium sized hotels. If you know of hotel booking software that can beat www.hotelsystems.co.uk for ease of use and functionality then please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk