As the influx of guests reaches maximum capacity, boutique hotels, hostels, and other types of small hotels must reach peak operational efficiency as well. And, as younger generations begin to travel, hotel managers should start thinking about catering to all guests’ diverse preferences with traditional and tech-enabled services.
Although most hotels run on hotel management systems, not all of them use technology’s full potential to streamline aspects like payments, reservations, event hosting, and more. In peak seasons, this could result in booking errors, slow downs, and displeased guests. This is where third-party integrations can solve headaches for small businesses in the travel industry.
Let’s explore the advantages these integrations offer, overcoming adoption obstacles, and what this means for guests.
Exploring Essential Integrations For Small Hospitality Businesses
Travel and hospitality businesses, especially smaller hotels with two to five employees, are increasing their technology budget by 73% in 2024 — hotel software management being their most common investment. Proper guidance is essential to ensure budget allocations to technologies fit the agile and unique needs of smaller lodgings. Third-party integrations enable small hotels to customize their operations to get exactly the services they need.
There’s something rustic about a paper-based guest book, but when it comes to number-crunching your annual successes, automation can be a pleasant addition. Two reservation systems making waves as a result of their user-friendly interfaces and efficiency are Cloudbeds and ResNexus. These platforms help managers easily handle reservations, schedule housekeeping, and set rates all in one place, offering mobile apps for them to multitask as they go.
Moreover, the best change a business can undergo is updating its payment methods to receive digital transactions rather than just old-school manual credit card processing and cash handling. To start, businesses can adopt emerging services like Stripe for quicker payouts and PayPal to diversify beyond traditional bank payments.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms like Salesforce and Zoho also service small businesses to keep up with guest preferences beyond hearsay, connecting data from multiple sources to personalize services, communications, and targeted marketing efforts.
Modern hotel systems such as Property Management Systems (PMS) or Central Reservation Systems (CRS) often have built-in or marketplace integrations. The key is finding one that works with your hotel’s setup. For example, smaller boutique hotels might want more personalization and unique guest experiences, whereas hostels, which cater to a younger, more tech-savvy crowd, might prioritize mobile check-ins and enhancing social interaction and connectivity through community-building apps.
