New online marketing and booking platform for independent hotels
Published: 04 Jun 2008
GuestCentric Systems has launched what it describes as the first easy-to-use online marketing and distribution platform for independent hotels.
The company, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider for the independent hotel industry, says based on its patent-pending InstantHotel technology, hotel managers can now have a complete website up and running in less than one hour, complete with new offerings and promotions.
The GuestCentric service is immediately available and pricing starts at $70 per month.
"With GuestCentric's platform, independent hotels are now for the first time able to provide the rich online and offline experience that demanding guests expect without entering time-consuming and expensive customisation projects," according to the company.
"Hotels are under pressure to leverage the Internet as a distribution and marketing channel with customers. While large, high-end hotel chains have large budgets and strong brand recognition for global distribution, non-chain mid-market and smaller, independent hotels are left stranded on how to manage this new reality of more demanding guests without the resources or budgets for new software suites or expensive custom development. Recent studies have indicated that the lackluster adoption of online distribution by independents has been driven from a fear of online cancellations and not being able to deal with floods of email, lack of trust in guest's information coming over the Internet, and reconciling online and offline reservations," added the company.
Sobering economic conditions and a mature online market are forcing independent hotel managers to rethink their products and distribution strategies, said Pedro Colaco, President and CEO of GuestCentric Systems.
Colaco added: "To remain independent, hotel managers must adopt new, more intelligent tools that enable them to focus on their core business and differentiate through products instead of being tied down by technology that served them well in the past but is not fit for today's market conditions."
Highlights include:
· The GuestCentric platform provides the first hotel-focused website builder.
· Combining automatic content creation with the comfort of automatic spell checking, text formatting, and other helpers, GuestCentric's unique InstantHotel technology avoids the need for external programmers or designers. Hotel managers can now have a new website, booking and pricing up and running in less than 45 minutes.
· Based on the latest Ajax technology, GuestCentric's "breakthrough booking engine provides unparalleled speed and convenience for guests willing to book online."
· Due to the tight integration between the different components in the platform, the GuestCentric booking engine automatically highlights special offers, packages or special events to encourage upgrades and filling up rooms in dates where occupancy is lowest.
· Eliminate double-bookings, reduce bogus reservations
· he GuestCentric platform automatically recognises returning guests, reinforcing the customer intimacy that guests experience at independent hotels.
· Templates for automatic responses like reservation confirmations can easily be customised to carry additional messages to drive the hotel's brand to the guest.
Comments
ausmanager said on 9 Jun 08:
There are quite a few vendors providing good solutions in SaS model. Some of them recognised this market (small to medium independent hotels) many years ago and their solutions are very matured. There are new players coming to the market almost every month. Most of them claim to be the best, easiest to use and breeze to setup. Regardless this means more options for hotel operators which is great.
Jim said on 4 Jun 08:
Good idea and I wish the company success. I like small, independent hotels and I stay in them whenever possible.
In most of these small hotels, when I have a chance to talk to the owner or manager, I ask about the use of the internet as a sales and marketing tool. All too often, I am told that there is little or no use of email or web sites. I suggest some simple things as a first step, such as asking clients for their email address.
It could be an uphill battle for GuestCentric, but one which has a good chance of paying dividends in the long run.
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