The summer travel season is in full swing and online bookings for hoteliers are on the rise. Research shows that travelers are booking their summer destinations in a different manner than previous years.

According to SouthernLiving.com travelers are making the most of their summer vacation time.  Instead of spending their entire vacation in one destination, they are increasingly aware that their time should be spent maximizing their itineraries.  This may leave hoteliers wondering how this affects them? It means that instead of travelers booking a single destination with activities close by, they are packing in two or three destinations geographically close together to maximize their time off.  Further, guests are meeting up with friends and family members in far-away destinations to make the most out of their limited vacation time as well.

Capitalize On Group Bookings

These new booking behaviors present a few unique opportunities for hoteliers.  The first is the ability to capitalize on group bookings.  What better way to provide the ultimate vacation spot to your guests, than to encourage family and friends to join them. Most hoteliers require a “Request for Proposal” to group block organizers. The Request for Proposal allows rooms, rates, and amenity negotiations.  If your property is exceptionally busy during the summer months, encourage your group block coordinators to provide all-inclusive package pricing. By implementing this one change, you can greatly affect your bottom line. While group blocks are not right for every property or every party, it is a great way to increase your property’s reputation as a destination of choice for friends and families. After all, vacations are better when spent with the ones we love.

The second opportunity is to auto-rate tune. Most hoteliers understand that such an application exists, but they rely heavily on revenue management companies to do it for them. While this is a perfectly acceptable way of maximizing your revenue for high/low seasons, wouldn’t it be sweet if your Property Management System could do this for you? Think about it, you could eliminate the need to pay a third-party vendor and automatically adjust your rates at the same time.  PMS Software like roomMaster is just the tool needed to help hoteliers with their auto-rate tuning. Using a Yield Management feature, hoteliers can raise rates automatically (yes, you read that correctly) directly through their hotel PMS system. After creating rate increases at 80, 90, or 95 percent occupancy, hoteliers can apply the increases to their high or shoulder season dates. It really is THAT simple!

Create Reciprocal Relationships

Finally, another great way to capitalize on sweet summer deals is by offering guests the ability to plan day trips, meals, or excursions during the booking process. Hoteliers will want to examine their direct booking engine closely to see if there are areas for improvement. If you’re not offering your potential guests some Add-On enhancements during their reservation, you may be missing out on some additional revenue.  Even if you don’t have a plethora of activities to do around your property, it may benefit you and your guests greatly to partner up with the diner across the street; the national park down the highway, or the sightseeing tour guide in your area.  Once you create a reciprocal relationship with these activity providers, you’ll be providing your guests with the option of booking sweet deals at their favorite parks, or ice cream shops. Let’s make it as easy as possible for potential guests to have a few activities at their fingertips during the reservation.

One thing is for certain; sweet summer deals don’t have to end in September. After all, in the hotel industry, every day is someone’s vacation day. So, keep your guests “sweet on you” by providing them with the tools to create the vacation of their dreams.

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InnQuest Software is a leading technology provider for the hospitality industry. For over 25 years, innQuest has combined hotelier experience with innovative technology to deliver an all-in-one solution that empowers hotels to attract guests, drive customer loyalty, and increase profits. Our flagship property management software, roomMaster, helps manage over 5,500 properties across 100 countries. InnQuest develops scalable solutions ranging from a Hotel PMS, Cloud PMS, Channel Manager, Hotel CRM and helps properties enable guests to Book Direct. We believe that everyone deserves a great guest experience, whether they’re staying at a small B&B, a thousand-room resort, or anywhere in between.

Call us today at 1.813.288.4900, or email us at sales@innquest.com. We will be happy to walk you through innQuest’s solutions.