There is no denying that there are so many hotel booking engines to choose from and choosing the best engine for your hotel can be difficult. Of course, making the right decisions will have a huge impact on your business in terms of efficiency and profitability.
Generating ROI is the right technology for your business.
But finding the right online booking engine is easier said than done. Since each vendor offers different features, there are so many factors to consider before deciding on a hotel booking engine. Even so, you need to identify your top requirements and then decide on a system that can meet those needs efficiently.
That's why we've put together a complete buyer's guide to help you choose the best hotel booking engine according to your needs.
Why do you need a hotel booking engine?
With technological advancements, hotel booking engines have become very important as they not only allow you to reach more customers but also provide them with the best booking experience.
Think for yourself. Why choose our hotel booking engine? You may already be accepting reservations through third-party online distribution channels, walk-in reservations, or other sources.
But have you ever thought about how much it's worth? Maintain rate parity, real-time inventory, handle overbooking and underbooking, and more! So perhaps this is where the revenue declines and the strain on managing hotel operations increases.
Almost two-thirds of guests prefer to book directly through the hotel.
Let's face reality. Do you want to give your guests a special experience during their stay? So why not start from the moment they book with you?
A great booking experience is the start of a lasting relationship between you and your brand. Along with the hospitality industry, online booking engines have also evolved over time, making the booking process simpler and faster. Simply put, a hotel booking engine allows you to take bookings from guests directly on your hotel website. This systematic approach helps you grow loyal customers by focusing on the customer experience.
What to Look for in a Hotel Booking Engine: Buyer Checklist
- Responsive booking engine: Your booking engine must be responsive, adaptable, and comfortable to use on all devices. So it doesn't matter whether your customers book using a computer, tablet, or smartphone. The system must provide a seamless booking experience.
- Personalization: This should be adaptable to the hotel's profile and standards. Depending on your hotel website theme, you should have complete freedom in customizing the look and feel of your booking flow.
- attractive widgets: Bright, simple, and easy-to-use buttons are a must-have addition to your booking engine. Eye-catching widgets with actionable words are best for converting visitors into bookers (e.g. Book Now, Make a Reservation). The booking engine should be able to set up some new widgets on your website and increase bookings.
- Access anytime: The reservation system must be conveniently available anytime, anywhere. All you need to use our hotel reservation system is a computer/mobile handset and a reliable internet connection, allowing you and your staff to easily supervise your own reservations on the go.
- Suitable for chain properties: If you have multiple properties, it becomes a difficult task to keep an eye on reservations for all of them. Whether you have a stand-alone hotel or a chain of hotels spanning multiple locations, your hotel booking engine must accept bookings from a single location.
- customer engagement: Along with processing reservations, your booking engine should be able to increase repeat customers by sending attractive emails to customers before their arrival, during their stay, and after their departure, along with timely promotional emails.
- Payment processing: Payment processing is an essential part of the hotel reservation process. A hotel booking engine should be able to process payments, but it should also be able to choose how to offer deals based on the payment method.
- Other service upsells: A booking engine gives you the opportunity to increase your revenue by allowing you to upsell additional services along with your accommodations.
- safe: When we talk about payments, we need to ensure that our customers’ data remains safe from security breaches. Therefore, the booking engine must be secure with PCI DSS certification.
- Multi-currency and language support: Most people want to attract customers from all over the world, so it is important to have a booking engine that appears in different languages and can also accept different currencies. After all, you're likely catering to travelers, and you want to make it easier for them to learn about your services and confirm their reservations.
- Reports and Statistics: Find a hotel booking engine that offers a rich set of reports, including reservations, occupancy, revenue, monthly reservations, and annual statistics, to help you strategize business decisions and improve operational efficiency.
- Free hotel booking links from Google: Google recently launched its Free Hotel Reservation Links program, which allows hotels around the world to appear for free in Google Hotel Search. Additionally, hotels can display real-time direct booking rates and availability on Google Hotel Search and Google Maps. So make sure your booking engine provider is an approved partner of this program.
Simply put, a hotel booking engine allows you to make reservations 24/7, unlike in-person reservations or manual reservation management.
conclusion
To stay ahead of the competition, you need to choose appropriate and durable technology. There are a variety of options available, but the key to making the right choice is a clear understanding of your requirements. The goal of a good online booking engine is to make it easy for your guests to make reservations.