helpdesk: 365 days a year
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Are you taking full advantage of your Booking Engine?
What is a Booking Engine? It is an online reservation system your future guest can use to search for hotel availability and complete a reservation independently. So far so true. But the Booking Engine is also more, it can indeed become a powerful sales tool in case the potential guest is still uncertain about the reservation.
To exploit all the potential that an online booking system offers, it is necessary to understand travelers’ purchasing dynamics and use a software equipped with specific features which are not present in all Booking Engines available on the market.
Below we list 5 strategies to increase direct bookings:
Secret offers
Secret offers are a strategy used by many of our customers to disintermediate reservations. As everyone knows, online searches often see the traveler landing on OTAs. Once they view the most interesting proposals for the chosen location and period, before proceeding, they usually will visit the hotel’s official channel, hoping to find better offers or a valid reason to book directly and justify giving up to the "guarantee" that OTAs give. The secret offer is a rate applied to a room, visible only if the user decides to leave his contact information and log in to the Booking Engine system. In this way the hotel will be able, in compliance with the privacy regulations to establish a direct communication with the user adding his contacts in the database. Once the traveler has viewed the rate of the secret offer, equal to or more convenient than the one available on OTAs, he can then decide to proceed with the reservation. Another advantage of this strategy, of which few speak, is the possibility of not publicly displaying direct rates to OTAs and competitors. Many of our customers, thanks to secret offers, have obtained a disintermediation of 30% in just 6 months.
Reservations in 4 clicks
If it were possible, guests would like to conclude their reservations with the power of thought; laziness and the need for immediacy have been fostered by the advent of digital. We have not achieved this yet at the moment, but we can say that a good Booking Engine must be able to allow the user to complete the reservation in very few clicks. No useless information, no complex steps. It is necessary to weigh the message that the hotel wants to communicate with the information which is essential for the reservation. Often the hotel's distinctive concept can be transmitted using a single evocative image and / or a sentence that summarizes its values and mission, no long text is needed. In addition to an intuitive and sales-oriented interface, it is important that the user can access the Booking Engine in an immediate way thanks to integration with social networks and that he can insert the fields required to complete the booking quickly, perhaps with the help of an autofill system.
Right topics at the right time
The Booking Engine of one of our customers has, on the main screen, a list of 8 good reasons to book directly on their system. The list includes: the best price guaranteed within 24 hours from the confirmation, welcome drink, upgrade at check in (when possible), discount both on the spa entrance fee and the lunch at the restaurant, a small surprise upon departure, and in addition to the discount component, also a guarantee of security during the payment process thanks to the Digicert certificate. By receiving a commission free reservation through our Booking Engine, the hotel knows that the discount offered to the guest will be less than or equal to the commission he would have paid to OTAs. In addition, with direct bookings, the hotel will have more chances to retain customer loyalty through targeted promotions and wishes for anniversaries and holidays.
Additional services that make the difference
Additional services increase the value of the property, helping to differentiate one’s offer from that of competitors and increase the margin on direct sales. Pampering guests with a wide range of services and activities, from spa services to yoga classes, enriches the experience for those who spend a holiday while relieves tension and reduces stress for those traveling for work. It is not always possible for a property to manage these services independently, so why not create a partnership with the nearest gym? In this way you will guarantee professional equipment and an authentic experience. The yoga class is just an example, this strategy can be adopted for many other activities. This said, does your Booking Engine allow you to sell additional services online?
Google Hotel Ads
Another service that aims to disintermediate is Google Hotel Ads, the Google service that increases direct reservations by showing the official hotel rates before those of OTAs within the Google tab (click here for further information). Usually Google Hotel Ads is managed by external agencies or by Booking Engine providers who set up campaigns through a paid consultation while Ericsoft, is the only software house to have integrated the management of Google Hotel Ads within its own Booking Engine to offer management an effective tool, that can be used in complete autonomy.
There are many strategies that a hotel can adopt to increase direct bookings, but there are few Booking Engines that allow you to implement them to the fullest. If you want to know more about the online disintermediation techniques for your property, fill out the form below, we will contact you as soon as possible.
We have been creating complete and highly specialized technological solutions for the hospitality industry since 1995.
Having an exclusive focus on a single industry, our investments have always been entirely dedicated to the development of our software and innovative applications for hotel and restaurant management.
The experience gained over the years, together with what we acquire on a daily basis by being in contact with hospitality professionals, allows us to understand the real needs of the sector and to develop, based on new market trends and regulations, flexible and scalable solutions that can be customized according to the needs of each property, from independent ones to chains.
INFORMATION about the processing of personal data
Arts. 12 et seq of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR)
Subject: information about the processing of personal data pursuant to arts. 12 et seq of Regulation (EU)
2016/679
Introduction - Regulation (EU) 2016/679 («General Data Protection Regulation»), hereinafter GDPR) provides safeguards for natural persons with regard to the processing of their personal data. In accordance with the above legislation, the processing of personal data that refers to an identified or identifiable natural person, being the “data subject”, is based on the principles of correctness, legality and transparency, as well as the protection of confidentiality and the rights of the data subject.
This information is provided in compliance with the above Regulation to inform you that, with regard to your customer relationship with our organization, we hold certain data about you that was acquired, verbally or in writing, either directly or via third parties that carry out operations concerning you or that, in response to your requests, acquire information and provide it to us.
Pursuant to the GDPR, this information must be treated as “personal data” since it relates to you and must therefore benefit from the protection provided by the above Regulation. More specifically, in accordance with the Regulation, you are the data subject who benefits from the rights that safeguard your personal data.
Pursuant to arts. 12 et seq of the GDPR, as the Controller, our organization will process the personal data provided by you with the utmost care in compliance with the Regulation, implementing effective operational procedures and processes in order to guarantee the safeguards that protect the processing of your personal data. For this purpose, using material and operational procedures to safeguard the collected data, we undertake to protect the information provided, in order to avoid unauthorized access and disclosure, maintain the accuracy of the data and guarantee its appropriate use.
Consistent with this introduction, the following information is provided:
Collected personal data - Our organization, as the Controller, uses your personal data to carry on our business activities in the best possible manner.
You may be requested to provided some or all of the following data:
Length of time that your data will be retained - The collected data will be retained for the entire duration of the relationship or collaboration with our organization, and for 10 years after the end of the relationship. If during the contract period, data is processed that is not relevant to the administrative-accounting obligations arising under the contract, such data will be retained for the time necessary to achieve the purposes for which it was collected, and then deleted. You will be given specific information about the length of time that your data will be retained when the data is collected.
Mandatory or optional nature of providing data and consequences of refusal – The essential data needed to execute the contract must be provided to us, together with the data required to fulfill legal, regulatory and EU legislation obligations, as well as instructions from competent authorities and supervisory and control bodies.
Non-essential data, not required for execution of the contractual relationship, must be identified and considered additional information whose provision, if requested, is optional. Your refusal to provide such data would however mean that our organization will be less efficient when dealing with third parties.
Should "data that is sensitive or whose processing is subject to specific risks” be needed in order to carry out the contract, provide specific services or fulfill legal obligations, the provision of such data will be mandatory and, since it can only be processed following written consent from the data subject, you will have to give consent for its processing.
Methods of processing – Pursuant and consequent to arts. 12 et seq GDPR, the personal data that you provide will be recorded, processed and retained in our hard-copy and electronic files, in compliance with the adequate technical and organizational measures specified in art. 32 GDPR. The processing of your personal data may consist in any operation or series of operations described in art. 4, para. 1, point 2 GDPR. Personal data will be processed using suitable tools and procedures that guarantee security and confidentiality. Such processing may be carried out directly and/or via delegated third parties, both manually using hard-copy support and electronically using IT equipment and other instruments. In order to manage properly the relationship and fulfill legal obligations, personal data may be included in the internal documentation of the Controller and, if necessary, in the documents and registers required by law.
Activities which may be entrusted to external parties - When carrying out our activities as the Data Controller, we may occasionally request other operators to perform certain services on our behalf, such as processing or other services; services needed in order to carry out requested operations or activities; shipments and deliveries; accounting registrations; administrative activities. If the operator appointed by the Controller to carry out certain activities is a company that provides payment, tax collection and treasury management, banking and financial brokerage services, the following services may also be supplied: mass processing of payments, notes, checks and other securities; sending, placing in envelopes, transportation and sorting of communications; filing of documents; identification of financial risks; control of fraud; credit collection. The above operators will only be given the information needed to provide the requested services. They will be required to maintain confidentiality and forbidden to use the data provided for purposes other than those agreed. Operators that are not persons in our organization tasked with processing personal data will be appointed as Data Processors (pursuant to art. 28 GDPR) and will process the data to the extent strictly necessary in order to provide the requested service and solely for that purpose, guaranteeing that their persons tasked with processing have signed a confidentiality agreement. For any matters not indicated herein, these operators must provide specific information about the processing of personal data carried out by them.
Transfer abroad of personal data - The data provided by you will only be processed in Italy. If during the contractual relationship your data is processed in a non-EU State, your rights under EU legislation will be guaranteed and you will be informed on a timely basis.
Purposes of processing your personal data - The main purpose for which our organization will process your personal data is to enable the relationship described in the introduction to become established and/or develop, as well as to ensure that it is administered correctly.
In particular, the following purposes of processing are identified:
Personal data will be processed to fulfill legal obligations, as well as the administrative, insurance and tax obligations envisaged under current legislation, to satisfy accounting and commercial needs, and to fulfill in a timely manner the contractual and legal obligations deriving from the contractual relationship with the data subject. The data provided may also be used to contact the data subject in the context of market research relating to the products or services, or in the context of commercial campaigns or offers. The data subject is free, in all cases, to refuse consent for such purposes and also to specify the manner in which to be contacted or to receive commercial information.
Extent of knowledge of your data - The following categories of data processors or persons tasked with processing by our organization may become aware of your data:
Personal data may also become known by parties that have agreements with us, as indicated in the section entitled “Methods of processing”. We may delegate the fulfillment of certain obligations or deeds to such parties, for the purpose of executing the contractual relationship with the data subject.
Communication and dissemination - Our organization may communicate your data externally, i.e. make it known to one or more specific parties, in order to fulfill all required legal and/or contractual obligations. In particular, your data may be communicated to:
We may communicate your data:
In all cases, your data will only be communicated to operators in order to contribute to fulfillment of the contractual relations that may arise with the data subjects concerned.
Dissemination - We will not disseminate your data indiscriminately, i.e. we will not make it known to unspecified subjects, or make it available for use or consultation.
Trust and confidentiality - We recognize the importance of the trust shown by data subjects who consent to the processing of their personal data and, therefore, we undertake not to sell, hire or rent such personal information to others.
Any debt collection activities and/or communication of omitted payments – Following the signing of the contract for the provision of services, our organization may use the contact details you provide (in particular phone number and email address) in order to undertake reminder activities with reference to debt collection and omitted payments. These communications can be made via email, certified mail, phone call, SMS and WhatsApp. The contact data collected for the purpose of this paragraph will be kept for the entire duration of the relationship or collabration with our organization and in any case until the balance of all payments due on the aforementioned contract.
Rights pursuant to arts. 15 et seq GDPR - Pursuant to art. 15 GDPR, you are entitled to obtain confirmation of whether or not your personal data has been processed, even if the results have not yet been recorded. Exercise of this right depends on verification of the identity of the data subject, by presentation of an identity document that will not be retained by our organization, but merely checked to verify the legitimacy of the request.
You are entitled to access to your personal data and the following information:
If the data is transferred to another country or to an international organization, you are entitled to be informed about the existence of adequate guarantees pursuant to art. 46 GDPR.
You are entitled to request the controller to amend or delete your personal data, in whole or in part, or to restrict the processing of your personal data or to object, in whole or in part, to its processing.
To exercise these rights, contact the “Data Controller” for our organization at via Adriatica n.62 – 47843 Misano Adriatico or call +390541604894 or write to the info@ericsoft.com. The Controller will respond within 30 days of receiving your formal request.
If your rights concerning your personal data are infringed, you may complain to the competent authority:
“Guarantor for the protection of personal data - Garante”.
Identification details of the Data Controller and, if appointed, the Representative in the territory of the State and the Data Processor.
Controller - This organization is the Controller of processing: ERICSOFT ITALIA SRL with registered offices at via Adriatica n.62 – 47843 Misano Adriatico; Tel: +39 0541604894; fax: 0541604862; certified e-mail address: zucchettispa@gruppozucchetti.it; e-mail: ericsoftitalia@pec.it.
Data Protection Manager – The Data Protection Manager is Mario Brocca, who can be contacted at +39
0371/5943191 - dpogruppozucchetti@gruppozucchetti.it – dpo@zucchetti.it
Data Processors - The Data Processors are external firms with which contractual relations have been established, and which need your personal data in order to fulfill those agreements.
Each data subject may send a letter to the Data Controller, at the above address, requesting information about any Data Processors that have been appointed and to be informed about any persons appointed to perform that function in future.
Please note that the above Data Processors are not responsible for fulfilling requests from data subjects to exercise their rights pursuant to arts. 15 et seq GDPR. That activity is carried out exclusively by this organization as the Data Controller.
Representative in the territory of the State - Pursuant to art. 4, para. 1, point 17 GDPR, it is confirmed that none of the related circumstances envisaged in the Regulation are applicable and that, accordingly, our organization has not appointed any Representatives in the territory of the State for the purpose of applying the regulations that govern the processing of personal data.
Processing without need for consent from the data subject - Even without your consent, this organization is entitled to process your personal data should it be necessary in order to:
Furthermore, your express consent is not required when the processing:
Il TITOLARE del Trattamento
ERICSOFT ITALIA SRL
helpdesk: 365 days a year
from 8:00am to 8:00pm
Offices: from Monday to Friday
from 09:00am to 01:00pm and from 02:30pm to 06:00pm
Address: S.S. Adriatica 62, Misano Adriatico (RN)
VAT: 02894171202