What Is The Best Channel Manager For Small Hotels.docx

What is the best channel manager for small hotels? As the name suggests, channel managers allow properties to efficiently manage the different online distribution channels that their property sells through. They allow small properties to give booking sites their up to date rates and inventory, using a pooled inventory model. This means that no matter where a booking is made – be it direct on your website, through a third party booking site, or at your point of sale – inventory is always up to date and you are never overbooked. Channel managers give small accommodation providers two main benefits:  Ability to sell the most rooms possible through as many channels at possible (without risk of overbooking).  Reduced admin by managing inventory and room rates from one central place (no need to log into the backend system of each booking site) For travelers, channel managers allow them to instantly confirm a booking from third party websites – typically trusted OTAs that have special rates, and whom they feel comfortable booking with. Live rate and availability updates Without a channel manager, you spend hours updating multiple websites for changes in rates and inventory, and it’s not a one-off job. In fact, each time a booking is made on one of your sales channels, you have to make sure your availability is reflected correctly on all of your booking sites. An all-in-one online booking solution like Little Hotelier will combine your booking engine, front desk system, and channel manager, meaning you only have one place to manage your hotel from. You can update your rates and apply stop-sells at a click of a button. The channel manager will automatically reduce availability when a room is booked on any one of your sales channels. All your booking sites will display the right inventory without you having to adjust a thing! There’s no lag time in inventory updates, so double bookings are a thing of the past. Connection to hard-to-reach markets through a variety of OTAs Making sure international travellers can easily book with you is a top priority for small hotels. Your channel manager should help you do this by allowing you to partner with a variety of OTAs that can allow you to reach markets you could never access directly. For example, to sell your rooms to Chinese travellers, you should connect with Ctrip, because it is the preferred booking site in China. The more sites it connects you to, the better. For example, Little Hotelier connects with over 250 different booking sites. Think about all the different kinds of travellers you would like to reach, and make sure that your channel manager connects with sites that cater to that niche. For example, a channel manager that connects you to a last minute accommodation website would be perfect if you want to target deal-seeking travellers. Solid reporting on which channels work It goes without saying that in order to manage your revenue successfully, you need to be able to see all your revenue streams – from the online booking websites where you advertise your property, to your marketing and sales efforts. A good channel manager will allow you to easily track and measure which online sales channels are working. This gives you the knowledge you need to negotiate commissions and end partnerships that aren’t working for you. Your channel manager is just one piece of the puzzle Small hotels don’t need the added hassle of using separate systems for each. Find an all-in-one hotel reservation system that is suited to small hotels, like Little Hotelier is. Make sure the software you choose lines up with the needs of your small property, especially in terms of flexibility and cost. Some solutions will enforce contracts, and structure their pricing based on a percentage of commission per booking, but it is difficult to grow with such a pricing model. On the other hand, systems like Little Hotelier operate off a no contract, fixed monthly fee, which makes it easier for you to budget your expenses. Make sure you take a free trial of each of the systems you look at – they are standard in the industry. If no free trial is available, at least request a demonstration of the product. You want to play around with it to make sure that it is truly the easiest and most comprehensive solution for your small property.

Get your customers booking on your website in minutes Your booking button is easy to add to your website. In the sample site below we show how it

works for your customers. We also show how to get more bookings from your booking button by adding it to your email signature, facebook page, twitter and any other internet pages. Please feel free to make a test booking below, just as your customers will do. You will receive an email confirmation.

Sample: Deco House Hotel A hotel with 5 different room types. This hotel encourages longer stays during the week with a 10% discount offer and has a free night offer for anyone staying 3 nights over a weekend.

Freetobook booking button: the only limit is your imagination … The easier it is for your potential customers to find your availability and book the more bookings you are likely to get. When you have a freetobook account you get a unique availability link which you can put anywhere on the internet. It will always lead back to your availability and online booking system, thus maximising your exposure and making it easy for customers to book. Don't hide your booking button. Put it everywhere.

Facebook The booking button is easy to integrate with your facebook page so why not let your customers check availability and book while they are on facebook? The big chains and online travel agents do it. Now with freetobook you don't have to lose out!

Email signature So you send out emails to customers. Have you ever thought that you could have a booking button linked to your email signature? Simply add your property’s unique availability link to a button in your signature and any customer recieving your email can get straight to your availability and make an online booking.

Twitter If you have a twitter account it’s so easy to offer your followers the chance to search and book from your twitter account. Once again you use your unique availbility link which goes directly to your availability pages.

The Internet You can put your unique link on any website anywhere and it will lead customers to book with you. It could be a directory site you advertise on, a local travel group you are part of. Any website can take your booking link. Our hotel booking software is designed to increase your boo