Are you looking to upgrade your existing hotel channel manager or subscribe to a channel manager for a new property? There are numerous channel managers on the market, and no single provider is ideal for all properties, so it is critical that you conduct your research before making a decision and ensure that you have invested in the right solution that aligns with your objective. In this blog, I will highlight the top 5 Channel Manager providers renowned by the industry and available globally as well as the criteria that you need to consider when choosing a hotel channel manager.

Hoteliers have to wear multiple hats to ensure that their operation is done effectively and efficiently. However, this often comes at a cost. It is important to mention that some of the daily operations and workload can be time-consuming and often cause delays. However, thanks to the smart hotel technology, it allows hoteliers to run their operation with cost-saving and bring more opportunities to increase revenue. One of the important tools to support your hotel operation smoothly and effectively is the Channel Manager.

When it comes to choosing the right Hotel PMS system for your hotel it can be overwhelming because there are so many options available in the market. If you are running a 4-star hotel or below, choosing the right Hotel PMS system that meets your hotel requirement and budget is important. 

Traditionally, hotel front desk officers used to manage hotel operations using pen and paper or Microsoft excel files until the emergence of the hotel property management system (PMS). A Hotel PMS is defined as software that hotels use to manage front-office tasks. For example, to create a reservation, handle guests' check-in and check-out, assign a room to the reservation, and arrange for room housekeeping tasks. Hotel PMS, hence, is a replacement for those time-consuming processes which require a lot of manual tasks from hotel front desk officers.

Today, hotel PMS solutions have evolved significantly to provide many benefits to the hotel which are beyond the front-office tasks. It has become a critical software that is important not only to 5-star hotels but also to the 4-star or below.

Many guests, especially the regulars, call the host to make a booking. This is good for the business. However, the host will end up answering tons of phone inquiries regardless of the time. Having the option to book online gives many advantages that are not only beneficial to you as the host, but to your customers as well.

After Airbnb went public listed, they are on a drive to increase their revenue. That is why the removal of guest service charges and moves to a 15% host commission model - up from 3% commission. Rising commission to the property is nothing new since most of the OTAs do so to the hotels over the years. Airbnb might follow the path to success set forth by other OTAs. The more hotel relies on OTAs, the harder for them to say "No" to the hike in commission. That's why many hotels focus on "direct booking" now to reduce their reliance on OTAs. On the other hand, the hike in commission is inevitable. After all, it's getting more costly for OTAs to distribute your Airbnb (or your room) because most of them are competing to sell to the same group of customers (fixed demand).

Tracking the rental income and expenses of an Airbnb business takes up 25% of a host time. On top of answering the booking inquiries and housekeeping, bookkeeping ranks third most time-consuming task for an Airbnb host.

For the Airbnb management company that manages someone else's properties, the need for a bookkeeping system is inevitable. As you can read in this thread on the Airbnb forum, the Airbnb management companies are looking for bookkeeping software. The common requirements of accounting software for Airbnb are:

• to track expenses and rental income,
• to auto-generate reports for each property owner.

As the Airbnb property owner or operator, you might be looking for the easiest way to keep track of the money in and out. You realize the crucial need to have Airbnb accounting software instead of record and keep track of them manually. With the right Airbnb accounting software, you will be able to handle the cash flow with ease.

There are three ways to keep your Airbnb calendar in sync with the Booking.com calendar. In this article, we will talk about the pros and cons of each. The vacation rental industry has become more popular, and it's now even more competitive. If you are the property owner or operator that wanted to grow your Airbnb business, you need to consider getting your property listed on more than one platform other than the Airbnb app. By advertising the property through multiple channels, there is a high possibility to reach more audiences around the world. It gives more opportunities to generate more bookings.

You love how OTA’s brings your hotel in with more exposure, but you wish you don’t have to pay them a very high commission. Here are a few tips to implement that will help you increase direct bookings in your website without needing to share your revenue with others.

A property management system or in short term, PMS, is a system used by hoteliers to manage day-to-day operations like check-in and check-out the guests, manage all the bookings list coming from several channels in one dashboard, save customer data, track room status, manage availability, reporting and many more. 

Imagine a hotel without PMS, all the day-to-day tasks are being done manually. This will cause overbookings, time wasted, and inefficient operations that lead to an unpleasant customers experience. If you are now without a Hotel PMS and thinking to get one, do check on the Most Important Features of PMS. This will be helpful for you before you decide on which PMS you want to go for.

If you haven't read our article about Hotel PMS, I highly recommend you do so. From there, I believe you will be able to understand what PMS is all about and what are the essential features that Hotel PMS should have.