Channel Management Tools: Important Considerations

The only way to efficiently contact and convert visitors from all over the globe without risking overbooking is to use channel management software. To prevent overbookings, a hotel's inventory must be continuously updated throughout all distribution channels, including direct internet reservations, travel wholesalers, and online travel agencies.

Managing hotel channels manually across various OTAs and an internal PMS may be time-consuming and laborious, particularly when involving many OTAs. There may be multiple reservations or inaccurate rate parity among third-party booking sites due to time lag and human mistakes.

Managing many booking channels manually is a full-time occupation. The bulk of this sort of data input may be automated, allowing hotels to concentrate on providing guests with an exceptional travel experience.

How can you pick hotel channel management tools for online distribution?

Your choice of channel management provider should be based on your property's requirements, your budget, and the confidence you have in acquiring a long-term, results-driven solution.

• Ensure it uses a model of shared inventories.

• More OTA and PMS connections are preferable (ideally the number should be in the hundreds)

• Important are booking engine integration and two-way communication

• Verify if it has enhanced reporting capabilities

• Monthly pricing should be adjustable, with no lock-in contracts!

• Training and assistance must be exhaustive.

• Long-term accessibility and planning must be realizable.

• Real-time, bidirectional interaction with the OTAs you now use (or want to sign up to)

• How many booking channels am I able to access?

Obviously, it is crucial that the channel manager can connect to the channels you already use, but it should also offer a broad and diversified portfolio to help you get bookings.

• Can you connect with the booking engine on my website?

A robust online presence and income plan need a booking engine online. Integration between your booking engine and the new channel manager is essential so that you may manage your booking engine similarly to your other linked channels. Without the connection, you would continue to manage your bookings individually, which is a tedious and time-consuming process.

• Can you provide me with detailed performance reports?

The only way to analyze channel success and make strategic adjustments to how hotel rooms are sold is via the use of precise and comprehensive reporting capabilities. Your channel manager should be able to determine which channels provide the most reservations, average revenue, and cancellation rates, among other metrics.

• How much is everything going to cost?

An ideal choice is a plug-and-play approach with a single monthly charge, so you do not have to pay for add-on services or for each transaction you process. Make it important to check with your possible supplier how much your hotel will be charged since hotel-to-hotel pricing varies.

• How far in advance may availability be managed?

Given that travellers often prefer to book accommodations in advance, particularly when traveling internationally, you'll need the capacity to take bookings far in advance.

• How extensive is system training available?

"Sink or swim" may be an effective teaching approach for pups with the innate ability to dog paddle, but it is not ideal for implementing a new hotel technology system. Ensure that your provider will be attentive and helpful during the whole journey.

• Is assistance available in my time zone and native language?

This is a no-brainer and the reason why selecting a worldwide leader is the safest option. They will have the resources necessary to serve you wherever in the globe.

• Live Inventory & Rate Updates Across Multiple OTAs:

Update inventory and pricing across OTAs with a single click from your PMS. And bookings made on any OTA will be reflected in real-time on your PMS, ensuring that there are no discrepancies in the availability of rooms across channels.

Update hotel bookings and cancellations instantaneously across all of your sales channels.

Simplify your hotel's pricing distribution across all OTA channels. Channel Manager is updated and the rest is automated

• Using a Hotel Channel Manager, you may save all reservation information automatically.

If your hotel PMS is linked with a hotel channel manager, all reservations are sent to the front desk automatically. Additionally, the updated stock is represented across all platforms.

Manual methods may be taxing, time-consuming, and most significantly, unreliable. Investing in a Hotel Channel Manager may assist you in the following ways:

 Automate the process of updating your dashboard and OTAs concurrently and in real-time to prevent overbookings.

 Improve online reservations by delivering correct booking and tariff information to your digital prospects.

 Eliminating manual adjustments of reservations and pricing across different OTAs will save many hours of labour.

 The answer to your overbooking and duplicate booking problems is resolved by hotel management software.

• Increase your hotel's worldwide exposure and reach with a Channel Manager:

Approximately 57 percent of travel bookings are made online, according to a study. A decent Channel Management System allows you to connect with as many hotel OTA channels as desired, allowing you to open your hotel's doors to worldwide travellers.

Digitalization enables you to connect with tourists from across the world when older techniques do not.Target particular regions by establishing connections with prominent hotel OTA channels in those areas.Develop a better online brand image for your hotel, and as a result, more trust.


• Increase the operational efficiency of your hotel:

A Channel Manager is the missing connection between the PMS dashboard and all associated OTAs. This connection enables you to concentrate on other administrative chores instead of spending hours updating information on OTAs and your Excel spreadsheet. Why is this significant to your company, you inquire?