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This article talks about how hotels can use location based marking to drive business and create customer loyalty. Hotels and restaurants can use proximity marketing and geofencing to get the messages out to customers. Proximity marketing uses Bluetooth technology and WIFI to send messages to a customers mobile phone when they are within a specific proximity to your business. Geofencing creates a virtual "fence" that once the customer is within this area they can be reached on their mobile device. Hotels can use this technology to build customer loyalty by sending special messages to guests when they enter the hotel. These personalized messages can you give a competitive advantage by making the guest feel special and welcome. They can also send messages to guests encouraging them to visit the hotel's restaurant or spa instead of going somewhere else. According to a recent study, customers are willing to give up personal information and privacy in exchange for money saving deals. It is important for hotels and restaurants to take advantage of this new technology to reach the people who are willing and want to be contacted this way.

Hi Dawn This article is great and learning about proximity marketing made me understand it way more now. I think that it could be a good feature to reach out to people that signed up for your program when they get within a certain distance to your property to get them know about current specials. I know if I was part of a loyalty program at a hotel this would make me feel special for sure having them send me a personalized message to my phone upon returning to the property. With the economy where it is at people will willingly give up their personal information to get deals that can save them money for sure. Great post!

Jan 22, 2010 TravelCLICK has unveiled Hotelligence 360, a suite of interactive business intelligence applications that enable hotels to identify new growth opportunities and improve financial performance. The program provides hoteliers with frequently updated booking data backed by 100 percent of the global distribution system (GDS) channel, allowing hotels to compare revenue performances with their competitors, source new customers, and maximize profit.

Hotelligence 360 reporting is a great example of HRIS in the hospitality industry. The reports generated pull market information for the competitve you set for your area (usually approximately 5 competitor properties plus yours, additional ones can be added for additional fees). To gain access to the reporting, some of your marketing budget would need to be spent on it, but this helps gain some critical information for your market area and competitors in terms of agencies utilizing GDS systems to book hotel rooms. It displays data such as top 150 agencies, ADR, lead time, market share, average LOS, and more. It shows which of the 4 GDS tools are being used for the agency (Galileo, Sabre, Apollo, Amadeus) and where the business is coming from. There are great details in trying to capture business from the area. I find it to be most beneficial to a new hotelier trying to secure new business and deter them from the competition, it gains knowledge of good startingplaces for cold calls and attempting the relationship building to capture their market. In decifering these reports, you can get a good feel for what the agencies are valueing in ther selection, be it location, amenities, or price prior to speaking with them. It helps to gain an advantage when securing the proper contact and having the conversation in capturing their business. There are plenty more advantages to reading these reports, this was just my version of the most important tools provided.

Don't sleep on the GDS systems. The are making their mark and proving to be an important asset in the process of making a booking. Whether it is a hotel, car, cruise, or airline reservation, the GDS systems got you covered. Being that nowadays, travel agent would use this system for their non-tech savvy clients, bookings are expected to be at a record high this year. In a report generated by TravelClick, out of the $12 billion dollars generated in the second quarter alone, GDS systems accounted for a little over 16% of that total; the highest percentage came from direct bookings, of course. So at least we can count on the use of these GDSes to help turn a profit within our industry. 

Currently Hotels are trying to maximize their direct bookings and minimize the use of GDS & travel agents. However, this may not be beneficial in the long run because the use of travel agents is on the rise again. Travel agents are not only valued for their expertise, but appeal to the luxury segment of travelers who will bring high rates.

This article explains hotel revenue management and how to streamline the revenue of your property. Revenue management is the marketing and selling of your hotel products to guest. It could be the selling of rooms or additional products your hotel may offer. Every traveler wants to see the value of there dollar spent.

The article talks about the integration of a new system called Rainmaker and RoomkeyPMS. The trend of using the "cloud" is ongoing, as RoomkeyPMS is software that is "cloud-powered" which helps to facilitate the way the front office handles their operations. Rainmaker integration with the PMS, on the other hand, is to help the back of the house. It is meant to increase hotel bookings and "streamline operations and revenue optimization processes". Highlights the first boutique hotel in Charleston, The Spectator Hotel, are the first to adapt this new collaboration to improve the way data is being accessed. Based on the article, the hotel is using these cloud based systems to be able to offer more innovative service to their consumers especially when it comes to how revenue is being handled. I think that having to cloud systems working together can be kind of difficult especially when they serve two different purposes. But with that being said, both softwares seem to work for the best individually. Having the ability to try this out on a smaller boutique hotel would be for the best because it allows hoteliers to conduct analysis for the systems on a smaller scale.

This article speaks on how GDS are doing in the age of 2020. Not only does it talk about how its doing over all but it also goes over how they remain successful with the new times. Keeping up with changing demands and trends.

This article talks about how GDS system usage has been and continues to increase over the years. While many owners prefer direct bookings on their site. GDS has been increasing at a faster rate than other channels which are used by travel agents. Hotels need to e using the GDS platforms in 2020 and beyond to maximise the benefits that it brings.

Scott Falconer's article, "Is 2020 the year of the GDS," entails discussion of the survey results of the DGS site as the most sued and rapidly growing site for booking by travel agents. Falconer also advises hotels and other travel agents to optimize the use of the GDS site to increase bookings and therefore profitability. In discussing the survey results, Falconers also suggests the GDS increase its potential by maintaining parity, observing prices, and promotions are critical in its continued growth. Falconer's finding first indicates that GDS usage has significantly grown in the past ten years. The author notes that by 2019, the number of travel agents using the site of GDS to make bookings had increased from 42 million to 79 million between 2009 and 2019 (Falconer). In the recent past, Falconer argues that the ratings and growth in usage of the site provide hotels with opportunities to grow revenue as the site makes 22 times more bookings than consumers. Through surveying with 900 travel agents, Falconer concluded that GDS is a prime channel for bookings because of its recent fast growth compared to other alternative booking sites. Secondly, Falconer notes that there is a need to stabilize the parity rates for the GDS channel to succeed. Based on the survey, most travel agents indicated that parity rates are influential to the decision to book a facility using the GDs site or others. Therefore, Falconer advises the GDS management to ensure the consistency of the price that properties offer to clients on other channels. The services listed in the sites are available as indicated at the property. In this case, the GDS can improve booking experience by clearly stating commissions, discounts, or cancellation policies at the site to increase the availability of information to the clients regarding the nature of commitment and expected services as the promised value. Falconer also highlights the importance of adver

This article explains the importance of what a property management system should do. It is said that the PMS is the core of any hospitality company. The PMS gathers information about revenue, guests, staff, and any reporting necessary. Although the PMS is known to manage your company, it should also help with customer service and generate more revenue. I's important that todays PMS systems are available to all on their mobile devices, making it easier for guests. The PMS is also something that needs to be used for both front and back of the house functions, this includes house keeping and human resources. Lastly, this system should be compatible to all other forms of technology. I believe the PMS serves many functions to help ensure a company succeeds.

The article is about PMS acts as a centralized hub of vital information relating to revenue, guest engagement, staff efficiencies, and reporting.

Managing a successful hotel is not easy 一 Hoteliers are tasked with enhancing the guest experience, empowering their staff, and increasing their property's bottom line. It Should Be Mobile-First Modern travelers are going mobile, and mobility is «flattening» the hospitality marketplace. A mobile-first PMS can streamline various touchpoints in the guest journey, such as reducing long lines to the front desk. It Should Play Well With Others No technological platform is an island, and hotels cannot be run on a single siloed technological solution. It Should Optimize Revenue Traditionally, the role of the PMS was to help hoteliers manage their hotel's operational structure. However, today's PMS can do so much more than that.

Module 3: This article focuses on the importance of GDS systems during the challenges of COVID-19. With an emphasis on travel agents using the GDS, hotels will be able to continue to thrive and survive. According to the article, " travel agents will play a key role in connecting hotels and travelers, especially given the flexibility and changes that may be required of travelers in the coming months." This article provides insights for hotels to best optimize using a GDS for travel agents to find them. The article states, "Rate parity is important to 89% of travel agents worldwide - if they see a better rate elsewhere, they'll actively book away from your property." I believe using a GDS will be the only way in the future to continue to travel and save money. Tripadvisor is my go to when it comes to finding out about a resort and which website has the best rate for the same room.

The article describes how hotels have been late in adopting the cross-selling and up-selling trip extras that airlines have been so successful with over the last decade or so. It also summarizes the results of research done by Phocuswright with iSeatz which found that the majority of business travelers surveyed are interested in purchasing additional on-site extras and off-site extras. The research also found that the hotels that were surveyed cite reasons such as a lack of technology and stretched resources at hotel level as barriers to implementation.

The author fails to recognize that the e-commerce platforms developed by the airlines over the past decade have been focused on selling unbundled extras, whereas until recently the hotel e-commerce platforms have been very focused on offering the customer bundled packages and only had limited capability for up-selling and cross-selling.

GDS systems have been helping customers book hotel rooms, flights, and vacation packages for nearly two decades. This increases the convenience factor for the customer. Companies may be paying more to maintain a direct connection and may want to start reconsidering utilizing a GDS system. GDS systems do have limiting qualities such as character limitations within text fields, which can lead to unforeseen issues for companies looking to personalize filed values. Even though this issue may provide limitations for companies, the cost of maintaining connectivity, increased shopping volumes, and personalization issues are driving companies to ditch direct.

This article overall talks about the the different entities within a property management system. First, it goes over the details of what a property management system is which is described as a software that facilitates a hotel's reservation management and administrative task. In more detail these functions include front-desk operations, reservations, channel management, housekeeping, rate and occupancy management, and payment processing.Most PMS nowadays are able to combine multiple work environments into one software. Depending on the type of software the company is using, they are able to combine modules and functions, and the functionality of one module can be slightly different. The reservations side of the PMS is essential because online booking is the main way people book their reservations nowadays. The key modules of reservations consist of room bookings, collections of e-payments, management of room inventory and allocations, reservation emails, and activities bookings. I believe the most crucial operation of the PMS is the front office module which allows for front-desk manager to view and update room reservation status, check guests in and out, and process payments. I do work in a hotel as a guest service agent and we closely work with the PMS in every aspect. When our system went down it seemed almost impossible to check in/check out guests. It was extremely difficult to allocate rooms because we weren't able to use our system to see if housekeeping had punched rooms clean or to see if the room was vacant or occupied. The PMS makes the whole process of a hotel run smoothly. Another important aspect of the PMS is room management which allows us to see up to date reservations and which rooms they are allocated to, also allows us to move around those reservations and modify them.

Property Management systems has been the backbone for many hotel for numerous year. Due to its length of service we are constantly seeing major updates that helps to secure the business sensitive information while assessing the administrative tasks of daily functions to ensure smooth process of operations. PMS functions for all departments of the hotel from front desk to housekeeping to accommodate the guests request.

Hotel Property Management Systems: Products and Features

Collection of data from internal and external allow the managers to use mention data to analyze, forecast and plan on marketing, channels of distribution and financial indicators such as occupancy, ADR, RevPAR, and costs.