September 10, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Are you ready for online room booking?

TILLSON, NY: There are many online room booking systems, and they vary a lot in what they do. High-end systems do everything you could conceivably want, but are extremely complex and expensive. Low-end systems are continually adding new services.

So it’s confusing. The system you start with today you could grow out of in a year, or it could have gone out of business or changed beyond recognition.

But you may find you have to commit to one or another of these systems. People are getting used to booking travel online. If you don’t offer it you may lose business.

STARTING OUT
Some lodgings put a form on their site so people can email in their room requests. One problem is, you’re not getting credit card info, so these aren’t firm reservations. To collect credit card info, you must use a secure server. Another problem is, a simple form won’t tell people whether the rooms they’ve requested are still available. An online booking system can solve both these problems for you.

Online room booking can take some getting used to. You have to enter room “inventory” with prices for all your rooms for the whole year. You may have to report cancellations immediately to avoid getting charged commission. You go online to collect credit card information (or receive it by fax). You may need a high-speed “always on” Internet connection.

THREE ELEMENTS
1. Computer software to track your reservations. Usually this includes a large chart with colored squares showing you your rooms and reservations by the day for a few weeks. Usually you have to buy this software separately.

2. Availability of rooms displayed online to visitors. The information for this can be taken over the Internet from your computer records. These services display a calendar showing visitors when you have rooms available.

3. A “secure” online service that takes reservations for you, collecting credit card information to make the reservation firm, usually in return for commission. Availability is communicated at no cost but is sometimes limited to the reply “not available” when people request specific dates—people can’t see and choose the dates you’ve rooms available for.

With some systems, you have to set aside rooms for them to sell, that you then can’t sell yourself. You can make rooms available through more than one system. Some systems can publish your room availability worldwide on the global distribution systems (“GDS”), but this adds about $5 per reservation on top of a 15% commission.

GETTING BOOKINGS
Online booking is supposed to make you more money. But just being online isn’t enough. Suppose repeat customers discover your website and book online instead of phoning you. When you pay commission on those reservations you’re actually losing money.

There are several ways to get more bookings.

1. Promote the online booking capability of your own site.
2. Have other online directories link directly to your online booking system.
3. Choose a booking system able to send you visitors or get you bookings.

EXAMPLE
A system popular with small lodgings in NYC-Getaways territory is InnTopia. InnTopia is an online service that connects your inhouse reservation software with the online world, showing availability and taking reservations.

You have to be using GuestTracker or RezOvation ($600). InnTopia gathers your reservation data from these programs over the Internet, then offers your available inventory online. They deduct 10% commission on reservations.

When they take a reservation for you, they let you know with an email or a fax. Credit card information can’t be sent to you by email, for that you have to visit their secure web site to view it and record it. Or have it sent to you by fax.

They get other directories to send you bookings. You can improve your placement on directories that send you good traffic by suggesting they register with InnTopia and link into your booking booking system in return for commission. InnTopia can also publish your rooms on the GDS.

OTHER SYSTEMS.
Summaries were submitted to the services. Most were OK’d as is. Where they supplied replacement copy, it appears in quotes. Add “com” to view web sites.

Room-availability. $80 a year for availability display. Gathers availability data from its own simple online guest management software.

Availabilityonline.

InnRes.

Webervations.

NetBookings.

These four companies are busy upgrading their capabilities and adding new features to provide a well-rounded online small-lodging service. As they do so they become increasingly similar. They charge small set-up fees and annual fees of $65-145 depending on the services they offer. These include:

- Exchanging information over the internet with inhouse reservation tracking programs such as RezOvation.

- Letting you present your web site visitors with your room availability in various calendar-style formats.

- Including you in their directory, or other directories.

- Taking reservation requests with credit card info but without authorization (you do that), at no cost

- Downloading this reservation info to your reservation tracking program.

- Some for an extra fee offer reservation management software you access online.

OnResSystems. This very handsome totally online reservation managment and room booking system takes reservations with credit card info, charging only 5% commission. If you manage reservation tracking by hand you can take real-time credit card reservations online by copying down reservation info from the screen.

BookingCenter. Reservation management software that connects you to automatic online booking capability and the global travel industry (Travelocity, Orbitz, AOL, WorldRes, etc).

UniRez. Reservation management and online booking system plus GDS connection used by some of the larger upscale hotels in the Berkshires and mid-Hudson.

InnQuest. “Complete, integrated solution” for hotels, including online-booking software for secure servers, that you pay for upfront.

iHotelier. High end system used by some large Catskills resorts. Very full featured. Presents guests with the entire reservation process in a single 3-panel window that shrinks to fit your screen size. Links to GDS.

WorldRes. “One of the leading global online hotel reservation networks for hotels, bed & breakfasts & chain hotels, offering seamless and individual extranet connections.”

As part of our service of sending lodgings getaway prospects, we offer to help them make the transition to online booking. To learn more, contact Shaun Johnston at 845-658-8270.