Hotel Front Office Management, 3rd Edition

TYPES OF RESERVATION SYSTEMS 131Distribution System and voice bookings.” Despite the increase there are still 1,000Web hits for a single Web booking. For voice reservations, it is fewer than 100 callsfor every booking, he said. “Our Web sites are extremely busy, so we have to usedifferent architectures to handle all the volume,” he said. “Many, many peopleshop on the Web and book elsewhere.” “Direct to hotel is still the most popularbooking channel, claiming about 62 percent of reservations,” White said. Hotelsusing the new Web-booking model also want an increased emphasis on preferredguest handling. “They want to be able to keep track of guests, know where theyare from, why they have come, how they got them and when they come back,” hesaid. “They also want more sorting of data and delivering of extracts.” 4This Hotel & Motel Management article focuses the reader on several important issuesthat hotel front office managers and general managers should consider in maintaining amarketing edge with reservations. The use of the Internet in making room reservations isbecoming a part of the natural way of doing business. Potential business and pleasuretraveler guests want to see what your hotel offers in the form of guest rooms, amenities,food and beverages, and other services as well as related prices. Likewise, the hotel managersseek feedback data on the customers who may visit their Web site and hopefullytheir hotel. It is interesting to note that, at the time of this writing, out of 1,000 Web hitsmade by consumers, only one customer sale is made, as compared to the 100 incomingcalls processed for every one reservation completed. Perhaps the softer touch still has itsplace in hospitality.Types of Reservation SystemsFranchiseeThe franchisee is a hotel owner who has access to a national reservation system andreceives the benefits of the corporation’s management expertise, financial backing, nationaladvertising, and group purchasing. A franchise member of a reservation system ora member of a referral system gains significant advantages from combined efforts ofinterhotel property referrals, a system in which one member-property recommends anothermember-property to a guest, and national advertising.Referral MemberA referral member of a reservation referral system, a worldwide organization thatprocesses requests for room reservations at a particular member-hotel, is a hotel developer/ownerwho has access to the national reservation system. Hotels that are membersof the reservation system are more than able to justify these costs: for example, a chainproperty may obtain 15 percent to 30 percent of its daily room rentals from the nationalreservation system, depending on local economic and market conditions. Compared toTLFeBOOK