Data is everywhere, and, most likely, the data that businesses have stored about you have led to your transactions with them. This is not a bad thing, it just means businesses know more about us as consumers and what we value. This leaves less friction B2C and higher conversion rates, growing revenue at an optimal rate. Any business that is focusing on growing revenue is using data on the consumer’s actions online to market to back into their values.
The travel industry is well known for marketing with quality data and using it to personalize the brand experience with each guest. The industry has evolved more and more each year, increasing the importance of data access and guest information. Some businesses are taking advantage of the data they have housed in their systems and some cannot due to technology limitations from their property management system providers.
Vacation Rental Industry vs. Hotel Industry
The vacation rental industry is well out of its infancy but still young compared to its competitor – hotels. It’s an industry that has used data to its optimum yield rate and continues to evolve into a top-producing tactic for marketing strategy in the industry. Larger hotel brands have been able to control their relationships, booking management system companies and their data access points in similar ways now comparable to the vacation rental industry. The independent side of the industry has been reactive so long the awareness is limited and OTAs like Expedia, Orbitz and Kayak are some of the largest technology and data storing companies in the world. Booking.com, not even near the largest OTA out there, spent 2.8 billion dollars in its online marketing campaign in 2015.
Now with the hotel vs. OTA battle, independent brands are taking action to get access to their data or start fresh with booking management system companies who allow open API access for the brands and their partners to use the data just like the rest of the industry. An API is just a way of using technology to get access to all your guest data in real time. However, the majority of hotels do not have access to their own data in realtime as most property management systems for hotels do not have an open API. Due to this, you are stuck exporting the data you can which does not allow you to build robust software and technology to better serve your guests and grow your revenue.
This is critical in today’s competitive hotel reservation marketplace but most are not even thinking about it and falling more and more behind, cornering themselves to have no choice but be dependent on OTAs. This forces them to continue leaving money on the table and lower profit margins.
Where To From Here?
There are several property management system companies available who can get you set up and ready with a system that allows you to move forward with a more proactive approach to grow your business and create the best guest experience. One of the top in the industry is Roomkey PMS. They have integrated with over 1,000 brands in the industry and growing!
If you would like to find out more about using technology and data to grow your business, contact us through our website or call us at (865) 242-6207.
