MyHotelBreak Partnership With Guestline – It’s a Win-Win!

MyHotelBreak partnered with Guestline back in early 2017 and since then the relationship has gone from strength to strength.

   

Working with Guestline’s Channel Manager, MyHotelBreak streamlines the process of administrating rates and availability. Having all bookings, room stock and deals under one roof not only enhances the operational aspects for hotels working with MyHotelBreak – it delivers much more. Guestline’s Channel Manager distributes a property’s live inventory to a wide range of Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and the Global Distribution System (GDS), with minimum effort and cost.

Streamlining the channel management process by allowing you to control rates and availability from a single real-time source, removes the requirement for room allotments and manual adjustments on an individual channel basis. Seamlessly integrated with Rezlynx PMS it enables bookings, regardless of their source, to flow directly into the PMS without the need for time consuming manual data entry and allocation. MyHotelBreak now has 20% of its hotel portfolio connected through Guestline’s channel manager and that is steadily growing every month.

“Our partnership with Guestline has gone from strength to strength. It has assisted in business growth by helping us easily take on new hotel partners and, even more importantly, to be able to deliver better and more efficiently for our existing hotel partners. The two-way connection allows hotels to easily load rates, availability and packages on our website, whilst receiving bookings directly in to their reservations systems. This has almost nullified the amount of over-bookings and also allowed us to help the hotels maximise sales by having real-time availability. It’s great to see the hard work paying off as more and more hotels are reaching out to us to help them fill their rooms when it is needed most”.

          Mark Simpson, MyHotelBreak website manager

MyHotelBreak launched their revamped site at the start of 2018 with its main aim of introducing a better user-experience on mobile as well as enhancing conversion levels – this is already reaping great rewards with conversion levels showing a 20% increase already. Significant investments in improving technologies through partnerships with Guestline and the new website is a commitment by MyHotelBreak to offer the best possible experience for customers and the latest digital marketing techniques available to assist hotels, giving the excellent opportunities to target consumers during low and shoulder season.

For more info on MyHotelBreak visit the website here

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Top five tips for getting the most out of your website

When it comes to successfully running a hotel, there’s a lot to juggle if you’re going to keep guests every bit as happy as the revenue team. These days, on top of welcoming guests, and maintaining the highest level of customer service to build their loyalty, it is important to keep an eye on how your website is performing to stay competitive.

Guestline, who have partnered with Journey, to deliver a range of website solutions and digital marketing technology to its customers have compiled these tips for hoteliers to get the most out of their website -

1.       Keep your content fresh

The key to keeping your website search engine-friendly is to avoid duplicated phrases and to ensure you never plagiarise from other sites. When you’re short on time a simple cut and paste job across different sections might seem like the easiest solution but by doing that you’ll risk being penalised when it comes to those all-important search engine rankings, who will disregard all but the most authoritative version. Original copy and carefully reworded content that is relevant to each section is therefore a must.

2.       Choose your images carefully

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but it might cost you a lot more if you don’t double check the copyright requirements before publishing it. It’s important to remember that just because you’ve seen a photo online or it’s come up in a Google search, that doesn’t mean it’s free for you to use. If you know the photographer, always make sure they’re happy for their image to be used on your website. And, if you don’t or your budget doesn’t stretch as far as their price tag, there are a number of websites offering access to free stock images under the Creative Commons license– sometimes in exchange for a photographer credit. Alternatively, when searching online, filter your results by usage rights to ensure you stay on the right side of the law.

3.       Don’t overcomplicate your home page

Whilst your home page may be the first thing a lot of your visitors see, it’s important to remember that many people will arrive on other areas of your site first depending on what they’ve searched for and how well you’ve optimised your various sections. The job of your homepage is to give people a topline overview of the information they can expect to find across the site in a simple and easy to navigate manner.

4.       Ensure your site is mobile-friendly

With over half of website traffic currently coming via mobile devices, it stands to reason that visitors expect websites to work as well on their smartphone as on their computer. The rise of more responsive website design means it’s no longer necessary to invest in a separate mobile site, which can risk penalising your search engine results. By making sure your website can adapt to the device on which it is being viewed, you can avoid any potential frustration from potential guests.

5.       Get your head around headers

Not only does having the right header give clarity to visitors over what they’re about to read, but a heading can make or break how search engines look at your page. So it’s especially vital that you understand how to use them correctly. The right HTML tag helps search engines understand how content is prioritised on your page, so it’s important not to ignore the systems put in place by your developer just for aesthetic reasons. In a structure that is not dissimilar to a newspaper layout, heading 1 (H1) tends to be the page title so must only be used once. The other sub-heading types usually need to be used in order to guide the reader, make the page navigation simple to follow and ensure the site is correctly indexed by search engines.

For more information on Guestline’s website solutions please visit https://www.guestline.com/websuite-signup.html

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Hotels seeking direct bookings should give customers ‘no excuse’ to leave websites

Ben Ireland, Deputy news editor at Travel Weekly and Travolution reporter recently attended one of Guestline's Connect events in London and summarises his findings below;

Hotels should give customers “no excuse” to leave their payment pages by removing any offers or barriers to confirmation if they want to drive direct bookings.

A panel of online hospitality marketing experts hosted by tech provider Guestline debated how hotels can increase direct bookings at the Bulgari Hotel in London on Thursday.

Satyan Joshi, business leader at Google’s Hotel Ads encouraged hotel managers to book their own properties as if they were a customer and said upselling should come after booking is confirmed to prevent it putting customers off.

“When [customers] are in a position to give you their money, don’t give them an excuse to leave [your hotel’s website],” he said. “Don’t show them offers on your payment page.” As an example, he added: “If I’m asked if I have a voucher code, I’m going to go and look for one. That takes me away from the hotel website and I could end up booking elsewhere.”

Simon Bullingham, chief executive of hotel digital marketing agency Journey, agreed that pre-stay emails should come after booking confirmation, and insisted they should be relevant and add value. “Take away all the nonsense,” he said. “Make sure the experience is as close as possible as it will be in the hotel.

“As hoteliers, your product and your staff is your biggest selling point over OTAs, which are all about conversion. But remember, you don’t have your staff on your website.”

Bullingham said his company’s research showed that direct bookings cost hotels between 7-8% of the customer’s price in marketing but said selling indirectly, such as through online travel agents, is more likely to cost between 15-20%.

“If you don’t own your customers they will keep booking with OTAs,” he said. “Yes, OTAs do a good job of offering choice. What hotels need to do better is capturing those potential guests who come on to their website.”
He added that between 60-70% of those who view a hotel’s website leave to book elsewhere or via an OTA.

To combat that, he said hotels need to target people who make “emotional purchases” on impulse by offering a simple booking process and “great imagery”. “The longer they leave it, the more calculated their booking will become – and calculated bookings are driven by price,” he added.
Bullingham said there are a number of third party technologies, such as “exit tools” and price comparisons that can be deployed by hotels to combat people leaving by guaranteeing them the best price direct.

But Joshi said: “The hard bit is getting noticed and becoming part of the consideration. People in Europe and the US are not necessarily brand loyal. Inspiration comes in all different ways, but it tends to be via mobile. If you are not there you are not going to be searched for later on in the journey when people make a decision on their booking.”

Sofia Tappa, general manager at Revinate, said good reviews help hotels stand out.
“Guests are four times more likely to book a certain hotel with a higher ranking if the price is equal,” she said. “And they are 75% more likely to pay a higher rate for hotels with a higher ranking.
“Independent hotels can make the difference when battling the bigger brands on reviews.”
She also suggested hoteliers segment the booking journey and use AI to personalise parts of the process in which they know they can add value.

Andrew Metcalfe, Guestline’s chief technology officer agreed, adding: “Make sure you add value in your follow-up emails.”
He said hotels should emulate airlines’ post-booking marketing by giving useful information such as ‘how to get here’ maps as well as adding a “by the way we sell…” to the message.
He encouraged hotels to move people away from OTAs’ own pre-stay emails by making theirs better. “If you do that you can convert those OTA bookings to direct,” said Metcalfe.

The panel all warned against over-personalisation to the point of it becoming “creepy” and agreed new data protection laws (GDPR) will help reduce that sort of marketing.
Tappa also added caution over focussing on too many direct bookings, insisting a balance between direct and indirect was important.

“The ultimate goal is not getting more direct or indirect [bookings],” she said. “The ultimate goal is to get the most possible out of each booking.”

This article originally appeared on Travolution

If you missed this Connect event, complementary tickets are available for Connect Conference Tewkesbury with the focus on how to drive bookings and enhance the guest experience through technology. Guest speakers on the panel include GuestRevu, UpsellGuru, Google, Journey & IDeaS. Book your place here 

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In the hot seat with Lindsey Holland – Director at Second Nature Hotels

A career in hospitality is not for the faint hearted, but as everyone will tell you, it is one of the most rewarding industries you can work in, if you get it right! Following a successful career within the sector, Lindsey decided to brave the world of owning & running her own property - Cleeve Hill House Hotel.

Name – 

Lindsey Holland

Hotel (include website address) –

Cleeve Hill House Hotel (www.cleevehill-hotel.co.uk)

What made you want to purchase Cleeve Hill House Hotel?

The views!
I wasn’t particularly looking for a hotel in any particular location, but when I saw the outside of the hotel (I always wanted a building that was old enough to have a story), alongside the feeling of just being at home when I came through the front door and then the stunning views across to the Black Mountains and the Severn Valley it all just seemed the perfect opportunity.

Have you always wanted to be a hotel owner?

Yes….although I’ve not always known how or when. Having been in the industry my whole career and loving it,I knew that at some point I’d want to do things in my style rather than reporting to an owner; I just didn’t know how it would happen.

What are the top 3 things on your wish list for your property?

At the moment having only been in the hotel for a month my top 3 alter daily! Currently I’d say that heating and hot water would be top of the list. I’ve got ground analysis happening at the moment to see just what the foundations are like, and how good the ground is underneath, so number two would have to be a good result! Finally, I want the hotel to be restored to its original beauty and reach its maximum potential. This might take a lot longer than I originally estimated but I’m determined to make that wish come true.

Describe your job in a nutshell – 

I do everything! 13 bedrooms to clean, fix, sell, paint and grounds to landscape… my job is pretty diverse at the moment.

What’s sets your hotel apart from the rest? – 

It’s location; I’m the highest hotel in the Cotswolds so it’s scenic and peaceful and yet only 15mins from the heart of Cheltenham which has a great theatre, every high street shop you could ask for and some gorgeous restaurants to dine in. Oh, and I’m only 5mins from the Racecourse!

What’s your favourite thing to do in? – 

Walking; the Cotswold Way runs past my back door and it’s great to get some fresh air and a different perspective on the day. I love running so am working on getting my off-road running shoes so I can get back to that soon.

What are the first 3 things you do when you come to work?  

Living on site means my day starts in a very different way to any previous routines I’ve had. At the moment, whilst I’m in the renovation stages, it can vary from being up to let electricians in or grabbing some breakfast whilst replying to reservation enquiries. I’m fast realising that from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep it’s very easy to spend all my time working on the hotel, so trying to make sure I get time for myself either first thing in the morning or during the day is something I’m trying to do!

If you weren’t working in the hospitality industry, what would be your dream profession?

Couldn’t even answer that one! I never feel like I’m at work, I love my job and my industry and feel very grateful I have never had that dread of going to work. I’d be too worried in another career that I wouldn’t be as happy! I certainly don’t think I could ever sit at a desk all day…

What’s been your career highlight so far? 

I think I might be on the verge of it!

If money were no object what would you have at your hotel? 

Total refurbishment now! I’m having to pace the work levels due to the hotel needing so much structural change so I can’t really strip the rooms and public areas as much as I’d like to. The dream of being able to just pull out all the 80’s and 90’s fixtures and fittings and carpets etc and go full steam with my décor aims would be amazing.

What’s the most embarrassing thing you have done at work? 

I embarrass myself almost on a daily occurrence at the moment. I’m on a very steep learning curve when it comes to the technicalities of building, subsidence, electrics, plumbing, boilers etc. I have to ask the questions to ensure I understand everything, and the people I’m working with are answering, but I do wonder if they think my questions are obvious sometimes!

What’s your guilty pleasure? 

Making a drink and sitting staring at the view from my lounge. Sitting seems a guilty pleasure at the moment so taking 10 to just enjoy the reasons I moved here is very indulgent!

If you could skip to the future what would you do?

I wouldn’t… It’s really hard work at the moment but I wouldn’t miss any of it. I’m learning so much and meeting some amazing people along the way. Every day is a new voyage and I wouldn’t miss out on that!

If you could describe yourself as a cocktail which one would you be and why? 

I think daily I vary from an over the top and sweet Pina Colada to a delicious but more serious Old Fashioned. I am sure there’s a dash of a Silver Bullet on occasion too!

What would you do if you won the lottery this weekend? 

Call the most amazing designer I know and tell them we can go for gold with the hotel. Then maybe sneak a weekend in Iceland in; I visited last year and am so keen to go back and explore further.

One piece of advice for new comers to the hospitality industry?

Don’t give up! It can be hard, the hours are usually long and it’s not always easy to find the right fit at the beginning, but hang in there, find a mentor and keep trying different places and different employers until you find the one that works for you.

If you have that passion for making a difference to someone’s day, evening, weekend, whatever it might be then there will be somewhere out there that is the right fit for you!

Final say: Any special offers, insights or promotions to tempt our readers to your hotel?

Watch this space! At the moment it’s a bit of a working project but I’m determined that it will be very special just as soon as I can make it happen!

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Guestline expandiert in den deutschsprachigen Markt

Das globale Hospitality-Software-Unternehmen Guestline expandiert in den DACH-Markt. Pünktlich zur ITB (7. bis 10. März in Berlin / Halle 7.1c, Stand 112) wird der Experte für cloud-basiertes Property Management, Vertriebs- und Online Marketing-Technologien für den Hospitality-Bereich seine Lösungen in deutscher Sprache zur Verfügung stellen sowie mit einem entsprechenden Vertriebs- und Supportteam vertreten sein. Vom neuen Standort München aus bedient das Team künftig unter der Leitung von Geschäftsführer DACH Mirko Behnert die Märkte Deutschland, Österreich und die Schweiz.

Mit Wolfgang M. Neumann, dem ehemaligen Vorstandsvorsitzenden und CEO der Rezidor Hotel Gruppe, ergänzt zudem ein weiterer ausgewiesener Branchenexperte das globale Guestline-Team. In seiner Rolle als Strategic Advisor des Vorstands wird seine Expertise die Expansion des Unternehmens in neue Märkte, insbesondere in die DACH-Region, unterstützen. „In der aktuellen Marktsituation, mit schneller werdenden Entwicklungszyklen und einem sich imminent wandelnden Recherche-, Kauf- und Buchungsverhalten der Gäste, geht es für Hoteliers nicht mehr nur darum, eine moderne Backend-Technologie einzuführen. Es geht vielmehr um eine ganzheitliche Optimierung der gesamten Geschäftsprozesse. Software-Anbieter müssen hier als strategische Partner auftreten und die nötige Erfahrung und entsprechendes Wissen um die Herausforderungen der Hotellerie-Branche mitbringen – und zwar vom Management bis hin zum Service Agenten. Nur so können wir den bevorstehenden Change Prozess bestmöglich begleiten“, kommentiert Strategic Advisor Neumann die Expansion.

„Die Branche steht vor einem großen Technologie-Generationenwechsel. Bestehende, lokale, unflexible Lösungen können mit den Herausforderungen und der Geschwindigkeit der Digitalisierung nicht mehr mithalten. Wir sind daher der festen Überzeugung, dass jetzt der richtige Zeitpunkt ist, um Hospitality-Betriebe auch hierzulande mit unseren Cloud-Lösungen auf die nächste Stufe der Digitalisierung zu heben und ihnen die nötige Flexibilität für kommende Herausforderungen an die Hand zu geben“, sagt Andrew McGregor, CEO von Guestline. „Vor lauter Digitalisierung dürfen wir dabei jedoch den Faktor Mensch nicht vergessen. Das gilt auch und besonders im Gastgewerbe. Daher stehen wir den Unternehmen im DACH-Raum auch vom Start weg mit Rat und Tat, mit lokalem Kundenservice und fachlicher Expertise als strategischer Partner zur Seite – denn dafür schätzen uns unser Kunden besonders.“

Guestline ist seit 1991 am Markt und setzt bereits seit 2002 ausschließlich auf eine cloud-basierte, modulare und flexible Plattform-Architektur, die von über 2.000 Kunden weltweit eingesetzt wird. „Hoteliers orientieren sich auch in DACH-Markt mit ihren Vertriebs- und Managementprozessen zunehmend in die Cloud und brauchen dazu einen erfahrenen Partner für diesen Prozess. Guestline vereint langjährige Erfahrung in der Zusammenarbeit mit Kunden, gerade auch in unserem Heimatmarkt Großbritannien, mit lokaler Marktkenntnis und einem tiefen Verständnis für Software-as-a-Service-Prozesse und Cloud-Ökosysteme in unserer Branche. Damit bieten wir die richtige Kombination, um auch im deutschsprachigen Markt ein starker Partner für die Unternehmen und schnell einer der relevanten Player zu werden“, sagt Mirko Behnert, der den Aufbau der DACH-Niederlassung verantwortlich zeichnete.

Der Einstieg in den deutschsprachigen Markt folgt den jüngsten Expansionen des Unternehmens in die BeNeLux-Länder, Irland und Thailand.

Weitere Informationen finden Sie unter Guestline.com. Gerne stehen die Kollegen von Guestline auch für Gespräche auf der ITB, vom 7. bis 10. März in Berlin, zur Verfügung. Sie finden Guestline in Halle 7.1c am Stand 112.

Über Guestline

Guestline bietet cloudbasierte, skalierbare Hospitality-Softwarelösungen für das Property Management, den Vertrieb und das digitale Marketing. Betreiber von Hotels jeder Kategorie sowie professionelle Apartment-Betreiber (Serviced Apartments) können damit die Prozesse in ihren Unternehmen optimieren und ihre Auslastung und somit ihre Umsätze steigern.

Das Produktportfolio von Guestline beinhaltet u.a. die Property Management Software Rezlynx PMS, Komponenten für Konferenz- und Bankettbuchungen, Online-Buchungen und Bezahlvorgänge, einen Channel Manager für den optimierten Vertrieb über OTAs und andere Distributionskanäle sowie eine WebSuite für digitales Marketing.

Guestline wurde 1991 in Großbritannien gegründet und zählt derzeit über 2.000 Kunden in 25 Ländern.

Mehr Informationen finden Sie unter www.guestline.com

Pünktlich zur @ITB in Berlin expandiert Guestline in den deutschsprachigen Markt. Mit dem Start in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz setzen wir unsere europäische Expansion fort und geben gleichzeitig eine neue Führungsposition bekannt. Zu finden sind wir auf der ITB in Halle 7.1c, Stand 112. Gesprächstermine gibt es hier oder über guestline@oseon.com.

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Ellenborough Park Hotel drive additional revenue through UpsellGuru and Guestline interface

Ellenborough Park Hotel have harnessed the power of upselling and generated an additional £6,600 in the first 3 months through upsells including room upgrades and in room purchases thanks to the sleek partnership provided by UpsellGuru and Guestline.

The interface, which is readily available by contacting the Guestline team, includes features such as automatically sending and receiving upgrade requests to a hotel’s targeted customers, upgrade bidding and add ons such as breakfast, wine, champagne and chocolates. It is customisable to display the hotel’s brand colours, logos and the products they want to sell.

In addition, daily transactions in real time are available so hotels can adjust their selling strategy according to the results and guests can book reservation add-ons such as breakfast and transportation. The two companies are now working in close partnership and have the interface in place with several customers who have reported positive results.

On average, the team at Ellenborough Park receive 70 additional upsell requests per month and the Guestline interface allows them to automatically send out the email requests and to post the upgrades back into the PMS.

To arrange a demonstration of the Guestline and UpsellGuru interface, please contact a member of the team here.

For more information on UpsellGuru visit the website www.upsellguru.com

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Book your place on Guestline's free Roomlynx webinar for Guestline users

Book your free webinar place now and find out more about:

· What green, amber and red lights mean

· How to deal with amber and red lights

· Understand warning triangles

Difference between interface types

· PMS Interface

· Q&A session 


If you are a...


· Daily user of Guestline Distribution

· Revenue Manager

· Reservation Manager

...then this is the webinar for you! Book your place, now -  Thursday 22nd February 2pm -3pm


Click here to book your place

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