Channel Manager Software for Your Hotel: Things to Know Before Picking One

A hotel channel manager is simply a technology solution that makes it absolutely possible to sell rooms on numerous online booking websites (channels) simultaneously. It is even the technological equivalent of having a global sales team and even a round the clock reservations department. You can make the most of channel manager booking once you have the right software at work.

Well, a good channel manager software will allow the hotels to provide their availability and rates, in real-time, to global and even local companies that market room availability to travellers. Examples of these businesses can be like Online Travel Agents  otas , Standard Tour Operators (stops , the Global Distribution System (GDS ) and even visitors information centres and more.

What really is channel management?

Well, on one side, channel management in the realm of hotel industry can refer to the simple type of function of making use of a channel manager tool to list and manage your inventory on a diversity of booking channels. It might also relate to the strategy of managing that channels you choose to list on, how you actually analyse the top-performing channels, and how you can simply optimise  In case you do take the simple approach, channel management is the proper process by which you are going to sell your inventory through the online distribution channels around the world.

Working of a Hotel Channel Manager System

Well, a hotel channel management system is going to work by automating three main processes; making reservations, setting rates and even managing availability. The finest possible channel management is delivered by what the really techies call a two-way type of integration (in most of the cases). The first direction the data flows in is from the hotel’s Property Management System to that of the world. It is going to be information about the hotel such as how much the rates for the specific various rooms are, how many rooms are out there and the kinds of rooms available. The second direction the data flows in, is overall from the world to the hotel’s Property Management System. In such a case, OTA’s, STO’s and even the GDS supply data to the hotel such as the overall guest name, how many guests, the overall duration of stay as well as the specific payment method. Automating such a procedure is massively valuable as it is somewhat challenging or cumbersome and overwhelming for an individual to manage. This is something that applies to massive hotels and even small sized five bedroom guest houses alike.

Channel managers operate by:

• Supplying otas, STO’s and even the GDS with rates, availability and overall room types
• Receiving all types of guest booking information from otas, STO’s and even the GDS
• Updating availability and even rates on the PMS and even the Channel Manager in real-time
• Automatically inserting confirmed reservations into your overall Property Management System
• As an outcome of the above features pooled inventory and even rate parity turns out to be easy to manage

Why should you get a channel management system?

The universe is no longer the ginormous place it once was. Having a sales brochure at the airport or even local travel agent doesn’t have the pull that it did in the past or years ago. The internet is where all the things do take place and happen. Internet is a big, scary and even hard-to-navigate place but, gratitude goes to some smart fellows , that now you have the tools Google that permit you to instantly find what you really need and when you do need it. A channel manager is a powerful a tool that anyone can make use of that gives you the possibility to instantly update, through the internet, the world’s biggest travel agents having all sorts of the information they need to sell your rooms for you and, as a bonus, the channel manager even automatically updates you with all the essential guest information.

The main functions of a channel manager are:

• Lists your property on websites
• Enables you to set the rates  you will have
• Takes care of overall rate parity for you
• You get confirmed bookings without having to directly deal with guest enquiries
• Sends you overall reports so you know which types of channels are working best and where to concentrate your future attention

Choosing the right and the Best Hotel Channel Manager system

Hotel channel manager system or software is a tool, and like any sort of tool, you have to know what really you want to use it for. Making use of a banana to simply knock in a nail is definitely going to fail miserably (unless you freeze the overall banana in advance). The point is simple, when you choose a channel manager it helps to know exactly what really you want it to do. Here are a few of the many questions that you should ask your providers to make sure you upkeep optimal control over the channel mix and even the maximise profitability:

• How many channels will your channel manager connect to?
• Does it accommodate any sort of limitations ? I.e. Rates as well as availability, maximum and minimum stays, the guests numbers and more?
• Which of the different channels deliver the most of the bookings?
• Is there going to be a pooled inventory function?
• How far in advance can you actually manage availability and even rates?
• Does the channel manager connect to STO’s, OTA’s, and the GDS?
• What types of reports does it provide?
• Which offer the most revenue?
• Where do your guests come from?
• How are your guests finding out about your hotel?

Of course, these are the questions that you should must ask before you finalizing any sort of system for your hotel. After all, the more questions you ask, the better understanding you would have about the software to get the best one.

Conclusion

To sum up, you can choose the hotel channel manager softwareat Aiosell that is as per your specific needs and brings your business great rewards!