Travel & Hospitality Tech Outlook | Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Hotel reservation systems streamline the booking-related process for hotels as well as the guests.
Fremont, CA:A Central Reservation System (CRS), is a software that powers a hotel's operations. It's a computer-aided system that manages online and offline bookings by storing the hotel's availability, rates, and inventory (ARI) data.
CRS improves performance, reduces human labor costs, and reduces errors caused by manual operation. CRS booking features make it simple for customers to handle their own reservations, which will make them more satisfied and loyal. Another advantage is that it allows for more thorough planning, forecasting, and marketing by offering better visibility into booking activity and other associated data.
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Hotel reservation software can accelerate and automate all booking-related processes. Here are several steps involved in the hotel reservation process:
Searching for options
It is easy to find accommodation nowadays as there are plenty of websites and other platforms to choose from. Individuals mainly use metasearch websites and large OTAs, whereas businesses and travel agencies frequently use a GDS. To have all of these sources offer a hotel's information to potential consumers, the hotel must first integrate with them before distributing its ARI via a channel manager. When looking for a place to stay, one must enter the dates and room type on a website or terminal to check availability and submit an inquiry.
Receiving inquiry
Channel managers forward the inquiries to the hotel CRS to get information about the accommodation availability.
Checking availability and responding to the inquiry
It is critical to check in the system to see if the desired room type is available on the requested dates and respond with the results. This can be done in a flash thanks to the two-way integration via a channel manager, which pulls data from the CRS and sends it back to the booker.
Receiving reservation request
If the booker is happy with the rates and wants to stay at the hotel, the booking engine generates a reservation request, which is then forwarded to the CRS. It includes all of the necessary details such as the number of guests, arrival and departure dates, room type, contact information, and so on.
Confirm booking
To avoid double-booking, if a requested room is available, it must be blocked. A reservation record is produced in the CRS simultaneously, containing all of the information about this booking. To confirm the reservation, an email notification is generated and sent to the booker.
Receiving payment
Although many OTAs do not need payment in advance, having a secure payment mechanism integrated into the hotel's booking engine is a significant benefit since it allows travelers to pay conveniently.
Informing all departments
All the reservation details are shared with every PMS module, from housekeeping to the front desk, to make the guest check-in as smooth as possible.
Reservation modifications
A guest may want to alter their arrival or departure dates, selected room, number of visitors, and so on. If this occurs, the hotel must confirm the changes, update them in the reservation record, and share them with other modules.
Cancellations
Guests might cancel reservations sometimes. CRS is updated with the availability changes in such cases, and the room has to be unblocked to allow potential bookings.
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