As the number of walk-ins for the hotel industry drops every year, the need for the right central reservation system for hotels continues to increase. In the digital era, 75% of hotel bookings are made online. This demonstrates the importance for hotels to connect to different online booking channels to attract customers. To optimize and manage all processes related to reservations, using the right reservation software is very necessary. We will describe the process for hotel bookings behind the reception, and talk about how technology can be used to make things easier.
What is a hotel central reservation system?
A central reservation system is a technology that lies at the heart of the functions of a hotel. It is a computerized system containing the availability of a hotel, the inventory data, the rates and helps manage offline and online bookings. With the channel manager’s help, it distributes the hotel information to different channels such as independent travel agents, OTAs and so on.
Implementing a central reservation increases the overall efficiency due to the automation of processes such as updating the ARI of the hotel across all distribution channels. That minimizes errors and speeds up performance caused by manual operation. It also reduces the cost of labor. Also, central reservation systems and hotel CRM booking capabilities provide an easy way for customers to manage their reservations which increases their loyalty and satisfaction. Another benefit involves the provision of better visibility into hotel booking and other related information, allowing for comprehensive planning, marketing and forecasting.
Channel Manager, CRS, PMS and booking engines
Sometimes, concepts of CRSs, PMSs, booking engines and channel managers are conflated as they are related and have some overlapping functions. We will look at how they work and their differences.
Property management system
A property management system or the PMS is software that manages all operations in a hotel from accounting to catering with a CRS being its main module.
A CRS
A CRS can either stand-alone or be included in the PMS. It is closely related to the front desk. It passes all the information about the new reservations for processing and revenue management modules of the property management systems as it makes price changes according to specific variables hence influencing revenue.
The channel manager
Channel managers connect distribution interfaces and the PMS. It collects information about the availability and rates of rooms from the CRS and shares it across channels such as OTAs, GDSs, the hotel’s own website and metasearch sites through different types of APIs. It syncs the inventory information through online platforms as rooms get booked to prevent overbooking of rooms and maintain rate parity. Channel managers can also come as parts of the CRS or the comprehensive PMS.
CRs functionality
Now let us briefly talk about the central reservation system for hotels functionality. Depending on the software you use, the number of features offers can differ. Some central reservation systems only have basic reservation functionalities while others provide a comprehensive solution as they can traditionally be inherent in other PMS modules.
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