Why Hotels need to Rethink existing Hotel Management Systems
Technology has for years made a huge impact on how Hotels is managed. Hotels have looked for Hotel Management Systems or also called Property Management Systems that helps make operations smooth and efficient.
Hotels contain numerous operations such as front office, booking, and reservation, banquet, finance, HR, inventory, material management, quality management, security, energy management, housekeeping, CRM and more. All these activities take place simultaneously and managing these diverse activities manually can be a difficult process.
This led to the introduction of Hotel Management Systems or Property Management Systems that automated a host of repetitive functions. Integrated, automated software also means management can optimize hotel operations, gather business intelligence and thus keep tight control on costs.
Essential Key drivers for new Hotel Management Systems
The first key driver is reducing complexity within technology. A full-service hotel operation has easily three or four operational systems for specific functions, i.e. Property Management System (PMS), Sales and Marketing, Catering, Point of Sale (POS), with mostly proprietary interface technologies connecting them. Since these on-property systems generate both vital business intelligence data as well as customer relationship relevant information, they, in turn, are connected to above-property systems (Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions, Business intelligence tools, finance, etc.).
One of the key challenges for Hotels is to reduce the complexity of existing technology.
To learn more, my friends at Software Advice analyzed a random sample of buyer interactions from the past year to uncover the factors that drive new hotel management system (HMS) purchases.
Key Findings:
1. Hoteliers want to replace systems or automate daily duties: 34 percent are replacing a current HMS while 25 percent seek new software to replace pen-and-paper methods.
2. Many buyers seek more advanced, integrated software: Those replacing an HMS primarily say it lacks functionality (13 percent) or doesn’t integrate with other systems (12 percent).
3. Hoteliers seek to maximize their exposure to online travelers: More than three-quarters (77 percent) of respondents ask for online booking functions.
Travel spending’s:
- Streamline daily tasks, such as checking guests in;
- Manage reservations effectively; and,
- Facilitate online bookings.
In this report, we’ll explore these and other benefits by looking at the current methods, common pain points, and most requested functionality among a sample of prospective HMS buyers.
Current Hotel Management Systems:
Travelers today expect a certain degree of personalization when staying in a hotel. Many companies use software to handle daily tasks so they can focus on adding a human touch to guests’ stay. The software can streamline the check-in and check-out process, generate financial reports, manage housekeeping staff and more—freeing the general manager to greet guests and address their needs.
Top Reasons for replace existing Hotel Management Systems:
Of those who cite missing features, one-quarter says they would like a system with an online booking engine. Our demographic information may help explain why an online presence is so important: 34 percent of buyers in our sample are from independent hotels while those from motels make up the second-largest percentage (16 percent). A combined majority of buyers’ properties also have fewer than 50 rooms.
Millennials the drivers for next generation Hotel Management Systems
Most Hotels today are at a tipping point where their largest segment consists of Millennials. They also make up the largest age group in the U.S. workforce—and many of them have now reached a comfortable position in their careers, with more time and money to travel for both business and pleasure.
Boutique and independent hotels offer the type of authentic experience millennials seek, as opposed to the corporate luxury hotel offerings that dominated the hospitality industry decades ago. In response to this demand, the boutique hotel market is booming: It’s expected to grow by about 6 percent per year through 2019, according to a report by IBISWorld.
So, we can see that independent hotels are aware that having an online presence is important to attract new guests, especially millennials. They must maintain consistent rates across all online travel websites, where millennials are likely to read hotel reviews before booking. An HMS with functionality to add an online booking engine to the hotel’s website can help achieve these goals.
Bridging the gap with new demand from Millennials
During the travel process, 67% of leisure travelers and 78% of business travelers rely on their smartphones for researching, booking, documenting or sharing their travel activity. As mobile technology improves, conventional wisdom signals that more travelers will utilize their devices for travel purposes
Medallia did a study earlier about the impact Social Media has on Hotels.
The study found a direct relationship between responsiveness to social media reviews and occupancy rate. Properties that responded to over 50 percent of social reviews grew occupancy rates by 6.4 percentage points, more than twice the rate of properties that largely ignored social media reviews. These socially engaged properties also outperformed the hospitality industry as a whole, which achieved a 4.3 percent occupancy growth rate during the same period.
This illustrates that the modern-day Hotel Management Systems goes beyond traditional software.
Traditionally Hotel Management provides valuable static data that been good for many years. But we are now facing a crucial shift where dynamic data is becoming the norm. New competitive markets like Airbnb is already taking advantage of this shift.
Not only will Hotels need to improve existing value propositions, but create new exciting market components that are ready for new demands.
Are Hotels today prepared for the Millennial traveler?
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As guest behavior and pattern continues to evolve, expectations will continue to rise. Navigating these changes can be challenging. Learn more about how we can help your Hotel.
Credits
Software Advice – help people find the right software for their organization. Having researched over 1000 systems they can identify the best solution for each buyer.
About the author
Are Morch is the founder and owner of Are Morch – Hotel Marketing Coach. Get more from Are on Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Instagram| Podcast
